Williams Straight Flush Pinball expertise needed please!

[hutto]

Hello all,
I'm in need of help on my Williams Straight Flush Pinball. I have a problem that is baffling me and simply cannot find an answers.

Up until now the Pinball ran on free play, but now to start a game I have to touch a thin wire in the front coin mech to start a new game, when after playing 1 or 2 balls on a 5 ball game the ball ejector refuses to work. Also the middle slingshot doesn't work when this happens, which returns the ball back to you. And finally the left hand channel which scores 5000 points all seem to be dead. Could the three issues be linked possibly? Does anyone have any idea please?

Hopefully someone on here can shed a little bit of light for this on me.

Thanks Dave
PS. going to my lad to take a few pictures of the parts that I'm talking about.

[jimmy55]

is it an electro mechanical machine Dave or Solid state?

[hutto]

Sorry yes EM 1970 ish

[coppinpr]

It's many years since I did pinballs, although I do know the original much earlier version of this machine very well. If it is fully EM, as the first one was, then there should be a rotary reset motor that rotates when the a coin is inserted firing all the switches on the rotation to reset all the various sections of the play cycle. This includes the kickers, score, ball counter etc. It's possible that one of the reset switches on the rotation is either dirty, not making contact or broken. This would upset the whole thing. as other switches that follow the damaged one are reliant on the first switch making contact. Check (a) that the reset motor is working, (b) all the switches on it are working correctly. It's not easy; if more than one is damaged it's damn near impossible without testing the circuits. The switches will need cleaning anyway - use spray switch cleaner only.

Might not be this but worth a look.

[hutto]

Thanks for that reply can you tell me where the reset switch is located and what it looks like please

[badpenny]

Dave, I don't know about a reset switch, although a simple bi-metal protection would be sensible as reset motors aren't continuously rated and mustn't run for more than a minute or so before there's a danger of burning out.

However in the meantime have you checked all of the fuses?
Apart from the main ones that sit on the floor of the main box there are also a host of single ones scattered around on the underside of the playfield. They don't always blow sometimes the vibration of play shakes them loose. I suspect this as an intermittent electrical fault, as that would confuse the Ball Counter which is situated in the head, probably below the score reels.

Also a score channel wouldn't be wired through a reset circuit (there's nothing to reset) but it would be fused.

Starting a new game is puzzling and for me doesn't sit easily with the other symptoms (but what the hell do I know?) It depends on how the credit selector has been bypassed. If the wire you're touching is enough to start the game then was that originally attached to the start button? Or do you touch the wire and also press the button?

Jeremy
ps thanks for card, do you trust your postie? ...... there was no money in it!

[hutto]

Hi Jeremy, I may have misled you. When I start a new game, I touch the piece of wire that the coin would have pressed down to register a new game at the front of the machine, not electrical wire.Tried it this morning several times but only one ball is coming out. After that ball is lost, then it will not send another ball back into play. Also, you know when this is going to happen because the centre sling shot and the 5000 do not work Then you have to repeat the process to get another ball che strano

[slotalot]

Hi Dave Merry Christmas
I have been known to play around with electro-mechanical machines from time to time , and the best bit of advice I can give is get yourself a circuit diagram & or a manual for your machine. Without it, you are going to struggle to make any sense of what is happening & why.
Or, if it is really doing your head in, sell it and buy some allwins.

[badpenny]

I go back to a loose connection or fuse holder making intermittent contact.

Stuart is totally on the ball (as always) however I've always found that apart from a wiring schematic you also need a different head as though they look like a map of the London Underground they are drawn in a foreign language.

What I'd do .........
Locate the ball counting solenoid and see what it marks up when you start a new game.
Lift the playfield and tape something into the kick hole as if there were a ball in it, then waggle the wiring underneath and around to see if it makes it act.

BP

[margamatix]

Hi, I have restored around a dozen Gottlieb and Williams electro-mechanical machines. I may be able to help.

Could I ask first of all if the machine is being kept in a warm and dry place, or a cold and damp place? The latter really is a killer for pinball machines.

[hutto]

Hi Margamatic and thanks for your reply. Firstly, the pinball is kept in pride of place in the warm in my lounge. I know these machines don't like the damp. This is my first pinball and I have very limited knowledge but don't mind having a go, so to speak, just a bit afraid of nobbing every thing up. Having said that, this afternoon I had a good look in the back to see if I could see any loose fuses, but no loose fuses or wires. What I did find was the part which makes the game 3 balls from 5. After I changed this, I had 4 games without any problems at all. Then, just as I was about to announce it to the world, sod me - it started doing what I discribed early on in this thread. So that's where I am at the moment - full sulk.
Thanks dave.

[hutto]

Still sulking and totally out of ideas Anyone got any ideas please thanks dave

[badpenny]

I'm happy to pop over with my biggest hammer, but it won't be for a little while as have to work on that pusher you foolishly turned down.

BP

[hutto]

That would be great! Let me know when. PS I thought you had sold the Dalek.

[jonesthegarage]

ok Hutto, no expertise but can only relate my experience with a Bally Bingo. exactly the same ball ejector problem and I firstly figured that it need all 8 balls (you could get 3 extras) in the chute to start then when it was coming up short I had to take the glass off and manually fool the gate into thinking a ball had gone into play to get the sequences sorted out again, and finally the really stupid but essential part was I live in a 100 year old house with historic subsidence issues and the machine wasn't absolutely level. Got it level and it was fine. Good luck,

[hutto]

Thanks for the reply but this pinball only uses one ball which is ejected each time but I will try a level to make sure it's as is should be.