I am in the process of diagnosing and troubleshooting a 1954 United's Deluxe Mercury shuffle alley bowling machine. All the info below was in another thread but I have transferred it to its own thread so it may be of help tsomeone at a later date.
Just picked the machine up a few weeks ago and its currently not functioning. Looking for a schematic so I can start delving into it and bring it back to life. Currently it powers on and if I drop a dime in it starts the process and is in game mode however, none of the rollover switches register. Wmsfan-GAP suggested to double check the jones plugs between the alley and head. Make sure its a good connection and maybe clean the plugs a bit as well. I did clean the contacts of all connectors and reseated them as well with no change. Next per his advice I tried pushing a few of them from the underside of the alley to see if the gap was too large in the switches to make contact with no change. Mopar added this to try, if the Game Over Relay is resetting (which I now believe it is), and the Pin Relays 
aren't energizing through the rollovers, I believe on your machine there's a set of switches in both the 
Game Over Relay, and in the 1st Shot Relay that should be closed when those two relays are in the 
reset position. Not any of the rollovers will activate any of the Pin Relays (in the Relay Bank) if either 
of those switches aren't making true contact.
Mopar was spot on right. When you power the game on the arm comes down resets all the switches. When you drop a dime in the slot only the game over coil trips and opens. If you try to close it manually the coil just starts buzzing trying to close.
Also not sure this wiring is right it looks a bit sketchy to me. Also check out the right lug of the 2nd shot coil and both lugs of the game over coil they look pretty dark. Do these look like anything I should be concerned with?
Mopar added this advice..Yes, that jumper does look sketchy, but I wouldn't be concerned with it at this point. 
We at least know the Game Over Relay energizes.. 
After start up, I'm thinking the Lock Relay isn't remaining energized. If not, that would point to a Slam 
Switch or burned out Lock Relay coil.. 
This is now the point at which I am at so any more points or tips would be greatly appreciated.

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Ok its very confusing and I think the game is confusing me and itself. So when you drop a dime in to start a game the machine starts resetting the score reels and player 1 lights up. That is as far as it will progress because that game over relay pops up so no rollover switches work. I will check that other lock relay when I get home today and will post some more pics so you can see exactly what i'm seeing.

Here are some reference pics of underneath the playfield. You can see in the one pic the loose wire that apparently at one time was attached to a tilt switch that is no longer there. I can tell it was there at one time cause there are 2 screw holes in the wood. Not sure if this missing would cause me any problems or not.

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After closer examination at that vibration tilt wire all 3 wires are already tied together.

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I noticed last night while staring at the relay bank under the playfield something i'm thinking maybe isn't correct. When a dime is dropped in to start a game the lock relay starts going ape shit and clattering back and forth about 5 or 6 times. Is this normal or possibly something that could be leading to my problems?

Yes there was a slam tilt in the head on the upper right corner I made sure the contacts were not touching on that one as well. On the lock relay switch I physically held it in the open position to try to energize the pin rollovers and it still did not work there may be another slam tilt or vibration switch in the coin door I will check that as well. When that lock relay engages shouldn't it just engage and not clatter back and forth wildly? I have a thin file i will try to hit the contacts on the switches in that lock relay but I did adjust them once already.

I haven't done that yet but definitely planning on doing so to make sure the relay sustains power after it finishes clattering back and forth.

It definitely initially has power because it engages and clatters back and forth like its trying to lock. I can watch the contacts sparking when the relay is smacking them together as fast as it does.

Had you meant to say that you held it in the "closed" (energized position)?

Yep sorry what i meant to say is that I held it closed with no change.
Just so I am clear you are saying since the 3 wires are tied together underneath the playfield that the slam tilt in the upper head should actually be making contact now and not open.

Thks for your patience Tim sorry I feel like such a newb dealing with this older machinery this a total learni g curve for me. I will be home in a couple hours and do what you suggested and post back with results.

Ok here is the latest status update. I bent the vibration switch tabs in the head together to make contact. I started a game and lo and behold the game over relay did not go crazy and also didn't close. 1st player is lit up on the backglass but the rollover switches still don't work. Baby steps here and we are making good progress. What would be my next par6hway to follow here?

Forgot to post a pick of the vibration switch in the head.

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Ok so another update here to report. All of the back row switches are registering. 1st switch will trip 1st shot relay and 2nd switch will trip 2nd shot and then it will reset for the next turn. However none of the other switches still register at all.

Something else I forgot to post was the pin rest motor sqeals and squawls really loudly. Is this something that can just be oiled or more of an indicator that the motor needs to be replaced?

