Pinball Machines

Pinball Machines My friend has an interest in antique items. He recently purchased a 1977 Jungle Queen Pinball Machine. The best thing about this machine is how its lights up and you hear all the dinging noises. When we put the machine together it didn't work so well. It kept making strange noises and the game wouldn’t play right. I have a good working knowledge of electricity and micro electronics so we started investigating multiple issues. The internet didn’t provide much insight into how to repair the pinball game. So my goal is to explain a little about what we did.

The first step was to check all the electronics to make sure they were connected properly. Multiple ones had to be checked as any short circuit can prevent the machine from operating properly. This can be performed visual also a continuity tester. After researching this we found that was not the problem. My friend and I were pritty new to something this complex but we started thinking that there might be issues with the relays. When we turned the game on we could see them cycling. The next step was to check the relays.

Yep we found the problem there were several shorted relays, in most cases the terminals were bent causing the circuit to be always completed. As you can see on the right there are 2 circuits to be completed. This is done by an electro magnet “not display” that pushes a plastic arm up and down. This pushes the center metal piece back forth completing the respectful circuit. So with several bent and making contact, we just bended them back correctly and made sure there was correct gap. Also we cleaned the contacts with contact cleaner.

 So after we cleaned and corrected all the relays we were able to put the machine back together. My friend Andrew who purchased this machine also cleaned it very well. Using compressed air and a cloth with very mild solvent. We also had to soldier the light bulb bases as the lights were flickering to make a good connection. Now its time to play some pinball!!!

 So there you have it we got our old pinball machine running. Also please check out http://www.machinesandstuff.webs.com which has some more pictures about the machines that were restored.