I’ve had this wheel apart before. I cleaned up the shaft and gears. Replaced the springs, coil sleeve. Adjusted the pawls and plunger according to the instructions. I had it working pretty good. Now it seems like it’s slowing down again. It doesn’t turn a full revolution. It turns maybe a half a turn. The last time I had it apart I put it tiny drop of oil on the shaft and a very thin layer of grease on the gears. Is there a trick to make this turn more?

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Anyone? I read that 180 degree turn or more is normal. That would be good except a lot of times I don’t even get a third of a turn. So I have it all apart. Cleaned it the best I could get it. It’s cleaner than it looks. So grease or no grease on the gears? Oil or no oil on the shaft?

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Thanks. That’s very interesting. I wasn’t even thinking that. I’m not great at reading these but maybe I need to look at J or K or motor 1B. What do you think?
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Wow I got some of that, not all of it. Thank you very much for trying to explain it. This thing is really involved. I’m going to put it back together. I will try to look at the switches and relays to see if there’s something there that’s too short. I’m not really sure if I’ll know it if I see it.

On the spinning unit itself Gottlieb instructions call for a 7/8” stroke of the plunger before it hits the coil stop. That’s exactly where I’ve had it set. I may try setting it to say 1” to see if that helps. That may be the simplest thing to try. I’m guessing it won’t have much effect and that this issue is somewhere in the timing circuit like you’re saying.

1E on the score motor does look like it might be a little misadjusted. It’s right on the top of the stack and is easy to see. That’s the first area I will look at that when I get it back together. 1B and 3B look ok to me. I’ll have to pull the game out from the wall to get a better look at the J and K relays.

Trouble. Put it back together. No better and coil is now buzzing. Messed with J and K relays. Must have did something. Now it’s not turning at all. Wonderful.

Thanks for the tips. I’ll will work on it again this weekend. I do have new springs in there that I got from Steve last year. That’s the last time I had this apart. I had it working pretty good but it probably never spun as much as I would have liked. This is the repro wheel from Pinball Rescue. (installed a couple years ago). It is a little thicker than the original. I don’t know if that tiny bit of extra weight makes a difference. I read on Clay’s old Pin repair guide that a 180 degree turn or more is normal. Lately I was barely getting that half a turn (sometimes I was getting about 1/3 of a turn). That’s why I took it all apart again this time around.

A little progress. J and K relays both pulling in for extended time to drive the wheel. Wheel is turning but either J or K buzzing loudly. Not a normal EM coil buzz. I don’t see anything wrong with either of them so I’m not sure what’s causing that.

Thanks. I’ll get back at it. I had taken the mounting screws out of the J and K relays. I only did that to try to avoid pulling the game out from the side wall. All the blades look like they are in the proper slot but maybe the metal part is not perfectly lined up. I’ve since moved the game out to get a better look at things.

My hearing is going. It wasn’t J or K that was buzzing. It was actually the coil that drives the wheel. I took it all apart again and put it back together following Gottlieb’s specs. I kept the stroke at 7/8” ( I had it at 1”) and set the pawls according to the drawings. It still buzzes a little bit it seems to be working better now. I tried the old original plastic wheel but that doesn’t make a difference. When there’s no wheel attached it does spin further. I think it’s as good as it’s going to get.