Hoping someone can point me in the right direction or verify if I have a problem with this Target Alpha.
The game is operational from a scoring, start, reset, ball count, player, and etc. standpoint. The issue I think I have is the time (15-20 seconds) it takes for the bonus to count down once a ball drains. Once drain occurs then the bonus countdown will go say 3 counts, pause, 2 counts, pause, 5 counts, pause, and so on. Now my other Gottlieb pins only take 5 or so seconds to count down bonus, so I think I have an issue with this Target Alpha.

I have cleaned the bonus unit (mechanically and switch stack) and it runs smoothly. I have also cleaned and checked gaps on the score motor for the 10 and 5 drop target banks and they look normal. There is a score bonus relay on the main board that I have cleaned and appears to be functioning properly as well.

I think it should score faster and I know it would sound better if it did, so any advice if this is normal or where to look/check or re-check would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Pat

Thanks for replying. I was thinking my game might be normal, but after watching the youtube video DirtFlipper posted and then watching other plays on youtube, my game definitely has an issue. Those games complete bonus scoring in 5 seconds or so. Looks like maybe one revolution of the scoring motor maybe??? I'll be able to look at mine a little later, but I'd bet my score motor does 3 to 4 revolutions to complete the bonus.

Thanks for the suggestions; I should start bringing my schematics to work.hahaha

Garrett...The game reset time is comparable to my other pins so it seems to be just this bonus count time is different.

I will check the paths newmantjn and DirtFlipper suggest this weekend and will post findings.

Thanks again for the suggestions newmantjn and DirtFlipper..and also for the YouTube suggestion..didn't think of looking there to see if my game was normal but did see this one (link below) that is even a little faster than mine but based on other videos he has a similar issue.

I would say your right Rat_Tomago about my game doing 1 or 2 counts per revolution, but would think 1, 2, or 4 player games should count down same speeds (fast) like most of all the other YouTube vids do and as newmantjn points out "This thing should count down like a machine gun"

I follow the traces suggested and hopefully find and correct to get the quickness it should be.

Ok, unlike all my fishing story's, it looks like I may exaggerate a little when it comes to pinball...lol...15-20 seconds was wrong. Total time and very consistent is 6 seconds. I guess I'm expecting the tat,tat,tat,tat,tat,tat to go smooth thru the 15 count, but what I get (which isn,t consistent) is tat,tat,pause,tat,tat....pause... tat,tat..etc. It could quickly run thru 5 then pause and then run thru 3 pause, then complete.... Or go thru 3 quickly pause, 2 more quick, pause, 5 quick, pause, then complete the remainder quickly. This happens across all players and doesn't matter if I drop none, some, or all the targets.

Thanks for the help so far..sorry about the mis info on times. That was off memory when I posted the thread.

Score motor makes anywhere from 1 to 1.5 revs to complete the 15 bounds count.

After manually running these test games I see I do have a scoring problem. The problem is only on double bonus, drop target 1 on 15 bank which is position 0 on bonus unit, yellow wire on schematic. The problem is on last ball, double bonus only. This target/position will score 4x or award 4k instead of 2k. On first 4 balls, it scores normal 1k....weird and guess I never noticed until now. All other targets score properly on double bonus.

G relay does not stay locked on thru whole revolution. In fact, when the pauses do occur, the relay unlocks, then locks in again and bonus unit continues to count down.

So to sum it up I may have 4 pauses occur after a drain. The score motor could take 1.5 revs before bonus stepper is complete. The G relay will unluck those 4 times.

Thanks newmantjn and DirtFlipper, you guys nailed it. G relay tightened, cleaned, gapped, and now bonus countdown complete in one score motor revolution.

Petermunro...I think it will help reading this thread on Solar City, which is a similar version to Target Alpha, where newnamtjn gives more great information on the bonus unit.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/solar-city-1

Damn...I didnt know you started that thread I posted above......too early, need more coffee I guess