(Topic ID: 302773)

WMS Add-A-Ball, mixed signals...

By Coyote

2 years ago



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  • 5 posts
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  • Latest reply 2 years ago by Coyote
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    #1 2 years ago

    So I'm looking for some more information on how Williams handled Add-A-Ball in their later EMs, in the mid-70's.

    I have a Big Ben, which had been hacked for free-play when I picked it up. However, I'm getting mixed clues as to whether the game was set up for Add-A-Ball, or all of this was hacked. Things I have noticed -

    - The game came with an original (maybe not to this game, but to Big Ben in general), document packet that was stamped "AAB".
    - Somehow the game was altered for free-play. (At this time, I do not remember how they did it.)
    - There was an extra switch stack on one of the motor cam switch-stacks, factory-installed.
    - There was a wiring hack to the Extra Ball relay (which connected to the aforementioned switch).
    - From the wiring modification to the extra ball relay, there was *lamp cord* that ran up to the credit unit in the backbox. This lamp-cord was that brown, plastic-wrapped brown stranded stuff.
    - The extra ball socket had no lamp installed. (Socket, no lamp. Not necessarily important, but mentioning it.)
    - The backglass had a metallic sticker over the window, to hide the credit wheel.
    - The credit mech, instead of having a credit wheel had three spacer washers:

    So I WANT to say that this game left the factory as AAB configured. A lot of it appears to be factory - from the switch stack, to the missing credit wheel and the stamp on the document folder. However, the wiring was so UN-FACTORY that I can't really say it was intentional.

    The schematics are for normal game operation, not add-a-ball.

    So I'm curious if there are any documents on how games were converted over, and whether this was intentional or not. For example, I'm not sure if the lamp cord was used for the free-play hack, or the add-a-ball.

    At the moment, I undid the changes, so the game is normal, NOT AAB, but I'm still curious!

    #2 2 years ago

    I operated Williams single-players in this era, and they wouldn't need any hacking to support either replay or AAB modes. In what ways does your backbox differ from this picture?
    https://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=232&picno=59103
    Notice the adjustment plug just to the right of center.

    I think "setting it for add-a-ball at the factory" would be no different than shipping it with a single (dime) coin chute from the factory. They would have just moved the plug to the AAB position. But if it shipped to an AAB territory, maybe the distrib would have specified that the game should have no credit stepper and should have that window in the backglass masked off, presumably resulting in a slightly lower price.

    Because it uses the down-counting Balls To Play system, there should be no need for an Extra Ball light or relay. Maybe the hack was that the op only wanted to award one extra ball per ball in play (i.e., not "true" add-a-ball).

    What were the coin chutes and indicated play pricing on this game, as best you can tell? If it was 2 plays for a quarter, there would need to be a credit relay if there is no credit stepper unit.
    .................David Marston

    #3 2 years ago
    Quoted from dmarston:

    I operated Williams single-players in this era, and they wouldn't need any hacking to support either replay or AAB modes. In what ways does your backbox differ from this picture?
    https://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=232&picno=59103
    Notice the adjustment plug just to the right of center.

    Everything pictured in that image my game has. BUT, with addition that my game has sockets in Ball lights 6 - 10.

    I tested that adjustment plug (labeled "Play Adj Jack") from Credit to Extra Ball.

    While this did work, it energized the extra ball relay, and lit the light. But - I could only get one extra ball per ball in play. (It did NOT increase the 'Balls To Play' stepper.)

    Quoted from dmarston:

    Because it uses the down-counting Balls To Play system, there should be no need for an Extra Ball light or relay. Maybe the hack was that the op only wanted to award one extra ball per ball in play (i.e., not "true" add-a-ball).

    This is backwards, logically, but yeah, I agree - in NORMAL game mode, when you drop the 'BEN' targets twice, you get an extra ball. Normally, this energizes the Extra Ball relay (which then lights the insert).

    When I GOT the game - before I removed the hacked wires and started rebuilding the steppers - if I could get the game to play, awarding an extra ball would increase the ball stepper. (i.e. 'Balls to Play' would go from 3 to 4.)

    Sadly, when I was cleaning up, I needed a new contact board for my ball stepper - it was broken, and when I swapped it out with a replacement I got off of another ball stepper, the replacement only had contacts for 5 balls - so the wires leading to lights 6-10 I never put back.

    Part of the reason for my questioning is that being unfamiliar with AAB play, I'm not sure what is expected, much less what in this game was a hack or intentional.

    #4 2 years ago

    In many of those 1970s Williams single-players, the Balls to Play stepper could also step up in Replay Mode.
    .................David Marston

    #5 2 years ago
    Quoted from dmarston:

    In many of those 1970s Williams single-players, the Balls to Play stepper could also step up in Replay Mode.
    .................David Marston

    Looking at the (non-AAB?) schematics, not in this game - the only connection from the Ball Count Unit Step-Up is through the score motor and the coin relay (game start).

    So these wires - which were non-standard, effectively had the Extra Ball Relay signal fire the Ball Count step-up coil. Which I kind of liked, but since everything else seemed as-factory, was curious how it was 'officially' done, in case this WASN'T official.

    Oh, and sadly, I got the game without a coin door, so couldn't say what the door was set up for, sadly!

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