Hi everyone, novice pinball tech here trying to diagnose and repair and issue on my TOM. Balls are getting stuck in the basement at the Ball Release (Lock) Coil. When this happens during gameplay the trapdoor and popper cycle endlessly while the ball sits at the Ball Release Coil. It looks to me that the coil needs to energize to retract a pin in the floor of the trough to allow it to move into the trapdoor popper - this isn't happening. I think that I may need to replace the Ball Release Coil (AE-27-1200).

Here's what I've done so far:

- Ran the Trapdoor test (a few times), it always returns an error before reaching switch #44.
- Tested the individual switches, which all appear normal:
- #41 Lock 1, normally open, closes when the 1st ball enters the Ball Lock Trough
- #42 Lock 2, normally open, closes when the 2nd ball enters the Ball Lock Trough
- #43 Lock 3, normally open, closes when the 3rd ball enters the Ball Lock Trough
- #44 Popper, normally open, closes when a ball sits on the Popper
- #36 Subway opto, normally closed, opens when a ball passes by and closes again once ball moves past it into Ball Lock Trough
- Tested the coil via the solenoid test (#34 Sub. Ball Release) and I don't hear anything happening when the test is set to Repeat (I have the coin door closed). Suspicious!!!
- Inspected solder connections at the Ball Release Coil. No obvious breaks.

I think that I need to replace the Ball Release Coil. Do you agree? Any other thoughts?

Thanks!

Thank you for the replies. It was a blown 3a fuse.