Gottlieb Far Out (Gottlieb, 1974) EM will not exit 'Bonus' mode

sdrob

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Hoping for some suggestions on where to focus my efforts with this machine, which stays in 'bonus' mode continuously regardless of player, ball, game resets, etc. I've serviced the step-up/step-down bonus reel (which wasn't indexing at all prior to my restoration efforts) but despite a mechanism teardown/lube/reassembly, the 'bonus' light stays lit during all gameplay. Any tips?
 
Hoping for some suggestions on where to focus my efforts with this machine, which stays in 'bonus' mode continuously regardless of player, ball, game resets, etc. I've serviced the step-up/step-down bonus reel (which wasn't indexing at all prior to my restoration efforts) but despite a mechanism teardown/lube/reassembly, the 'bonus' light stays lit during all gameplay. Any tips?
Does the bonus unit count down to zero? If so does the pin on the gear of the bonus unit push on the blade switch to change to the outhole function?
 
Thanks for your reply, Dave. The bonus unit does not seem to count up or down, despite being capable of doing so mechanically. I need to learn more about how the gameplay is supposed to function...I've not had much luck finding out how things are supposed to work. I'd assume the machine starts off with the bonus light off until a certain sequence of accomplishments has been attained. I've been working on this unit for a friend, so I don't have full-time access to it. Really appreciate your guidance!
 
Dave - what is the best way to assess the bonus unit function? I spent another day with this machine and was unable to get it to behave any differently than before. Is it possible to lift the playfield and mimic actual play and therefore see the bonus unit advance and/or decrement firsthand, or do I need to rig the door switch and observe it from afar through the coin door? I was able to verify that the unit indexes back down to the start position if I manually load it up before starting play.

The lights do progress through the tiered bonus levels on the playfield, but the bonus light still stays lit full-time. I shot this video of the machine in operation (mainly to capture faulty scoring reel behavior), but I think you can see/deduce some of the bonus light behavior regardless. Would love your input.
 
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Dave - what is the best way to assess the bonus unit function? I spent another day with this machine and was unable to get it to behave any differently than before. Is it possible to lift the playfield and mimic actual play and therefore see the bonus unit advance and/or decrement firsthand, or do I need to rig the door switch and observe it from afar through the coin door? I was able to verify that the unit indexes back down to the start position if I manually load it up before starting play.

The lights do progress through the tiered bonus levels on the playfield, but the bonus light still stays lit full-time. I shot this video of the machine in operation (mainly to capture faulty scoring reel behavior), but I think you can see/deduce some of the bonus light behavior regardless. Would love your input.
To lift the playfield for service, remove ball, pull back ball plunger, lift playfield from center of apron and support playfield with arm on right side of the cabinet. Or the playfield could be pulled out a little more and tilted back to rest on the head.
In the video the bonus unit problem is with the lights working and the 3rd player lights not coming on. Sometimes cleaning the rivet disc solves these problems.
Chime unit needs to be worked on, 10s chime isn’t working.
Every score reel unit stack switch needs to be cleaned and checked to insure proper scoring and resetting.
 
@pinballdaveh - I found and fixed this problem! One of the Double Bonus relay leaf switches was abnormally bent on the main relay bank in the body. I am now trying to solve a scoring reel issue - I'll start a new post on this. Thanks for your help!
 
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