Troubleshooting And Playing A 1973 Bally CIRCUS Pinball Machine - Electromechanical Fun Design

[@markjackson1444]

The whole area of the center pop bumper looks great now. The touch-up looks mighty fine, and the pop bumper skirt finishes it nicely. Thanks Ronnie…. I’ll sleep well tonight. …. always look forward to what’s coming up next. You make the greatest pinball videos ever. Thanks a lot.

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks for watching Mark, glad you enjoyed it, I knew you'd like that new pop bumper skirt, lol

[@robertcecil7329]

Totally agree on the philosophy of keeping stuff looking old, Ron. I like the old off white look.

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks Robert, we appreciate you watching!

[@stshort500]

I agree, keep as much of the vintage look as possible.

[@guytownsend4160]

Love the fact it’s 5 balls per play. We set all of our machines at 5 per play in our arcade. Gives the customer more.

[@CNKayutube]

On some games , ie black hole 5 balls is actually harder than 3 ball. Sshhh our secret

[@LyonsArcade]

@@CNKayutube That is true, on a lot of EM's the games are crippled when you put them on 5 ball, not sure if they did with with all the solid states (I'll take your word for it on Black Hole)

[@DonnyHooterHoot]

From playing pinball in the '70's and '80's I would swear some of them were designed to hit that middle drain on purpose! $$ LOL!!

[@DonnyHooterHoot]

Or maybe I was just bad? lol

[@LyonsArcade]

They definitely designed them to make sure you eventually lost the ball, they had to make it where good players couldn't play it non stop on a quarter :)

[@KentDiego]

Thanks for the pop bumper light socket fix. I tried to buy new light sockets from The Pinball Resource but they are always out. Your fix will really help.

[@LyonsArcade]

No problem Kent hope it helps! See you on the next video!

[@TurnFullCircle]

Nice game….great video…cheers

[@LyonsArcade]

Thank you for watching Chris, we appreciate it!

[@dnbreyen]

Certainly worthy of one thumb for each brother, Joe, Ronnie & Donnie!

[@LyonsArcade]

Thank you Dan we appreciate you man

[@mycatsdead]

enjoy all you do. lovin it. nice one

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks mycatsdead we appreciate you hanging out with us!

[@EsotericArctos]

Sometimes those style of sockets have the springs weaken a little over time with heat as well. The way you fix them is the perfect way of doing it. It will last another 30 years :)

[@LyonsArcade]

I was thinking too the little spacer probably shrunk slightly and made it sag a little bit... thank you for watching Brendan we appreciate it as always

[@theoldbigmoose]

One of those round pens, with the steel fibers in the end, might be perfect for burnishing the brass contact down deep in those sockets.

[@firstlast4637]

Black Jack, fun game!!!

[@MrButtonpresser]

Another fine video guys!

[@dmtcb]

more classics!!! your a classic!!

[@DonnyHooterHoot]

Replace the two middle plastic inserts. Then it kinda looks like it should be that way? Great vid!

[@LyonsArcade]

Thank you for watching Donald!

[@wackyworldofwindios3476]

Good morning Ron.

[@LyonsArcade]

Good morning Dano!

[@Zepphd2]

Hey! I heard that!! Everything from 1973 looks old?! I’m from 1973!! You’re lucky I do look old! 🤣

[@LyonsArcade]

hahaha we're all getting there Steve just a little slower than others but we'll all get there eventually. Thanks for watching man!

[@ocsrc]

Harbor Freight 4 pack of those hook tools. I use them for grabbing wires in the wall

[@ocsrc]

New old stock or old new stock I can't remember which is the right way to describe when you have brand new parts from the 70s and 80s that is new in the box I remember 10 or 15 years ago there was a news story that the pinballs were actually ball bearings that were made by one company and the company stopped making them and there was no way to get new pinballs I don't know if that was true or not but I remember seeing it on the news

[@fishon8406]

The bonus lights (inserts) on these old machines typically fall in just a little. But it's enough to make play really annoying when the ball hits the edge and deflects. Or if going slowly enough, simply stops on top of the light lens. What can be done to raise the lens assembly? I'm new to this, so I supposed I'll just have to investigate solutions. Am I treading on a mine field, or just leave 'em alone? Oh, and about the customer...Tell him about your videos showing the work you do on the cabinets, and I'm sure he will want you to fix up the outside as well.

