I picked up one of my grail pins this past Spring and have spent the summer restoring the cabinet and playfield. Now that it's back together in once piece, it's time to get her in proper mechanical shape. I've already solved half a dozen problems on my own, most of which were due to improper re-assembly, so I'm hoping that some of the other problems will be simple fixes as well.

Please note that I've adjusted and cleaned all the leaf switches and I've been following the schematic as best I can. Here's what I'm dealing with, in order of priority:

1. Upon booting up, the lights flash for half a second and the machine immediately goes into tilt mode. I don't think that's normal.

2. When I push the start button, the lights come on, the score reels (mostly) reset, the score motor turns and the ball kicks out. But the "advance ball counter" coil doesn't fire, so I have to reach in and advance it manually. After that, the targets, scoring and flippers work (mostly) and when I drain, the ball kicks back out but it stays on Ball 1. Before I replace the stepper coil, is there something I should check?

3. The tens reel advances properly but doesn't reset. Sometimes, it buzzes so badly that it shakes itself right out of its slot.

4. The blue pop bumpers don't fire. I can trigger them manually with the Bumper relay, but the ball won't trigger them. I remember this being a problem in the test games while making the deal. I'm sure I'll need to replace the coils, but aside from adjusting the leaf switches, is there something else I should look at?

5. Some of the bulb sockets are loose, causing the lights to flicker when bumped or not light at all. Is there an easy fix for that, aside from replacing the socket?

6. The flipper coils are buzzy and I know they'll need to be replaced.

That's all I can think of for now - let me know what I should be looking at. I can provide photos if you'd like to look at something specific. Thanks!

Here are a couple of photos. Everyone likes photos!

PA190248_1.jpg

PA190247.jpg

I do have a backglass, by the way - I just hadn't placed it in when I took that picture.

Sorry - I'm trying to apply digital terminology to an analog machine. By "booting up" I meant turning on the power switch on the underside of the cabinet.

I'll have another look at everything this evening with your recommendations - thanks!

In the mean time, how does one determine if a coil is burned out? What setting should I use on my multimeter and what kind of reading should I look for?

I was able to check some things out tonight and here's where we stand:

1. Wasn't a problem after all. Moving on...

2. I had another look at the trough switch, filed it, and now the ball count unit is now working! Unfortunately, it gets stuck on ball 5 and won't advance to "game over."

3 & 4 are related. When I hit the pop bumpers, the Pop Bumper Relay locks on, which causes the 10 Point Relay to lock on, which causes the Tens reel to go nuts. I haven't figured out what's causing the Pop Relay to lock. Any ideas where to look?

5. Haven't looked into it. I'll see how solder works, but will probably replace the worst sockets.

6. The links and plungers are really loose - a rebuild kit is on my list and new coils couldn't hurt while I'm in there.

A day of tinkering has yielded a few good things, but a few problems persist:

I figured out the pop bumper and tens relay problems, but it still won't end a game. The whole path checks out and the XB relay trips during tilt mode, just not after ball 5 is drained.

To add to the mystery, I switched the setting to 3-ball play and it still counted up to five balls and wouldn't end the game. That makes me think the problem is in the ball count unit, but advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Update: things look pretty much under control now!

It turns out games weren't ending because one of the switches on the O relay wasn't making contact. Now I'm enjoying five-ball games and the match feature!

The tens reel wasn't resetting because the wire lever inside the wheel didn't retract into its valley in Zero position to close the reset switch. After loosening the spring and bending the wire up a bit it works fine!

I think all that's left to do now is refurbish the flippers, replace a few bulb sockets and maybe get some more powerful pop coils. Thanks to everyone for the guidance!

I have one more difficult issue to resolve. Once you spell FLYING CARPET, the R and Y switches should light for Special, alternating with each 1-point bumper hit.

On my machine, the knocker locks on when the R is lit and won't release until a 1-point bumper is hit, switching the Special over to Y switches. What I've discovered is that:

- The knocker locks on because the Add Replay coil is locked on.
- The Add Replay locks on because the Y (Replay) relay is locked on.
- The Y relay is triggered by the A (Alternating) relay.
- the A relay is triggered by the 0-9 Unit. I can lift the "fingers" off the rivets and all the locked coils release.

That 's where I lose track - what's causing the 0-9 Unit to do that? Contacts have been checked, filed and re-gapped. I've been following the schematic as best I can. Please let me know where to check next or if I missed something. Thanks!

Once again I've completely overthought the problem - you're absolutely right, a backing blade was shorting the rollover. I bent it up a tiny bit and now everything is perfect!

On the plus side, I'm getting better at reading schematics and learning about EM logic.

My next project is upgrading the flippers. Is there a trick to removing the roll pins in the links or do I just need to get that $8 tool from PBR?

Got those, but I need to get the links off the cams to install them.