I have two Square Head machines; one working, one won't start. I figured I could use the working one for comparison of switch positions, but that hasn't worked for me. Score motor and relay switch positions appear identical between machines, but apparently they are not. Also some are buried and hard to see so I'm not sure if they are the same.

The score motor runs nonstop when I push the added-on door switch button. The S relay kicks on and the R (hold) relay locks on. That's it. The score reels and ball count unit don't try to reset. T and D (tilt and reset) units don't activate. The 20 bank relay unit does not try to reset.

IF i manually move the ball count unit to 5 balls the score motor stops running and the game plays - flippers, bumpers, all scoring/score reels works properly. But if a free ball should be earned by 1,000 points or going down a lit side alley or gobble hole, the ball count unit does not add a ball. When the ball drains a ball is not subtracted.

The 9th position and 0 switches open and close properly in the score reels. Setting the ball count unit to 0 balls opens its zero switch.

The tilt switch under the playfield had been rigged always open by a previous owner. I don't think that's a problem since it's locked open and should be open anyway. I'll put that back to original later.

I've checked the white-blue-red wire from motor switch 2C to the D relay and B relay and the solder connections are solid.

I have a very limited ability to read schematics and am a bit hazy on how to jumper connections, so please keep that in mind if you have suggestions. I'll include the bottom part of the schematics. I've looked in all forum posts for all 1963 Gottlieb games and couldn't find a post addressing the problem. Let me know what other information or pictures are needed - I'm stuck home now like everybody else an have lots of lots of free time!

ScoreMotor (resized).JPG

StartUpSchematics (resized).JPG

TiltSwitch (resized).JPG

Fuses are good, all Jones plugs cleaned twice.

Hmmm. I may be in over my pretty much rookie head! Let me look around for a while and think, then get back. First thing is to download the instruction manual for my multimeter. I do have a red white wire located at the 10 amp fuse picture 1. I see it again at the ball count unit zero switch with the yellow red, at least I think so, picture 2. So I should basically see if there is continuity across the switch red/white to red/yellow blade at the ball count unit when closed at zero balls to play? Excuse me for being so painfully slow on this. Henry

But I note that the ball count unit does not activate and count down to close the zero switch. Yikes!

I have to do that manually

Okay, starting to make more sense. Have to work on it today and tomorrow. Seem to lose continuity when I make the 1000s reel read other than the number zero.

I'm a bit lost:If I connect from the red-white wire at the ball count unit (in the zero position) to the red-yellow at the 1000s reel the meter reads under 1.
With the score reel at number zero, move probe to the orange-white-red on the 1000s reel and the meter reads under 1. Good so far. But when I change the reel off of zero (To number 1, 2, etc) and put the probe on the orange-white-red the meter reads 0.L which to me means no continuity, open line.

With all score reels at the zero position if I connect the red-white at the ball count unit at the zero position to motor 2B brown-white-red, the meter reads less than 1. So it seems it's continuous from the ball count unit zero switch all the way to the score motor ONLY if all score reels are at zero. I'm stuck

Hi Mark,
When I manually reset all score reels to zero and the ball count unit to zero (engage zero switch) the S and R (hold relay) engage as before AND the D (reset) relay now kicks on. At that point the 20 bank reset coils slams on and off non stop. BUT still, the score reels and ball count don't reset by themselves.

"Once the motor is running some other part of the circuit should reset the Score Reels and Ball Count unit. " I quote you

On the schematic portion I'm including, I see where the open S switches leads to the units, tens, hundreds, and thousands unit run outs. Is that the 'other part of the circuit' resetting the score reels? I did connect the S relay switch attached to the yel-red wire at the S relay to the yel-red on the 1000s reel and the reading was less than one. Have not tried the units, 10s 100s yet. It seems like those are the paths to reset the reels, yet they don't. Am I on the right track or is it time to call in the real $repairman? Been fun so far!

SRelay:Reels (resized).JPG

Score motor switch 1A looks odd and lots of discolored debris under it. Almost looks like someone put a blob of solder where the contact bump should be. Metal looks discolored/scorched. The hard white plastic spacer may be partially melted, very hard for me to see in there.

Is there an easy release mechanism so I can tilt up the score motor and look from underneath? Otherwise taking out the bottom board and unscrewing the motor from below is a bit (a lot) daunting for me.

I'll include a picture of 1A from my working machine and two from the non-working.

1A from the working game

1AWorkingGame (resized).JPG

1A from the nonworking game, from above, and from the side like the working game picture.

1AFromAbove (resized).JPG

1ANotWorking (resized).JPG

Thanks, looked and no pin for the score motor. But switch 1A is more accessible than I thought. Wire color is confusing me. Of the three wires going into switch 1A I see a top one that is mostly red with patches of white, in the middle is equal candy cane red and white. Are both of them red-white? I'm thinking I should connect my meter one probe to the candy cane lug, one to the mostly red/white patches lug and see if the reading drops below 1 as I rotate the score motor. Maybe hoping that it doesn't, then I can adjust the switch until they do, and we maybe live happily ever after. My take is that the two red-white wires should get connected by switch 1A, one of them transfers current to the S relay and trips it, then activating the four S switches that lead to the four score reel runout switches. Sound right? (The bottom wire is the slate to the 50 point relay and doesn't matter for now.)

1ASwitchWires (resized).JPG

Correction in my thinking: S relay should be already tripped, so current flows to the four S switches (already closed) leading to the score reel runout switches.

Can't get a reading below 1 (it's 20+) between the two red-white wire lugs when I turn the score motor slowly. Will have to reassess after a morning walk.

You are a GENIUS!!!

During my six mile walk I did figure out the red/white to slate switch didn't matter for this issue. Had to be the other one, jumpered it together and got some score reel/ball count unit action. Finally got that mangled red-white to other color switch to work after quite some time. So, YAY! Almost there. Ball count unit counts down to the zero switch, three score reels reset (!), but not the unit's reel. When I manually set the unit reel to zero the game finishes the start up, adds 5 balls to play, and releases the ball. Then it plays properly, even subtracted drained balls one at a time right down to game over.

I'm puzzled by the unit reel. It scores one point at a time properly during game play but does not reset when I push the start button. I traced the wire from the S relay to the jones plug and the reading was under zero on my meter. Same from the jones plug to score reel board where all the wires come in, and from the board to the solenoid. Must be missing something. Ideas?

Thank you so much for all the help. I've learned a huge amount from our conversations. Henry

Hmm...Reading below one on my meter from BL & RED wire at the Add Units Unit score reel solenoid to the BR-Red wire lug at the top of the S relay.

Opened up the T-D-S bank and cleaned/gapped the switch blades for the BR-RED wire. Unit's score reel still does not reset.

Thanks for the info on two separate paths...had hazily wondered about that, why it would score but not reset. Good info for my mental toolkit.

Good news is, recleaned and regapped the unit's S switch and all reels reset, the game starts and runs properly, and this has been a great experience. Glad you took an interest and helped me along. You are a great teacher. I'll mark as solved. May get back to you on why the other Square Head scores a phantom 100 points once in a while at drain. I'll think about it a while and see if my new confidence and fledgling schematic reading ability gets me anywhere. Probably should be a new topic unless you have a quick idea. Henry