New Machine Trouble

OP
Quoted from thegeekygeek:
I need to start off by saying I know nothing about pinball machines, but I’ve played them almost all my life for fun. I recently bought a machine from a friend selling at a good price. It is a Gottlieb “Tee’d Off” Machine.
Today, I was playing it when the ball got stuck in one of the little flaps. I couldn’t get it out, so I turned off the game, unplugged it, removed the glass, and got the ball out. When I plugged it back in, all that would turn on were the lights. The score screen wouldn’t light up, and the speakers made a funny whirring noise. I’m not sure what exactly happened here, but any help would be greatly appreciated to figure out what happened!
Thanks.

Please elaborate on “one of the little flaps”. Maybe post a pic or multiple. It’s been a while since I worked on a GTb System 3, but if a solenoid stuck and shorted a FET and blew a fuse, it’s not likely that it wouldn’t boot after, though some System 3 games we owned over the years would burn holes in the driver boards when the FETs would short

#3 5 years ago

???

thegeekygeek

Inactive member

Quoted from ryanbrooks:
Please elaborate on “one of the little flaps”. Maybe post a pic or multiple. It’s been a while since I worked on a GTb System 3, but if a solenoid stuck and shorted a FET and blew a fuse, it’s not likely that it wouldn’t boot after, though some System 3 games we owned over the years would burn holes in the driver boards when the FETs would short

Sorry for not elaborating. As you can probably tell, I’m not too familiar with the terminology. Here’s a photo where it got stuck. (In the little yellow “coconut” flaps).

68D608D1-F36F-4062-921A-54C93A824C70 (resized).jpeg

#4 5 years ago

ROB

RCA1

Pinside+ Addict

St Joseph, MI

11y 128K 8,675 28 11

Those are drop targets.
Not that familiar with Gottlieb System 3 myself, but did you put the stuck ball back in? Game might not boot up if it thinks a ball is missing.
BTW - Turn off an unplug is always the right way to troubleshoot when you are not sure what's going on.

#5 5 years ago

ZAP

ryanbrooks

Pinside+ Addict

Looks like you have a broken drop target that I suppose could’ve jammed up the solenoid and blown the FET then fuse.

Gottlieb Sys3 will usually boot, then say “Ball Missing” or something of the sort.

You’re going to need a few things it do some troubleshooting. If you’re up to it, everyone here is usually more than ready to aide and offer insights.

First, get the owners manual if you don’t have it.

Second, get a digital multimeter. Use it to check all the fuses under the playfield. There’s 8-10 on the power supply in the bottom of the cabinet and there’s 6-8 more near the trough on the bottom of the playfield. Do a simple continuity check (hold the leads together and the meter beeps) and check the fuses. You may have one that’s blown such as “Solenoid Power” “Solenoid Secondary” etc. I’ll have to dig up a Sys3 manual when I get to the shop.

If ones blown, replace it, and disconnect the drop target coil and see if the machine boots. Great thing is, Sys3 games have connectors for all the solenoids so it’s easy to disconnect the coil.

If the game boots, you’ll need a driver board repair. If the game doesn’t, you have more going on that will require more extensive troubleshooting.

Disclose your location and perhaps you will have a fellow pinsider close that will volunteer to come take a look.

#6 5 years ago

???

thegeekygeek

Inactive member

Quoted from RCA1:
Those are drop targets.
Not that familiar with Gottlieb System 3 myself, but did you put the stuck ball back in? Game might not boot up if it thinks a ball is missing.
BTW - Turn off an unplug is always the right way to troubleshoot when you are not sure what's going on.

Yep, I just let the ball slide back down into the ball return.

#7 5 years ago

???

thegeekygeek

Inactive member

Quoted from ryanbrooks:
Looks like you have a broken drop target that I suppose could’ve jammed up the solenoid and blown the FET then fuse.
Gottlieb Sys3 will usually boot, then say “Ball Missing” or something of the sort.
You’re going to need a few things it do some troubleshooting. If you’re up to it, everyone here is usually more than ready to aide and offer insights.
First, get the owners manual if you don’t have it.
Second, get a digital multimeter. Use it to check all the fuses under the playfield. There’s 8-10 on the power supply in the bottom of the cabinet and there’s 6-8 more near the trough on the bottom of the playfield. Do a simple continuity check (hold the leads together and the meter beeps) and check the fuses. You may have one that’s blown such as “Solenoid Power” “Solenoid Secondary” etc. I’ll have to dig up a Sys3 manual when I get to the shop.
If ones blown, replace it, and disconnect the drop target coil and see if the machine boots. Great thing is, Sys3 games have connectors for all the solenoids so it’s easy to disconnect the coil.
If the game boots, you’ll need a driver board repair. If the game doesn’t, you have more going on that will require more extensive troubleshooting.
Disclose your location and perhaps you will have a fellow pinsider close that will volunteer to come take a look.

