Thanks for taking the time to document this repair. This is actually my friend’s machine you worked on, as he sent me the link to both videos. I live too far away to have been any help to them plus I have never worked on an EM machine. I have restored several machines from the 80's on up, but after your video the EM's don't look too hard at all. When you moved the coil, I immediately saw the wires move and you could see some ARC marks on the trip pin. Again - great job on the troubleshooting and explanations!
"People, you can't have the bumper rub the...cmon, people. There's a wire right there and...People! I mean , just look at the..." That was a great find to capture on camera. The solder blob on the relay was just the cherry on the top.
Fancy that, all those years of being wrong straight from Williams with that blob of solder I stayed with it and found it very interesting how you followed the schematics. Well done!
Everyone knows you don't swap a 10A fuse for a 50A... they will blow eventually too. You use a ¼" bolt! C'mon people, you want to burn up loads you gotta mean business! Lol. Thanks for the upload, Ron and Joe
The purpose of the capacitor in the dc line of the rectifier is to flatten the ac ripple which is left after rectifying, so you get a more stable DC voltage.
Normally yes but here I'm not sure. The capacitor is small and the load is large so it won't do much to the ripple. I'd guess it's to protect the rectifier voltage spikes.
Great work working out why the fuses were blowing. Pinball collectors are a strange breed. …When there’s anything on the playfield the cry is “it’s too cluttered”. …When there’s an open playfield, then the cry is “there’s nothing to shoot for”. …. It’s like “You open the door and the flies come in, you close the door and you’re sweating again”. …. Great work as usual Ronnie.
Mark I always think about that Beatles song "Rain".... "When the rain comes, they run and hide their head.... when the sun shines, they slip into the shade"
I used to play Skylab a lot back in 1977, and I remember it because on ours, the tilt didn't work, so you could have your way with the machine and rack up replays for hours. They eventually pulled it, no doubt because it wasn't earning the quarters it should have. (Ya think?) It wasn't nearly as popular after they fixed the tilt! Thanks for the memories!
"some of you may have liked it" 😆. Good series of videos. Glad you were able to work through the short. Maybe me wanna take another try at my Night Rider that I haven't got to, yet.
Thanks so much for doing this Ron, I really enjoyed the videos. It was a long, slow drive down to Charleston but we managed to get her back to the house without any issues. I haven't been able to beat your high score though! Like a true pinball wizard, you've got such a supple wrist 🧙♂Thanks again for getting us squared away 👍Come on people, like and subscribe!
I had a Liberty Bell recently where someone prior had twisted the pair together that trips the play counter and within moments of firing up a game, "pop"... blowing a fuse. I finally found it!
All the haters out there that keep telling you not to use files on the contacts, etc... I note that at the 12m 30s mark when you were testing stuff, the big sticker up there specifically said that if the bumpers weren't working, you were to use a 'point file' to clean them and create the necessary gap :) So it looks like Williams is on your side :D Love your work, Ron!
@@LyonsArcade true but the engineers didn't expect the game to last for 50 years. people who are adverse to file may have used it so often that they destroyed the contacts or the believe the train of though that it would remove the tougher contact coating and expose a baser material.
@@LyonsArcade Well, it's better than HAL saying, "Ron, I've detected a malfunction in the AE-35 unit. Could you go out in an EVA pod and check this out for us?" That never ends well for the astronaut or technician!
Lots of open space on that playfield.(Theres a joke in there somewhere) It's interesting how they made a completely different game out of a previously designed game. Change the artwork and call it a day. Somebody had a boss that said they had to put out X number of new titles a year. The engineers were like we are one short on our bonus, and there are only three weeks left.
I got a Darling last year. After seeing cow complicated the captive ball deal is, I’m kinda scared of it and kinda want to tackle it lol. The same time. 😂
It is interesting to see what the short turned out to be. I used to work on aircraft and there have been a few times I had to do similar troubleshooting that ended up with the same kind of thing. Though we didn't use electrical tape for repairs (*ahem*) I think I played a Skylab in my parent's bowling lanes. I distinctly remember that U feature. I probably had to stand on a wood box to be high enough to play it back then.
I saw it! I wanted to yell at ya, It's hittin' the wires! I see bare wire! You got it. The capacitor smooths out the rough DC power from the bridge and gives you a higher average voltage, allowing a nice, strong kick from your coils. Can I come by and hang out while you work on some games?
Honorarium. I think that is the word you meant for titles and suffixes for someone's name. That cap is just filtering the DC coming out. While it helps with filtering, that shouldn't cause a short if it is missing.
