chewy's first pinball... 1964 williams san francisco

[mudfud]

well, my pinball with the full sized single ball is open and propped. I did some reading at the sites I could access from work, and found out where to find the latch and how to get the glass off.

there is a lot of dust, and a little mold. I think I will try our usual cleaning methods, being careful not to mess any painted surfaces up.

the underneath wood is a little moldy, so I will use a light bleach to cut down the growth.

overall, the wiring and relays and switches looks very good.

I found some overheating/burn on the right flipper solenoid. perhaps the hold EOS switch didn't work right? or, since people are right handed more, they held this one up more? will sort out if it's burned or not easily enough by comparing resistances to the other side.

oddly, all the fuses look intact. the guy I bought it from tried plugging it in the night before I bought it... urrgghh.. said it didn't light, but I want to clean things up before I try that again. is there an on/off switch?

ordering new rubbers and a new ball.

do I really need a schematic? all the solenoids, fuses and relays are labelled. I did find a vendor with a copy of the schematic for $16 plus shipping (seems like a lot for a xerox).

will start slowly, cleaning. still will have to drill out the upper lock. any special way to do that? can I ram a screw driver into it to pop it? too bad I never learned to pick locks.

back to frankie to finish first.

having way too much fun

[compirate]

pinball with the full sized single ball

If you have a key that fits the lock, sometimes you can jimmy it - work the key in and most of the way out of the lock while turning at the same time. The force of turning the lock will sometimes hold the tumblers in the right place.

[Lt Teddy]

Most of the old machines had an on off switch under the bottom side at the front of the machine. Some were push button and some were switches. Just look under the front by the door. Don

[drcrippen324]

you got 2 ways to do the lock first is 2 paperclips one at top one in bottom of the lock and push the tumblers

second is gently inser sutable screwdriver hold screwdriver in mould grips (by the handle) then turn with one hand and hold screwdriver in lock with the other the locks are usualy inly held in with a nut on the back of the lock and you can turn the hole thing like that
hence why they put lock bars on machines nower days

[pinball wizard]

the best way to drill the lock would be to use about a 1/4" bit and drill on the dimple in the center of the lock.after all the tumblers are drilled,you should be able to open it with a screwdriver.and yes,you will need a schematic.you will need it for troubleshooting circuits either now,or in the future.. make sure who ever you buy one from can make a legible copy.i have seen some that were almost impossible to read .
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oh,did you look close inside the bottom part of the machine for the back key ?usually they are on a key clip mounted on the coin door ,or where the nut plates for the front legs attach.

[mudfud]

OK. ordering schematic. looked for key... none found a push button on lower left front, could that be on/off, I think it's next ball... no wires to any underneath switches in the front that I could find.

will work on cleaning things up, then try doc's 2 paperclips, then screwdrivers, compirate's key and finally pinball's drill if nothing else.

a few pix to start.

what's your favorite anti-mildew for inside a pinball machine? bleach water OK? (not on wires, of course)

[Meathead]

Cr@p! I guess that makes me full-sized, too!

[Eddie]

From your pics I would suggest rebuilding the flipper assemblies, Replace coils. sleeves,
plunger and pawls, coil stops, springs, inserts and of course EOS switches.

Why because they are old ,probably worn and with what little ( Compared to the whole machine that it costs to rebuild them) you will have peace of mind that they are in perfect condition and will work for many many year especially in Home use.

The burned coil is probably due to an improperly adjusted or worn or dirty EOS switch
maybe the sleeve accumulated dirt which cause friction.

Remember Do NOT use spray electrical contact cleaner on EM games!!!

It can cause a serious fire. EM games relays etc cause huge sparks when activated and many machines have caught fire due to that type of cleaner . ( Probably the owners or repair persons did not give adequate time to dry or whatever. Either way do not use it.

[emmadog]

Chewy,
There is set of books written by a guy with the last name of "Shalhoub" entitled "The Pinball Compendium". There are five of them and they cover from the 1930's to the present as well as one dedicated to the EM era. They chronicle the history and development of pins as well as have fascinating stories about particular games and their creators/companies. The books also give current values for the machines as well. Pretty much every pin is in there with an article about it's history as well as color pics. I've got the set and really enjoy flipping through them even though I don't own a pin yet. You can find them at Amazon.

[rubberratt]

I wonder if the EMs are harder or easier to repair/maintain
______________________________________________________

OK. ordering schematic. looked for key... none found a push button on lower left front, could that be on/off, I think it's next ball... no wires to any underneath switches in the front that I could find.

will work on cleaning things up, then try doc's 2 paperclips, then screwdrivers, compirate's key and finally pinball's drill if nothing else.

a few pix to start.

what's your favorite anti-mildew for inside a pinball machine? bleach water OK? (not on wires, of course)

Oxalic Acid for wood

[pinball wizard]

Chewy,
There is set of books written by a guy with the last name of "Shalhoub" entitled "The Pinball Compendium". There are five of them and they cover from the 1930's to the present as well as one dedicated to the EM era. They chronicle the history and development of pins as well as have fascinating stories about particular games and their creators/companies. The books also give current values for the machines as well. Pretty much every pin is in there with an article about it's history as well as color pics. I've got the set and really enjoy flipping through them even though I don't own a pin yet. You can find them at Amazon.

those are excellent books.also,marco rossignoli wrote 4 awesome books.you should be able to get them all at amazon,or through gameroom magazine.gameroom has other books as well.