[@Zerbey]

Great restore as always Ron, please keep these coming! Just curious, I know you eyeball your painting usually but have you ever messed with templates? I have no artistic talent so I think I'd just do more harm than good if I tried so a template would be my best option.

[@LyonsArcade]

Not really but you could, it just takes more time to do it that way. One of the reasons I do it by hand is because it's much faster, faster=less charge to the customer

[@Zerbey]

@@LyonsArcade Thanks for the response, and sorry if I annoyed you in the last video with my microphone comment :)

[@LyonsArcade]

@@Zerbey Don't worry about it I don't hold grudges I don't even remember what you're talking about, lol

[@fred_derf]

Your cell phone had me looking around trying to figure out where the alert was coming from... :)

[@LyonsArcade]

I guess I should change it to something more interesting :) Thanks for watching Fred!

[@Rob_M_Jr]

Okay Ron, I can't help but think that part of this video was to trigger some people and/or strike some nerves.... which was delightful, keep up the great work.

[@LyonsArcade]

Some people have forgotten how to have fun and get caught up in all the little stuff, might as well give them something to talk about kzbin.info/www/bejne/o3uYaYeMjrN5qNE

[@AvengerII]

@@LyonsArcade It's a good game! And, for once, a customer brought in a game that didn't have so much crap wrong with it!

[@Rob_M_Jr]

@@LyonsArcade I just don't understand why anyone has to make a point to tell you how to do your job. you know...that thing that you do everyday. And after all of these successful repairs, clearly you have no idea what you are doing..lol. however, the resulting banter makes for great content.

[@LyonsArcade]

@@Rob_M_Jr It's strange to me... I see people do things different than I would all the time, I never tell them they don't know what they're doing, even if I think it, LOL It doesn't help anybody. I don't mind people telling me how they do it though, maybe I'll learn something

[@bryanlatimer-davies1222]

I am English and 0.5 of me likes the metric system and 1/2 of me prefers SAE

[@roryvonbrutt7302]

Cracked insert...... "he probably did that himself" ‼️®™️ wow (as in Customer)

[@LyonsArcade]

wow

[@BusyHiker]

Hi, my circus scores multiple 10's all by itself. Like a 10 contact is too close and it touches with every small bump. Where might that be? I already cleaned and adjusted all the playfield 10's I could find and it still does it. Can you point me in a new direction?

[@LyonsArcade]

Try playing a multiplayer game and see if it does it with each player. If it does, it's something on the playfield still, if it only does it on one player it's probably a switch connected too close on the 10 point relay. Usually this is a problem behind one of the rubbers on the playfield, sometimes the switches are bent down after they go under the playfield so they're touching or close and you can't tell by looking at the top of the switch....

[@BusyHiker]

@@LyonsArcade I found that and corrected it, thanks! Now the machine shows 4 player and won't show game over or tilt... Even if I power off and on it shows 4 player. If I hit the reset relay and manually reset it still shows 4 player - yikes!

[@djcasl]

Why not swap it out with the cracked lens with the double bonus one, and replace that one? If the Double bonus is slightly of color, it would be as noticeable as a wrong color in a straight line of dots.

[@charlesmoore456]

Curious as to why you don't test the TILT function/light.

[@waynegram8907]

JOE CLASSIC, You mention about these certain POSTS that are there to prevent the ball from going between the flippers. Do you know the correctly terminology name for these types of posts because the designer must have done some math to calculate that the ball would not all between the two flippers.

[@LyonsArcade]

The term is a 'mini post' because it's the same one they use on other parts of the playfield... but the first guy to do it was Steve Kirk, so it's usually referred to as a Kirk Post. Thank you for watching Wayne!!!

[@waynegram8907]

@@LyonsArcade Thanks I didn't know those Kirt Post were to prevent the ball from going between the flippers.

