One big part of EM repair is learning how to read a schematic. When I started, I didn’t know much about schematics. I didn’t know that a circuit connects one side of the schematic to the other. I was just trying to “connect” lines to each other every which way. Once I learned that basic thing, then it started making sense. Using that basic foundation and learning the symbols, I’ve gotten very comfortable with EM schematics. Hang in there, friend. If I could learn it, I’m confident you will too!

An EM schematic has two parts, one for 6 volt circuits (for lighting), the other for a higher voltage (generally 24 or 50 volts). Each of these parts is printed down the length of the schematic sheet and these 2 parts are next to each other. The 6 volt part is generally the shorter one. Each is basically a column with a line on each side running down the long side of the sheet.

Lines that generally run crosswise between those long lines are circuits. When switches close so as to connect a circuit line from one long line to the other, then whatever device is connected along that circuit line (e.g., relay coil, solenoid, score motor) is energized, so that the relay pulls in, the solenoid pulls in its plunger, or the score motor starts running.

So the key is for the circuit lines to connect between the long lines on the schematic. Before I understood this, I was just trying to look for switches closing and connecting lines on the schematic in general, not whether they were closing to complete a specific circuit. Actually, a website provided me with a simple way to understand this basic point. Here’s the link to that website:

https://havepinwilltravel.wordpress.com/intro-to-em-pinball-machines-and-their-schematics/

Yeah, I was just looking at lines that branched out from what wasn’t working, or even trying to connect lines between different components, but not trying to complete a circuit. I agree, SteveFury’s thread is a great resource, I’ve learned a lot from that as well, especially about what the score motor does.