# Episode 134 - Score Motors - Bally **Source:** For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast **Type:** podcast_episode **Published:** 2015-07-23 **Duration:** 8m 22s **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://foramusementonly.libsyn.com/episode-134-score-motors-bally --- ## Analysis Nick Baldridge analyzes Bally's electromechanical score motor design, contrasting it with Exhibit and Gottlieb designs. He explains Bally's shift from single-disc to control-unit-inspired designs, highlights the absence of clutches and complex search disks, and details the parallel switch-stack architecture. Baldridge concludes that Bally score motors are the easiest to service among EM manufacturers, though they are more susceptible to dirt accumulation due to their horizontal switch orientation. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] Bally score motors lack clutches, meaning all cams must rotate together rather than selectively — _Nick Baldridge, technical design explanation_ - [HIGH] Bally score motors are easier to work on than Gottlieb or Williams score motors — _Nick Baldridge, direct personal experience statement_ - [HIGH] Bally's EM score motor design was informed by their earlier control unit designs used in horse race games and bingos — _Nick Baldridge, historical design analysis_ - [HIGH] Bally score motors are more prone to dirt accumulation and switch fouling than Gottlieb because of horizontal switch-stack orientation — _Nick Baldridge, technical maintenance observation_ - [HIGH] Switch stacks in Bally score motors typically contain 4-6 state-changing switches per cam — _Nick Baldridge, technical specification_ ### Notable Quotes > "Bally went through a couple different designs for their score motors which are the brains of any em" > — **Nick Baldridge**, 00:00 > _Establishes the core topic and importance of score motors in EM machines_ > "they are my favorite to work on. They beat out every other manufacturer... they are the easiest, I think, to work on." > — **Nick Baldridge**, ~13:00 > _Direct expert assessment elevating Bally design above Gottlieb and Williams_ > "it is relatively easy to access and clean every switch in the score motor, should you need to. It is a whole heck of a lot easier to adjust and clean the score motor switches in a Bally than it is in a Gottlieb." > — **Nick Baldridge**, ~09:00 > _Technical superiority claim supported by serviceable architecture_ > "the switches in the Bally score motor can become fouled or misadjusted more easily" > — **Nick Baldridge**, ~10:00 > _Key trade-off identifying vulnerability of otherwise superior design_ > "gravity is not your friend. So if there's a piece of dirt that somehow manages to fall from the play field, it's going to land on, say, one of the score motor stacks." > — **Nick Baldridge**, ~11:00 > _Explains the physical mechanism by which Bally's horizontal orientation creates maintenance challenges_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Nick Baldridge | person | Host of For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast; EM pinball expert and restorer with hands-on experience working on score motors from multiple manufacturers | | Bally | company | Historical pinball manufacturer; primary subject of episode focused on their EM score motor design philosophy and engineering | | Gottlieb | company | Historical pinball manufacturer; referenced as design comparison point for score motor complexity and serviceability | | Exhibit | company | Historical pinball/game machine manufacturer; mentioned as part of ongoing series comparing score motor designs | | Williams | company | Historical pinball manufacturer; referenced as having score motor design with unspecified 'gotchas' to be discussed in future episode | | For Amusement Only | organization | EM and bingo pinball podcast hosted by Nick Baldridge; ongoing series examining score motor designs across manufacturers | ### Topics - **Primary:** Electromechanical (EM) score motor design and engineering, Bally manufacturing philosophy and technical design choices, Comparative analysis of EM score motor designs across manufacturers, Maintenance, repair, and serviceability of EM score motors - **Secondary:** Mechanical engineering trade-offs in EM design, Historical design evolution from bingo/horse race games to EM pinball, EM restoration and collector community - **Mentioned:** Podcast audience engagement and merchandise ### Sentiment **Positive** (0.82) — Baldridge expresses clear appreciation and enthusiasm for Bally score motor design, calling them 'my favorite to work on.' His tone is educational and approachable. The only negative element is acknowledgment of dirt-fouling vulnerability, which is presented matter-of-factly as a trade-off rather than a criticism. Overall sentiment is highly favorable toward Bally engineering. ### Signals - **[historical_signal]** Bally's score motor design evolved from single-disc stepper-based systems to control-unit-inspired designs informed by earlier horse race and bingo game engineering (confidence: high) — Baldridge traces design lineage from control units used in horse race games and bingos to inform EM score motor architecture - **[restoration_signal]** Bally score motors assessed as most serviceable among EM manufacturers (Bally > Gottlieb > Williams) due to accessible switch-stack architecture (confidence: high) — Expert technician comparison: 'relatively easy to access and clean every switch in the score motor' vs Gottlieb complexity - **[restoration_signal]** Bally score motors prone to dirt accumulation and switch fouling due to horizontal switch-stack orientation and gravity exposure (confidence: high) — Horizontal orientation