Picked up a Space Odyssey quite some time ago. Overall good condition. Bought a repro backglass and plastics at TPF and picked up some new legs from PBR. It's been sitting and I decided to get off my ass and try to get it running. I have very little EM experience so we shall see how this goes.

First up - score reels.

Pulled apart the first one, it was all gummed up and there was a broken trace on the circuit board. The position switches were hammered as well. Fortunately I picked up a couple donor Darlings last week for parts. Replaced the switches and the board, cleaned and lubed. Should work much better.

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So I got player 1 score reels all cleaned. For the hell of it I wanted to see if they reset. Turned the game on, pressed start and they all reset to 0. The score motor kept running and the rely that kicks the ball into play kept pulsing. Moved to the ball count unit. It didn't reset smoothly if at all. Cleaned and applied super lube now it works like a champ.

Now onto the constant relay pulsing and score motor running. I cleaned and lube the bonus unit and it counts down like it should. I looked at the schematics and I do find them a bit confusing. Did a search here on Pinside and Stevefury had some great explanations on how things work. The bonus unit counts down, then bumps to 1000 at the start of a game. Mine would count down but not step back to 1000. I reset it to 1000 manually and the score motor stopped and so did the relay. The coil that controls the bonus step up is toast. Anyone know what coil it is?

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Thanks, found it and replaced it as well as repaired some burnt wiring. Now the machine completes the reset sequence. The bonus step up coil gets locked on when test playing so it won't advance the bonus and explains the burnt coil. Now to find the cause. Any ideas?

That's kind of what I figured. I will clean the 2 player score reels, the swinging target unit as its gummed up then back to the bonus issue. Thanks!

So I cleaned the swinging target assembly and did some testing.

The game now resets and starts a game and somewhat plays. I couldn't get the bonus advance coil to lock on again and repeatedly hit switches that advance bonus. It has definite scoring issues. Sometimes things will score and other times they won't. The 10 point switches always score, but don't carry over on the reels. The pop bumpers, spinner, swinging target and some other switches score intermittently. Working great one second then not scoring at all. The swinging target always seems to advance bonus but not score. More inspection and switch cleanings are in order.

Feels good to be able to sort of play a game, hard to say how long it's been since it's had any life.

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The carry over from the 10 point reel to the 100 point reel was just an adjustment so it's working. The 100 point switches are sometimes working then they stop. The 100 point really is sticking on. I assume I'm looking for a 100 point switch that is sticking or stuck. It seems random when it locks on whether it's a rollover, pop bumper or spinner.

Fixed the 100 point issue and relay getting stuck. Now everything scores as it should except the 5000 point. Sometimes it gives 2000 sometimes 3000. It is intermittent pulsing the 1000 point score relay. Any ideas?

Another issue I've noticed is when you hit the swinging target, it advances more than 1 step. It's goes 2 at least. Observing it, it looks like the coil pulls in too far. If I pull it by hand it advances once. Not sure about that problem

Here is a video of the stepper while tripping the swinging target.

It is only supposed to advance once. The lights on top by the target change 1 position to the right each time the target is hit in videos of the gameplay I've seen. I have a parts space mission body, maybe I'll rob the stepper off of it and see how it works. I will inspect this more and report back. Thanks.

So I found my stepper problem. I removed some parts from my parts game and compared them to what I have in my game. It seems that someone in the past replaced the coil on the stepper and put in the wrong plunger. Put in the right one and it steps as it should. It's now playing about 95%. I am still having an intermittent 5000 point scoring issue to deal with. Then on to light sockets.

Thanks Steve, I appreciate any and all help.

I think your reset problems may all be score reel problems. Mine was a simple cleaning and adjustment to get it to carry over. So far on my socket issues I've had problems with the bulbs over the score reels. The sockets would easily rotate and had poor ground connections. I sanded and soldered the base directly to the bracket and those are solid now.

Some of my sockets under the playfield I am just going to replace as they have corrosion and I don't want the headache of dealing with them.