I just picked up a sky lab! The stepper unit in the top left is super screwed up and I’m kinda at a loss😅 the spider is in the wrong position and I just can’t get it to work
JOES CLASSIC, I'm confused on what the Captive Ball relay is dictating and controlling other relays like the Skylab relay and the Rocket Special Relay are referenced and being controlled by the Captive ball relay it seems for some reasons why? Do you know in general for other pinball games what the captive ball relay is doing to the other relays in the Loop?
@@LyonsArcade Learn something new every day. I guess its kinda like the nascar and Dale jr pinball machines. Keep up the good work. Thank you for sharing your videos.
the most evil thing that ever happened to me finding a short was having a sharp solder point slip between the cloth insulation of a wire that was running inside a bundle by a light socket in a back box
It holds over from ball to ball simply because they can't reset it. Its current state is its current state. And it can't be changed with an electrical signal. 3 balls on the left, you just have to deal with it.
Thanks for taking the time to document this repair. This is actually my friend’s machine you worked on, as he sent me the link to both videos. I live too far away to have been any help to them plus I have never worked on an EM machine. I have restored several machines from the 80's on up, but after your video the EM's don't look too hard at all. When you moved the coil, I immediately saw the wires move and you could see some ARC marks on the trip pin. Again - great job on the troubleshooting and explanations!
Thank you for watching marchafb! It was a fun one to work on, hope it gives them many years of fun!
"People, you can't have the bumper rub the...cmon, people. There's a wire right there and...People! I mean , just look at the..." That was a great find to capture on camera. The solder blob on the relay was just the cherry on the top.
Thank you Charles, I try to make them entertaining :) See you on the next one!
My 74 Williams Star Pool just conked out. Watching your videos of similar machines gain some insight on where to start.
Hey Ron!! The opposite of honor is offer. Because you're either honor or offer. Genius in my head!!
That is a very good point! This is a new world Jason, us troglodytes are going to have to stop saying stuff like that eventually :)
@@LyonsArcade ''NOT''
not ever‼️®️™️
Honor..offer..behyndah..😉
Your videos are so helpful in me understanding how to read schematics,,, thank you from australia!!
Fancy that, all those years of being wrong straight from Williams with that blob of solder I stayed with it and found it very interesting how you followed the schematics. Well done!
We try to keep it interesting!
Everyone knows you don't swap a 10A fuse for a 50A... they will blow eventually too. You use a ¼" bolt! C'mon people, you want to burn up loads you gotta mean business!
Lol. Thanks for the upload, Ron and Joe
The purpose of the capacitor in the dc line of the rectifier is to flatten the ac ripple which is left after rectifying, so you get a more stable DC voltage.
Normally yes but here I'm not sure. The capacitor is small and the load is large so it won't do much to the ripple. I'd guess it's to protect the rectifier voltage spikes.
I always wondered if wiring faults could get out into the wild from factory and now I've seen one ! 50 years on easy mode Lol....cheers.
That is an awesome paint job, nice looking machine.
Great work working out why the fuses were blowing. Pinball collectors are a strange breed. …When there’s anything on the playfield the cry is “it’s too cluttered”. …When there’s an open playfield, then the cry is “there’s nothing to shoot for”. …. It’s like “You open the door and the flies come in, you close the door and you’re sweating again”. ….
Great work as usual Ronnie.
Mark I always think about that Beatles song "Rain".... "When the rain comes, they run and hide their head.... when the sun shines, they slip into the shade"
Ain’t that the truth.
I used to play Skylab a lot back in 1977, and I remember it because on ours, the tilt didn't work, so you could have your way with the machine and rack up replays for hours. They eventually pulled it, no doubt because it wasn't earning the quarters it should have. (Ya think?) It wasn't nearly as popular after they fixed the tilt! Thanks for the memories!
"some of you may have liked it" 😆. Good series of videos. Glad you were able to work through the short. Maybe me wanna take another try at my Night Rider that I haven't got to, yet.
Thanks so much for doing this Ron, I really enjoyed the videos. It was a long, slow drive down to Charleston but we managed to get her back to the house without any issues. I haven't been able to beat your high score though! Like a true pinball wizard, you've got such a supple wrist 🧙♂Thanks again for getting us squared away 👍Come on people, like and subscribe!
Thank you Jelly Donut it was fun to work on!
Awesome schematic detective work as always!👏👏👏
I had a Liberty Bell recently where someone prior had twisted the pair together that trips the play counter and within moments of firing up a game, "pop"... blowing a fuse. I finally found it!
That'll do it every time, the quickest way to find it is usually look for what looks like somebody else has worked on it :)
All the haters out there that keep telling you not to use files on the contacts, etc... I note that at the 12m 30s mark when you were testing stuff, the big sticker up there specifically said that if the bumpers weren't working, you were to use a 'point file' to clean them and create the necessary gap :)
So it looks like Williams is on your side :D
Love your work, Ron!
