So, I bought my first table. It is a 1976 Williams Space Odyssey.

I got it for a good price and I am really happy with it. I only had to drive about 7 miles to pick it up which was great.

The guy I bought it from got it at an estate sale and had done no work on it in the 12 months he had it. The person he bought it from told him that he had spent about 3 years working on it to make it work and that there was all new rubber on the machine.

I got it home and dove right in. I’m new to this, but little of it feels “over my head” and I have a buddy who worked in vending in the late 80s through the mid 90s. He worked on pinballs from EM to DMD, so he is going to be a huge help to me. On the other hand, I want to learn this for myself so I am going to try not to lean on him too much.

I have some (I would guess) basic questions about a few issues with the table, but first let’s look at the good points.

• The game turns on and plays pretty well in 1 and 2 player mode.
• All major playfield scoring elements work.
• Table seems to be in pretty decent shape for its age. Playfield is worn in some places but it is pretty minor with the exception of directly above the kickout holes where somebody repainted the gray without sanding and then just wrote 50 in sharpie marker (likely since they couldn’t match the original lettering). I’m not super happy about this but it wasn’t nearly enough to dissuade me from making the buy. You can see it in one of the pictures I posted.

This past weekend I tore down the playfield and gave the wood a good work-over with Novus 2. I swapped out all playfield rubber, cleaned all plastics with Novus 2 and changed out all bad light bulbs. I had a ton of fun doing all this and feel like I learned a few things already. For instance, the old owner had a lot of rubber in place on the playfield that was either sized wrong (always too big) or placed wrong or both. I was really happy when I fired the table back up after cleaning the playfield and changing out the rubber. It plays MUCH faster already. I actually readjusted the slope last night to give it a little more zip and I’m even happier now. Gonna move on to cleaning and sanding the pop bumpers next. If I can’t get them fixed up to my liking, I will just rebuild them.

Anyway, all these good things make me want to tackle the bad so here are my questions as a newbie to repairing EMs.

1. I have 2 issues with the Swinging Target Unit’s scoring:

• First of all, should this be resetting for each game? Meaning – should the bonus move back to the beginning of the A section as each new game starts OR does it just stay where it last was when a new game begins. The manual states that this unit DOES NOT have a reset coil, so I assume it just continues on each new single player game (and between players in a 2 player game).
• Secondly, the bonus awarded when hitting the target is out of sequence by one. It goes through the correct sequence in terms of 1000 point bonuses and 5000 point bonuses, but the entire sequence is shifted “one to the right” meaning that the first bonus on the left as the sequence begins (5000) is actually the one from the last light on the right (also 5000). So, as you progress from left to right you score:
5000, 5000, 1000, 1000, 5000, 1000, 1000, 5000, 1000, 1000
When you should be scoring:
5000, 1000, 1000, 5000, 1000, 1000, 5000, 1000, 1000, 5000
I hope this makes sense. I’d love to get that reset so it is in correct sequence. It always runs through the sequence exactly the same, it is just off by one.

2. My flippers are very “mushy”. Both work but they just feel a bit weak. I am strongly considering dropping the dough for a rebuild kit. Do you guys feel confident that I will see a significant change in flipper response if I do swap them out? From what my buddy Matt (vending/pinball repair guy) and I can tell, the flipper units ARE original, so I’m thinking that I will.

There really isn’t anything else I feel confused by on the table. Chime unit needs work, but I will just work off Clay Harrell’s instructions on his amazing site. The backglass is really in pretty bad shape, but CPR reproductions are out there and I intend to get one at some point this year. I really wish they’d do the playfield for this game, because I’d buy one. Maybe down the road I will get into repairing playfields, but there is just too much else to learn for now and I don’t want to scatter my focus too much. I was prepared to drop the $80.00 for new reproduction plastics, but mine are in AMAZING shape and I just don’t need to.

Thanks for reading and for any advice you want to give. Three days in and I’m hooked. Not sure how this will go over with the wife long term, but time will do the talking.

Cheers!

