So, I recently decided to take the plunge and get into the hobby that I love. Pinball. I picked up a cheap MGOW machine and brought it home to start restoring. When I picked it up it ran fine. Looked like shit, but ran fine. After we put it back together it refuses to start or accept new credits. Each time we tried we'd slowly lose one of the 25 credits it had while it informed us that we had a ball in play. All three balls are sitting in que to launch however nothing happens.

Every now and again it would tell us we had 50 balls in play but still do nothing and not start. I heard there were people on this forum that were familiar with system 80 machines and might have an idea of what is happening. I am including pictures that I took of the circuitry and boards. One picture clearly shows a loose wire and we did fix that. That was causing the screen to error out and show up as only EEEE.

Any advice or help is most appreciated.

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We did actually manage to fix the red connector. I guess I shouldn't have uploaded the picture but it just tagged along with the rest.

That wiki is a huge help and has tons of info. My stepfather and I are learning as we go so feel free to assume I'm currently as stupid as can be when it comes to this. I actually have a feeling I may have stuck it in diagnostic mode without realizing it. The first time we turned it on it did make various noises and attempt to find the ball. Unfortunately, one of the connectors (A1 J5) is very loose. (was when we got it as well.) and came off when we closed the back glass. The game stopped working then and hasn't since.

I won't be able to try anything with it till later tonight. Again, thanks for the wiki link. That is amazingly thorough.

Thanks again for all the replies. I managed to locate and buy a manual and schematic for the machine. That will take a couple of days to arrive. Yes, I do have 2 green connectors. It came with those and I assume it was done to replace damaged connectors, however, I am just assuming that. That orange cap is certainly in line to get replaced.

I'll continue to update as things go.