Ive enjoyed the process even though it's been a bit frustrating as well. Lots of good people to help which makes it so much more enjoyable.

It's still intermittent with the 5000 point scoring as well as the bonus countdown. Sometimes it's spot on and other times it's off a couple thousand. I'm leaning towards a 1000point relay problem since that's what they both have in common. Haven't messed with it yet. I wasn't getting any match numbers so I cleaned up the circuit boards on the match unit and now the lights work. Not sure about the actual match or if the knocker works yet. At least progress is being made.

So tonight I realized the match unit was not stepping at all. It was getting voltage and a pulse when the score motor ran. Had no impedance on the terminals. Pulled the cool and found the wire from the terminal to the coil had broken. Re soldered it and now the match unit spins and the match and knocker are working. I noticed the change relay that triggers off of the match unit wasn't activating either. A quick switch clean and adjustment and now that's working. So the only thing at this point that I can find not working is the 5000 point is inconsistent and the bonus sometimes scores short as well. I think they are related. Well besides the bad light sockets.

When I watch the 1000 point relay and hit a 5000 point target, it more often than not pulses 5 times but others only 2 or 3. What controls this? Where are the pulses generated? I get if a 1000 point target is hit it pulses once, but not sure how the 5 work.

I think you're right. I looked through the schematic and it pulses from the impulse cam. I think it may just be a dirty contact there. Have to check it tomorrow. The 5000 point relay seems to hold long enough but the 1000 point stutters. It's all starting to make more sense to me, which is a far cry from when I started. Thanks for the help.

So I cleaned the switch at the stack on the score motor that pulses the 1000 point relay. Same problem. The hold relay for the 5000 point holds the whole time while the score motor does its half turn. At this point I am going to replace the coil on the 1000 point relay and see if it changes anything. It's the only other thing I can think of.

Problem solved. The switch stack on the score motor impulse cam were slightly out of alignment. Straightened it out, re tightened and it scores the 5000 point every time and now counts down the bonus accurately.

As far as gameplay it seems to be 100% working. Now onto flaky sockets, flipper rebuilds, cleaning, waxing etc etc. If all goes well I will bring it to TPF this year, maybe even have the cabinet painted and stenciled by then.

Thanks for all the help!

I checked the tightness and it was fine, in fact all have been tight. I just didn't notice the slight out of alignment. I still have to get prospector going again as well. Fun times.

Stripped the playfield this morning. Let the cleaning begin.

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Got the playfield cleaned with Naptha. Cleaned up fairly well, polished with novus2 and waxed. Started reassembly, just waitin for Titan to have 5/16 rings back in stock to move forward. I have a donor Space Mission playfield I may try to restore and clear and use it for a swap for this game. That would be a long way off though.

I'll take some pics soon. The playfield is pretty nice, but I would be much better if I used a Magic Eraser to get the top coat off, fix the cupped inserts, touch up the few minor areas that need it and clear coat it so it plays like new. I'm ok with it the way it is now, it would just be better with some more work. I figured I could use the other playfield to restore since I've never done it before. If I screw the pooch, no big deal.

The touch up is mostly around the inserts. I found the problem with the swinging target jumping 2 spaces. I pulled apart the target stepper of a parts playfield and noticed the plunger was different. Put in the other and now it's stepping like it should.

It should. I won't have the cabinet repainted, but at least it has new legs, plastics and back glass. I'm just waiting on Titan to have 5/16 white rubber back in stock then I can finish putting it back together and hope it still works.

Got my Titan order in so its back to work. Not too much left.

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So today was very frustrating. I assumed I'd have a couple issues when I fired it up, but I had several. No ball count lights, no player lights, no player can play lights, bonus sticking, swinging target wedging under the plastic, switches too touchy, etc etc etc.

I was able to work through all the problems and it now seems to be working. I've played several games and so far all is well. A little more cabinet cleaning, replacing the flipper and start buttons and replacing and adjusting the flipper eos switches and it should be good. As long as it goes working it will be at TPF.

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