Don't you understand Ray, couch potatoes know more than *(checks notes) THE ENGINEERS WHO BUILT IT
@@LyonsArcade true but the engineers didn't expect the game to last for 50 years. people who are adverse to file may have used it so often that they destroyed the contacts or the believe the train of though that it would remove the tougher contact coating and expose a baser material.
"Houston -- we have a problem!"
Sorry...
Couldn't resist!
It's one of those things everybody should drag out every once in awhile :)
@@LyonsArcade Well, it's better than HAL saying, "Ron, I've detected a malfunction in the AE-35 unit. Could you go out in an EVA pod and check this out for us?"
That never ends well for the astronaut or technician!
Come on people...that fuse blowing was spectacular!
It was amazing!
It's called voyeurism people. tsk tsk..yall should be ashamed 😁😆
You should have said mickrrrrfarad as there was no ohhh 😁👍👍👍
LOL
4:41 Seeing a short blow a fuse in the same shot is pretty damn cool.
Lots of open space on that playfield.(Theres a joke in there somewhere) It's interesting how they made a completely different game out of a previously designed game. Change the artwork and call it a day. Somebody had a boss that said they had to put out X number of new titles a year. The engineers were like we are one short on our bonus, and there are only three weeks left.
Have you ever said “Here’s the kicker!” and it really WAS the kicker?
Its like that ol Alabama song..if you're gonna fix ya pinball..ya gotta have a Ronnie in the band..😉
Yup ! Didn't Jeff play it? R.I.P. Jeff!
@@LyonsArcade Jeff was the man!!
@@LyonsArcade We have a country music band called The Warratahs..they ain't too bad
I got a Darling last year. After seeing cow complicated the captive ball deal is, I’m kinda scared of it and kinda want to tackle it lol. The same time. 😂
It’s not too big of a deal you can handle it
Nice diagnosis there, have you considered doing this for a job? ; )
No I'm an Amateur
It is interesting to see what the short turned out to be. I used to work on aircraft and there have been a few times I had to do similar troubleshooting that ended up with the same kind of thing. Though we didn't use electrical tape for repairs (*ahem*) I think I played a Skylab in my parent's bowling lanes. I distinctly remember that U feature. I probably had to stand on a wood box to be high enough to play it back then.
I saw it! I wanted to yell at ya, It's hittin' the wires! I see bare wire! You got it.
The capacitor smooths out the rough DC power from the bridge and gives you a higher average voltage, allowing a nice, strong kick from your coils.
Can I come by and hang out while you work on some games?
Honorarium. I think that is the word you meant for titles and suffixes for someone's name.
That cap is just filtering the DC coming out. While it helps with filtering, that shouldn't cause a short if it is missing.
Ron should also add some superlatives in the mix!
I just picked up a sky lab! The stepper unit in the top left is super screwed up and I’m kinda at a loss😅 the spider is in the wrong position and I just can’t get it to work
I like the line turn it on and look for smoke .I always called it MANUFACTURES SMOKE and the bad thing is you can't ever put it back in .
JOES CLASSIC, I'm confused on what the Captive Ball relay is dictating and controlling other relays like the Skylab relay and the Rocket Special Relay are referenced and being controlled by the Captive ball relay it seems for some reasons why? Do you know in general for other pinball games what the captive ball relay is doing to the other relays in the Loop?
You can see the arc damage on that metal rod that contacted the wire. There's your problem.
I have that pinball machine but mine is called Skylab. What’s up with that?
You must have another one called Skylab
@@LyonsArcade Learn something new every day. I guess its kinda like the nascar and Dale jr pinball machines. Keep up the good work. Thank you for sharing your videos.
In general most circut breakers can be similer to a slow-blow fuse because they need to heat up before triping or blowing.
My experience with those type of breakers is they get weak after popping a few times and won’t hold their rated amp draw.
the most evil thing that ever happened to me finding a short was having a sharp solder point slip between the cloth insulation of a wire that was running inside a bundle by a light socket in a back box
"honorifics" i think is the word you were looking for
Yodelayheehoo
The schematic shows micrfarad .. that “is” misspelled 😊 (hiding in the weeds) …
I think the word you're looking for is accolades!
Honorable mentions?
It holds over from ball to ball simply because they can't reset it. Its current state is its current state. And it can't be changed with an electrical signal. 3 balls on the left, you just have to deal with it.
Of course they could reset it, they reset it on Jubilee (which I showed in the video)
You like to buy from places that pay a living wage.
I've always found it hard on the lips when I blow a fuse.
Adjectives???
Window Blinds???