[@ocsrc]

I used jeweler screw drivers to bend the contact

[@SoftHandsGarage]

Hey sir, I have another question that I hope you might be able to steer me in the right direction on. I have this same machine and had everything working fine before disassembling and redoing the cabinet, etc. Now that it is back together the left side bonus buttons are not working correctly. The bonus reel locks open whenever I push one of them. I have to hit the left lane wire switch to get it to release. I don't see any of the score switches down the left lane 'closed' when they should be open or anything like that. I can 'occasionally' get the bonus buttons to 'ding' and score without locking the bonus reel but rarely and I can't seem to figure out a coloration. FYI, the bonus buttons down the right lane work fine. The only thing I did (intentionally) that I can think of that would have any impact is de-soldered/re-soldered the dead bumpers so I could replace the rubber on em. I haven't broken out the schematic yet but I'm having a hard time imagining the connection between the light circuit and the scoring circuit. Though I'm sure there is 'something' to that considering there is a 'left lane light' along with the 'left lane' switch. Anyway, I only bring that up because that's all I messed with, and the light on the left dead bumper was flickering at one point. I seem to have resolved that but the bonus buttons still don't work and the wiring is as 'soldered' as I get get it...the flickering looks like a socket adjustment thing. I hope I didn't ramble too much ...though it looks pretty long. Very much appreciate you and your videos...thanks for any help you can give me on this one!

[@SoftHandsGarage]

Okay, so I went back through your videos on this machine and sure enough! there is one where you addressed a similar issue where the 'bonus unit step up solenoid' is sticking open. However, your fix was to clean up the 'bonus advance relay'. I cannot get the bonus advance relay to operate once the step up solenoid gets stuck at all. It is energized and won't 'close' or operate or whatever. Make me think it has something to do with my light circuit again. Looking at the schematic, it appears the left lane light needs to close in order for the left lane circuit to 'go through'. Maybe if there is something flakey with the light circuit (where my lights keep flickering on that lane) ...I don't know, lol. Anyway, some progress of thought at least...thanks!

[@SoftHandsGarage]

Okay..WOW...so upon closer inspection! There was a piece of electrical tape on the relay plate on the alternator, left lane, and lite right lane relays!!! I took those off and cleaned them and miracle...the left lane started working properly again. A little adjustment to the light left lane switches and...second miracle, no more flickering. (sigh)...looks like I just have a bit more work to do in going through this thing a little more thoroughly. What in the WORLD would someone have put electrical tape on those for!!???

[@izzynutz2000]

You have solved the mystery of solder should be pronounced s o d d e r...! LOL LOL and it's not POT bumpers people it's POP...

[@douro20]

Is that bumper lamp socket made of pot metal? There are a good amount of miniature lamps made in Mexico as well.

[@LyonsArcade]

I like the Mexican ones

[@daveweston5158]

Hi Ron! Point of curiosity; Joe opting not to repair the coin door with a hammer reminded me that in the previous video, quarters were getting stuck in the coin mech. Considering that the machine appears to be set to free play, this may not be an issue, or you may have fixed it without filming that portion, so I'm just wondering... Was any work done on the coin mech, or did the customer opt not to have it looked at?

[@LyonsArcade]

We cleaned it out for him, a lot of times they're just old and dirty and need cleaned up a little bit to get the change to roll through there. We don't really charge 'per item', like going down a list saying hey do you want us to work on the coin mech, etc. We just generally try to fix whatever we can and it's usually 100 little things. some of the bigger things like "Hey do you want us to spend 8 hours replacing all of the inserts because that one's cracked?" we do separately but general things like the coins getting stuck are really easy to fix and part of just getting the machine back up and running. It was on freeplay though so he likely will never use that part... Thanks for watching Dave!

[@WreckDiver99]

What's better about those in the UK? Half the time they use Metric, and the other half the time they use English. It drove me NUTS when i was over there. Then again, they also use "Stone" as a unit of weight, which I thought was BEYOND obsolete...Yea...our friends across the pond tend to yell about "Use Metric" but still use a mix themselves. LOL. I mean, go ask for a Liter of Beer in a London Pub. They'll look at you sideways, but ask for a Pint? They'll pull you a right proper one!

