Scope.
This document is a repair guide for Electro-Mechanical (EM) coin opertated games made up to about 1978. This includes pinball games, pitch and bats (baseballs), bowlers, gun games, etc. Though pinball is stressed the most in this document, this information applies to most EM arcade games made from the 1930s to 1978. Electro-Mechanical (EM) means the game uses relays and switches, and does *not* use a computer CPU. No experience is assumed. Basic electrical knowledge is helpful, but even that is not necessary.

Updates of this document are available for no cost at http://marvin3m.com/fix.htm if you have Internet access. This document is two part (part one is here and part two is here).

Table of Contents

1. Getting Started:
1. Introduction
2. Necessary Tools
3. Parts to have On-Hand
4. Lubrication & Why Contact Cleaner/WD-40 are BAD
5. Electrical Parts of an EM Game

2. Before Turning the Game On:

1. Check the Fuses and Fuse Holder
2. Plug Connectors Cleaning & Dim/Bad Lamp Sockets
3. Check Coin Door Switches
4. Stepper Units: Checking, Adjusting, Cleaning
5. Switch Contacts: Checking, Adjusting, Cleaning
6. Score Reels & Score Reel Relays: Checking, Adjusting, Cleaning
7. Midway Motorized Score Reels (1965-1975)
8. Misc. Things to Check before Power-On

3. When Things Still Don't Work:

1. The Check List
2. Typically What's Wrong
3. Buzzing/Noisy Relays and Coils
4. Gottlieb Reset Bank
5. Score Motors
6. Start Up Sequences
7. Reading Schematics
8. Reading Schematics 2 & Fixing Game Features
9. Other Stories/Problems
10. Gottlieb Coin Doors and Flipper Buttons: the Shocking Truth
11. Coils Explained: Coil Power and Size, Testing Coils, Low Resistance Coils, Big Blue Sparks, Rewinding Coils, Coil Equivalents
12. Pop Bumpers
13. Slingshots
14. Roto-Targets
15. Flippers

4. Finishing Up:

1. Setting your EM to Freeplay
2. Cleaning and Waxing the Playfield
3. Playfield Rubber
4. Increasing EM Game Performance

Special thanks to Rob Hayes for helping edit this guide.