Stripped gear on Bally Sea Island

So it's a lazy Saturday morning.

...Have a coffee, putter around the basement...

I get the urge to play a few games on Sea Island.

For those unfamiliar with this Sea Island. It's the OG Chasing Bugs... Sea Island... we have a history.

Sea Island and Key West

I drop a dime. The magic screen starts rolling back to home position and unexpectedly stops midway... Poo :-(

I knew then what just happened. The gearbox for the magic screen motor stripped a gear.

My lazy Saturday morning had just turned into a repair project.

Why did this happen?
It comes down to maintenance...
There was a stiff / dry spot on the magic screen unit bottom track.
The oil used for the magic screen clutch unit leather clutch washers congealed, seizing the clutch unit.

Magic Screen mechanism. Clutch unit in place

A small nylon gear absorbed the shock instead of the clutch unit. With catastrophic results. The G-4114 gear to be precise (it's also used in the ball lift gear motor)

Diagram taken from the Sea Island manual

Fortunately I had a spare gearmotor assembly pilfered from another Sea Island. I was hoping to bring this second Sea Island back to life one day if I ever found a decent backglass for it, but it's missing more and more parts as the years go by.

Sea Island sans Magic Screen Gearmotor

I swapped out the whole gearmotor. I also took the time to disassemble the clutch. Degrease the parts, and re oil the leather washers.

Leather clutch washer

Clutch unit taken apart

In the end... I got Sea Island up and working again and I'm down a G-4114  Molon gear. I only have myself to blame.

Happy times

Sea Island with Beer
Sea Island at Pincon 2017

1962 Bally Golden Gate Bingo reflections

No awkward introspective post here...

I was working on my Golden Gate. The game has been languishing in the corner of the gameroom for so long it needed a overhaul before I could play it again... Stuck clutches, stepper units not resetting properly. I was play testing the machine with the backglass off. Changing burnt out bulbs and noticed the beautiful reflections it made on the playfield. Enjoy!

Bally Golden Gate bingo

Bally Golden Gate Bingo Playfield

Bally Sea Island Bingo and beer

Playing my Sea Island Bingo machine and enjoying a beer.
Marzen Rauchbier. Mmmm. Liquid bacon!

Just Chillin' with Bally Carnival Queen and a Pabst Blue Ribbon

I'm test playing Carnival Queen. I had to change the search wiper hub AGAIN!

Anyway I'm taking it easy with a pint of PBR.

Oh yeah. And I found a vintage B&R Rapid Changer coin dispenser at thrift store today.

Good times

My Carnival Queen: the game with issues

My Carnival Queen has broken down for the nth time.

Even my non-bingo pinball buddies recognize the Carnival Queen for being temperamental. A.K.A. Always broken. With good reason! This game is worn down to the whitewood. It was operated for 29 years continuously. In it's heyday it was played from opening to closing of the bar or tavern it was in. It's the first magic screen bingo I ever fixed. Since then, I've fixed a few!

 

 

It's most recent failure was the search wiper hub grenading. Probably due to the bad batch of neatsfoot oil I used when I last lubricated the clutch washers. Too much drag. The bakelite part just couldnt take the pressure anymore and broke.

Fortunately I had a spare hub. The replacement was simple enough. I re-lubed the search wiper clutch and it was good to go.

 

 

I remember the mood I was in when I first fixed that game. I was down. My marriage was falling apart. I was fixated on fixing that game. By the time I finally got the game working, my now ex-wife had already moved out.

 

Maybe it was the time of year. Maybe it was the red wine. But when I played the first game after this most recent repair. The machine all lit up and jaunty. It brought a shrinkwrap of tears to my eyes.