Took your advice on the motor and its it smooth and quiet now. However for whatever reason I have lost the back row of roll overs. No idea why they stopped working but they are now dead like the other rollovers. Something else to note as well is the 1-2 and the 5-6 player relays in the head flutter around like the lock relay was doing upon starting a game. I adjusted the switches and can't see anything wrong with them.

Sure as hell does. This is a total learn as I go project here without a doubt. Planning on messing with it some more when I get home today. Really just unsure as to why the back row of switches decided to quit working. Only thing I did was pull the pin reset motor to clean it and oul it up to eliminate a horrible sqawl it was making. As long as people keep giving me ideas to try I am convinced I will get it working again. Been giving myself a crash course on EM machines over at pinwiki also to get a better understanding of what the hell i'm doing. I can say definitely that there is no way I would have stayed in the pinball hobby if there were only EM machines. It is so much easier at least to me to work on SS technology. Of course if all you grew up on was these older machines then it's probably 2nd nature to you.

Ok so i"m kinda at a stand still right now not sure where to go. I looked at the switches in the game over relay and wasn't able to determine which contacts needed to be touching. It currently is back to tripping the game over relay as soon as a dime is dropped. Took some pics of the game over relay switches not sure these will help identify whichbones need to be making contact that currently are not.

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First thi g i did is check both vibration switches and the one is tied together and other is making good contact as well. Lock relay is not energized which is why im assuming the game over relay immediately trips when a dime is dropped.

No it isnt pulsating anymore just doesn't engage

I will hook my DMM up to it and measure voltage and report back what that reading is.

I just wish I knew what the hell I was doing then it might go faster.
I'm pretty sure if I can just alleviate the lock relay/game over relay issue then the rest will come a little easier.

Down here messing with this thing again and getting strange results. Same story drop a dime lock relay doesnt engage and game over relay trips. I took steel wool to all the contacts on the lock relay and game over plus player 1. Now if i then manually engage lock relay i can then get game over relay to push down. Also on the backglass the 9th frame is lit up now. Plus i pushed the 1 and 8 rollover switch and they engaged and raised those pins but then didnt do anything else like tell the score reels to move. I stuck my dmm on the lock relay and it was reading 4.45 volts and the game over relay is reading 6.18v1. Measured the power at the wall receptacle and it was reading 118v

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Yeah I realized it started to fragment while I was using it but it cleaned up the contacts very nicely. I hen sprayed compressed air on the contacts that I cleaned and then I vacuumed everything up also to avoid any kind of fibers that would cause a short

That is great just what I needed was a ceash course on proper relat and switch cleaning and adjusting. Thks

Yes i'm learning these things as I go. Had no idea what a stepper even was until picking up this machine. Now I know what it is just not really what its medieval looking ass does. My skills really are geared towards newer SS machines I had no previous experience with EM's before purchasing this machine. However, I do know more today about them than I did yesterday so let's call it slow progress.

Yeah definitely won't use the steel wool again I don't need any more problems rearing their ugly heads I have enough already with this machine Those are all very good tips thank you for sharing them, when you put a light coat of Grease on those stepper boards what brand of the grease are you using? When I get home this afternoon I think I'm going to go right to those steppers and give them a real good cleaning. I wiped them down initially but I'm sure they could probably use an alcohol swabbing As well. One other thing I noticed I forgot to mention is the first real in the first player in the back box it does not turn so thousands will not register. Only hundreds doubles and single digits register on the score reel.

Thks Ron i'm probably gonna order that TOP 8 video just to have on hand as it seems like a handy resource to own. I have 24 score reels and the thought of taking each one out and apart is not too apealing but I know it must be done. Hopefully tomorrow or sunday, not sure which i'm gonna take those relays all apart and throw the relay brackets in the ultrasonic cleaner.

Good stuff for sure thank you for posting those.

Well i've had family in town this weekend so very little progress has been made. Just had a bit of time to mess with it and went right to the steppers and I think I have found part of my problem. They are extremely stiff and filthy as hell and are going to all need a lot of love. I cleaned them in position with some naphtha oil and obviously gotta take them all completely apart to get all the gunk but again i'm slowly making progress.

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Very nice work. You just don't realize how much longer it takes to fix something of this John Muir of machine. With all the moving parts something that you would clean on a modern machine that would take you 10 minutes takes as stated above 30 to 45 minutes. I am planning to get to done today and I will take that as a big victory if I can get those two done

Hey Ron on that pic above of the stepper unit thats one I intend to attack today. Most of the mechanisms are very hard to engage but I noticed the tooth gear that is supposed to turn that's steps it up is not turning when I do get the mechanisms to move. Does that indicate that there could be something broken in there or that it's just that gummed up with Gunk and that hopefully when I take it all apart and clean it up today that it should go back to moving as it's designed to do so?

