For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast

Stepper Units are crucial to the proper operation of an EM - in this episode, I talk about disassembling, cleaning and rebuilding the typical step up/reset unit - found on most EM games including the bingos!

Vic Camp joins as co-host for tonight's episode - we talk about the payouts, features and gameplay of the six card bingos produced by Bally, starting with Bright Lights, all the way to Dixieland. My Ticker Tape: Some actual bingo gameplay: https://youtu.be/ywUXz2ZVgng

I've run into a couple of things I didn't know about at all this week, namely: Some Gottlieb games had a weird Jones Plug arrangement. Not all woodrails are created equal.

Properly lubricated motors will ensure that your game functions properly for years and years to come. Some games have easy-fill tubes or wicks to allow you to lubricate their motors. Other games have sealed gearboxes. Techniques for lubing both are within!

Thanks to previous interviewee Phil Bogema for the subject of this episode. You can substitute a fuse for a circuit breaker temporarily to troubleshoot problems in any game. Using the link: https://www.bluesea.com/products/category/0/26/Push%20Button%20Reset-Only you can find the quick connect breaker of the size you need to troubleshoot your game. Typical breaker sizes are 5, 10 and 15 Amps for m...

My replacement Night Club playfield came with a problem: the ball arch between the shooter lane to the rebound rubber, was routed down about 1/4 inch. I've thought about several methods for repair, and decided to try Varathane as I have a can here, and it holds up to ball travel normally... We will see how it holds up!

Bally's Night Club (1956) was a heckuva game. Rotating numbers in the corners of the bingo card, changes to quadruple your wins in certain areas of the backglass, corners scoring, an extended time tree, and the Ballyhole! Whew! That's a lot of features! One of my all-time favorite bingos, and mine is running, so I'm a happy camper.

Insert cupping is much more difficult to fix than sunken inserts. There are several methods that can be used, and I give some of the pros and cons of each. Get ready for nerve-wracking sanding!

There are multiple ways to reglue inserts. In this episode, I give the method that I use. When inserts are loose, they must be removed and re-adhered to the game to prevent nasty playfield wear.

The bingo helpline lights up again tonight with a call about how to most effectively troubleshoot the scoring on a magic screen. I give my personal method for troubleshooting, and explain the (few) shortcuts I take. Troubleshooting a new game for me using this method takes only a few hours. Congratulations on getting your blue section working, btw75!

In 1952, Williams put out a bingo-style game that encourages you to land in the four corners of the card to win the most replays. As with most woodrails, there are multiple ways to win replays. In this case, you win replays based on three or four in line on the bingo card. It looks like a very fun game!

Bally Bingos were big money. If the machines had a feature that allowed for skilled players to earn replays too quickly, some sly operators would disable that feature. Alternatively, they might make it come up much less frequently. Working on a hacked game can be difficult - some of the technicians were very clever. The ham-fisted ones are usually very obvious and easy to repair.

The solid state bingos made by Wimi or GAA have a different type of ball return board - the design has one advantage over the Bally style of ball return, however, it also has a few disdvantages.

Bally's bingos had a ball lifter that would handle multiple tasks - chief among them, to serve a ball to the shooter lane to allow the player the chance to fire!

Bally Bingos have a special part underneath the playfield that is designed to return the balls to the trough. This part, despite its simplicity, is also an elegant solution to getting all the balls back into the trough without jamming.

Bingos have a special mechanism underneath the playfield which will trap or release the balls. This mechanism is pretty neat and actually controls quite a bit of the game logic depending on state (open or closed). Some issues that can occur with the shutter are discussed.

Had a productive evening. Finished cleaning and swapping parts that I had onto Night Club - enough to get the game to turn on. I have two of the motors moving appropriately, and various relays are doing the correct thing. Very exciting! I'm waiting on a few parts to get it fully working, but at the moment, it feels good to make progress.

Bally bingos have a button under the shooter rod that is only usable at certain times during gameplay. What is the function of this button? Why was it included? Is there any difference between the various games Bally produced with regard to this button?

Bingo playfields are not all created equal. I have a bingo playfield swap about 90% complete, and note some differences between solid state bingo playfields and their Bally counterparts.

Pinside user btw75 just picked up his first Bally bingo! A Circus Queen magic screen game. He also provided me with a great tech tip (or TekTip) that I just had to share. Thanks btw75!

I spent a bit of time tonight looking at my new Night Club project. I began shopping the units in the head, and have finished a good portion. This is what is needed to get the game going.

I finished replacing the control unit motor on Gay Time, and the game roared to life! I only had two items that needed tweaking, then the game started playing perfectly. My first test game, when I wasn't really trying, I got a 5-in-a-line! I've been unable to replicate this feat thus far.

Bally actually made it very easy to swap units in and out of a bingo. Today I talk about how to remove a control unit motor from a Bally bingo. I have a couple of photos of the removal up on the Facebook/Instagram/Twitter pages. But it is just about how you might imagine it. Once I have the new motor installed (hopefully by the end of the week), I will likely have a working game!

Bally thought long and hard about how the player would approach and play their bingo games, but they also thought about the poor guy who would have to maintain them! Learn some of the secrets of working on a bingo in this episode.

I finally made the trip up to NJ and met Vic in person. Vic spent the whole day with me and shared his amazing collection and variety of gorgeous bingos. We talk about the day, his truly fantastic collection and the unique and wonderful bingo gameplay of the games in his collection. The best part: I drove home that night with two new bingos in my van - 1955 Gay Time and 1956 Night Club!