Wow you had that game since 77? - fantastic
might be time to go through it and give it an overhaul if you feel up to it,
check your Jones plugs first you would be surprised how easy it is to plug them in wrong,
also hit them with sand cloth.
if that doesn't do it find the relays that control your pop bumpers should be mounted under the pf.
after getting the pin set up at ball #1 (no ball in machine,pf set against bb in full service mode)
see if manually triggering pop relays if they now come back to life?

Also take a good long look at the player unit in the back box clean all contact rivets & wipe down with a damp paper towel with just a little alcohol.

*just remember to let the alcohol evaporate off before firing up the pin & keep the rear door off.

I am new here, so I hope it is ok to resurrect a thread this old.

Bought my first machine yesterday, after wanting to buy one for years. Found a Magnotron not to far away from me cheap, knowing it was not in working condition, and am having the exact same issue as the person above.

While I know nothing about servicing Pinball Machines, I have a very strong electrical/electronics background.

Figuring it was just a fuse, relay, switch or loose wire thought I could get it back to working order and then get it all cleaned up after, but I am stumped.

Does not seem I am getting any power to the play field other than lights and kickout holes. The game starts, kicks the ball to the plunger, and when the ball drains, it increments the ball in play, but no flippers, pop bumpers and so on.

Other than being non operational, the machine seems to be in great shape for it's age. Looks like all of the coils have been replaced recently. The guy I bought it from said him and his kids played it for years, then it just quit.

Any suggestions on where to start would be awesome.

Also any suggestions on where to find a schematic would be great!

First off, you can purchase a schematic from Steve Young at the Pinball Resource. Due to Gottlieb Copyright issues, you usually can't find them posted on the net.

I don't have a Magn. schem. to look at but your problem may be on the QB2 trip bank relay if it has one (QB2 is a slave to the QB1 relay which is the game over relay). There is a set of points that disconnect most power going to the playfield coils. There may also be a make break switch on the SB2 relay if it has one (Reset Control Relay). Both of these are located on a "Trip Bank" style relay bank. One major coil to reset them, individual coils to trip them. These kind of coils are usually reset when you start a game and usually only change state one time during each game. Make sure the relay bank is properly secured into the slots of the mounting bracket before you go any further. Sometimes, they get twisted a bit and this causes issues with switch gaps.

Cactusjack, thanks for the reply, you steered me in the right direction!

I looked at the relay bank 100 times thinking it had to be something after all the reading did.

After your post, I looked very closely at the QB relays and SB relays, and found a burnt wire, between the QB replay and SB2 relay if I remember correctly, I have it written down at home.

Put a new jumper across them, and it fired right up! After finding a blown fuse, I was up and running %100!

Thanks for all of your help!

After wanting to own my own pinball since I was a little kid, this 36 year old "kid" felt like a little kid again after I was playing my own machine.

After reading reviews of Magnoton on some website I was a little concerned it was going to be a lame game, but I find it to be fun and a bit challenging, and have played well over 30 or 40 games over the weekend on it.

Hoping a late 80s - 90s Williams will be my next challenge, but will take what I can find at a reasonable price.

BTW Cactus Jack was one of my favorite games as a teen!

Thanks again!

Glad you got Magnotron working. Its a simple but fun game.
Thanks, I did the original design for CJ. It was very rewarding to see it get produced.

CacusJack, thanks for your previous help, somehow I missed your reply that you did the original design for the game. That is awesome! As a kid I always thought it would be cool to be able to design or build pinball machines, but I knew that would never happen as I don't have a creative bone in my body! Electrical/Electronics, I am good at, creativity/artistic, not so much! I always remember advancing the fruits, and the SPLAT!

Once again, thanks for all the help!

I am back for more help though.

Last fall I played my Magnotron with 4 players for the first time. The four player mode worked fine, all scoring worked, and we had a good time. Since then the game has been in hibernation (as it is in my garage) After that game, it would not reset. If I manually reset the relay bank, the game will operate, but really screwy.

The ball will come out, and the first 2 balls play perfectly fine. When it is time for the 3rd ball, it switches to the 2nd player scoring. Then the 4th ball goes to 3rd player, and the 5th to 4th player.

The ball counter works fine, and I get the end of game, because it does the match.

I am a bit confused, and any help would be gladly appreciated!

Also one more question, is the size of the glass on all machines the same? I have been doing some research, because I broke the glass last time I had it out to try to fix this problem, and from what I can tell it is constant between games.

Thanks for any help!