In Progress Gottlieb King Pin Wedge Head - Repair and Restoration

[myPinballs]

Collecting this from my storage area tomorrow and starting another em repair and sympathetic restoration for this old gem.



Already been working on cleaning up the backbox mechs such as below for the 00-90 unit



And the score units



Probably going to be for sale once its all working and cleaned up, unless of course i fall in love with its old em charms too much!!!

 

[James]

Watching with interest.

 

[astyy]

Looking forward to this. What did you use to polish the traces on the 00-90 unit?

 

[myPinballs]

Looking forward to this. What did you use to polish the traces on the 00-90 unit?

Brasso and elbow grease

 

[myPinballs]

More updates coming later! Spent a good few hours on it last night

Check out the condition internally!! Not bad for a 44 year old machine. Cabinet panel is really nice, transformer laminates aren't even rusty and the labels are still white!



Total number of plays

 

[ronsplooter]

Looks to be in pretty good shape already mate

 

[myPinballs]

Ok an update. 2 and half days on this solid and we are fully working!. All faults resolved and there were plenty! I decided the best cause of action was to fix all the electrical faults to get the game working correctly, then perform the usual std service like new bulbs, rubbers, flipper rebuilds etc etc



Here is the list of faults that i have diagnosed and fixed. Maybe this will help other wedge head fans out there! Firstly though i'd like to give a shout out to @pinballmania for the loan of some original manual and schematics for this game. Without these the repair would have been impossible!

(A few notes on the below. Where i say switch 'damaged' i mean that the brass contacts were loose on the switch blade and needed to be re-crushed in place.)

1. FAULT - Coin Lockout non operational - Game Dead
   1. Cause - Coin Door Anti-cheat Switch misadjusted
2. FAULT - Start Button Does Nothing
   1. Cause -Start Relay misadjusted
3. FAULT - Game Does Not Start Reset Cycle
   1. Cause - Start Relay 'LOCK in' switch misadjusted
4. FAULT - No GI on playfield, Tilt lamp on
   1. Cause - Hold Relay Off
      1. Cause - Tilt Switch N/C Open
      2. Cause - Latch Switch 'lock in' on hold replay badly adjusted
5. FAULT - No ball return/outhole kick / No ball release
   1. Cause - Ball return relay (O relay) Off
   2. Cause - Start relay N/C switch misadjusted
   3. Cause - Ball return Playfield switch damaged and dirty
6. FAULT - No Scoring /Chimes
   1. Cause - N/C Motor 1C switch damaged
7. FAULT - No 10 Point Score / 10 Point Chime coil Locked on
   1. Cause - N/O switch on 10 point relay misadjusted and dirty
8. FAULT - No ball in play lights / No match lights at game over / No game over light
   1. Cause - N/C switch on ball return relay (O relay) dirty
9. FAULT - Thousands unit not resetting & scoring intermittent
   1. Cause - Worn return spring
10. FAULT - 1-10 Drop target lamps not progressing
    1. Cause - Spot Control relay Off
    2. Cause - Bulb holders issues & dead bulbs
11. FAULT - 1-10- Drop Targets do not score or reset when all down
    1. Cause - 500 Point Relay Contacts dirty
12. FAULT - Game randomly tilts during game play test
    1. Cause - Tilt Relay N/C switch requires precise adjustment with enough vibration tolerance
13. FAULT - 3 of 4 Flipper mechs unresponsive or weak
    1. Cause - Worn EOS switches /Badly Adjusted
    2. Cause - Dirty /Worn Flipper Button Switches
    3. Ceased Bush & Shaft
14. FAULT - Ball in Play Unit Skips Forward 1 posh randomly
    1. Cause - Dirty Trough Switch
15. FAULT - Game fires ball from out hole after game ends
    1. Cause - 5th Ball connection on Ball count unit broken (see pic)

After solving all that lot we are in business!!