Need some help with an EM Gottlieb ball count unit.

LongJohns

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Need some help with an EM Gottlieb ball count unit.

This is on a 1965 Dodge City unit.

The PO had really messed up this unit and I seem to be having a bit of an issue with the alignment of the ball unit.

So, would appreciate it if anyone has this game (or one that has the same ball count unit) if they can take a picture of the unit that would show it alignment at the start of a player 1 ball 1 position.

Please see attached picture of the type of unit that it has (step up/step down).

Thanks
 

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The first thing you should do is clean it!

The grease or lotion or whatever needs to be removed ASAP. Use 92% Rubbing Alcohol and 400 grit sandpaper.

Take some time to figure out the "game over" position and mark your position, then once you know the "game over" position, you can tear down the unit for cleaning.

I have a feeling that cleaning that unit will fix your problems. If it does not, then you can work on the alignment issues.

If you want some more detailed guidance, visit http://www.pinrepair.com/ and click on the EM repair link.
 
The first thing you should do is clean it!

The grease or lotion or whatever needs to be removed ASAP. Use 92% Rubbing Alcohol and 400 grit sandpaper.

Take some time to figure out the "game over" position and mark your position, then once you know the "game over" position, you can tear down the unit for cleaning.

I have a feeling that cleaning that unit will fix your problems. If it does not, then you can work on the alignment issues.

If you want some more detailed guidance, visit http://www.pinrepair.com/ and click on the EM repair link.

Thanks for the suggestion - but the unit has already been taken apart and cleaned already (the PO liked his WD-40 and was his suggestion at making it work - was really nasty), the grease in the picture is what I put on (teflon lube) - now maybe I was too liberal with the amount. ;)

The issue is the PO had taken it apart and didn't mark it. :( It was sort of put back together as it needed, and I quote, "a good greasing". I think I am close to the proper alignment, but not 100% sure. I did mark it the way it was before I took it apart, but it wasn't even close, contacts were not making connection (in between the "buttons") and it wouldn't even cycle or reset. Now it at least resets and will cycles through the balls played and such, but something still is not right. I am sure there are other issues with the game (many have been fixed already), but I need to make sure this is aligned properly before going further.

Pin repair, is a good site, but it doesn't show how to align this ball count unit (the pinwiki also doesn't help).

All I can say is that it is a good thing this unit has only costed me parts so far.
 
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Thanks for the suggestion - but the unit has already been taken apart and cleaned already (the PO liked his WD-40 and was his suggestion at making it work - was really nasty), the grease in the picture is what I put on (teflon lube) - now maybe I was too liberal with the amount. ;)

The issue is the PO had taken it apart and didn't mark it. :( It was sort of put back together as it needed, and I quote, "a good greasing". I think I am close to the proper alignment, but not 100% sure. I did mark it the way it was before I took it apart, but it wasn't even close, contacts were not making connection (in between the "buttons") and it wouldn't even cycle or reset. Now it at least resets and will cycles through the balls played and such, but something still is not right. I am sure there are other issues with the game (many have been fixed already), but I need to make sure this is aligned properly before going further.

Pin repair, is a good site, but it doesn't show how to align this ball count unit (the pinwiki also doesn't help).

All I can say is that it is a good thing this unit has only costed me parts so far.

Yeah. You only need a thin coat of teflon lube. I would recommend cleaning your unit again, removing the teflon lube. Then applying a thinner coat. The large amount of lube on your stepper leads me to think that dirt and dust will accumulate and make that river of lube into a nasty mess in the future. But of course, it's your game, so do as you like.

When you get Ball 1, is your snow shoe fingers (the top blunt blade connector) centered on the rivots (buttons)?

If you can provide some more pictures, I may be able to help you get this to work properly.

First, I need a photo of the rivots without the top portion. I would like to see a photo of the rivots. I would also like to see a photo of the snow shoes. I'm hoping to get a good image.

Second, I would like a photo of the stepper unit when you are on ball 1.

Third, I would like a photo of the stepper unit when you are at "game over"

Finally, I would like a photo of the steper unit when you start a new game after playing a game.

I have found that an "off center" finger alignment will work 90% of the time, but due to being "off center", the other 10% was really frustrating. Once the alignment is centered, I have found that the frustrating 10% is often reduced to 0%.

Good Luck!

Marcus
 
Hi,

Thanks again for the reply. I will use less lube on it once it is aligned.

Right now I can not provide any pictures as requested since what happens is the ball counter resets (moves counter clockwise) and then proceedes to rotate clockwise to game over.

Specifically, score reels reset, reset bank resets, ball counter resets (if position is correct I do not know), start relay activates, ball counter starts to count up, last ball relay activates, end game relay actives (start relay releases).

Originally the outer most disc (the one with the snowshoes) was not attached (and not marked). I got it together to the point where I am thinking that it is close to where it should be, but there is enough space in the slot to rotate the outer disc into 4 positions and this is the first issue as I am not so sure where it is suppose to be. So far I have been unable to determine which buttons are for which function (ie: which on is exactly player 1 ball 1) as per the schematic. Rotating the disc through trial and error doesn't seem to make in difference in the way the unit 'boots' up - but I am sure there are other issues as well.

cheers,
 
Just to update that someone had sent me some pictures of the unit from their Dodge City and got that all straightened out, now one to some of the other small issues. But at least it will play for the part now.

Cheers,
 
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