My Father-in-Law last month decided to bestow on me his Chicago Coin Sound Stage that's been in a garage since 1985. He got it from an Ice Rink where it sat outdoors with broken glass for several years before it finally crapped out. He never turned it on or tested it after he got it. I haven't worked on a pin in 18 years, and never an EM. Aside from a mouse nest by the transformer and what looked like used motor oil someone spilled on the coin door and back glass (it sat on it's back for most of the time it was garaged) after some elbow grease it looks salvageable.
I've gone through the full guidance on http://www.pinrepair.com/em/ and some other threads, though I focused on the core items. I wanted to exhaust that and any obvious fixes before I reached out for guidance. I should point out that clearly someone tried to repair this at some point back in the 80s but from what I've seen they had no idea how to.
Here's a rundown of what I've done so far, I'll try to be in order and point out changes in behavior:
1. Cleaned out the major mess and any obvious dirt/goop with isopropyl and qtips.
2. Replaced the damaged plug.
3. Checked and cleaned the fuses and fuse holders, and did a bit of filing for good contact.
4. After first power up the coin door buzzed.
5. With a thorough cleaning with with isopropyl and qtips (the motor oil had seeped inside the mechanism) and some minor adjustment the buzz stopped and the coils look good.
6. Checked and cleaned the lock relay. It looks good and engages on power up.
7. Tested the score motor, at first when turned it would return to reset position.
8. Found the 00-90 relay D27-1000 coil wires were disconnected and the coil was burned out. Replaced them.
9. Found that the 2nd player score 00-90 score reel solenoid wires were disconnected and the solenoid had been remounted backwards. Fixed this.
10. Since I was already in there I disassembled and cleaned all of the solenoids, bakelights, fingers for the score reels.
11. Realized that the 100,000 1 and 2 player relay coils were in bad shape and the first player coil was cracked. Replaced with Z28 1200's which were recommended.
12. Gave all the stepper units another more thorough cleaning. Also noticed a disconnected spring on the ball count relay stepper.
13. During this I realized someone had replaced one of the bonus unit arm pivots with a bolt and square nuts, so it was misaligned and wouldn't step properly. I fabricated a replacement.
14. Found that the right flipper was not mounted properly, apparently for a while as it wore a slight groove in the playfield. I don't think this was affecting startup.
There may have been some other things I forgot but those are the major steps.
Now I haven't gone through and sanded/filed every contact as the guidance seems to recommend against that unless they look obviously bad. I've only sanded those that looked particularly crusty.
Here's where I'm at. The back box and playfield both power up. The lock relay engages. There is no buzzing or humming or obvious sparking. The score motor continually spins, though I know this is a symptom, not the cause. The score reels don't seem to do anything either when set to 0 or advanced to other numbers. The credit unit will not set to 0, the closest it will get is to 1. I suspect it's misaligned. Here's the thing I can't find any reference to: when the machine starts and the score reel begins spinning the credit unit will count up to 8, the point at which the top switch on the credit unit is opened. Here's a video: https://youtu.be/gGHKpmZjZzQ. You can also hear the score motor spinning.
I'd appreciate any guidance on the next step to tracking down the culprit or culprits.
I've included some other pics for reference as well.
As usual thanks for any guidance VAPS members.
I've gone through the full guidance on http://www.pinrepair.com/em/ and some other threads, though I focused on the core items. I wanted to exhaust that and any obvious fixes before I reached out for guidance. I should point out that clearly someone tried to repair this at some point back in the 80s but from what I've seen they had no idea how to.
Here's a rundown of what I've done so far, I'll try to be in order and point out changes in behavior:
1. Cleaned out the major mess and any obvious dirt/goop with isopropyl and qtips.
2. Replaced the damaged plug.
3. Checked and cleaned the fuses and fuse holders, and did a bit of filing for good contact.
4. After first power up the coin door buzzed.
5. With a thorough cleaning with with isopropyl and qtips (the motor oil had seeped inside the mechanism) and some minor adjustment the buzz stopped and the coils look good.
6. Checked and cleaned the lock relay. It looks good and engages on power up.
7. Tested the score motor, at first when turned it would return to reset position.
8. Found the 00-90 relay D27-1000 coil wires were disconnected and the coil was burned out. Replaced them.
9. Found that the 2nd player score 00-90 score reel solenoid wires were disconnected and the solenoid had been remounted backwards. Fixed this.
10. Since I was already in there I disassembled and cleaned all of the solenoids, bakelights, fingers for the score reels.
11. Realized that the 100,000 1 and 2 player relay coils were in bad shape and the first player coil was cracked. Replaced with Z28 1200's which were recommended.
12. Gave all the stepper units another more thorough cleaning. Also noticed a disconnected spring on the ball count relay stepper.
13. During this I realized someone had replaced one of the bonus unit arm pivots with a bolt and square nuts, so it was misaligned and wouldn't step properly. I fabricated a replacement.
14. Found that the right flipper was not mounted properly, apparently for a while as it wore a slight groove in the playfield. I don't think this was affecting startup.
There may have been some other things I forgot but those are the major steps.
Now I haven't gone through and sanded/filed every contact as the guidance seems to recommend against that unless they look obviously bad. I've only sanded those that looked particularly crusty.
Here's where I'm at. The back box and playfield both power up. The lock relay engages. There is no buzzing or humming or obvious sparking. The score motor continually spins, though I know this is a symptom, not the cause. The score reels don't seem to do anything either when set to 0 or advanced to other numbers. The credit unit will not set to 0, the closest it will get is to 1. I suspect it's misaligned. Here's the thing I can't find any reference to: when the machine starts and the score reel begins spinning the credit unit will count up to 8, the point at which the top switch on the credit unit is opened. Here's a video: https://youtu.be/gGHKpmZjZzQ. You can also hear the score motor spinning.
I'd appreciate any guidance on the next step to tracking down the culprit or culprits.
I've included some other pics for reference as well.
As usual thanks for any guidance VAPS members.
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