Backglass condition:
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Plastics look great!
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Playfield looking so much better after Novus 2. Going to start the process of waxing it tomorrow after work.
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Overall I think it looks pretty decent.
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_{Post edited by SilverBallKid: Edited for clarity.}

OK Chrisbee, here you go. Cheers!

Swinging Target Stepper - Wiper Finger Side-967.JPG

Swinging Target Stepper - Back Side.JPG

Thanks, tommycrum. Are you sure that this is the case? In the "Sequence of Operation Reset Cycle" listing in the front cover of my manual there is no mention of the Swinging Target Unit Stepper resetting. Also, when I check by watching videos of restored versions of this table on Youtube, I see the Swinging Target Lights in many different positions at the start of games which would lend credence to Chrisbee's comment that it just continues around per the schematic.

I'm wondering if I just need to loosen that outer nut on the wiper finger side and rotate it a certain amount to align the bonus scoring with the table lighting as discussed in my original post. Holding off until I get better info here, as this is my first table and I don't want to screw anything up.

Thanks, guys!

Hi all! Thanks so much for all the great comments and suggestions. It's been a really crazy end of the week and I haven't been able to get back to the Space Odyssey table. Leaving for a gathering in Cincinnati tomorrow morning and should be back to work on the table later Sunday once I'm back in Detroit. I will update everyone then!

OK, so I got a little work done on the table tonight. Stripped the lower half of the playfield and gave it a slow, careful clean with Novus 2. Used Q Tips in tight places to clean grime, etc. After that I laid down 2 coats of wax. I'm nowhere near being able to afford (or for that matter accomplish) the stuff I would need to attempt to really work on the playfield in a restoration sense, so I feel it's best just to keep it clean and wax it up carefully to preserve it as best as I can for now.

I also took most of the ball count unit apart and cleaned it up as best as I could with alcohol (mechanical side) and contact cleaner (electric contact side). It had a tendency to stick on a single ball often, and every night when I played it, it would get to a point where it would just stay on a ball and never move off. I know people might freak out about the contact cleaner thing, but it is made to be used in situations where there is a potential for sparks or arcs (like electric motors) and I feel that if used with the correct amount of respect and handled properly, I will have no issues. My buddy who used to fix pinball machines for a living explained how he wanted me to use it and picked some up for me. I followed his advice. No issues.

Anyway, there is a vid on Youtube about fixing a Space Odyssey that was stuck on a ball and I just followed the guy's outline. Since I put it back together this evening, played a few games and just shot the ball through a few times to cycle through all the balls. Never stuck once. It was my first "Fix" ever and I was pretty happy.

I gotta say, waxing the lower playfield did wonders for ball movement. I didn't think it would make as much difference as it did. The ball really moves now, between the new rubber, the clean and waxed playfield and the slope adjustment. Can't wait to hit the upper half tomorrow. If I have enough time I am also going to work on cleaning the jet bumpers up a bit to see if I can speed them up some. To that end, gonna order some coil sleeves and start swapping out to improve performance.

Tomorrow I will endeavor to shoot a vid of the Swinging Target setup as I move it through its cycle and then get it posted up on here as Steve asked for. Might try doing some work on that Sunday bit it is Mother's day and I might not have time.

Anyway, here's some Pinball Porn, if you're into EMs...

This is the playfield after careful Novus 2 and a good thorough wax. Tomorrow I will do everything north of the Swinging Target.
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Love this picture but it really makes me want to buy a new playfield glass. Lots of scratches in mine. All in good time.
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Here is a good shot of the area above the lower kickouts. Obviously the previous owner (2 owners ago who did some work) tried to match up the paint and "fix the worn spots with it, but never sanded and certainly didn't clear coat or anything. As I said, this kind of work is beyond my finances or talent at this point, so it will have to wait. Any other suggestions about how to preserve this playfield for a newbie on a budget are welcomed. I'm with FrankJ regarding how it looks and someday I will definitely get to trying to figure out how to "fix" that, but not now.
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Anyway, more tomorrow.

