Klondike
Williams, 1971I rebuilt the ball count unit on a Williams Klondike and now I get a random ball count. Usually it indicates 1 ball to play, sometimes it'll be 2, occasionally 3 or 4 or very rarely 5. Is there anything else I need to look at besides the ball count unit? Could it relate to the number of turns of the centre spring being too tightly wound(I wound it 5 times), also I replaced the 3 springs and they're a bit tighter. All the wiring is good and the coils too.
Quoted from Odessa:Could it relate to the number of turns of the centre spring being too tightly wound(I wound it 5 times)
Yes it can cause that. 
Its a fine line between too much and too little. Try 2-3 turns and go from there.
I wound the spring back to 3. The next few games started with 3, 1, 7 then back to 1 ball again. It's never started with 7 before, wouldn't mind that every time!
Stepper unit is worn out, or the spring is sluggish, if you look at the coil during reset does it make 5 steps? It's the spring that pulls the step-up coil back into position, or the arm is sticking, clean and (lightly) lubricate it.
Quoted from Odessa:I rebuilt the ball count unit on a Williams Klondike and now I get a random ball count. Usually it indicates 1 ball to play, sometimes it'll be 2, occasionally 3 or 4 or very rarely 5.
Hmm... I don't understand the symptoms. When you say "1 ball to play" do you mean the machine will reset a game and sometimes start on ball 2,3,4 or very rarely 5 for the first ball? How does a machine indicate ball 7?
It was general maintenance time for my Space Mission last month so I serviced all the steppers. That means general inspection, removal of the rotors, cleaning the 1yr old lithium grease from the rivets and shoes, re-application and reassembly. A drop of oil in very specific places.
When I put the rotor back on and tested, the machine intermittently over-skipped a ratchet cog. The result was skipping a player. For example a 4 player game would be players 1,3 and 4 for a ball... skipping player 2. The fix was to wind the shaft's reset spring one more turn.
Oh, Klondike looks like a fun game to play!
I have worked on one of these for a neighbor. This is an "add a ball" machine. It starts at ball 5 and counts down as balls drain or up as you earn extra balls. I believe that it can go up to 9 balls. I had exactly the same problem and it turned out to be a sticky pivot point in the ball count unit. Does the unit perform normally when you manually advance and decrease the ball count?
You might want to look through these threads. Lots of information on the ball count unit.
http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/williams-klondike-startup-problem
Quoted from SteveFury:Hmm... I don't understand the symptoms. When you say "1 ball to play" do you mean the machine will reset a game and sometimes start on ball 2,3,4 or very rarely 5 for the first ball? How does a machine indicate ball 7?
It counts down from 5 to 1, unlike my Gottlieb that indicates at startup ball 1 and goes to ball 5. It will indicate on startup 1 ball left to play usually, maybe 2 or 3 and as an add a ball machine it registers up to 9 balls to play but has only gone as high as 7.
Quoted from pabilo21:I had exactly the same problem and it turned out to be a sticky pivot point in the ball count unit. Does the unit perform normally when you manually advance and decrease the ball count?
It usually performs normally, but occasionally it will stick when manually advancing the stepper. I will check those pivot points, perhaps I've over tightened one of them. I'll let you guys know how I get on. I appreciate the help.
Quoted from bonzo71:For williams stepper pivot points that were Really Bad, I've had good results with brakleen disk break cleaner. Use a rag behind the pivot point to prevent over spray.
I'll try that, I've got some disk brake cleaner around her somewhere.
Quoted from SteveFury:How does a machine indicate ball 7?
Klondike will count up to 9 balls and display them on the backglass.
See this video I shot a while ago. This is a Klondike Ball Count Unit. Maybe there is something in there that will help.
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Sunbury, PA
's-heer Hendrikskinderen