Introduction to Electromechanical Pinball Machines and Their Schematics 

These videos are helping save Electro mechanical pinball machines for the future , the knowledge you are passing on is fantastic

I still have ten minutes of this video to go, and I already appreciate it! The walk-through of schematics and basic electromechanics is fantastic! Thanks so much for taking the time to put this together. It is a huge help for someone learning about EM pinball machines.

Wow, this little tutorial just caused a light bulb to go on in my brain! Thank you so much for this!

You are a great asset! I Just bought a Gottleib 2001 with confidence that your videos will light the way with troubleshooting. Thank you!

Fantastic EM pinball video. Thanks for sharing you knowledge.

Great video, thanks for taking the time to make it. just brought a pinball machine trying to figure out whats wrong with it. this was a great place to start!

Very Helpful to learn the basics Thanks😅

Extremely informative. Thank you for taking your time to make this.

Excellent video. Thanks for taking the time. Looking forward to more of your videos.

Your videos seem quite underappreciaed! I don't have a pinball machine of my own yet, but I would like to get into the hobby and it's helpful to see videos like these.

Awesome. When I have room I want to take a system and revamp it. Thank you for the time you put into these videos.

Nice simple description that makes total sense. Thanks for taking the time to make and share.

Excellent video - well done demonstrations...Just by chance I am starting work on a Spirit of 76j - can't wait to get the machine up and running. Keep the videos coming! Thanks

I'm looking to make my own table as a project, this was super helpful thanks!

Hi mate. This has been so helpful, you can't believe it. I have had this schematic for years, and cold make head nor tail out of it. At least I have got a bit of a foot hold now. I would even be better if the wires would not be one colour in my machine. Time and mouse pee has done wonders to my wiring. I also have a score motor, of which the discs are out of sequence......FUN FUN FUN. However this makes a good start. Marcel.

Really interesting stuff, thanks for this.

Hey havepinwilltravel. I just bought a Williams pot'o'gold machine this morning, and realized very quickly that I am in way over my head. I stumbled onto these video's and all of a sudden things are starting to make a bit of sense - less intimidating at least! Thanks so much for these great tutorials and explanations. Feels like I'm back in school again! Cheers!

Great job very helpful the best explanation I've ever watched .

Alos, i just bought a spirit of 76!!!!! So glad i found this video!

Thanks so much for this video! Covering the way the different relays hold themselves closed and are triggered by others really clears some stuff up for me!

Good explanations of the schematics. I was trouble shooting by manually moving each coil or switch unit.

Very good, thanks. A real schematic and explanation of what it all means would have been nice. Thanks though. Your vids have helped me very much.

Thanks, I enjoyed watching your video, very interesting

Great Video! Thanks !

Hey, thanks for the feedback! Glad they are useful. Not sure when I'll get to the cabinet. Probably a summer project for me as well. Best of luck!

I'm surprised a knocker coil rod hits a piece of metal, because it often sounds like it's hitting wood. I guess the reverberation inside the wooden cabinet is why it sounds like wood.

That video was VERY well done- would love to learn the ohm trick you speak of at the end...

Great video. I would remove the ball from the machine before lifting the playfield. If the ball is in the outhole and rolls down the playfield it can break a drop target easy.

Nice Video! We have a Gorgar also! Great games!

The pins that have rails like that it is really nice as you can flip the playfield on the art side. The only bad thing is you have to be sure to be careful to not break the plastics but I have flipped the playfield over to do all the switch adjustments and cleaning of plungers and so on.

nice electronics tut!

Very very interesting, how the these old "electromechanical pinball machines work! Excellent video, you got my subscription. Many years ago, I used to visit a game room, in the Pocono mountains, Pennsylvania. All but one machine took dimes. Around what year did they change to quarters?

Excellent video and thanks for posting. I have some old Gottleib and Williams EM's and every time I have to troubleshoot something it's an adventure trying to figure out the schematic. This video clarified many things and is the first video on the subject that I have seen. There may be others out there, but you are a pioneer in producing and posting this content for everyone. One question.....when you say the "B coil stays on" and keeps the light bulb lit, wouldn't that burn up the coil? Is the coil actually staying on the whole time? And finally one suggestion.......if you could show an actual relay sitting next to the schematic and provide an example of what happens mechanically to the switches when activated, that would be the cat's meow. I have difficulty sometimes in understanding the nature of relays and how they activate and deactivate. Overall, A+ presentation though.

Warning: Depending on their size capacitors can store a lot of voltage for quite some time, even if the power to the machine is switched off. Big capacitors can usually be found on the board of the power unit of the machine.

The old machine I worked on didn't have the lock down bar, you had to unscrew two bolts on both sides of the machine below the front plate !

I have a 1976 Williams Grand Prix it starts the game on what ever player is last up. I cleaned the player up unit but it did nothing for it. after it plays ball in play first ball it will then go back to first player, I only have one player when this happens. I'm wondering if I use lube gel on it if it would reset itself. It will after second player plays the first ball then it goes to first player and doesn't go back to second player. If you have 2,3, or 4 players up it will start with that player then after ball leaves playfield it plays normal. It goes to first player and plays normal. Only if you play more than player it will start on the last player up.Do you have any idea what would cause this to happen.

1:05 what he meant to say was it will shatter into a million pieces 🤙

If I wanted a rollover to have different points like 1,2, 3, and 4 points, how would I do that to make the different rollovers change to the respective points? I want to build a wall mounted horse race machine for the family. By simply pulling the ball launcher, the ball goes up and then returns through the rollovers. Everytime the ball goes over a different rollover, it gets points, 1-4. - QUESTION, would I just put four rollovers in a lane to get four points on the wallboard? The wallboard has a string of lights matching the player's horse racing. The lights advance with each number of points scored until the player's horse reaches the end. A bell signals the end of the race. Resetting is easy, I just turn off the game and when I turn it back on, everyone is at the beginning. What would I need to purchase to make this? Can it be upgraded to more current parts like LED lights? I can solder, run wire and so on. But I've only built kits. This would be a big project but I think a worthwhile fun one. My mom and I would play this game at the county fair and it has a lot of great memories. Unfortunately, the real game we played was a custom game. There isn't a way to buy another. I would have to build it from scratch. I wired my home with no help and some training from working as a shop helper for an electrical installer. I've built my own computers and stuff like that but this is really close to my heart and I really want to build it for me and the grandkids, wife to play. Any help would be fantastic. A schematic and a parts list would be enough. That old machine we played put off so much heat from the days before circuit boards, and computer chips. I would want to upgrade so the heat isn't a problem. I imagine that some parts will be like the ones used here. I know I need an expert's guidance. This video helped a lot. Just not what I'm doing but certainly it contains many adaptable bits of knowledge for me understanding how it all works. Thanks for this great video and any help if provided. Merry Christmas. Mike

Phomonial video. Thanks.

... But don't forget to remove the ball BEFORE to lift the playfield or you could end up with a broken backglass....

in general how often do coils go out ?