I would clean the contacts to start with

So the schematic is confusing, until you realize that these are trip/latch style relays.

Hitting the switch should energize (trip) the corresponding relay.

Power is fed to energize the relay through one of its own switches. If that switch is opening too early, the relay may not energize sufficiently to trip it. Inspect that switch too and make sure it is not opening too early.

So for example, in the schematic above, relay 2 is energized though its own switch and the target switch. When the relay trips, the switch opens and power to the relay is cut. But it doesn’t need power as now it is tripped and will stay in that position until reset.

^ In addition to the solid advice above, I would clean the switches on the relay. Use some 400 grit sandpaper or a dremel brush and follow up with an isopropyl alcohol swabbing to make sure they are clean. Sometimes you need to sand a bit on the metal plate pulled in by the relay coil. They can get pitted and not make solid contact when the coil is energized.

You may also need to adjust the target switch blades so they remain closed for as long as possible on a hit, without spurious closures.

I would *not* use sandpaper for an EM, it will leave non-conductive residue behind from the abrasives. Use a very fine metal file like one specifically designed for pinball switches, or a fine metal-only nail file or one used to clean the points in an older car's distributor. Plus they are better for filing thru points that are burned/pitted. Applies to any switches in the machine.

Many times I have encountered a similar situation and it turned out the rivet had carbonized or became loose in the leaf blade itself. I solder the back of it to make a solid connection.

Your contacts are probably clean enough by now. I would adjust the back switch to have the tiniest gap possible without it firing accidentally from vibration.

So if you trip the relay by hand, do the lights and score work correctly?

No contact cleaner. Please. Perhaps a little squirt on a point file or a business card to clean the points.

Do all the standup targets malfunction the same? Or just some?

Yes, in all likelihood a little adjustment may be all you need. Those double switches are a little finicky to get setup initially. I use a Dremel 443 wire brush on mine, get them nice and clean, adjusted right and you should be in business.

This might be an electrical resistance problem. Thinking it would be a dirty switch/ adjustment issue if it was happening to one or two of the targets. But, if it's happening to all the targets, it might be a circuit issue. Did you look at one of the target relays when you were pressing on its related target. When you push on the target with good force, the target switch will send power to the target relay coil. This will move the relay into the second position and latch it into place, and it will close the playfield insert light switches on the relay. Pressing on the target lightly will send power to the target relay coil, it might might move the relay, but is it sending enough power to the target relay coil to get it to move the relay and latch it? Wondering if this circuit has a Jones plug in it. Are the target relays mounted on the underside of the playfield?

I wouldn't even use it on a file, you don't want anything sticking to the points and attracting crud.

The two sets of points should be very close to each other. Many times, a light hit only activated the first set of points. Continuous hits bend them. On my Spanish Eyes, it was most prevalent on the 5 and 6 targets as they can get whacked pretty hard. Adjusting the target face straight up, then adjusting the points fixed my problem.

Reminds me, I miss my Spanish Eyes…

Try banging on the playfield with your fist and see if you can get any 10 pt scoring to trigger like one of the other pops, the 100 pop may be doing it from vibration of a switch that is gapped too close somewhere. Check sw gap on the outhole too.

Me too, and it's been gone about half my life!

Usually not too much. Bigger problem is when you get a game and somebody had decided to 'adjust' every other switch in the game by eyeball when they were perfectly fine. Same with filing/cleaning every switch in the game, likely to cause more problems than leaving them alone and only doing that to switches that are determined to be causing a problem. The points develop oxide on them but it is just as conductive as the metal itself.

Also switch stack screws work loose, fiber spacers shrink, etc. I'm curious how reliable Godzillas will be in 2072 compared to your Spanish Eyes.

Can you elaborate? What are the contacts made of and what oxides can form?

/Mark

Silver oxide — mentioned in Clay’s guide —

Silver oxide is the black dust normally seen on switch contacts (the black dust is not necessarily a bad thing).

The contact points slightly overlap. So, when you play the game the contacts don’t just touch, the overlapping motion self cleans them. So yes, playing it more helps make it more reliable.

Thanks for this post killerrobots, I am having the exact same issue with my Spanish Eyes with numbers 1 thru 6, I will work on it next week with the suggestion posted on this thread and try to correct my issues.

So, how do you like it?

I haven't had the chance to play one but am very curious due to the table layout. Arwork aside

It is a unique game and one day I'll get one. Enjoy it, great player.

I'm a fan of the 70's era EM's, too many pins out there and not enough room, money or time

Hi killerrobots, I had this exact same issue with my Spanish Eyes, I cleaned all the switches and ensured they were adjusted close enough and both would make contact when the switch was depressed. I grew frustrated as it didn't help at all, I would hold down the switch and sometimes it would work, but mostly it did not. I used this threaded to help solve my problem with limited success. I figured there had to be something else. What worked for me after many months of trial and error, thought and procrastination was:

Underneath the playfield there are a bank of relays for A,B,C,D,E and 1,2,3,4,5,6, My A thru E relays worked propery so I focused on the 1 thru 6 relays. I cleaned the relay that the metal lever magnetizes too, as well as the pivot point for this lever, I removed this metal lever, cleaned it with rubbing alcohol and a small wire brush and regreased with a very small amount of synthetic grease, I also cleaned and greased the surfaces that had metal to metal contact (pivot point). I did this one by one. Once completed I could not believe the performance of the switches, it worked perfectly each and every time the switch was lightly depressed. No for frustraction as the problem is now fixed. hope this helps.