Williams Hot Tip (EM)

[Retropin]

A loose wire that has come away from its solder joint but retains its position is one of the hardest things to find on an EM when fixing them. I try to never tug at the wires as a fix solution and certainly don't advise it but often.. its the only way to find a fault sometimes.
Took me a year to find one once...LOL

[millsy]

Just checked the score motor. Had the lights off and the first switch on the left has a major blue/green spark before it stops. There is also a spark on the switch second from the right. I used a business card to wipe through the switch contacts, but nothing changed when I started another game. Am still yet to check the score wheel switches are open when at 0.

I manually pushed the plunger in and out of the outhole solenoid with the game turned off and it moved freely. Gave the wires another tug and still on there tight.

I'm a bit apprehensive to do too much on my own (especially because it's not my machine) with the switches as I've read the horror stories from EM n00bs where it works worse than when they started. Dan (Riverina Pinball) has offered to come over and work on it with me one afternoon in the next few weeks.

This is starting to get frustrating. Why couldn't it be a 90s DMD??? haha

So far: reset all stepper units to zero. The credit unit now works when I press one of the coin switches and the credit wheel increments. I can press the start button and it goes to ball one. Ball does not kick out. There was a time when I could press the start button and I could play a game by kicking the ball out manually by hand, but at the moment, the flipper buttons work rarely and when I do hit the buttons, sometimes they drop out instantly. I think this could also be part of the problem.

Cheers!
Adam.

Remember besides tugging & cleaning the contacts,make sure they are opening & closing when they should, especially around the score motor switches -very easily bent out of adjustment when checking other stuff in the cab & under the cab.
Keep at it, you will get there & be surprised & excited when you solve it  

[delarge]

Haha "don't tug the wires." This was the reason I was scared about using a file/light sandpaper on the switches. You learn something everyday. Well, have found one wire loose on 25c relay. This is the coin relay that is mentioned in the startup sequence?

When I first started posting on this issue, I had just gotten familiar with all the Williams EM relays and stepper units. In the past few weeks, it seems like I have had to learn it all again because I've forgotten a lot of things over Christmas. It will probably be one of those lightening bolt moments at the end when everything works....until the next EM comes into the house and I throw my arms up in the air.

Out of interest, how much is a non-working EM like this worth? It could come up nicely if the contact/Mylar was removed from the playfield and the machine was given a good shop and detail.

Cheers!
Adam.

[femto]

I can repair most any EM pinball that has not run in many years in about one to three hours, using this systematic approach. On the other hand, using the "fix just what's broken approach" usually takes me twice as long! (And I end up having to back-track and do the systematic approach anyway.)

I tend to agree with this approach from Clays Pinball Repair guide. The best way is to go thru the complete machine systematically. You may think it will take forever but once you start you get thru it rather than chasing your tail.

[delarge]

Success!!!!  (kind of....).

Just got home and decided to bend the loose wire on the leg of the switch as tight as I could (until I soldered it properly). Turned the machine on and pressed start. The score motor spun continuously and the Coin Unit stepper continuously clicked and wouldn't stop. I turned the machine off, flicked the Game Over relay latch manually and wound up a heap of credits on the credit wheel in the head. I also moved the Coin Unit by hand off zero and then put the playfield down and the ball back in the trough.

I turned the machine on again and noticed Game Over on the backglass was lit. I pressed start, the machine did its startup/reset sequence and this time the ball flung into the shooter lane and my jaw dropped. This is the type of thing that keeps me going. I had a game and the ball drained. It didn't kick out again. I kept pressing the start button and the ball would randomly kick out every 5th time or so. I decided to turn the machine off and call it a night.

We're getting somewhere! Time for that systematic approach.

Cheers!
Adam.

[Retropin]

Proper connection mate and you may well have a home run... good news!

[delarge]

And I'll bet you're all thinking "Finally, couldn't stand another 5 pages of this! It's like pulling teeth." Hahaha.

Thanks for all the help and support. I could get my EM wings yet. Will hopefully solder the wire with a clear head tomorrow.

Cheers!
Adam.

[goodolddays]

Sounds like you're close Adam .

I'm starting to lose count of how many EM pins I've had now   , (I think its 12 ?) but have to agree I've found that the systematic approach works best (ie a full mechanical overhaul) .

Even the youngest of these games is turning 37 this year and most you will come across have not been serviced in a long long time , if ever.