I wish CPR would do a run of this playfield! If you think about it, they would be appealing to the owners of TWO tables at the same time, since Space Mission and Space Odyssey tables have the same playfield. If they did a run of that playfield, chances are good I would snap one up. I'm definitely going to get a CPR Repro Backglass as soon as I can afford one. Theirs looks great! It is sold out on their site but some places seem to still have them. It's a GREAT backglass in my opinion from a purely artistic standpoint.

Also, as I play this table more and more I am coming to really like the rule set and how the table is set up in terms of layout. There are several key shots on this table and the key (as always!) is to master them.

Gotta get some yardwork done today and then it is back downstairs for soem more Novus love and more Wax! I'll update afterward.

After a bit of time away, I have been back at it with this machine again.

First off, after cleaning the swinging target unit, it seems to be working fine. Glad to have that behind me. I took a video of it and tried to upload it tonight but it won't upload. Not sure what is wrong. I'll try again tomorrow when I am not so tired.

I've been doing a lot of reading about cleaning and I decided to head to Harbor Freight today. Bought the bigger (2.5 Quart) ultrasonic cleaner that everyone in PinballWorld talks about. Ran it warm with some MeanGreen in it and started cleaning my chime unit. I ordered a rebuild kit form Steve at PinballResource today along with a bunch of other stuff because I really cringe at the sound of the chime unit. None of the three chimes have any bit of the lower shock mount left. There is absolutely no resonance to the chimes, just a loud slightly musical sound. Can't wait to swap out the parts when the rebuild kit gets here.

Anyway, thought I'd try to sell a few more ultra sonic cleaners. I was so happy with how the thing cleaned my chime parts. Once they were out of the US, I polished all parts with Mother's Mag and Aluminum Polish. Take a look at what a long cycle warm US bath and some Mother's TLC can do to a really bad looking chime unit;

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Next I will start cleaning the score reel guts (but not the score reels themselves) in the us. Can't wait to see how much smoother they work after a good cleaning. I am learning that this table is dirty dirty dirty inside. No worries, it'll get better in time.

OK guys, here is a link to a video of the Swinging Target Unit in action that I uploaded to Photobucket. Can't get it to work on here directly, sorry. To me, it seems to be scoring correctly now. Can you guys confirm this? Thanks!

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/goldnapell/media/SwingingTargetBonusSequence_zpse7255b7f.mp4.html

_{Post edited by SilverBallKid: Bad Link}

It's funny, I ran the chime parts first in the ultarsonic without heat or Mean Green. I was totally disappointed. Then I added he heat and the Mean Green and BOOM - things started coming out looking fantastic. Can't wait to start on the scoring reel parts tonight.

Back with a few more questions, If I may...

1. The score card in my table indicates that extra balls will be awarded at
122,000
153,000
184,000
However, only the second and third are ever awarded to Player One (single player game or two player game). All three are always awarded to Player Two when a two player game is selected. Any help on sorting this out would be greatly appreciated.

2. For anyone who has this table, what is the sequence of operation that causes the two outer upper lane rollovers to light (or turn off, for that matter)? I understand how the center lane rollover works (turns on and off along with the 1,000 point spinner based on Swinging Target sequence) but not the outer ones. They seem to turn on and off on their own to me so I assume I am missing something in how that part of the game operates.

3. On the first page of the instruction manual, it says "when either A, B or C is made, it lights eject holes". Does this mean both the Upper (doubles EOB bonus) and lower (switches between 50 and 500 for that pair) eject holes? On my machine, lighting A, B or C lights the uppers, but only when B is lit do the lower eject holes light. Once those are lit by B on the Swinging Target Unit, they remain on for the rest of the ball in play.

I keep plugging away with cleaning different parts of the table. It never ceases to amaze me how dirty so much of it is. Just cleaned the parts of only the ratchet side of the Ball Count Stepper Unit in the ultrasonic tonight and after 1 480 second cycle the water was so dirty I couldn't see the parts anymore. Seriously, we're not talking about a lot of parts here. Swapped out the coil sleeves on both the Step Up and the Reset coil and one of the old ones was actually metal. First one I've found so far and it looked a mess, so I wonder if it was an original dating all the way back to 1977.

