Gottlieb Solved Sing Along (Gottlieb, 1967) EM project w/ pictures

[anticlimatic]

So, winter's here, and lucky me, I've got this dusty old been-sitting-in-an-attic-for-three-decades pinball machine to tinker with. Been reading up on it and it all seems pretty straight forward-- switches, solenoids, relays, etc-- but I am something of a hack, and will be treating this as a learning process.

So far I've replaced the rotten rubber elements, removed the melted bell solenoid (ordered a new one, it's coming), fixed a shuttering flipper and a seized up flipper, and figured out how to trick the game into at least moving to ball-in-play mode (though getting it to recognize that there is an active game going, where the play-field switches are actually responsive, only works some of the time) I blew the main 15 amp fuse twice in a row while rolling over two specific point switches, and will work on tracking that problem down later.

Right now, I'm trying to troubleshoot why the game stays completely dark when I plug it in-- totally dead, totally unresponsive-- unless, before I plug it in, I reach in and manually flip the "Game Start" relay on the main relay bank. If I do that, the game lights up, the score reels reset themselves to zero, and as soon as I put in a dime the ball gets put in play (though it doesn't always realize that a game has been started). The "start game" button has had zero effect so far, since I've gotten it out, and one of the switch for it looks like it MIGHT be bent of whack. Will figure that out later, unless it has something to do with the start process.

Any ideas why it is unresponsive when being plugged in, unless the "Game Start" relay has been manually flipped? The game doesn't seem to have a problem flipping it back off once it's plugged in. Maybe I messed up the sequence by resetting the relay banks manually after replacing the fuse that was causing it to hang-up at start-up.

 

[anticlimatic]

Followup-- apparently sticking a dime into the machine is how you turn it on. So that is no longer an issue.

I have a short somewhere though, as I keep blowing a fuse every time I hit a 100 point switch on the playfield a few times. It's the main 20 volt 15 amp fuse. Could it have something to do with the large bell, whose solenoid I removed because it was completely melted? I just twisted the in-out wires together in the meantime (waiting for the part to come), after I get it I'll see what happens, and go short-searching if need be at that point.

One more issue that I have is with a couple of my score wheels. They seem sluggish, and when I manually advance them often the clicks do little beyond wiggle the wheel a bit. I have to really jam them to get them to advance (which is what the solenoid does anyhow, and seems to do it ok). However, every once in a while the game will "hang up" when it's trying to add points, and I'll just get the endless spinning score motor effect. I'm going to try to clean the score wheels, but any insight into what causes hangup like that would be appreciated.

 

[69e_type]

When you twisted the wires together you most likely created the short. The solenoid does have some resistance and should keep the fuse from blowing. Until you receive you new solenoid just isolate the wires from each other. This also may have some effect on the score wheels.

Do you have a point file you can clean the contacts with? most problems in an EM machine can be traced to switches out of adjustment and dirty. I would look at the 100 point relay for a poorly adjusted switch which would have made the bell relay stay on. I would also check that there are no 100 point targets that are stuck on. I had a roll over switch in a odds and evens that stuck down and almost burned up my 100 point relay.

 

[anticlimatic]

You were right, it was that solenoid. Once I replaced it, the fuses stopped blowing. I had a bit of trouble, though, because although the part they sent me was the right model number, it was slightly "fatter" around, and not quite as long, and it didn't fit well into the other parts I had. I managed to rig it, but now it's up a little higher than it was. It usually sat inside an L bracket, but because it was too fat, I had to turn the bracket upside down and set it on top of it in r position-- works, but it makes the bell sound kind of funny.

I was also expecting it to come with a pin, which it didn't, so I had to fish around in the trash for the melted solenoid, and beat it with a hammer, uncoil the wire, and sand down the old pin.

 

[69e_type]

Is the bell a flat bell or os it a more conventional round bell?

 

[anticlimatic]

It's a round bell. The solenoid and the pin are mounted right in the middle of it, and there's a small plastic part that sits on top of the pin to minimize noise I imagine.

The angle of the bell looks like it caused the plastic part to get lodged, and the pin itself has two sides-- one concave, and one flat. The concave side was on top when I found it, and the pin was stuck right in the middle of the solenoid. After replacing it just as I found it, with the exception of having to rotate the bracket and thus put the solenoid and the pin farther towards the top of the bell, I noticed that it was getting stuck again-- the plastic piece would hit the bell at an angle and get lodged, and the concave portion of the pin would get stuck on the plastic piece. I fixed this by just rotating the pin, so the concave part was on the bottom...but now it sounds a little strange, and you can hear the plastic piece fall down the chamber after it chimes. Not entirely sure what to do about it other than just deal. It's a minor annoyance.

 

[69e_type]

On some machines the bell has an off center mounting hole so the bell can be rotated closer or further away from the solenoid I believe this was to act as a volume control. If yours is that way you may be able to solve your funny sounding bell. Just a thought. Sean.

 

[faralos]

Blue shower! this stuff is more than just air in a can
it also cleans all contacts! also use an emery file and start to clean ALL contacts
leaf switches, knife switches. at times esp on an older pin these collect dirt,dust,
and residue which may keep the contacts touching
causing all sorts of weird problems ranging from sparks, to odd scoring to shorts
the best way to clean a leaf switch is still paper
just slide a standard yellow lines note sheet between the two while holding them closed (touching)
this will clean the two without bending or mis aligning them
again if they are really corroded a file may be your only option