Williams Hot Tip (EM)

[delarge]

Hi all,
I got a phone call recently asking if I could fix a Williams Hot Tip. It's an EM and have never owned or worked on one, but I said I would see what I could do. It arrived in my garage today and apart from needing a real good clean, there looks to be fuses blown in the bottom of the cabinet. I am used to replacing fuses in my DMD machines with slow blow fuses, but wanted to get clarification before I changed fuses over. Here is a list of fuses in the machine:

6 volt - 15 amp
6 volt - 15 amp
24 volt - 15 amp
110 volt - 10 amp

Playfield fuse:  ?

My first question is, are these just slow blow fuses and for the 110v fuse holder, do I use a lower value fuse for an Aussie machine, eg 5 amp?

Thanks in advance,
Adam.

[pinballowner]

If you send me your email I can send a copy of the schematic.

[delarge]

Just checking out the manual on ipdb right now and saw a schematic listed for download. Would that be the same as yours?

Cheers!
Adam.

[delarge]

A long night of reading repair guides and various forum posts on EM machines.

Hot Tip powers on. Coin door switches now add credits (loose wire on the stepper motor previously) and when coin door switch is activated, the score motor moves for a few seconds and then stops. It is now showing credits up on the credit reel, but nothing happens when I hit the start button.

When machine is on, the lock relay is activated. If I press the switches in the ball locks on the playfield, it kicks out.

Not sure if this repair is out of my depth, but I don't like things beating me. Anyone else have any suggestions?

Cheers!
Adam.

[Strangeways]

Are all the scores reels reading zero ?

Sounds like they are as the score motor stops. Does the ball kick out and the "ball in play" light is set at "1" ?

I would start by looking at the jones plugs on the game. These are the connectors between the head, playfield and body. Look for loose connectors or broken wires. Clean the male pins with a wire brush and then check again. Also check the fuse clips that they have tension.

[delarge]

Are all the scores reels reading zero ?

Sounds like they are as the score motor stops. Does the ball kick out and the "ball in play" light is set at "1" ?

I would start by looking at the jones plugs on the game. These are the connectors between the head, playfield and body. Look for loose connectors or broken wires. Clean the male pins with a wire brush and then check again. Also check the fuse clips that they have tension.

Thanks for the reply.

Yes, all the score reels are reading zero.

There are credits on the stepper, but when I hit the start button, nothing at all happens. I just manually pressed the game over relay and was able to have a game. There's no sounds/chimes in the machine at all, but I was able to hit the ball around, drop targets dropped and reset, all the holes kicked out the ball and the slingshots worked. When the ball drained, nothing registered though. It wouldn't kick the ball out, but was able to flick the ball out with my finger. I turned the machine off and on and the 'Game Over' light was on again.

I have reseated random jones plugs in the head and inside the cabinet, but haven't cleaned them as yet. After around 5 years of pinball tinkering, today was the first time I got a zap out of a machine (game was turned off). Only felt it in my hand, but enough to jolt me back into reality and not become complacent with these machines.

I've gone all over the machine and tugged on wires, but will check again. Will also check the fuse clips again. Even though all the lights are on and the machine seems to be semi operational, could there still be a fuse issue?

When the machine arrived in my garage, it seemed like a nightmare. Now that I've started reading up on the operation and things are working (somewhat), it now makes a little more sense. Hats off to the guys that have big collections of these machines. I wanted a Captain Fantastic in my own collection one day, but will see how I go with Hot Tip first.

Cheers!
Adam.

[Retropin]

Been a while since ive worked on a WMS EM but ill see if I can assist..

If I have read correctly... you can add credits as normal but START button does nothing... LOCK relay is latched.
Firstly... motor turning half turn  or 1 full turn on coin switch is normal.. it has latched your credit and now waits for you to start the game.
Make sure all contacts on LOCK relay are as they should be when activated.