Okay, thank you! What do I remove to get to the wires inside?

#8 5 years ago

WFC

Billc479

Pinside+ Frequent

Pleasant Plains, IL

9y 79,800 3,127 15

Geekygeek -
You need to open the coin door, and above the door, usually on the right hand side as you're facing the machine, you will find a lever. Slide (pull) that lever to the left. Once you have the lever moved over, you should be able to remove the piece of metal on the top of the machine (Lock down bar) above the coin door. With that removed, you will slide the glass down, or IT MAY SLIDE DOWN BY ITSELF - be prepared. Once the glass is removed, set the glass down carefully - I prefer a piece of carpet or something that is not concrete. If you set the tempered glass down on concrete, and don't put it down square, you risk a chance of the tempered glass shattering.

Once the glass is removed, grasp the center of the apron (where the ball goes after it gets past the flippers) and lift. You will find a rod on the inside of the cabinet - the loose end goes into a depression on the underside of the playfield to hold it up.

Please look for videos showing someone opening up this machine - it will help. Also, as Ryan suggested, disclose your location - hopefully there is a fellow Pinsider nearby who can help you through this stuff. I'm not trying to be snarky, but since you're obviously new to pinball, please seek out help before you hurt yourself or cause damage to your machine.

Let us know and welcome to the wonderful world of pinball.

#9 5 years ago

ZAP

ryanbrooks

Pinside+ Addict

Anyway the interlock switch isn’t depressed fully?

#10 5 years ago

BMC

athens95

McCullough Amusements

Cincinnati, OH

10y 57,900 360 52

The problem you have is probably with the CPU. It’s a funny one and I have seen it like 10 times. As these games get older more and more have this problem.
I will describe

Game turns on when cold no issue. But if you turn off and back on while warm it will not power up. Display might flicker might now. But a clicking annoying sound from the speakers. If you let the game cool off for several hours or more it will turn on and play fine.
If this is what you have it’s a CPU problem. More and more system 3 games are seeing this as they age.

#11 5 years ago

ZAP

ryanbrooks

Pinside+ Addict

Quoted from athens95:
The problem you have is probably with the CPU. It’s a funny one and I have seen it like 10 times. As these games get older more and more have this problem.
I will describe
Game turns on when cold no issue. But if you turn off and back on while warm it will not power up. Display might flicker might now. But a clicking annoying sound from the speakers. If you let the game cool off for several hours or more it will turn on and play fine.
If this is what you have it’s a CPU problem. More and more system 3 games are seeing this as they age.

What is the solution?

#12 5 years ago

???

thegeekygeek

Inactive member

Quoted from ryanbrooks:
Anyway the interlock switch isn’t depressed fully?

Hi, sorry for the delayed reply. Is the interlock switch the silver one that holds the glass in? Sorry, I’m not quite sure what that is.

#13 5 years ago

JPB

WolfManCat

Flip OFF!

7y 103K 897 30 1

OP
Quoted from thegeekygeek:
Hi, sorry for the delayed reply. Is the interlock switch the silver one that holds the glass in? Sorry, I’m not quite sure what that is.

Look for a button that is pressed in when the coin door is shut. It's usually located on the left hand side of the coin door, inside the cabinet.

#14 5 years ago

???

thegeekygeek

Inactive member

Quoted from WolfManCat:
Look for a button that is pressed in when the coin door is shut. It's usually located on the left hand side of the coin door, inside the cabinet.

Just found it. It wasn’t pressed down all the way.

#15 5 years ago

ZAP

ryanbrooks

Pinside+ Addict

OP
Quoted from thegeekygeek:
Just found it. It wasn’t pressed down all the way.

Good deal. What’s up on the broken drop target?

#16 5 years ago

???

thegeekygeek

Inactive member

Quoted from ryanbrooks:
Good deal. What’s up on the broken drop target?

I’m not sure if it’s broken or not. I replaced three fuses that had been blown (pic included of the bottom fuses), and it still won’t work. I also included a pic of the drop target.

61A1DD7B-4DE0-4A5B-AFD1-C6B6769BAE68 (resized).jpeg

71480C43-C302-41EA-A48D-2C474F57FE71 (resized).jpeg

#17 5 years ago

ZAP

ryanbrooks

Pinside+ Addict

Was F7 blown? Looks like the assembly is missing some screws and the coil looks a bit swollen. You’re definitely missing a drop target

#18 5 years ago

???

thegeekygeek

Inactive member