# Episode 165 - The Ball Lifter **Source:** For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast **Type:** podcast_episode **Published:** 2015-08-23 **Duration:** 6m 43s **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://foramusementonly.libsyn.com/episode-165-the-ball-lifter --- ## Analysis Nick Baldridge discusses the ball lifter mechanism in Bally bingo pinball machines, explaining how the lifter motor controls ball lift timing, prevents cheating, and manages game state tracking. He highlights the engineering sophistication of 1950s Bally designs, including automatic ball lifting, timer step logic, and the lifter override button functionality. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] The lifter motor in Bally bingos was one of the first automatic ball lift systems, replacing manual plungers used by other manufacturers for much longer — _Nick Baldridge discussing Bally innovation in automatic ball lifting_ - [HIGH] The lifter motor serves dual purposes: controlling lift frequency and preventing cheating by preventing unauthorized ball lifts — _Nick Baldridge on lifter design philosophy_ - [HIGH] Bally bingo machines use timer step logic to track game state and ball count without requiring eight trough switches, even when balls are returned to play — _Nick Baldridge discussing 1950s engineering in game state tracking_ - [HIGH] The lifter override button allows manual ball lift when trough jams or other issues cause the machine to lose track of which ball is in play — _Nick Baldridge explaining lifter override functionality_ - [HIGH] Bally's ability to automatically determine ball count in the 1950s using timer units and game state logic was an engineering achievement — _Nick Baldridge expressing amazement at 1950s design sophistication_ ### Notable Quotes > "when the lifter starts moving You want to get your hand out of the way because there is a metal bar that goes across which forms the lifter cup... it's very easy to pinch your fingers very badly" > — **Nick Baldridge**, ~0:35 > _Safety warning about lifter mechanism operation_ > "I'm consistently amazed, even today, that in the 1950s, Bally was able to figure out how many balls had been played even if one came back to you" > — **Nick Baldridge**, ~2:20 > _Highlights engineering sophistication of mid-century Bally design_ > "Bally realized that they needed a way to control the frequency of lifting and prevent you from shooting all five balls into the shooter lane at the same time, but also they needed a way to prevent cheating" > — **Nick Baldridge**, ~4:45 > _Explains the dual-purpose design philosophy of the lifter motor_ > "it keeps track of the game state as you're playing again a wholly fascinating concept for the 50s and 60s" > — **Nick Baldridge**, ~6:10 > _Emphasizes game state tracking as a remarkable 1950s-60s achievement_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Nick Baldridge | person | Host of For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast, technical expert on Bally bingo machines | | Bally | company | Historical pinball and bingo machine manufacturer; subject of episode discussion on lifter mechanics | | John Papadiuk | person | Mentioned at end of episode (likely show branding or co-host credit) | | For Amusement Only | organization | EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast, host of this episode | ### Topics - **Primary:** Ball lifter mechanism design and operation, Bally bingo machine engineering, Game state tracking in electromechanical machines - **Secondary:** Anti-cheating mechanisms in pinball, Automatic ball lift vs. manual plunger systems, 1950s-60s pinball engineering innovation ### Sentiment **Positive** (0.85) — Nick Baldridge expresses consistent amazement and admiration for Bally's engineering sophistication. Tone is enthusiastic and educational throughout, with no criticism or negative sentiment. ### Signals - **[historical_signal]** Discussion of Bally's pioneering automatic ball lift system as an advancement over manual plunger systems used by competitors (confidence: high) — Bally realized that they needed a way to control the frequency of lifting and prevent you from shooting all five balls into the shooter lane at the same time - **[design_innovation]** Bally's sophisticated electromechanical game state tracking system that automatically manages ball count without extensive trough switches (confidence: high) — In most Bally bingos there are not eight trough switches... but there are enough that for a five ball game it knows exactly when the last one fired and when the next one should go - **[restoration_signal]** Technical guidance on lifter motor operation, timer step issues, and troubleshooting game state problems in Bally bingos (confidence: high) — If you're having timer step problems there are a few switches which are connected to the cams located on the lifter motor - **[content_signal]** Continued educational series on Bally bingo internals with technical depth aimed at collectors and technicians (confidence: high) — Episode 165 continuing discussion of insides of a Bally bingo, educational podcast format --- ## Transcript The End What's that sound? It's 4 Amusement Only, the EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast. Welcome back to 4 Amusement Only, this is Nicholas Baldridge. Excuse me a minute. That's better. Tonight I wanted to continue our discussion of the insides of a ballybingo. and talk about the lifter now the lifter gets its signal to lift from several different sources but the main one is the lifter start relay this is typically mounted in the back and the playfield near the shutter motor when the lifter starts moving You want to get your hand out of the way because there is a metal bar that goes across which forms the lifter cup shall we say or platform and that meets with another piece of metal as the cam rotates that the motor turns and it's very easy to pinch your fingers very badly. In this position. The other thing to note is if you having timer step problems there are a few switches which are connected to the cams located on the lifter motor One of those switches handles timer step with each ball lift as long as it not a ball that been returned to you If it a new ball coming into play the timer will step up automatically as the ball is lifted This whole circuit and the way that it times out is pretty fascinating, the way it was designed. I'm consistently amazed, even today, that in the 1950s, Bally was able to figure out how many balls had been played even if one came back to you. Now it does this, you know, in a fairly simple manner through the use of the timer unit and so forth, but when the ball comes back to you, how does the game know how many there are? In most ballybingos there are not eight trough switches if it's a game with three extra balls, but there are enough that for a five ball game It knows exactly when the last one fired and when the next one should go. It all very amazing to see in action though because the game will also not time out a particular feature until you have played and landed the ball in question and the next one has been lifted And the lifter motor is one of the actors that controls all this. Now aside from that, while on the topic of the lifter motor, these games We're some of the first to use an automatically lifted ball. You don't have to plunge your ball up to the shooter lane. Other manufacturers would continue to use the plunger style for a very long time beyond the invention of the bingo. But Bally realized that they needed a way to control The frequency of lifting and prevents you from shooting all five balls into the shooter lane at the same time, but also they needed a way to prevent cheating. So this lifter motor serves a dual purpose because it prevents you from cheating the machine, cheating the location. C By lifting ball when you're not supposed to. One of the things I mentioned previously that I got a question on was the lifter override button Now because the game keeps track of the game state as you playing again a wholly fascinating concept for the 50s and 60s because it keeps track of the game state if for some reason there a trough jam or something causes the machine to forget which ball is in the game The pinball is in play currently. If you just push that button that's located right below the shooter rod, it'll lift a ball to the shooter lane, and it knows that that's appropriate. Some games it cares about this a lot, other games it doesn't care at all. So, it just depends on the type of bingo that you're working on, as I mentioned before. Can you see the difference between the two? When you get deeper into it, you realize that it's actually controlling quite a bit. That's all for tonight. Thank you again for joining me. My name again is Nicholas Baldridge. You can reach me at 4amusementonlypodcast at gmail.com or you can call me on the bingos line. That's 724-bingos1. I'm John Papadiuk, and I'll talk to you next time. _(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 8dae6d86-3cad-4853-a41b-4b7fb5eee8c7*