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In Progress Zaccaria Ski Jump (EM)

Wow. I feel your pain. I know nothing about EMs so can offer no real help

My suggestions would be

1. to reach out and find someone with an identical era, working game. So you can build a picture of what your game "should" do. Get yours placed alongside it. See how theirs differs. I use this technique to zero in on tricky faults in my games. This is what @Nedreud and @astyy have done as asty has taken on an incomplete project

2. Find an expert in these things to get you past this impasse. Take your game to this wizard and reward said wizard

3. Admit defeat, place it on ebay for parts, buy a working zac

The art looks great. These old zac EMs have real character. I hope you can save her, but pinball is meant to be fun and not a sisyphean task

 
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Well, its been over half a year now and ive made no progress....
Time to build a fire in my backyard an give the old girl a Viking sendoff....
 
As suggested above, for your sanity.... call in Andy N at Pinball Mania, or admit defeat and throw it on eBay.

You've done your best. We've all been there and it's bloody frustrating. Which isnt the point of owning a pinball machine so cut yr losses dude.

Sent from my C6603 using Tapatalk
 
Ok have you manually turned the motor to the home position? Did you replace the broken stepper switch? Make sure all your stepper switches are in the home position, you should be able to do this quite simply. Might just be a stuck cam motor...
 
Quick update (mainly to clarify a few points in the vid).
Yes, the bulbs are good and its not that they have all blown lol.
The coil for the kickout is fine and the switch appears to be adjusted correctly, im assuming there must be a break in the wire somewhere?? I would check but my multimeter continuity tester just decided to die!
Another thing, the reset is not resetting the credits, when I turn the game on it has credis, likewise the game is not 'loosing balls' so it turning on to an infinet game......
Time for some coffee me thinks!
 
Thanks for keeping this thread going. I've just started work on a friends Zac EM and turned to this thread hoping it had a happy ending! They are visually amazing machines and like yours the playfield condition is far better than you would expect from a Bally/Williams of equivalent age and wear. Do keep at it, I may need to solve some of the same problems when I get on to the mechanics and electrics.
 
Good work. Re the 'infinite game' issue, are you saying it's not counting the balls as you play them? Is that recorded via the stepper unit in the backbox. Is that unit moving freely. I assume it has two coils that step up and then reset. If you fire them manually is the spider moving freely and are the spiders arms making good contact?
 
So close....
I don't think there is much wrong, if anything terminal. I appreciate how frustrating it must be though.

I don't have access to a schematic so please humor me.

The lamps, they did work, now they don't, both the GI and switched. I would re-check the following, even if it was good before.

-Continuity on the lighting loop on the transformer.
-Voltage out on the lighting loop on transformer, with and without load.

-Does this game have a hold relay that the lighting power goes through? If it does check the relay coil and switch positions/contacts.

-Check continuity of wire harness to and from the hold relay.

-Does the game have a separate relay for tilt?
 
Good progress :thumbs:

Here's the schematic for those that want to pitch in, if it's correct only the playfield lighting is switched through the Lock Relay, the Insert lamps should light on the main power toggle switch so as Moonbus suggests check the 6V AC at the transformer lugs itself onwards.
http://www.zaccaria-pinball.com/em/skijump/SkiJump-Schematics.pdf

On the video, you mention the Credit reel not resetting. Perhaps it's not supposed to (like a Bally EM Replays unit) and is only a single increment/decrement stepper type. If you're not aware this is a must read if new to EM repair and describes the main steppe types - http://www.pinrepair.com/em/index1.htm
 
Best indication of a positive future is it seems the more you bash the game about the more stuff starts working. To me this is classic EM behaviour as action of switches and mechs self cleans the switch contacts bringing life to bits you thought were faulty.

One more thing to consider is springs.
My Magic Circle had issues with general game mechanics and counting, much like yours. It turned out to be missing and dodgy springs on the mechs in the back-box.

Many of the count-up and count-down mechs relied on spring tension to not only rest the coil plungers but also to engage the toothed arm that moved the 'spider'.

I tested this with blutac by putting little blobs of it on mechs to record impact marks when mechs moved. In hindsight I should have just put the head on backwards so I could see all the mechs at the same time.

I used a multi box of extension springs from maplin to fashion replacements. Not 100% but functional.
 
Wow. Just read back to the 1st thread which sated 'this may take some time' and was 2 year and 2 days ago. Great work. Noticed in one of the pics an Atari 2600 box. Nice.
 
Mmm, a toasty relay coil indeed. Never had the pleasure of reading a Zak schematic so I may be wrong.

The lock coil seems to be energised by the coin switch.

