Williams Solved Doozie (Williams, 1968) (electromechanical) power question

[DaveBonds]

Hello everyone. I'm new to this site and to Pinball ownership, but I'm not new to mechanics or electronics.

I have a working 1968 Williams Doozie that is in tune and plays just fine, but at the moment it seems to have a powering issue.

The power line that runs to the transformer is on a toggle at the bottom of the cabinet and I can hear humming when it's on, but it seems to be having issues powering the entire machine. It doesn't have anything, lighting or mechanical.

I pulled the 15A tube fuse that runs to the power feed on that toggle switch and at that point, I hear nothing, so I know the fuse is good.

Does anyone here have any experience with older Williams power sources? The transformer has several leads on it. There is a label in the cabinet that says if the Voltage is too low, change to the lug that reads "High Tap" It is currently on the 24V tap.

I don't want to try that immediately. I won't have my multimeter at the house until later today and if there is something I can do otherwise, I'd rather not change the voltage output into the machine unless it reads low, but it was working on the 24V tap.

It was working properly when I picked it up. I noticed that it took some time after I turned it on/ plugged it in for it to power up, when I got it set up back to my house. I was careful with disassembly and loaded the machine on a blanket into the back of an SUV with the legs and back off, but the playfield was left in the cabinet. I've checked the playfield and cabinet for loose connections and bad solders and I can't see anything.

Is there a common issue with these machines that require something I'm unaware of as far as it's power source is concerned? I can check voltage at the wall and at the transformer. I'm just curious if these machines can get stuck off when turned off/ unplugged.

Thanks for any advice!

Dave

 

[DaveBonds]

Something is inadvertently blowing the 15A fuse in the case, which is a 24V lead. It's the only 15A fuse, the other three are 10A. I'm assuming that this is the 24V feed that powers up the machine.

When the game is plugged in, something immediately blows the fuse.

Does anybody have a good picture of a breaker contact that is in good order on the left flipper button of their Williams machine from the same era?

 

[spalmer]

Has it ever worked properly since you moved it?

 

[DaveBonds]

It did, but I disconnected the wiring bulkheads to remove the playfield and that's when it stopped working. The left flipper was weak and I discovered a bad solder, so I corrected it and when I put everything back together, I reconnected the bulkhead from the main board with all of the relays, to the head back into itself by tracing the looms without paying attention.

It works great now, sans a few bulbs that I need to pick up from the auto parts store.

I'm chalking this up to new guy syndrome, but I did manage to fix the zipper flipper. :)

 

[spalmer]

Glad you got it working!!