Bally Speak Easy

[Andy Matthews]

As a total newbie and having just acquired my first machine I have a million and one questions and truly hope that this page is the place to ask them.

That being the case I have two to start with.
I was given a Bally Speak Easy that requires some work. The top box is currently not connected to the rest of the cabinet and as such the wiring harness isn’t marked in any way to indicate which plug goes where. Being as at least two are the same size I wondered if anyone can advise.

Question 2:- The wiring to the lamps in the top section is twisted uninsulated copper by the looks of it that has corrosion or patina if you prefer. I suspect it will clean up ok but wondered why it’s uninsulated and if it’s ok to replace it with same gauge insulated or where I can source the correct wire from.

Cheers

 

[astyy]

I was given a Bally Speak Easy that requires some work. The top box is currently not connected to the rest of the cabinet and as such the wiring harness isn’t marked in any way to indicate which plug goes where. Being as at least two are the same size I wondered if anyone can advise.

The manual has a schematic of the backbox wiring the connectors and wiring colours, (it's online here page 9 of pdf http://mirror2.ipdb.org/files/2270/Bally_1982_Speakeasy_Schematics.pdf)

Generally each connector and header should be keyed differently even if the same number of pins.

 

[Andy Matthews]

I do have the schematics so will double check. Appreciate the answer though

 

[astyy]

No probs and welcome to the forum Andy. That page is really useful, if you don't know the wiring colour coding it's described here
http://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Bally/Stern#The_Wiring_Color_Code

 

[astyy]

Question 2:- The wiring to the lamps in the top section is twisted uninsulated copper by the looks of it that has corrosion or patina if you prefer. I suspect it will clean up ok but wondered why it’s uninsulated and if it’s ok to replace it with same gauge insulated or where I can source the correct wire from.

Stapled bare wire is normal for lamps - I don't know why would guess cost and simplicity to install

 

[Moonbus]

Welcome to the fun.
Question 1
Is the Harness connected to the boards in the top part or are we refering to the square connectors in that join the top harness to the bottom cabinet ?

Easy way to sort out your plug problem is to look at the wire colours going into the plugs. Do this in good light and you should be able to match up the male and female connectors.

Question 2
If the bare wire is stapled in place and goes to each lamp socket it is probably the ground braid. An uninsulated ground is normal. If it is a single wire just flapping about it may be another issue.

 

[Auntyflossie]

here are some photos of the inside of my Speak Easy backbox, I hope they help.

 

[Moonbus]

Looks like you have plugged it all together now. A note of caution that Bally games of this age can have 200v running from the transformer, through the backbox and up to the displays so I would recommend doing any checks with the power off.

Next thing I would check are the fuses, these can be found on the power board in the bottom cabinet under the playfield. If you have not lifted the playfield before, open the coin door, there is a leaver to the right inside, move leaver to opposite position and the chrome palm rest above the coin door should lift off. You can then slide the glass off. Lift the playfield by the metal apron by pivoting up towards the back box. When it is up a few inches you should be able to see under it and get a better idea of how it props up. Never trust the prop though, always better to have someone hold it whilst your head is under there.

Documentation on the game can be found and downloaded here...
http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=2270

Good luck

 

[Jay Walker]

Hello, Andy,

Re. the bare wires on the inside of the wooden 'insert panel' - the ones with bare wires to each side of the green lamp sockets are what's called 'General Illumination', and carry approx. 6.5v Ac between them. That row along the bottom of the panel are 'feature' lamps, individually controlled, with the common bare wire being the live supply of app. 5.4v Dc. These conventions also apply under the playfield.

 

[Moonbus]

To help you along it maybe worth having a look through this thread where a similar age machine with guts that are almost the same as yours was brought back to life. A lot of good info and links to even more info in there.

http://www.pinballinfo.com/community/threads/centaur-ii-wont-boot.37302/