Plus, once they are running they need to be played regularly or gemlins will resurface .  

[delarge]

My main concern is getting the machine working and testing it for a few weeks and then sending it on the bumpy ride out of town and it develops issues again. I suppose I should just worry about getting it working first. Hehe

[delarge]

One step forward and two steps back....just finished soldering the wire on the 10c relay and put the machine back together. Turned the power on and pressed start. No ball flung into the shooter lane ans no life from the flippers. I kept pressing the start button and once it kicked the ball into the shooter lane....then the flippers died again.

Back to square one...there's a glimmer of hope this time. The outhole solenoid is known to work. The next thing I'm focusing on are the stepper units. I've cleaned one of them, but at the moment, the coin unit and ball unit are not moving freely. I've found a good YouTube instructional video that shows me how they should be operating, so that's handy.

Cheers!
Adam.

[goodolddays]

Gday Adam .

I've just reread the whole thread and had a look at the schematic.

If you look towards the bottom of the schematic you will see the flipper coils . See the power to those coils is from the 'red' feed. If you follow the power feed up the right side of the schematic you will see it passes through a normally closed switch on the tilt relay (red wire on one leaf, red/yellow/white on the other) .
 With the game unplugged from the wall , check with your meter that switch is closed . If that switch is open you will lose power to the flippers and the top eject hole relay, right lane target switch etc .

Also, further up the power feed it looks like there is a switch on the reset relay that should also be normally closed (red/yellow/white wire on one leaf, blue yellow white on the other) .
If that is open you lose power to everything down the chain towards the flippers including the ball release coil .
It should be closed when the reset relay is deenergised ie. with the game unplugged from the wall and when the reset relay part of the reset sequence is completed)

Lastly , just above that switch on the power feed there is a switch on the game over relay that should also be closed when G.O relay is deenergised (blue.yellow/white wire on one leaf, black on the other) . G.O relay will be deenergised when ball count is > 0 (or game is unplugged from wall.)

If either the switch on the game over relay or the switch on the reset relay is not closed, there is no power to the flippers or any coil between the flippers and that particular switch.

Cheers
Dave

[goodolddays]

Also, for the ball release coil to work reliably it needs a clean earth via the switch 4a on the score motor and make/break switch on the outhole relay (specifically the side that has grey/green wire on one leaf and yellow on the other.)

You can check this earth by leaving the game unplugged,
a) manually move the score motor until switch 4a is closed then
b) put one lead of your meter on the yellow wire side of the outhole leaf switch, and the other lead on earth lug of the ball release coil (the coil under the apron.)

Then operate the outhole relay by hand and look to see you have good continuity and under 1 ohm resistance.

In my EM experience a dirty earth can cause lots of problems .

[delarge]

Many thanks, Dave!

Will work through your advice next time I'm working on the machine and sort out that power issue. I'm willing to bet it's due to that dodgy switch on the Reset Relay where someone had tied a small bit of wire around it. I tried to straighten the switch out, but maybe it's not making proper contact?

Thanks,
Adam.

[delarge]

Probably won't get a chance until the weekend now to completely follow all your testing, Dave. Tonight I was able to quickly test the Reset Relay and it didn't seem to be the switch I suspected.

What I did discover was that when I reset the Coin Unit, Player 2 was lit on the backglass. I turned the machine off and manually put the Coin Unit on Player 1. Looking at it, it is REALLY bending the switch down on the Coin Unit. I turned the machine back on and pressed start. It buzzed differently to before and went through the reset sequence and kicked the ball out. The flippers also worked. When I turned the machine off again and pressed start a second time, the machine seemed to lose power if it wasn't initially on Player 1.

The Coin Unit doesn't reset freely and will need to be pulled apart and cleaned properly. Is the power issue switch related or wiper related? Out of interest, what can you use to clean those wiper contacts?

[goodolddays]

Gday Dean .

It looks to me like the coin unit is mostly just related to number match circuit for each player and player number light on the backglass. It also controls which number ball is in play depending on how many players are in the game at the time.

You can use a green scotchbrite pad to clean the wiper fingers and the copper tracks. 

Before pulling the coin unit apart be sure the unit is in the reset position and mark a couple of the wiper fingers so you can put it back together in the right position, otherwise you would be in a world of pain  

The flippers (and probably other coils) losing power will be switch related