I bought a Surf Champ in November from a seller in PA. The seller said there was an issue with the slingshots not scoring 10 points, but I thought it could be remedied. I met with him and played a couple balls just to make sure it powered up and most things seemed to work okay, although there was a definite scoring problem with slingshots.

When I got home I realized the plug on the power cord was shot - very unsafe. I didn't even want to plug it in. So I decided to buy a new power cord from PBR and connect it to the transformer. I reassembled everything and powered it up. It worked. I hit the start button and the game reset. I heard a buzzing sound coming from the backbox - as if a relay was stuck and vibrating.

I fired the first ball and after it went through one of the rollovers and hit a pop bumper, the game stopped. "Tilt" light came on and everything stopped. I unplugged it and lifted up the playfield and saw that the 25VAC (15 amp) fuse had blown. I'm still struggling with reading the schematic, but it appears that fuse goes to the transformer on one end and the bounce switch on the other. Not sure where it goes from there.

I replaced the fuse and tried it again. Hit the start button and the score reset, popped up a ball. I heard the same buzzing sound coming from the backbox. This time, I just ran my finger over one of the top rollovers a couple times. Game died, "Tilt" lit up. I lifted up the playfield and saw the fuse had blown again.

Since the game worked (somewhat) before I replaced the power cord, I'm guessing I created the problem. Another pinsider I know suggested that I must have somehow created a short on the playfield when I removed it. Any suggestions on how I might go about diagnosing the problem? (Please keep in mind I'm still a relative newbie, but willing to learn.) I also have the schematic and lots of photos. Let me know what you want to see.

Thanks!

BlownFuse01(sm) (resized).jpg

Here's a little more information:

One thing I forgot to mention was that when I ran my hand over the top rollover, it scored just 10 points each time. That rollover is supposed to score 500 and add bonus.

On the bottom board, I noticed that one of the switches on relay E (500 points and add bonus) is bent, which appears to prevent it from opening when the relay is energized. (It appears to be NC)

I checked all of the relays in the backbox. They are relays N, M, L, Z1, Z2 and FS. None of the coils appear to be burnt. And I measured the resistance with the multimeter. Each one is right around 15 ohms.

500 Point relay01a (resized).jpg

Short answer: I'm not sure. I removed the playfield so I could pull out the bottom to fix the "E" relay.

With just the bottom board and backbox connected (through jones plugs) I turned on the game. (I replaced the fuse first.) "Tilt" was lit and I could hear a hum coming from the bottom board - perhaps the "H" relay? I hit the start button and the score motor turned to reset the score reels (everything was already at 0). Once it finished, I walked around to the backbox but there wasn't any hum. So I'm assuming I'll need to replace the playfield and try it again in order to hear it. I'll do that tonight and have an answer for you tomorrow.

Thanks!

Good news! I fixed the bent switch on the E relay (see photo above), replaced the board and playfield, hooked everything up and it powered up without issue. There is a hum coming from the backbox, but it's not one of the relays; it's coming from one of the first player score reels. It's not so much a hum as what sounds like a fast vibration, so I'm guessing something is loose. Thoughts?

I ran my finger over one of the rollovers, expecting it was going to blow the fuse again, but it didn't. And it didn't score just 10 points either, like it did previously. It scored 500 and appeared to add a bonus, as it should. I was able to play an entire game and everything worked reasonably well. There are a couple of scoring issues:

1. Slingshots - While the slingshots work, they do not score any points. Neither do the side rollover guides. (I believe they are all supposed to score ten points.)
2. Spinner - The spinner also does not score any points. I believe it's supposed to score 10 when it isn't lit? So maybe it's a 10-point issue?
3. Rollover lights - the lights on the 4 top rollovers will not light. The left side one does.
4. Bonus Lights - The bonus lights do not light up, although does accumulate bonus and pay it off when the ball drains.
5. Mystery 10 points at start of ball - When the game feeds the first ball to the shooter, a chime rings and 10 points go to the score reel. That's the only time 10 points is scored. So it does seem like there's a problem with tens scoring.

Anyone have any ideas on where I should start with this?

Since the blown fuse issue is now resolved, I'm going to start a different thread regarding the biggest problem remaining - lack of tens scoring.