Also, replaced the inner and outer shooter springs tonight and added a shooter sleeve (there was none in there when I got the table). It blows me away that for just $2.23, I can make the thing work like brand new and have the work done in less than 5 minutes. Always thought table # 2 would be an early SS or newer, but I am falling in love with working on an EM. Now I find myself checking Craigslist constantly looking for EMs.

Thanks in advance for all help!

_{Post edited by SilverBallKid: Spelling}

Thanks again, Steve for your help! It makes things a lot less intimidating when you guys just lay out what needs to be done in simple language. You were right about the 1,000 score reel being the problem.

I had been putting off trying to clean my score reels because, well, I had never done it before and it seemed to be the most involved thing I had on my plate. Once you pointed me toward the score reel units, I decided to go for it and see what I could find out. The fact that I found no cold solder joints or broken wires upon first checking out the 1,000 reel, I knew the only thing left was to start breaking them down and cleaning them.

Once again the ultrasonic was a huge help, as it cleaned decades of junk off the parts when I ran them. I used a toothbrush and Mean Green on the inside of the actual reels. The numbered faces got an extremely gentle working over with Novus 2 and they cleaned up very nicely. I used a black Sharpie to touch up the bad spots. The circuit boards got scrubbed down with a nylon scrub pad and some Mean Green. These were a real mess. The 1,000 reel circuit board was literally black in circles in places from the years of contact movement. I really had to work it a lot to get everything off, but the green scrub pad/Mean Green method worked really well, I also gave all finger contacts a nice quick few passes with a flexstone to brighten them up. All coils got new sleeves and their plungers all got a good polishing to remove all the discoloration and pitting.

Here's a before and after of one of the reels with a few stops along the way:

These were really dirty. Dirty enough that I was worried about getting them to look decent
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As you can see, the circuit boards were very bad as well.
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Finally with everything finished, things looked much much better.
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Anyway, I'd rather not say how late it was last night when I finished. The good thing about taking four reels apart and rebuilding them again was that I learned quickly how things went and got faster and more efficient with each successive reel unit. I'm totally comfortable with them now. Suffice to say it was waaaay too late to fire the table up and see if my efforts had made a difference. I got up this morning and headed straight to the basement. Sure enough, all Extra Balls were awarded.

Again, thank you Steve for your advice and for pointing me in the right direction.

Guys, should I at all be worried about how old those springs are on the reels? Everything is working fine, so I assume I'm ok with them, but I can't seem to find replacements on line and I am wondering if they actually wear out over time.

Just for fun, here's a before and after of my ball count stepper. I had given it a quick wipedown weeks ago because it got stuck on Ball Two a lot and initially afterward things seemed ok. Eventually,m the problem returned so I tore that baby down and gave it a thorough "ultrasonic parts bath/coil sleeve change out/circuit board scrub and grease" workout and now it hums along well also. Sounds different, never sticks on a ball and seems to work a little faster.

BEFORE. Dust and grime everywhere. Rusty coil plungers. Yuck
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AFTER. Clean. No more rust. Everything looking (and working) so much better.
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I'll likely work my way through the other steppers under my playfield in the next week or two. I am also getting antsy to tear apart the top side of my Pop Bumpers and rebuild them with new bases, skirts, skirt springs and bodies. I also need to learn to solder. Couple wires found here and there need attention. All in good time.

Hi Guys.

OK, now I am worried. Last Monday with the help of my buddy who used to work on amusement machines and other vending equipment (and still does for Pepsi), I rebuilt my flippers with a kit from PinballResource. We also rebuilt the pop bumpers from the playfield up (bases, centering springs, skirts, bodies and light sockets). I wanted to throw that out there just so you know where we've been on the table recently. Everything worked fine after the rebuilds. Adjusted EOS switches on flippers and got them working nicely and all such things. Played many games since then during the week.