[mudfud]

1st power up... wooo hooo!

after vacuuming and lightly dusting things, making sure nothing looked like a short, I plugged the pinball in.

nothing at first, but hit the left flipper button and she turned ON

got lights in the upper back part, some blinking and looking pretty symmetric, so I think those are all fine. playfield lights are all good, too!

put a couple credits on by closing the coin mechanism switch, heard clicks and rotational sounds.

so far, so good, but then...

after pushing the new game button, the reels tried to reset and got stuck whirring and clicking on the left bank of numbers. I think maybe one of the reels is stuck, so it would not reset to zero? unplugged at this point.

anyhow, that's my first attempt at my first pinball. will do some more reading and drill the lock and open the back next... what do you call that back/head part of the pin?

is there something that could be getting caught and blocking the numbered wheel rotation?

PROGRESS, yeahh!

[rubberratt]

1st power up... wooo hooo!

after vacuuming and lightly dusting things, making sure nothing looked like a short, I plugged the pinball in.

nothing at first, but hit the left flipper button and she turned ON

got lights in the upper back part, some blinking and looking pretty symmetric, so I think those are all fine. playfield lights are all good, too!

put a couple credits on by closing the coin mechanism switch, heard clicks and rotational sounds.

so far, so good, but then...

after pushing the new game button, the reels tried to reset and got stuck whirring and clicking on the left bank of numbers. I think maybe one of the reels is stuck, so it would not reset to zero? unplugged at this point.

anyhow, that's my first attempt at my first pinball. will do some more reading and drill the lock and open the back next... what do you call that back/head part of the pin?

is there something that could be getting caught and blocking the numbered wheel rotation?

PROGRESS, yeahh!

Sweet - good first time power up

The thing in the back is the backbox. Solenoid chattering could mean a "dead" short in one of the coils somewhere. Measure the resistance and you shold get at least 2.5 ohms across the coils. Anything less, and it is shorted.

The display could also need some love (cleaning, checking) stuff breaks off and gets caught in mechs, so could be simple.

Most of all HAVE FUN !!!
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PS - check all the diodes as well, they should measure between .4 and .6 - it is kinda' rare to have one "go bad" but it happens.

[rubberratt]

Sweet - good first time power up

The thing in the back is the backbox. Solenoid chattering could mean a "dead" short in one of the coils somewhere. Measure the resistance and you shold get at least 2.5 ohms across the coils. Anything less, and it is shorted.

The display could also need some love (cleaning, checking) stuff breaks off and gets caught in mechs, so could be simple.

Most of all HAVE FUN !!!
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PS - check all the diodes as well, they should measure between .4 and .6 - it is kinda' rare to have one "go bad" but it happens.

PSS - Don't forget Marvin's Marvelous Pinball repair guides - I sleep with them... under my pillow...

[pinball wizard]

one of the most common problems on those em's is that the switch contacts get dirty or out of adjustment.

[wrkey]

This is just piddly stuff:
Rock-Ola Juke Box - 325lbs
Vendo Coke Machine - 685lbs (empty!)
First ex-wife - 378lbs! ( sorry.. couldn't resist!)

Pachinko - Max 45 pounds.

Pachislo - Max 90 Pounds.

Pinn - 275 +++ Pounds.

[Moparformances]

First ex-wife - 378lbs! ( sorry.. couldn't resist!)

i got ya beat

[mudfud]

I futzed a bit more and found out that the solenoid to the middle numbers does work. I could get it to advance a bit by closing switches by hand.

read Marvin's website, and I think maybe it's the zero switch not closing, so the solenoids keep clicking to try to reset.

I will head back to a salinas next month, armed with a contact cleaner, new bulbs, a new ball and a circuit diagram... that should help a lot.

I am so excited that it actually has some life in it afterall. once I got a good look at the solenoids and switches, I actually felt like it was a better deal than I thought.

will look into rebuilding the flippers, too, once I figure out if it was the EOS switch that malfunctioned or not. good news is that there were no fused or burnt looking switches found

[mudfud]

hi guys.

question for you pinballers.

I got the reels all reset to 000, but the start game switch doesn't go...

when I close the leaf switch at the bottom of the coin door, I can see the credits wheel incrementing.

is the ball release supposed to go next, and the machine's playfield switches activate when I push the button on the lower left front? nothing's happening here.

I am guessing there is a stepper switch not turning somewhere?

got the diagram finally, so I will start studying that and seeing what contacts to clean next.

getting closer... hey ttc, what you doing next wednesday night or thursay AM. can I bribe you with a chicken fried steak? I need my expert maintenance guy to help me out. maybe a reward for finding that great kyoraku for you?

[pinball wizard]

from what you said ,it would appear that the start relay might not be pulling in .i would start troubleshooting at the start button and work back following the schematic.also,i would agree with eddie about not using contact cleaner.i have never used it on those games,but i can see how a fire could start.best thing to clean contacts with is a business card or paper of similar thickness.put it between the contacts,and put SLIGHT pressure to hold the contacts closed,and move the paper to clean the contacts.this is what the pin manufacturers recommended in those days.the contacts may then have to be adjusted for proper closure.