[@LyonsArcade]

Well I'd be asking for a Quart hahaha Thanks for watching WreckDiver99 we love our English people too of course you know

[@scoosie5967]

Come on Joe, come on now.... :)

[@OhRonaldo]

My Old English Sheepdog "Tenny" SAEs he approves of metric but prefers inches and EM. But he does get a little miffed when you say: "C'mon people!" Then again he's titled ("Alfred, Lord Tennyson") and a bit touchy about protocol. The sound you couldn't identify, I thought I heard that on the first video too. Was it the rollover or the mid right angled bumper? I'm sure the machine is already back at the customer's home, so I know you will go there and shoot another video to figure it out.

[@AvengerII]

There was a Dukes of Hazzard pinball game, wasn't there, Joe's Video Games? Is this being avoided to get around the Southern stereotypes issue? 🤔

[@LyonsArcade]

I don't believe there was one. There may have been a home version or something though. I always loved the Dukes of Hazzard, a friend of ours Trevor used to have the car with the flag and all that, he said when he did car shows everybody wanted to sit in it and take pictures, people of all ages colors men and women loved it.

[@AvengerII]

@@LyonsArcade Seriously?!? No Dukes of Hazzard pinball machine? Virtually every popular TV series had a pinball machine or "rip-off" of characters appearing a game! You had that unofficial Happy Days pinball machine featured a while back that had the Fonz in the artwork! No Uncle Jessie? Not at least a General Lee or suspiciously-family Dodge Charger in the background of some pinball machine?!?

[@ocsrc]

Too bad they didn't put a red light for the clowns nose to light up as a special bonus

[@LyonsArcade]

They probably didn't want to go too over the top :)

[@ocsrc]

What if you use heat and melt the light cover and use paint to match the color

[@victorsvarietychannel2459]

Yes, too much restoration becomes lipstick on a pig.

[@CNKayutube]

You can think about it , but don't do it! It wouldn't look nice on my highway.

[@LyonsArcade]

I SAW THAT YOU SUM******!!

[@mikehampton1033]

I have a 73 bally circus everything lights up,cannot get it to start up

[@rb2184]

Hey Ron do you have an evil knievel machine we could watch you play?

[@LyonsArcade]

I don't have one in right now but I did film one awhile back, you can see that video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aHmlaHmsjrB4Y7M

[@roryvonbrutt7302]

1st ‼️®™️

[@LyonsArcade]

You were quick today, I always say second place is just first loser :) Thanks again for watching Rory I hope you know we're just messing around with you.

[@roryvonbrutt7302]

@@LyonsArcade wow didn't mean to cause an international incident with the solder joke it was a joke everyone it was a joke❗️ this guy is an absolute genius❗️ love those old pinball games actually the ones from the early 70s to the late 70s electromechanical ones.... The artwork I'm really into the artwork specially when you do the playfields and back glasses‼️®™️ 👏👏

[@lileveretteyoakumiii]

Yodelayheehoo

[@maccustoms2295]

Great video as always who gives a rats ass wether you say solder sodder or however it's spelled or said. It just means you missed out on the main focus of the video and that is Lyon's classic video games restoring some great games. This isn't the webster's dictionary channel. Lol

[@LyonsArcade]

Thank you Mac i'm glad you get it :)

[@roryvonbrutt7302]

"SOLDER"...... correct spelling‼️®™️ you said "sodder"❕

[@LyonsArcade]

That's not a complete sentence.

[@roryvonbrutt7302]

@@LyonsArcade u said SODDER❗️

[@LyonsArcade]

Yes I did. And you type in incomplete sentences with fake trademark signs, what you gonna do call the cops

[@roryvonbrutt7302]

@@LyonsArcade that’s my trademark❗️ “‼️®™️”

[@roryvonbrutt7302]

@@LyonsArcade "®".... stands for Rory❕ ‼️®™️ I made it up, I thought it was cute 🧐🧐🧐

[@ocsrc]

I hate metric. I always use SAE