When the coil closes the plate pulls in and closes a switch that provides power to the lock coil. It is now self locked.

This state is maintained until either the ball credit counter drops to zero or the kick-tilt switch (usually in the base of the cabinet) is triggered.

When either of the above happen the circuit is broken and the lock coil is no longer energised.

Still trying to figure out what the other switches on the lock coil are for.
 
Just reviewing your most recent video.

Going by the orientation of the switches they don't seem to be in the required 'state' for being in the locked position.

Visually I would expect the following from right to left.

Closed
Closed
Open
Closed
Open

Again, I may be wrong but what is the worst that can happen.

Just get ready to turn it off quick :)
 
Moonbus said:
Just reviewing your most recent video.

Going by the orientation of the switches they don't seem to be in the required 'state' for being in the locked position.

Visually I would expect the following from right to left.

Closed
Closed
Open
Closed
Open

Again, I may be wrong but what is the worst that can happen.

Just get ready to turn it off quick :)
Click to expand...

Ive had a couple of homebrew ciders but what the hell! Lets give it a go!
 
The right two look closed, it may be worth sliding a bit of paper through them to make sure there is not any residue built up and the contacts are clean.

The 3rd from right should be open and is.

The left most switch I can't tell. It is a 3 leaf switch that is either in one of two positions. With the relay tied shut the long center leaf of the switch should be making contact with the short leaf to the right. Again, may be worth cleaning the contacts. Tomorrow.
 
Tomorrow it is then buddy, the lights terrible in my games room so its probly the sensible option! lol
Thanks for all the advice! Hopefully we'll have this thing working for my birthday!!!!
 
Is the photo with power on or off?

Assuming it has been taken with the power off, without power on move the plastic shroud holding the switch leafs.

Once moved wither take another photo (migth be easier said than done).

Check left to right the following:
first switch - contact is made with the left most leaf and that it has disengauged with the right leaf.
second switch - that contact is made with the leaf (looks bent out and may not)
third switch - contact is disengauged
fourth switch - contact is disengauged

If power was on the opposite of the above is applicable.

As said above a careful clean of the switches will help (in both positions) but I suspect your porblem is elsewhere. That relay is probably the reset circuit and it will not stop energising until all the reset conditions are met. I'd look at the score reel in zero position switches first and also the conector with those on between the backbox and cabinet.
 
Good find on the wired relay muddyboots, it's worth a close inspection all over the relays and motor switch stacks for anything else obviously wrong/broken, wires loose/off (give each a little tug), switches shorting across the sleeving insulation, alien objects like solder blobs in the switch stacks etc.

I'm a convert to the "magic brush" for EM switch cleaning - this is Dremel + Carbon brush 443. Swab them with IPA, magic brush, repeat, they shine without any harsh abrasion. One thing I've learned is that a touching switch is not necessarily an electrically closed switch. You can use the magic brush on the male jones plug pins too.

In one of the videos you mentioned something was wire hacked to coin reject button?

It's strange that your lighting is all out, assuming you likely have 6V AC at the transformer (across lugs Green-Yellow-White and Yellow) then the backbox lighting is directly connected (clean jones plugs to backbox). All playfield lighting is switched through the Lock relay (switch wire colours Green-Yellow-White and Red-Blue) - you could try jumper wires across that switch. The fact that it's all out makes me suspect it's something closer to the transformer.
 
Moonbus said:
Still trying to figure out what the other switches on the lock coil are for.
Click to expand...
Here are 3 of the switches on the Lock Relay - I can't find the make break switch!
(A2) Normally Open switch that turns on all playfield lamps (GI + features)
(E4) Normally Open switch self hold circuit for Lock Relay
(E13) Normally Closed switch for Game Over Relay Trip

These toasted coils are often those designed to be permanently ON like coin lock outs, this reminds me of the Bally Anti-Cheat function. I'd guess that with it wired shut like that you're losing slam tilt functionality.

Btw, muddyboots when's the birthday target we're aiming for?
 
astyy said:
Here are 3 of the switches on the Lock Relay - I can't find the make break switch!
(A2) Normally Open switch that turns on all playfield lamps (GI + features)
(E4) Normally Open switch self hold circuit for Lock Relay
(E13) Normally Closed switch for Game Over Relay Trip

These toasted coils are often those designed to be permanently ON like coin lock outs, this reminds me of the Bally Anti-Cheat function. I'd guess that with it wired shut like that you're losing slam tilt functionality.

Btw, muddyboots when's the birthday target we're aiming for?
Click to expand...

I think the make/break is related to the ball count unit mechanism.

How did you work out those switches from the schematic ?
 
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