When you press START it goes through the Credit Unit ZERO position switch... make sure these contacts are touching.. use a DMM You should see the credit go down one if this is working
.. also Ball Count ZERO postion and 2nd COIN relay... if the credit wheel goes down by one then all ive written so far is working correctly... if not... you have a fault on one or more of these relays... OR.. START switch is dirty.. could be as simple as that

[millsy]

Welcome to the technical world of EM's - Once you solve this problem you will breeze through any problems with the Capt Fantastic.
Unfortunately if there is 1 wire off or a dirty/open or closed switch in the start up sequence it wont operate fully.
Is there any scoring at all when activating slings/drop targets etc ?
Suggest you put it on freeplay http://www.pinrepair.com/em/index3.htm#free & follow the startup sequence http://www.pinballaustralia.com/startupW.htm
Keep the updates coming

[Strangeways]

Check the coin switches mounted in the door. If one of the switches is stuck in the "on" position it can create problems such as this.

[delarge]

I'm not at home at the moment, but have been backwards to the pinball machine all afternoon. It's been daunting, but things start becoming clearer after I read things a few times and activating the relays by hand to see what things do.

Retropin, I went through your list, but still no Eureka moments. From memory, I need clarification on a few things and will post a diagram later to see if your descriptions are the same things I'm working on. I got a bit of light sandpaper and gave the start button switch a light sand, but it didn't make a difference. Also wondering if this is ok to use or should I be cleaning the contacts another way?

Haha the technical world of EM indeed. Another time where I've thought to myself "do I need the stress of someone else's machine?" Hopefully I don't have to ring the guy up and say it's in the too hard basket....

Coin switches seemed ok from memory, but when I was checking them last night, I accidentally had one switch locked on and the motor kept turning until I realised the switch was pressed on.

Still wondering about that start button. The credit unit turns fine when the coin door switches are activated, but if I start a game manually with one of the relays, the ball does not kick out. I can play a game if I flick the ball out with my finger, but the ball trough doesn't detect the ball when it drains. The score reels don't move at all during this time, but the playfield lighting changes to indicate scoring has changed. As I said previously, no chimes either.

Finally, are there any specific safety warnings for working on these machines? If I'm activating relays with the power on and playfield up, I only touch the plastic and one hand in my pocket. I got a zap when I tried to remove a jones plug this morning with the machine turned off, but power still turned on at the wall.

Cheers!
Adam.

[Retropin]

With the machine turned off but still on at the wall you have 240V inside.. be very very careful. The Jones plugs will be " hot".. you should NEVER touch these unless the game is unplugged.
Relays you are OK with.. will give you a tingle and wake you up... good thing about AC is that you WILL feel it and instantly pull away... DC not so lucky, it doesn't sit on the outside of the skin... has the potential to still kill you but you wont feel it

[delarge]

Thanks for the advice. A nice wake up call this morning then. I love pinball, but don't want to be the guy that they say "at least he died doing what he loved...."

[delarge]

Here's the diagram I've been following from the Pinrepair guides.

http://www.pinrepair.com/em/index1.htm#top

[delarge]

To Retropin:

yes, credits add ok, but start button does nothing at all. Once machine is powered on, the LOCK relay is definitely latched. I've turned the machine on and off a few times and definitely latches and the switch makes a connection where it is supposed to.

When I press START, nothing happens as I said. I then go round the back of the machine and look at the Williams coin unit (referred to in my previous posts as the stepper). This clicks into action if I press a coin door switch and the reel goes from nothing to 1, 2, 3 etc. etc. indicating that there are credits for a game to start. Unfortunately, the start button won't start a game. The coin unit also clicks into action if I press the top most switch together. With the machine turned on, I was doing this with a piece of cardboard....didn't want to get zapped a second time in one day.

Retropin, could you please explain the Ball Count ZERO position and 2nd COIN relay a bit more in relation to the diagram I just posted?

I might have to call it a night tonight. Thanks all.

Cheers!
Adam.

[GORGAR 1]

Good luck Adam always wondered what you'd look like with permed hair lol


Peter