First EM, works with slight issues!

StreetzKing

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Picked up a Williams Argosy, came complete with manuals and all the original jazz. its in amazing shape, no wear at all except around one insert and its about 1/8inch of wear. looks like it was just stenciled to!

Got it home, turned it out and it worked, for the most part.. This game sat for a while so I know I gotta do some cleaning. The one main issue is one of the chime coils is burnt bad and they took it apart, I have all the parts just need a new coil. The other 2 are numbered the same, so I assume look for the same coil for the third one??

Second, first ball, played great and scored everything, second ball scored a couple hits, then didnt score anything, then when I hit something like the slingshot it all started to work again, this is on and off. Any ideas? maybe just reseat connectors or something to clean??

Third, flippers are weak. There strong with no ball on them, but then barely launch the ball to the top. Is this a coil issue since there old, or something with the transformer?
 
All 3 chime coils are the same. Dirty contacts on the switches of the flipper buttons as well as the the ones underneath the playfield should be cleaned & adjusted. That should give the flippers some life. Hows the backglass ? Every Argosy bg I`ve ever seen was shot out in the reds.
 
As far as the 2nd issue of the on\off scoring you probably have a contact on the playfield that is sticking together a bit.
 
Back glass is mint. Has two small spots about the size of a quarter each on the bottom left and right corner. Will clean the heck outta this thing soon. What is the best way to clean these switches if you don't mind me asking.
 
I use a finger nail file(the cheap cardboard kind). Don`t use a metal one because they will tear up the contacts on the switches. And to add what i mentioned about the scoring problem, there probably is a switch somewhere on the playfield that is stuck closed which is why the chime coil is fried...
 
It doesn't score constantly though, how would I tell if its stuck? What I meant was I coul hit the pop bumpers and they score the 1000. Then the slings score 10 or whatever. Then ball drains. Then pop bumpers don't score, drop target doesn't score, Then slings score then pop bumpers work again. It's not always the slings that make everything work again but just using them as a reference
 
Abrasives are a sure fire way to remove the gold plating on the contacts.

If a piece of paper doesn't work good enough put some deoxit on the paper.
 
i dont think ive ever seen a gold plated contact on any of my em pins..

When i go through them i use an automotive points file.

If you lose scoring until you hit something, whatever tht something is has misadjusted contacts and is likely sticking on. THis is probbly also why you fried a chime coil. IIRC all three are the same part#

The ems do have weaker flippers compared to newer pins.. you can try a flipper rebuild kit, as well as re-bushing the coils. Some guys go as far as swapping coils for stronger ones and/or removing windings from the coils to mke them stronger. THe first thing you should do however is check the contcts at the flippers themselves. I know on my ballys theres the high voltage to get the flipper going and once its almost at full stroke it hits the contacts and opens them, now you have a lower "holding" voltage.. this is so you can hold the button down and not smoke the coil. if those contacts are super nasty, all you will get is that holding voltage and they will be super weak.. so ii guess yeah id start by cleaning and adjusting those and see if you get any difference.
 
Thanks for the links and all the help guys. I am gonna do a lot of cleaning today and ill post some more pics. Will post results tonight!
 
One more question. Would setting my game on high tap help the flippers if cleaning doesn't? I been reading that link all day at work and have a lot to do but ended up reading that. Do I just take the 24v line and rewire it to the high tap one notch over on the transformer or is there something else that needs to be done?
 
Quick update. Changed to hi tap and she's playing a lot quicker. I'm currently cleaning all the switches and such. Nothing is stuck on. Everything scores the way it should. I realized the spinner didn't work with a chime and that's because when its lite for 1000 then it's a different chime. So that works. All playfield switches are scoring and not sticking. The only one I saw stick was a roll over. I took it apart and cleaned it and all is good with that. Not sure why that chime coil burnt. I'm afraid to put a new one in for it to happen again quick. I'm gonna keep going through it but so far she playing nice.
 
heres some pics

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*update.. just played the hell out of it after cleaning. everything works 100% with the exception of that chime and some lights that are out. Nothing sticks, nothing misses scoring. i cleaned a lot of switches and nothing seemed misaligned. i played a 4 player game, 5 balls per player, rolled player 1, every thing worked, gate, special, extra balls. no issues..

The only thing I noticed, is when the spinner is lit. which happens when you hit a slingshot, each hit alternates lighting it, there was a louder hum then normal, is this because the coil is missing? when lit its worth 1000 and that chime is the one thats missing. Thats my only issue.

Do the pop bumpers chime? there newer not old so I dont think so?


I need a rubber kit so bad, I changed the flipper rubbers to red which is what it should have been i think, some rubbers are so stretched the ball has no bounce

Thoughts?
 
Just left the pinball resource. Talked to Steve a little about my issue and got a new coil and lamps and a rubber kit. He said the issue isn't on the playfield which is confirmed. I gotta check the switches under the field that control the reel. Something about if they got pitted and the game sat then when it was played again it would burn out since the machines waiting for it to move or something along those lines lmao. Either way imma clean everything under playfield before I install this new one



EDIT: clean the hell outta this thing. New rubbers and waxed today as well. Put coil on. Works great! Everything's working. I used 50 bulbs and I stil need more for the back box. I have to rebuild the chime box and parts since its missing the washers and such. Working great and nice ad fast now!
 
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Don't use a finger nail file. They are too abrasive.

Go to the Pinball Resource and order some Flex Files, and a Contact Adjustment tool. These are worth their weight in gold, won't mangle your contacts, and will do a good job. Best of all, they don't charge an arm and a leg for them - Steve is very fair.

If you call Steve and ask him if you can use a nail file, I predict a somewhat surley response. He takes the care of pinball machines seriously.
 
Did you pull the chime and plunger from that coil, or was it like that already? If the plunger has been missing, that would eventually burn the coil. Pin looks great!
 
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The chime and plunger were already pulled from the coil. I'm assuming that was because it did burn? Everything's back together I just gotta redo the washer situation and stuff on the chime box. I didn't go nuts with the file, it's a real thing emery board and when I read pin repair they mentioned an emery like file so I figured why not. It worked for me
 
Alright. One last issue. Relay number one. Is burnt a little. Not black and copper looks nice. But it hums like a son of a bitch when the 1000 point spinner is lit. Of course this is always since 5 targets light the spinner. Is this as simple as replace the coil? Or what?


It works to clarify. Just hums
 
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