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Episode 24 - Relays and Sequences

For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·12m 54s·analyzed·Apr 4, 2015
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.017

TL;DR

EM relay fundamentals: how they work, why they fail, and how to fix them.

Summary

Nick Baldridge explains how electromagnetic relays function in EM pinball machines as the core logic system for tracking game state and sequences. Using examples from his personal collection (Pop-It Card, Mystery, Twinkie, Bounty, Double Up), he demonstrates how relay complexity scales with game sophistication, then provides practical troubleshooting guidance for common relay failures: stuck lock-in switches, magnetized armatures, and switch tab contamination.

Key Claims

  • Relays are banks of switches that move in unison and change state simultaneously, functioning as the logic system for EM pinball machines

    high confidence · Nick Baldridge, opening explanation of relay function

  • Pop-It Card uses three separate relays to light the wow light for added ball when a bank of drop targets is completed

    high confidence · Nick Baldridge, describing his own machine

  • Mystery has 12 passive bumpers arranged in sequences of four; each sequence completion lights special via a separate trip relay

    high confidence · Nick Baldridge, describing his own machine

  • The most common cause of a relay tripping continuously is a misadjusted lock-in switch that drives the coil

    high confidence · Nick Baldridge, troubleshooting section

  • Magnetized relay armatures can be demagnetized by removing the armature plate and striking it multiple times with a mallet, then roughing up the coil end with fine-grained sandpaper

    high confidence · Nick Baldridge, repair methodology

  • Double Up's C relay has magnetized twice and is located behind the back box, suggesting a potential isolation or shielding issue with nearby components

    high confidence · Nick Baldridge, personal experience troubleshooting

Notable Quotes

  • “A relay is simply a bank of switches which all move at the same time. The modern equivalent is transistor logic. However, in an EM, transistors didn't exist.”

    Nick Baldridge@ 0:35 — Core definition explaining the fundamental technology underlying EM game logic

  • “When you do this, a relay trips that lights the wow light for the added ball, and there are three different relays which do the same job just for different parts of the playfield.”

    Nick Baldridge@ 1:22 — Illustrates how relay complexity scales with playfield zones in a real machine

  • “When the complexity of the machine increases, so too do the number of relays needed in order to help with the logic.”

    Nick Baldridge@ 4:45 — Key principle explaining design trade-offs in EM complexity

  • “If your relay is tripping all the time and you can't figure out why, the number one culprit would be the lock-in switch that drives the coil. It's most likely caused by that switch being misadjusted.”

    Nick Baldridge@ 6:34 — Primary diagnostic principle for troubleshooting continuous relay trips

  • “An armature that's magnetized, it'll cause the score motor to revolve more than once and score more than 10 points.”

    Nick Baldridge@ 8:37 — Example of how magnetization manifests as game malfunction

  • “You just want to beat the magnet molecules out of it, basically.”

    Nick Baldridge@ 10:41 — Colloquial explanation of the demagnetization technique

  • “This is the second relay in double-up that has magnetized. And they're both behind the back box. Is there something that's not properly isolated that's allowing those armatures to become magnetized?”

    Nick Baldridge — Indicates ongoing troubleshooting investigation and suggests systemic isolation issues

Entities

Nick BaldridgepersonFor Amusement OnlyorganizationPop-It CardgameMysterygameTwinkiegameBountygameDouble Upgame

Signals

  • ?

    educational_content: Structured, detailed explanation of EM relay design principles and troubleshooting methodology

    high · Entire episode dedicated to relay fundamentals with real-world examples from collector's machines

  • ?

    restoration_signal: Practical demagnetization and adjustment techniques for relay maintenance and failure recovery

    high · Detailed instructions for armature demagnetization using mallet strikes and sandpaper treatment; lock-in switch adjustment procedures

  • ?

    product_concern: Recurring magnetization problem affecting Double Up machine relays, suggesting possible shielding or isolation design issue

    medium · Two separate magnetization events on Double Up C relay both occurring behind back box; speaker questioning isolation adequacy of fish paper shielding

  • ?

    design_philosophy: EM game designers scaled relay bank complexity proportionally with playfield feature complexity and sequence depth

    high · Comparative examples showing Pop-It Card (3 simple relays) vs Mystery (12 bumper trips plus sequence trips) vs Bounty/Double Up (extensive trip banks for multiple features)

  • ?

    historical_signal: Relays represented core logic technology in EM era before transistor logic became standard in solid-state machines

    high · Nick's opening statement: 'The modern equivalent is transistor logic. However, in an EM, transistors didn't exist.'