Last night, my brother and I were playing a game and at one point the ball eject coil wouldn't kick the next ball after a drain into the shooter lane. We shut the thing down quickly and couldn't figure out what the issue was. Today, I have been able to get into the game better (and after sleep - don't like diagnostics after midnight) and I can describe what happens. I have watched this with the playfield down and up so I can see everything. Here we go:

The game turns on if I flip the main switch under the game just as it always has. Once I hit the reset switch, the score reels zero out, the bonus sits at 1,000 like it should and the ball is ejected correctly into the shooter lane. Once this all happens, however, the score unit never stops rotating and the game very evenly runs through the entire 5 ball sequence and then turns itself back off. Each time the ball count stepper pushes forward one ball, the expected 1000 point EOB bonus is added to the score and the 1000 chime rings. I can see the ball index relay kick for each of the 5 balls. There is occasionally a ring on the 100 chime and 100 will be added to the score, but sometimes it will work all the way through all 5 balls and not do so.

During this sequence of events, I never see any other relays fire. I can start this over and over and the same thing I am describing happens each time. It is not erratic in sequence or timing. If I set a watch on it, I feel like it will happen in the same time duration always.

Anyone have any thoughts/advice for me? I'm all ears. Thanks guys!

Steve,as always, thanks for your kindness and help. Here are two pictures of the outhole switch under the table. Is this the one you meant?

Here is is with the ball in the drain.
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Here it is with the ball out.
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I restarted the table tonight and watched things even closer. One thing that worries me is that the 100 point chime rings BEFORE the ball is ejected into the shooter lane when the reset switch is pressed. The sequence works like this at this point:

1) Press reset switch.
2) Score Reels Clear
3) 100 point chime rings.
4) Eject coil fires and sends ball to shooter lane.
5) Bonus steps up once and 1000 light comes on.
6) 1000 point EOB bonus registers, bonus stepper clears.
7) At this point, the ball count stepper steps up for each revolution of the score motor until it reaches Game Over with actions 4-6 happening each time.

One thing to note: every time the eject coil fires, the Player One 100 point score reel turns. It does NOT turn clean and tight and sometimes ends up between 2 numbers. This has never been an issue before. The 100 point reel is turning exactly at the time that the coil is firing. It is as if these actions are linked together at this point.

I am starting to worry that there is an issue with the score motor or something that is going to be beyond my grasp. Any help is much appreciated.

_{Post edited by SilverBallKid: Picture clarity}

Also Steve, thanks for your kind comments regarding my cleanup work. I will definitely try the 3 - in - 1 oil trick on those springs.

Yes, I have a lot of coils that have browned coil wrappers. To this point, everything works fine (well, it did before this new issue) and I haven't had one yet where I couldn't get the sleeve out for a swap. I have a feeling I will be changing some out down the road but so far so good at this point.

If this was all just the cleaning part, I'd be in great shape. It's the electrical part of "electro-mechanical" that I need a lot of work on. All in good time!

OK, update...

Tonight I started working with what you gave me, Steve. Thanks as always for the info.

So I called my buddy Matt who repairs vending machines. He explained how to check switches (see if NO are NO and NC are NC) against the schematic and manual. As I started going through the switches you pointed out, I wasn't finding anything out of the ordinary.

That wasn't getting me anywhere so I decide to try something simpler - the possibility that there was a stuck PF switch causing the 100 chime to ring. I hit the reset button and watched the 100 point relay in the backbox. Sure enough, as soon as the reset sequence started, it switched over, rang the 100 chime and stuck there. I started checking PF switches that register 100 points to find one that was stuck. It turned out that the red playfield post to the interior of the playfield that the spinner attaches to was loose. I tightened it back down and fired up the machine to see if the initial ring of the 100 chime had stopped.

Yes, it had, and some other things started happening, but not all the same as before. Now it was this:

1) Press reset switch.
2) Score Reels Clear
4) Ball release solenoid fires to send ball to shooter lane.
5) Bonus steps up once and 1000 light comes on.
6) 1000 point EOB bonus registers, bonus stepper clears.
7) 4 5 and 6 above repeat ad infinitum.