means 'gravity is not your friend' and dirt can shake into switch stacks over years - **[design_philosophy]** Bally design prioritized ease of serviceability and simplicity at the cost of increased vulnerability to environmental contamination (confidence: high) — Baldridge explicitly frames the trade-off: simpler access and adjustment vs. higher susceptibility to fouling - **[content_signal]** Ongoing multi-episode series comparing EM score motor designs across manufacturers (Exhibit, Gottlieb, Bally, Williams) (confidence: high) — References to previous episodes on Exhibit and Gottlieb, foreshadowing Williams episode - **[community_signal]** For Amusement Only audience merchandise sales and mailing activity as of late July (confidence: high) — T-shirt merchandise arrived July 23rd, distribution planned for Friday shipment --- ## Transcript what's that sound it's for amusement only the em and bingo pinball podcast welcome back to for amusement only this is Nicholas Baldridge bally went through a couple different designs for their score motors which are the brains of any em if you've been following along in the series we've talked about Exhibit and Gottlieb. Well, today we're talking about Bally, and based on the type of machine they were manufacturing and the year, their score motor design changed a bit. It went from a single disc that would rotate along what was essentially a stepper face, similar to the search disc in a bingo or the spotting disc in a bingo. These control units are very simple and are not at all like the complex control units that they later formulated for the horse race games and the bingos. Later on, Bally would take the design of the control unit, and that very much informed their EM score motor design. The typical Bally score motor looks almost exactly like a control unit, except for a few notable differences. The first is that there are no clutches. This means that the machine cannot turn portions of the score motor separately from other portions In other words, once the motor is rotating, it has to continue to rotate all of the cams at the same time, and not a portion, as in the bingos. Another difference is that there is no complex search or spotting disk at the end of this motor shaft. It's only the motor, followed by several cams lined up behind them, each with their own stack of switches on top. Now the entire stack actuates at the same time, so on each cam, if you picture a row of cams, 10, 12 stacks deep, on each of those is a stack of switches, and each stack is comprised of 4, 5, or 6 state-changing switches. either normally closed, normally open, or alternating. Now because of this design, with the switch stacks stacked on top of the cams, it is relatively easy to access and clean every switch in the score motor, should you need to. It is a whole heck of a lot easier to adjust and clean the score motor switches in a Bally than it is in a Gottlieb. And perhaps there are some Gottlieb experts out there who have repaired way more than I have but it is my experience that it is really easy to work on a Ballyscore motor as compared to a Gottlieb. Now, there's always a trade-off for that, and that's that the switches in the Ballyscore motor can become fouled or misadjusted more easily. Your switch stacks are typically four, five, six, or more switches deep on each cam, as I mentioned, and so there's more opportunity for dirt to creep in, and the orientation of the switches being parallel to the bottom of the cabinet means that gravity is not your friend. So if there's a piece of dirt that somehow manages to fall from the play field, it's going to land on, say, one of the score motor stacks. And as the score motor turns, it's going to move that switch stack up and down and eventually shaking that piece of dirt into the score motor switches. That's a pretty unlikely scenario, but it can happen. So that dirt that accrues in there comes from somewhere. Most likely years in neglect, but that's another story. So getting back to Bally score motors, they are my favorite to work on. They beat out every other manufacturer. I'll very soon be talking about Williams, but they are the easiest, I think, to work on. There are no gotchas like there are with Williams Not that it a big gotcha but it one that can happen And they relatively straightforward simple state changers So they typically located in the middle left of the bottom of the cab As I mentioned in my Gottlieb Score Motor podcast, A common problem on these is, as with any score mode really, that the index switch or the runout switch will become fouled or open or closed and will either run the score motor constantly or not run it at all. Now, the difference between this and the Gottlieb is that it is very simple to adjust the switch and also see that the switch is not changing state appropriately. On the Gottlieb, it's more important to utilize a piece of paper or a business card or something so that you can isolate that switch stack visually from the rest. Well, 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. You can listen to us on iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, via RSS, on Facebook, on Twitter at bingopodcast. You can follow me on Instagram at nbaldridge. And you can listen to us on our website, which is 4amusementonly.libsyn.com. and a special treat for those of you who were able to order t-shirts. They just came in today, the 23rd of July, so I will be sending those out here very, very soon. I'm getting all the postage supplies tomorrow, but they should be in the mail on Friday. Thanks again for listening, and I'll talk to you next time. _(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: a5398466-b888-4254-ad5e-fa436c941546*