Ok so heres an update on a very productive day. I completely disassembled all 6 steppers in the backbox and the one below the playfield. The backbox step units are labeled: Step up unit, Star match step up unit, 0-9 match step up unit, Player "UP" step up unit, Frame step up unit and Coin step up unit. The one under the playfield is Extra Shots step up unit. All were pretty nasty and some were frozen but no longer the case. Where it stands now os powered up dime drops and pins reset and 1st up lights up in backglass. Pushing rollovers actuates the switch now and pins raise however no points are awarded and after 2 shots it doesn't reset and you can roll again. What are my next steps? Been a very positive day as far as making progress on this old girl.

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Will try all your suggestions 2morrow and report back. Fingers are pretty much spent after spending about 6hrs on the game today.

Thanks Ron been a dirty day for sure. Planning on jumping back on it 2morrow afternoon for a couple hours.

What is the best sand/wax to use on the playing surface? I see this sun glo brand but then there seem to be a bunch of different numbered containers. Is one a better fit for a Formica playfrield bowler opposed to a wooden shuffleboard type playfield? Just want to make sure i get the right type that won't do damage or be too abrasive and mess up the formica.

Hey Tim will I want to mess with these first and 2nd relays before tackling all 24 of my scoring reels? Had guests in town the last couple days so I haven't made any progress but plan on jumping back on the machine this afternoon. I know I have to do all the scoring reels anyway but wasn't sure if I should attack those or attack the relays first and wanted to allocate my time in the most effective Direction

Looks like I will be pulling score reels today

1 down 23 more to go. Geeez!

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No no it's not. Just knocked out another one that looked like someone shit on it. Everything was locked up and I think I just used half a can of naphtha in it. Everything is smooth and clean now though working as it should.

Haha I was wondering if anyone was gonna notice I took the pic b4 I put that last clip on and screwed it into place. Good eye Tim.

My goal today is to get through the other 2 score reels on player 1 and if things go good maybe 1 or 2 done on player 2.

Ok todays update and it's pretty good imo. I finished up all of player 1's score reels. Then I moved on to player 2 where I knocked out 2 more reels. My boy decided it would be fun to time me and i've got my best tume at 24 minutes a reel now lol. So far the player 2 reels are much more filthy than player 1 which was surprising. Will keep trucking along and report back what I find along the way.

I hope this isnt a stupid question and I'm hoping somebody can give me a good answer but does the whole assembly that the scoring reels screw into come out of the back box? There's like a metal latch on the side of back box that slides but I thought it said that that was for the back glass removal. It's a pain in the ass to try to take these reels out up in the air and have them dangling down by the wiring. It would be a lot easier if the whole thing came out and I could lay it on the table and do them that way. Without a manual I am reluctant to just push and pull things that I don't know what they do.

Yeah thats just it there is no room to really work on them. Hoping that it gets a little easier as I get to the lower reels and wont have to be on a stool.

Jeremy your video is what prompted me to ask the question. I saw yours fold down but I saw no hinges or anything on mi e that would alliw me to do it.

Do you mind posting any pics showing the connectors and where u got them?

Yeah I have removed those wire Staples and it has helped it would just be so much more helpful if the whole thing came out as a unit I think you could do a lot more of the reels faster if they were flat in front of you. Mine are so gunked up and Frozen I'm having to use vise grips to break some of the pivots pieces free.

Very good. Thank you

Don't have a heat gun but did try hsir dryer and it actually took longer to break loose

By the way the crud is so bad that the naptha and 90% alcohol wasn't getting the job completely done. I had picked thos stuff up to clean boards on the recommendation of @ChrisHibler and man o man it worked great.

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The head is still mounted onto the machine. I only have the 2 more reels on player 2 which are the highest. The middle and bottom reels should be much easier to access.

Ok so finished up all scoring reels in player 1 and 2 tonight. I turned it on and dropped a dime just to mess with the switches and see if things were working as they should. I was just using my hand to depress switches not sliding a puck. So of course craos messed uo why wouldn't it be right?
1st of all if you knock all pins down it's supposed to give 30 points but is giving 40 on player 1 and player 2.
2nd thing is you drop a dime and 2 players lights up and it starts on player 2.
3rd thing.. who the hell cares the 1st 2 things are jacked up enough.
Im continuing right along cleaning the scoring reels on player 3. I know your thinking i've abandoned the scoring reels @mopar but I haven't just wanted to guage my profress for functionality.

