Lake Forest, CA
Hello I'm working on a Williams Dealers Choice, this is my first em machine and I was wondering where is the best place to get stepper parts like springs and bushings and Jesus clips ?
(Topic ID: 260200)
Linked Games
Dealer's Choice
Williams, 1974
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The Pinball Resource. PBR. Google it
You may want to start a thread and tell us your issues first before trying to buy possibly not needed parts. I only once have ever needed to replace a part on a stepper. If you start playing around with the springs, you can open up a whole can of worms that you may never get right.
Ok thankyou. I'm pretty sure I need to repair the steppers first. When I got the. Machine someone had already tried to tension the racheting part of the steppers by stretching the springs down and around and back up . Some of the springs I know are wrong they look way too heavy. I have start up issues. I can watch them not return to starting position some don't move because the springs are not working. I have other issues I'm sure but the first step would be to get the game to start right ?
Pinball Resource is your best source but I second Mikala's comment - many times it's not the springs but actually the stepper parts that are the issue. Before buying new springs I would recommend taking apart and cleaning the steppers, then adding a lubricant (very thin coating of it) to the axles, and re-assembling them. I had an issue much like what you are talking about on the ball count stepper of a 1966 Kicker. It could count up but was having trouble re-setting. It would slowly go back. When I took it apart, the axle for the cogs was covered in grease and filth so it was making it stick. After a good cleaning, it went back to working like new.
If you decide to go down this route, take lots of photos of the counters as you take them apart. It can make re-assembly easier.
I added a few photos of the process I went through. I was having trouble with the counter in the upper right of the first photo. I stripped all the mechanical parts of it. The axle I'm holding in the last photo was covered in a black sticky grease (even the cogs) which was making everything move like molasses.
_15_counter (resized).jpg_17_counter (resized).jpg_18_counter (resized).jpg_19_counter (resized).jpgGreat resource right here: http://www.pinrepair.com/em/index2.htm#steps
the only place you want to lubricate would be the spindle in the hub , perhaps a light coating on the rivets of the stepper disc.
Bally machines have a nylon gear so product "Super Lube synthetic grease" is recommended for plastic on metal. it also doesn't gum-up like other greases.
& yeah we wanna see them mangled springs 
Quoted from chas10e:Great resource right here: http://www.pinrepair.com/em/index2.htm#steps
the only place you want to lubricate would be the spindle in the hub , perhaps a light coating on the rivets of the stepper disc.
Bally machines have a nylon gear so product "Super Lube synthetic grease" is recommended for plastic on metal. it also doesn't gum-up like other greases.
& yeah we wanna see them mangled springs
Thanks for the link, some really good stuff in there.
you need some new springs
some good stuff here too: http://www.planetarypinball.com/reference/partsmanuals/WMS_Parts_1977-1978/index.html
looks like points of attachment have been fudged too.
Steve Young @ PBR will sell you hard copies of the manual & schematics too ...also available online here https://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=649
another 565 plays and it will be good as new 
Quoted from chas10e:another 565 plays and it will be good as new
the play meter only counts the number of times a game was started whether it was actually played is unknown
Lol if only it were that easy
Quoted from boydsc331:Ya I think this machine has been around the block a few times
Is this hours the machine has been on or actual plays ?
It is the number of games. Every time a game is started it should add one to the counter. Hours would come out to over 11 years straight - 24 hours a day, I wonder how many machines could hold up under that kind of stress. 
By the way. When you get everything working, I believe that a properly set up Dealer's Choice is probably the most under rated EM game out there. It's not rare, isn't hard to find, hasn't appeared in any magazine articles or tv shows. The artwork is average and the playfield is mostly pink, but it has one thing going for it... Fantastic Game Play.
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