  • ?

Topics

EM relay design and functionprimaryRelay troubleshooting and diagnosticsprimaryGame sequence logic implementationprimaryMagnetized armature repairprimaryLock-in switch adjustmentprimaryEM game complexity and design trade-offssecondaryElectrical isolation and shielding in cabinet designsecondary

Sentiment

neutral(0)— Educational and technical in tone. Nick presents troubleshooting methodology matter-of-factly with occasional humor. Shows mild frustration with recurring magnetization issues on Double Up but maintains a problem-solving mindset.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.039

0:00
What's that sound? It's 4 Amusement Only, the EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast. Welcome back to 4 Amusement Only, this is Nick Baldridge. Have you ever wondered how an EM keeps track of what you're doing? How does it know that you're near the end of the sequence or that you've completed it in order to do light special? Well, the answer is that there is typically a relay bank in the bottom of the cabinet.
0:35
A relay is simply a bank of switches which all move at the same time. The modern equivalent is transistor logic. However, in an EM, transistors didn't exist. So what you have are several switches that move in unison and change state. So let's take a couple real-world examples here. And again, I'm going to pull from my games because I have limited imagination.
1:09
But also because they're right beside me. So, on Pop-It Card, one of the goals is to complete a bank of drop targets. When you do this, a relay trips that lights the wow light for the added ball, and there are three different relays which do the same job just for different parts of the playfield.
1:40
On Mystery, which is a very sequence-driven game, there are 12 passive bumpers, not pops. They don't move the ball themselves. Each sequence of four, and they're numbered 1 through 12, each group of four, when hit, will light special in a different part of the play field. There's a trip for each passive bumper, and by trip I mean trip relay,
2:12
and there's a trip for completing the sequence. the sequence trip will move when it sees that all four of the previous trips have been moved the sequence trip lights the special and allows the proper scoring to happen on Twinkie there's a trip that tells it
@ 11:46

content_signal: Continuation of structured EM education series with reference to prior mini-episode on switch tab maintenance

high · Mentions prior 'mini switch tab episode' and references accumulated technical knowledge across series