I went through every step up unit thoroughly and cleaned and made sure all fingers were making contact with the buttons on the bakelite. I will check that 10-99 relay today and see whats going on with it. Here also was the scoring rules that are on the playfield showing the 30 and not 40 points for a strike. I also cleaned all the contacts on the scoring wheel.

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I will doublecheck each one later om. Good suggestion. Thx Ron

Had some unexpected guests pop in for the weekend so haven't had a chance to mess with the machine. Hopefully I can get back to it tomorrow so I can yrll and cuss at it for not working properly

Man oh man have I mentioned how much I dislike scoring reels? Slowly but surely making progress. I've been able to get 2 more done which now has players 1-3 done. Done with it for today but will be starting on player 4 reels tomorrow. Ughh!!!

Sure glad I bought that transformable foosball table. You can play foosball and store all your pool supplies and shuffle alley supplies on it. I would really suggest everyone gets one of these multifunctional pieces of furniture

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Well my copy of TOP #8 showed up today so hopefully this will have some additional tips for me.

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Yes methodical and tedious are definitely great descriptors. I've spent about an hour today sanding switch contacts this time with no steel wool. I needed a break from those rotten ass score reels man those are annoying. They wouldn't be so bad I would think if they weren't so freaking nasty and every one of em seems to be locked up. Will get back to those score reels tomorrow though hopefully.

Turned on the machine to test my progress today after messing with the 2 steppers suggested by Mopar. When i dropped a dime to start a game all score reels reset except the 1000 reels on player 1 and player 2. Nxt thing was that the playfield switches didn't activate the pins and I thought i smelled smoke so I turned it off. I lifted the playfield up and noticed there was a small amount of smoke coming from the coil that pulls the bar down that resets the switches. I'm continuing to clean scoring reels but what would cause these new problems and what should I do to fix it?

They didn't move. I went back through those 2 steppers to make sure the switches opened and closed and switches were clean

Yep already pulled them both out and checked they are both free. Not sure why they aren't moving

Very qick. I shut it off immediately but the coil was hot as hell.

Thx Tim I will check those tomorrow. Do you think I cooked the coil or caught it in time? Guess I will set my DMM to ohms tomorrow also and see what it reads.

I did have some loose screws on a couple of them in the switch stack but all are tight now.

I went through the 1st and 2nd player switches in the backbox and sanded all contacts on that yesterday. Should be able to pinpoint it since it is affecting the same reel on both sides.

Yeah i've watched it and it did clear some things up but still definitely not everything.

I'm down here messing with it now and I decided to double check my steppers. Sure enough the Player "up" is sticking and not stepping up or resetting. I took it all back apart and put it back together and its still doing the same thing. I have counted the turns on the center toothed cog spring and its 36. One ofvthe others is at 37 and another is at 38. Does anyone know hoe many turns these are supposed to be set at?

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Is there a magic number of windings? Wasn't sure if too many would cause problems

So I used my super duper techincally advanced way of determining how many turns was on the spring in the 1st place. I use a small blade screwdriver and just start on the 1st winding dragging the screwdriver over and counting each click as it passes the high point of the winding. Its a super technical process!

Jeremy by any chance do you know exactly how many winding are on yours?

Thing is i've moved it both ways, tighten and loosen and get same results. Seemed like the one time I had it worki g as soon as i put the main nut on and tightened it up thats when it quit stepping.

Also just to be clear these steppers have already been thoroughly cleaned. All super nasty solidified grease has been removed and they are clean as a whistle.

Yes the springs are the original ones that were on it. Should these be changed and if so what size are they and where do you get them?
Also yes the plungers are free and had just a tiny amount of dry graphite dust applied to them.
All pivot pins also had dry lube applied to them as well. It appears everything is moving freely just not resetting

I have not applied any type of lube to the contact board. I guess Inwill put in an order for some of that and see if that helps things.

Ok Tim just ordered some of this it will be here tomorrow.

Man this stepper is really aggravating me I just can't seem to find the magic winding point. I dropped it to 35 windings and now it steps up just fine but when i push the top coil in to reset it nothing happens unless I physically push it down by hand. What am I missing? Tim do you really think that super lube will fix this? Really seems there isn't enough tension from 1 of those springs to pull it back to rest position.

