Williams/Bally system 11 volume control wiring

KenLayton

In Memoriam
Joined
Dec 14, 2003
Messages
20,220
Reaction score
712
Location
Olympia, Washington
Ever have a Bally/Williams system 11 game where the volume would not go below a certain level? Even with the control turned all the way down, the volume was still too loud. Well, the factory wired a resistor in series with the shield wire to the volume control. The cure is to bypass that resistor. I've got some pictures from inside my friend's Gameshow pinball which we just brought in from the route. The resistor connected to the volume control is a 47 ohm quarter watt which gets removed.

I have a "before" picture showing how the factory wired the resistor to the volume control which prevents the volume from going all the way down. The "after" picture shows the shield wire which formerly went to the 47 ohm resistor is now connected to bottom terminal of the volume control. This allows you to have full range of the volume control and can turn the volume all the way down if desired.

The cabinet wiring diagram page of the Gameshow manual does NOT show this resistor. However, the cabinet wiring diagram page of the Elvira manual does.
 

Attachments

  • Gameshow vol before.JPG
    Gameshow vol before.JPG
    62 KB · Views: 64
  • Gameshow vol after.JPG
    Gameshow vol after.JPG
    70.5 KB · Views: 54
  • Gameshow vol res.JPG
    Gameshow vol res.JPG
    52.5 KB · Views: 53
  • Williams volume control wiring.JPG
    Williams volume control wiring.JPG
    31.9 KB · Views: 54
Last edited:
Great tip. Will have to check my game show and see if it has the resistor.
 
If the volume control itself is "scratchy" (flucuating volume or noisy) and spraying it out with volume control cleaning chemical doesn't help, time to replace the control. It's a 10k audio taper pot and you can get it at Radio Shack as part number 271-1721 or at Jameco Electronics as part number 255426.
 
Back
Top Bottom