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First and foremost, the shutter motor cam switches are the source of many, many problems in troubleshooting these games. The shutter motor either traps the balls allowing them to score or allows them to fall to the lower ball collection area. It moves a masonite shutter back and forth and it is attached to a series of 6 cams in Bally Bingo game. These cams operate 10 to 12 switch contacts. Some go to the ball lifter, others go to other relays and some to power for the shutter motor itself. Misadjustment of these switches can cause failure of the game to start, to score properly or to move the shutter itself so the balls drain instead of score. |
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It is located at the very end of the playfield where it can bump the end of the ball collecting area any time the playfield is lifted. This bumping can cause the top level of switch contacts to be pulled back out of line and be inactive. There is a small shield over it which is a cobweb against the overly enthusiastic pinball fixer. Be VERY careful when lifting up the playfield from the game. Other items to check include:
In one of the machines I worked on, the unit had been sitting so long that none of the rotating disks turned at all, the ball lifter motor whirred merrily away while lifting no balls at all and despite repeated inspection of the shutter motor switch blades, I failed to detect that one of the switch blades was not moving as it needed to stop the motion of the shutter motor. The last allowed the shutter motor to start its cycle and instead of stopping once it had closed the playfield holes, it continued on to stop only after reopening them again. I got on the track only by looking closely at the diagram for all the switch connections which controlled the shutter motor and tracing the only possible source of power back to the start relay and then to the connection that came from the start relay to the shutter motor cam switch in question. Should one of the bingo spots glow dimly and/or irregularly, it is possible for a wire to be shorted to another somewhere in the wire bundle. The only way to ascertain this for sure is to locate the wire at the associated shift unit (one for each row, allowing a number to shift up or down one spot), and remove it from the shift unit. If it still glows, then remove the wire where it lands at the search unit (follow the wire color, then use an ohmeter to verify how well you have traced the faded colors). If it still glows then it can only be in the wire itself. The wire from the shift unit to search unit will have to be disconnected at both ends and another substituted in its place. If this is a restoration, heaven help you. You will need to unlace bundles that are taped up and all but inaccessible in order to route the replacement wire. If this is not a restoration, then take a short cut across the back of the other shift units from the affected shift unit to the search unit. One saving grace in these units is the fact that nearly every unit is duplicated or has another unit very similar. If wondering how a unit should work, look at a nearby similar unit. The stepping units are very similar to those in em pinball games. There is a step up solenoid, usually located perpendicular to the playfield and a reset solenoid, which is usually located at the top of the unit and parallel (more or less) to the playfield. The wheel should be capable of moving a step up with each activation of the step up solenoid, until it reaches a mechanical limit. Then activation of the reset solenoid should allow the unit to return to its starting position. You can activate the mechanism by hand by shoving in plungers smartly and observe how well or poorly they work. Many of the relays and rotating devices are hard to access, but they may not be all as hard as you might think on first inspection. The replay counter score wheel, which appears all but inaccessible on first inspection, has a hinge at the bottom which allows access once two screws on the right of the device that hold it to the underlying wood are removed. The backglass comes off by two lock mechanisms which do not click but unscrew in order to remove the wood side border. Just for reference, the lamps used in the these games are # 55, which is rated at 7 volts. So subsitution of #47s for testing purposes should work, but their lifespan will be limited by operation at overvoltage. #55s are still available, but are about three times more expensive than the #47s. Many fewer are used since there is only background lighting in about 8 places on the playfield. In case you are unaware, these were gambling machines. They were used much as the "gray" video games were used. Locations paid off for credits run up. It is highly doubtful that anyone is using them that way now, but they are still illegal in some states, including New York. If you happen to acquire one, you might want to find out what local laws are before you begin broadcasting your find to the world. In Oregon, 3 years after they were outlawed and by which time any location using "gray games" had already converted to state lottery terminals, the legislature was busy making mere possession or service of the games a felony! |
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Bingo pinball games are a challenge. There are
no two ways about it. They combine the challenges of fixing an electromechanical pinball game with additional pseudo random logic of the bingo game. Before beginning troubleshooting, be sure to have both the schematic diagram
AND the game manual. The manual contains vital information about the function of the numerous switches associated with the control unit, mixer and shutter motor. Attempting repair without them is an invitation to
insanity. However, there are several general approaches which can be used when troubleshooting a bingo game.
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