Hello,
Newbie to pinball repairs but 30 years HVAC tech. experience.

Recently acquired a 77 Williams. (My first EM, own 2 - SS machines)
Machine appears in "decent" shape, purchased from a local Pinball GURU
that didnt have time to get to this one. (John Roeder)
I told him Id try not to bother him and havnt called him so I bug you guys instead LOL
I went through and cleaned all the Jones terminals, reset reels to 0.
Machine booted and put ball in play.
10's and 100's reels scored but 1000's did not. (different prob for another day)
I felt pretty good that I was able to get it lit up and working.

Next day, Machine booted up but went STRAIGHT TO GAME OVER.
Credits can be added and credit button starts machine but goes straight to Game over.
I switched from 3 ball to 5 ball plug, machine started on BALL 5.
Tried to restart: Game went to game over several times, occasionally would start on ball 5.
Searched EM forums on Pinside I read a similar post:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/if-your-williams-em-goes-to-ball-1-to-game-over-when-you-press-start

This is exactly what my machine is doing.
I located the hold relay, it DOES NOT fire when game starts. Did not see any loose wires. Coil looks toasty.
I put a continuity tester on the coil and it beeped.
After several attempts, machine occasionally starts on BALL 5.

While Im not sure of the sequence of operation on start up, I do notice the Game over relay cycles its switches 4 or 5 times when you hit the start button.
Im able to read HVAC schematics but am confused by the Liberty Bell schematic somewhat.
I am unable to post pictures as I am in office on PC but can post pics later.
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks,
HG

Yes sir, sorry bout that.
Just got home and with the power on the machine I read 30 V on the coil of the lock relay weather the start switch is pressed or not

I didn’t notice it before but I had someone else turn the power to the machine on and I stuck my head in there and it is opening the switch.
When the power is turned on it energizes the coil and opens the switch.
When the power is turned off the contacts close.
However whether the Power is on or off contacts or open or close I still get continuity on the solder connections. Can you tell me what is the purpose of the lock relay ?

I was led down the wrong path by the previous post. (Link above About lock relay)
My problem seems to be in the ball count stepper. if I manually adjust it the game plays.I plan on cleaning it tomorrow.

Sorry, I did not mean you, I thank you for your insight and offer to help kind sir.
I meant, I was led down the path of checking for a problem (Lock relay) based on the other thread that listed the exact same issue I was having on the exact same machine.
One would think it would be the same/similar issue.
Turns out its the ball stepper NOT the lock relay per this guys thread:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/if-your-williams-em-goes-to-ball-1-to-game-over-when-you-press-start

Again, I apologize, it was my own ignorance that led me down the wrong path.

I plan on cleaning the ball stepper tonight, that should take care of the problem as thhe machine works when I manually adjust the fingers.
Looks like the same issue is on the score reels, the 1000's arent registering.

During and after cleaning.
600 grit sandpaper followed by isopropyl alcohol. I had to make a slight adjustment on one of the wipers it was a little twisted.
Game starts one and two player and counts five balls for each player as it should now on to the score reels.

First player has a broken leaf on the single contact switch I believe this is the reset switch?
Although it is reseting correctly.

Second player unit has coil missing on the tens real, appears to have been moved to the tens real on the first player. They cost $13 so I'm not sure why they just didn't buy a new one.
The 10000 reel is missing the plastic Pawl part that goes over the coil piston went ahead and ordered two new coils and a plastic Paul and an assortment of leaf springs.

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