2:43
that you're on your last ball, or that your game is over, or that you're on your first ball. And this is how it keeps track of where you are beyond the ball count. On bounty, there's a bank of trips, each with its own special function. For example there a trip for lighting the yellow rollover to extend the time tree one for lighting the red rollover to extend the time tree further
3:19
one for lighting OK, Super OK, and Extra OK, one for lighting the yellow super section, one for lighting the red super section, one for tilt, two for extra ball, and so forth. There are also trips that move in order to coordinate the time tree. So beyond the timer unit, which is a stepper, there are also trips which help to confirm
3:52
or lock you out of certain features. has much the same as Bounty, but with a couple added trips. All four star zones for 300 and all four star zones for 600, as well as a special three in the star zone to start red letter and two in the star zone to start red letter. There are also special double score
4:23
trips on Double Up, which are not present on Bounty. Bounty, however, has the super section, since it's a magic screen game, and it also has the 3 or 2 in the blue score 3 or 600. So as you can see, when the complexity of the machine increases, so too do the number of relays needed in order to help with the logic.
4:55
Today's tech is fairly simple. We're just going to talk about relays and how to adjust them, what to do if the relay wants to trip all the time and how to correct that, and what to do if the relay stays energized. So, the first thing to understand is how the relay works.
5:28
In a trip relay, it works by energizing a coil which pulls in an armature and drops the relay. Now, the relay is comprised of a plastic or fiber yoke which pulls all the switches at the same time. So the trip trips and all the switches fall down. If you observe your game malfunctioning for some reason, try to trace it back to a relay. How do
6:05
you know if a relay is working appropriately? Well for a trip relay, observe the switch position in the reset position and then trip it. Use a piece of wood or something non if the machine on but typically again I a chicken and I try not to make changes to the machine while it on because it a good way to get shocked or cause damage to the machine So, if your relay is tripping all the time and you can't figure out why, the number one culprit would be the lock-in switch that drives the coil.
6:46
it's most likely caused by that switch being misadjusted. Observe the switches in their reset position and observe them in the trip position. Do all the switches change state? If they do, the next thing to do would be to check the switch tabs. As I mentioned on my mini switch tab episode, you want to check in the back and make sure no switch tabs are touching.
7:16
If no switch tabs are touching, then you want to clean the switches, and after that you may have to readjust them again. So again, re-observe in the reset position, which is how they're drawn on the schematic, and in the trip position. Now I mention the schematics because if you are observing the switches and cannot tell just by observation whether they're normally open, normally closed, or single-pole double-throw,
7:48
your schematic is your best friend. That said, it's usually 100% obvious what kind of relay you're looking at, or I'm sorry, which kind of switch you're looking at. So another problem which happens occasionally is that the armature becomes magnetized. When this happens, it's incredibly irritating, especially if it's not a trip relay,
8:20
but instead an actuated relay that happens because of action on the playfield or other player interaction. An example might be a relay that scores 10 points. Well, if you have an armature that's magnetized, it'll cause the score motor to revolve more than once and score more than 10 points. Another example that I'll take from my games is Double Up.
8:53
The C relay, which is actuated by the player as long as the time tree hasn't locked you out, has become magnetized. and what this means is that it stays down after I've finished pushing the button. Well, that's not correct. It should be releasing. And I've had this happen on the A relay before, and it's incredibly frustrating because it prevents you from pushing either the A or the B button to switch the other numbers on the back glass
9:29
and instead only allows you to keep pushing C. Now, you can keep pushing that to your heart's content, but it won let you push the other ones until that armature finally lets go whenever that is sometimes it when a new game has started so this is a problem that just developed tonight and the way to fix it is to take the relay apart and the relay is comprised of those switches
10:00
the holder that's either plastic or fiber that holds all the switches together, the metal armature, and a spring, and then a coil. The coil pulls in the armature and moves the switches. Now, once you take it apart, you want to remove the armature plate. Set it on the ground or a piece of wood,
10:30
and then take a mallet and smack it. and you want to smack it several times. And you don't want to deform it. You just want to beat the magnet molecules out of it, basically. And then take a screw or other metal object that can be magnetized and run it by the plate. See if it catches. If it doesn't, the other thing that I'll do is rough up the end of the coil
11:03
with a piece of fine-grained sandpaper. And this, again, it just kind of shakes up the molecules. I don't know if that part does anything really, but it prevents it from recurring for at least a time. Reassemble, and you should be good to go. But when you reassemble, you're going to have to make sure that it moves appropriately.
11:33
And everything is working. But once you do, it'll give you quite a long time of trouble-free operation. Now, here's a question I have to ask myself. This is the second relay in double-up that has magnetized. And they're both behind the back box. Is there something that's not properly isolated that's allowing those armatures to become magnetized?
12:03
perhaps a piece of fish paper that sat between those relays and the metal back box behind the magic screen or the mystic lines so those are the kind of things that I ask myself and I'll figure it out next time I pull the game out from the wall likely to change fuse holders and that should take care of it alright well thank you for joining me again
12:34
my name is Nick Baldrige you can reach me at 4amusementonlypodcast.gmail.com you can find us online at 4amusementonly.libsyn.com and you can find us on Stitcher, iTunes, Pocket Cast, RSS and on Facebook thanks again talk to you later