Ok, so first off, I'm not a talented tech but can fix some stuff and I'm not out trying to make money off doing so. So with that said, here is the story:
My son had a news article done on him regarding pinball. An older couple saw that and wrote me a letter (yes, a letter lol) telling me that they read the paper and saw that we had pinballs and wanted to know if I could call them about their game. I did and they explained that they owned a Countdown for many years but that it did not work and that they wanted to get it working for the grandkids. I told them I wasn't a tech guy but that I would be happy to come out and look at it for them to see what I could do, no charge. They told me that they had paid two other people over the last few years who ultimately left without getting it working.
So, when I got there I learned that one of those guys had installed a new mpu for it so that was good. Nevertheless, many switches were out, vuk not working, pop bumper binding, gi out and game was scoring whenever you hit the flipper. The scoring issue was easy, just a closed switch where a tech had put new rubbers in and neglected to adjust the switch. Once that switch was opened about half of the switches started working again. I got the gi up with just replacing a fuse. The vuk was fixed also when the switch was opened. Pop bumper is no longer binding with a new coil sleeve.
So, the last issue is a few remaining switches that would not do anything. I couldn't figure it out and the owner said "no biggie, the game plays with that and we haven't had it running for years, its good enough." So I put the ball back in, closed it up and played a game....the game played well but when it drained the darn trough switch was also not registering so the game did not know to end the ball and kick a new one out. Crap, it's still unplayable. So, I spent a few hours trying to trace wires, looking for shorts or other closed switches. But could not. Interestingly, when the tilt bob was grounded it ended the ball, counted bonus and fed a new one, as if the trough switch was triggered. Everything around the tilt mech looked normal. So now, the couple has a Countdown where the trough, two center rollovers, three random, 3 Drop targets (one each on three of the four banks) and the left outlane switch do not work. I also tried moving a known working switch to the trough to no avail.
This couple was older and super sweet. They insisted on giving my son money for our work despite me saying "I didn't fix it so don't worry about it" and they clearly loved this pinball. They've had two techs out over the last few years, described to me how hard they've looked for other people who could fix it for years and how happy they were that I responded to their letter. I really want to help them and see that they and their grandkids can enjoy this game. It's gotta be an easy fix, if I can just find it. The biggest issue is that I'll have to travel about 30 minutes to get there so it's not as if I can just look at it and try one thing, then later another and so on. I'm hoping that pinside can come to my rescue and help me help them.
Any ideas?