There was no longer a 100 point chime at any moment in the sequence. There was also no longer 1000 points registered at each revolution of the score motor as the bonus stepper re-set. The 1000 light on the bonus bank in the PF continued to go on and off, but no points were being scored. Also, the ball count stepper did NOT advance with each revolution of the score motor. It stayed on Ball 1.

I decided to shoot the ball into the PF to see if it registered any points. It did, it seemed to score all points correctly. Both flippers worked. However, once a couple thousand points registered the ball count stepper stepped from ball 1 to 2 and on to 3 4 and 5 and then shut the game off with the ball still in the playfield. It did not drain but the Ball Count Steepper moved all the way to Game Over.

After 2 instances of running in that way, the game changed again. Now this is what happens:

1) Press reset switch.
2) Score Reels Clear
4) Ball release solenoid fires to send ball to shooter lane.
5) Bonus steps up once and 1000 light comes on.
6) Steps 4 and 5 repeat ad infinitum. Nothing on the playfield scores any points. The ball count stepper remains on Ball 1. Flippers do not work. Kickout holes and lower eject holes work. Swinging target motor works.

So THIS is why so many Pinsiders don't want to own EMs...

_{Post edited by SilverBallKid: Clarity.}

Been away for a few days. Busy at work.

Steve Fury, I sent you a PM on the forums here.

Didn't mean to irritate anyone with my last comments. I was just frustrated in the moment, tired, and looking for help. As anyone can see from reading my comments, I am always grateful for all help as I learn this stuff, which is all new to me including the electrical part. I never said I wasn't trying to learn. I was just frustrated.

I also agree with CrazyLevi about EMs being inexpensive to work on and fix. The only reason my wife is being so tolerant of my new hobby is that it is so inexpensive. She is actually usually the one pushing me to buy the things I need to do my repairs. Well, and I bet she likes having more time with the flatscreen TV during baseball season than usual!

Heading downstairs to get back at the machine and try to work my way through this new problem. Steve, I'll keep hammering away at that schematic to try to make heads or tails of the hiccup.

Thanks again, everyone.

Guys, I have a new issue starting and want to tackle it asap before it becomes too much.

Mods, if I should be starting a new thread each time I have a problem with this game, let me know.

Here's what's happening. On my Swinging Target unit, the two outermost playfield posts are getting loose. When I remove the plastic and rubber, I can tighten them down somewhat, but they never really snug down and stop turning. The holes are still pretty tight and I can't just pull the screws in or out without turning them. So, they still have some bite but are losing the battle slowly. These are the only two posts I have this issue with on the entire playfield. Even the mini-post that protects the spinner wire is holding up just fine, and that one gets quite a beating during play as well.

The loss of rigidity in the posts is leading to an increasing bow in the plastic over the target area. I'm sure that this is the result of the beating these two posts (and the whole swinging target unit) take as the result of where they are on the playfield. I definitely don't want to crack that plastic.

I rebuilt my flippers with a kit from Steve at PBR in August. They are snappy and strong. I'm starting to worry that the new stronger flippers are not helping matters, but I'll defer to you guys who know better. I did my very best to set the gap properly (1/8 inch at full extension) on my EOS switches using a leaf switch adjuster during the rebuild. The machine is NOT set to high tap.

I have read about sticking toothpicks in the holes and such, but I am curious if any of you out there have any special tips on how to handle this issue when the posts are in such a high impact area AND under tension from a playfield rubber. All the "dust" that is visible around the right post in the pic is wood dust from the post hole. That's what worries me the most. It seems that the holes are wearing a bit and I just want to stop this.

Swinging Target Plastic Bow.jpg

The good side of this bad news is that the wear is the result of all the play the table gets now that it is up and running well. I have groups of guys over regularly and we play a lot on Friday nights. Since I got the table, one of my good friends bought a Space Shuttle table and another is shopping for his first at this time. I guess I'm spreading the disease, eh?

Anyway, I'm all ears as to whatever method you guys out there might suggest is the best to get these two posts locked back down in the best way.

Thanks as always,

Tim in Detroit