Ok so maybe i'm not being clear to everyone but in that picture that spring is wrapped 37 times according to my bad vision and remedial math skills. I took a few windings loose and am now at 35 windings. Again it steps up fine now with no hiccups its just that it won't reset.

When u say you have only jad to wind one 4 times that's where I am getting confused

Ok thanks I will give that a shot because I was counting the total windings in the set position.

So I just tore the whole damn stepper apart yet again and then put it back together again and still have the same problem. At this point I am now seeing the light through @mopars eyes and now am convinced the lube on the rivets will help it out. The order was placed and the lube will be here tomorrow and I can't wait for it to show up so I can see if it solves the problem.

Im on the player step up now

Well this just showed up today so gonna head on down shortly and give it a go.

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Ok Tim you get 2 cheers. Just finished applying grease to every stepper board in the game and now they all 2 step and doh-see-doh just like they are supposed to do. Now it's back to those dirty ass score reels.

So with my steppers working as they should I wanted to power up the machine to see where I was with it. Tim I know you don't power them up till 100% of cleaning is done but i'm the kind that has to physically see progress to stay motivated. So i gave her some juice and fed her a nicy shiny dime. The reset bar slams down to reset the switches and stays locked on so i turn it off immediately. Also those 1000 point reels on player 1 and player 2 are still not moving and are stuck at 5k and 8k. I will continue cleaning scoring reels but wanted to know where to go with these issues?

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At this point going to the bar may be more productive

Are we talking bout doing this with the game just powered up or a dime dropped?

When i power the machine up all is good. Without attempting to start a game if I manually engage the coin relay the score motor starts turning. When it completes its revolution which ixm not sure it actually completes it bases on the yellow line on the cam and the switch it looks like its just short of completion. Also when it finishes the coil engages and slams down the arm on the switch bank to reset and then it just locks on and I have to shut it down qu8ckly.quickly

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Here are the 3 different stickers on the score motor

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Here are all the switches on the score motor

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I borrowed one of my wifes fingernail file boards and got in there and sanded every one of the contacts on the scoring wheel switches. After that I went back through with alcohol on a q-tip and cleaned each one also.

Will do and report back my findings

Not sure what I am missing here. I have watched every switch open and close multiple times while spinning the score motor by hand. Every switch opens and closes as it should. ????

Thanks Tim I will investigate this lead today and hopefully report back with good news. Does this set of switches and the whole score motor assembly have anything to do with the 1000 score reels in player 1 and 2 not resetting also or is that a whole different issue to address next?

Here is what I am seeing. When game is started the Extra shots unit reset relay is going crazy as the score wheel is turning. The reset coil energizes and slams down and locks on while the extra shots relay is still moving. When I went around to the backbox I noticed the 1st and 2nd player reset player was going crazy as well as the 5th and 6th player relay but but the 3rd and 4th relay wasn't moving at all. Went back around to the coffin to watch the relays again and realized the lock relay isn't energized at all. The score motor also is still not fully resetting back to the yellow mark. I have looked at all the switches and they are all breaking when they should and coming back together when they should.

Yeah you would think something like that would be noticeable but I will doublecheck it.

Man thats no good going into the weekend with no lube..

Picked this up for the pins Tim I hope this is the same stuff you were using to repair them.

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I'm at total loss at this point. I have looked at every switch on the score motor at least 10 times. When they hit the notch on the cam they open and then close again as they should when coming up out of the notch. All switches are tight with no loose screws and all have been cleaned. The problem I am immediately seeing is that the lock relay isn't engaging but the slam tilt is engaged and the missing tilts wires are all tied together making good contact. The same thing is happening when started the score motor turns but gets to the very last point before hitting the yellow line and the coil arm engages slams down and locks on. I can then manually turn the score motor over the last tooth and then the coil retracts. However without the lock relay engaged the game is still not in game mode. Here are open and close pics of every switch as well.

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The first and second pics are of the 4th position switches I just included one pic showing the switch is open and one pic showing the switches are closed of each set of switches

Man i hate cleaning score reels. Tooth brush these bastards with naptha then alcohol. Clean as a whistle though when you get done. No sense half assing it!

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Thanks Ron. Crazy how much time you have to dedicate to cleaning these things. Pretty sure i've got my cleaning routine down to a fine art now though. Just have player 5 and player 6 to get through now.

Wowwee!! Very productive day today I finished up player 4 and player 5 of score reels. Hopefully can knock out some of player 6 tomorrow. @Mopar I haven't messed with that score motor switch anymore I figured I would wait to turn it on again until after the score reels are completely done.