I have a few problems and I have no clue where to begin. I have schematics & manual but need help understanding what I'm looking at. Here are the problems so far:

1. player 2 ones score reel doesn't reset. The reel scores properly and advances to tens during the game - it just won't reset. I've checked the reel mechanism, and it does move the switches properly when advancing each number. The player 2&5 reset switches seems to work properly as well.

2. backbox light sockets are loose and don't always light up properly. Example, there's a light to indicate when a player has a strike. The light sometimes flashes and then goes out for player one. Occasionally, the light will go back on when the player switches. The backbox lights also flicker off occasionally when scores are tallying. This leads me to believe there are one or more loose connections, but I don't know if that's the right thing to look for. Trying to find one or more loose connections seems a little overwhelming at this point.

3. It looks like some previous owner/tech jumped 2 fuse sockets together and removed one of the fuses. I don't know enough about how these things work to know if this is a problem but it doesn't seem like a good idea. On the other hand, the machine is generally working. . .

Pics are attached. Any help is greatly appreciated. I haven't been able to find much here or on the web about this particular machine.

Thanks!
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Thanks for the quick reply. The run-out switch on the 2nd player 1s reel does open correctly only when the reel is on zero (I took the reel apart last night and re-assembled, and confirmed by manually advancing the reel. I also note that the reels score properly in-game). The reset relay switches also appear to be clean and adjusted properly but I'll check that again. If both of these are as they should be, is there anywhere else to look for problems?

As for the lights, they are not supposed to be flashing. They're supposed to be constant. Whenever there's a burst of power (i.e. when the machine shifts players, or when the machine is running through its scoring routine) they will often quickly go on and then immediately turn off (one time, not flashing). Example, player 1 scores a strike. The strike light will often quickly come on and then immediately shut off as if the light switch was turned off when the machine shifts to player 2. Sometimes the light will come back on and stay until the machine comes back around to player 1. Sometimes it will stay off. There's no rhyme or reason that I can tell.

Thanks. I was hoping you would say that the light issue is likely the result of these dodgy loose Bally light sockets, and that you'd have some genius and simple way to tighten and make them more reliable

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i went back and re-adjusted the score reel switches and now they are resetting correctly. New problem is that after 4 or 5 frames, the game goes haywire and gets stuck on one frame, only gives one puck per person, starts randomly scoring strikes, etc. I assume there's a problem with one of the steppers- maybe a dirty contact?

On this shuffle bowler, the pin holder has bulbs around its perimeter (see arrows) plus one bulb that is labeled "shoot." I can't identify anything on the schematic that seems specific to these bulbs, so I'm assuming that these are considered "general illumination."

Only 2 of the bulbs light up (I've replaced all bulbs with new bulbs). I haven't traced the wires yet but I can confirm that the 2 lit bulbs are wired with different colored wire than the others. I don't understand why they're not all on the same circuit/wire. I also don't know when/why the "shoot" light is supposed to be lit.

If anyone has any insight I would greatly appreciate it. I'm trying to go through the whole machine to fix all of the little issues but the number of relays, discs, and switches is really overwhelming me at the moment.

Thanks

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Thanks Mopar. I do have the schematic (posted above in this thread). If I look at the 4th picture I posted above, upper left corner there is a "shoot lites" on the schematic, with a line running through a switch on the score motor as you suggested. Based on this, I assume I need to trace the wires from the lights back to the score motor to determine which switch they're connected to, and then determine if that switch is clean, energized, etc.?

Thanks much, this is a huge help!

Will do

I think part of the flakiness with this machine may be due to the director unit. It’s always just off the rivets. Is there an easy way to adjust? They definitely didn’t make these easy to remove.

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Got it, thanks. Fixed that.

Made great progress today.

Figured out that the other lights above the pins were dark because the jones plug they pass through was loose or dirty. Fixed that.

Discovered that this machine has a chime and fixed that (the solenoid was stuck).

Last (maybe final) issue is the various lights for strikes, spares, and frames. The wipers and contacts on the frame relay are clean and making good contact. The wires for the frame lights are all soldered well but they sometimes are on, sometimes off. I assume that something they're passing through (besides the frame relay unit) is loose or not making good connections.

Thanks again Mopar. You keep pushing me along

With regard to the frame light issue, I’ve identified the correct wiper that lights up the light and made sure that all rivets are clean and that the wiper is making good contact. However, there are still intermittent times when the light doesn’t light up, or lights up and then goes out. I’ve also checked the solder connection to the light socket. That is good and tight. Therefore, I think there may be some issue between the frame unit and the light sockets. I’ve started trying to jumper between the frame unit and the light sockets, and now I’ll just have to explore the schematic to see if I can figure out all of the through points. I would love to just pull all of the wire ties off and trace the wires, but I don’t want to make a mess unnecessarily.

After cleaning and tightening the frame unit, a new problem arose - if I start a 1 player game, sometimes the machine will automatically add players 2-6 somewhere in the middle of the game. It’s random. I’ve checked the coin unit and that stays on the 1 player setting, so something must be incorrectly energizing the player up coil. That’s my latest issue.

Still struggling with this one. I finally have all of the lights lighting up when they're supposed to, chime ringing, etc.

Latest Problem - my frame unit skips around. I'll play 2 or 3 frames, and everything will work properly, but then randomly on the 4th frame (or the 6th or 7th or 8th) the frame unit will skip back to 1 or some other earlier frame. It's random.

When I manually flip the double mark switch to end a player's turn, the frame unit progresses properly. When I manually press the frame unit solenoids, the frame unit moves easily and correctly. Wipers are clean and making good contact at every frame. I've tried watching various switches while my daughter launches pucks, but I can't figure out what's happening when the frame unit skips backwards.

Any ideas for this one?

Merry Christmas everyone!

So I tried the bulb tester across both terminals on the frame reset coil and. . .blew a 50v fuse. I only used one bulb - guess I should have used 2? Anyway, now I'm dead in the water until I get more fuses.

got it - picking up fuses in the morning. I have some automotive bulbs I can string together for this

I've made some progress since my last post but I still have issues. I will post back with a list of the issues I'm still dealing with (most occur only after I add a player)