Episode 456 - York Show Giveaway, Timer Unit Issues, King of Diamonds Troubleshooting

For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·11m 23s·analyzed·Sep 21, 2019

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.020

TL;DR

York Show prep, bingo timer fixes, King of Diamonds replay troubleshooting

Summary

Nick Baldridge discusses upcoming York Show plans (October 10-12, 2019), including Multi-Races debut and special token giveaways featuring art by Ryan Claytor. He provides detailed troubleshooting guidance on timer unit issues in bingo machines (Gaiety example) and shares extensive technical notes from repairing a King of Diamonds machine with replay problems, including switch misadjustments and a jammed 0-9 unit collar.

Key Claims

Timer unit problems are the most likely cause of shutter closure failures in bingo machines
high confidence · Nick Baldridge, personal technical experience as EM/bingo specialist
Lifter switch fouling on the lifter motor is a secondary common cause of startup issues
high confidence · Nick Baldridge discussing Gaiety machine repair pattern
Multi-Races will debut at York Show 2019, dispensing special tokens won from gameplay
high confidence · Nick Baldridge announcing inaugural run and token commissioning from David at Ulex Store
Someone had misassembled the 0-9 unit in King of Diamonds with the set screw installed incorrectly on the shaft instead of the flat spot, jamming the collar
high confidence · Nick Baldridge describing detailed King of Diamonds repair at friend Steve's house
King of Diamonds secondary replay sequence is controlled by YA, YB, and ZB relays
high confidence · Nick Baldridge technical breakdown of King of Diamonds relay logic

Notable Quotes

“I've been helping people fix their games as usual... I see this very frequently where the shutter doesn't close. Well, the thing that is the most likely cause of that is the timer unit.”
Nick Baldridge @ ~2:45 — Core troubleshooting advice establishing timer units as primary failure point in bingo startup issues
“Thanks to David from Ulex Store for the quick work... The artwork was done by Ryan Claytor, the comics artist, and a good friend of mine”
Nick Baldridge @ ~1:15 — Crediting collaborators for Multi-Races token artwork and design
“For those who have played King of Diamonds, you know it's all about the replays, so it's kind of tragic if the replays don't function”
Nick Baldridge @ ~4:30 — Describing King of Diamonds' core mechanic and the impact of replay failures
“Somebody had rammed that on incorrectly and then put the set screw into the shaft directly instead of on the flat spot... the collar was jammed into place”
Nick Baldridge @ ~7:15 — Detailing the specific assembly error that prevented further disassembly of the 0-9 unit
“Time waits for no one, and unfortunately, me especially at the moment.”
Nick Baldridge @ ~8:45 — Personal reflection on production delays due to garage door replacement and back injury

Entities

Nick BaldridgepersonYork ShoweventCoin-Op CarnivalorganizationMulti-RacesgameMulti-BingogameRyan ClaytorpersonDavidpersonGaietygameMagic Pocketscompany

Signals

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event_signal: Nick Baldridge confirming attendance at York Show October 10-12, 2019 with Coin-Op Carnival booth and Bingo Row presence
high · Direct announcement: 'I'll be at the York Show October 11th and 12th of 2019, and the 10th as well if you're there on Thursday bringing a game'
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product_launch: Multi-Races homebrew machine inaugural run at York Show 2019 with special token giveaway feature
high · Announcement of 'inaugural run of multi-races' with special tokens dispensed from successful gameplay
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design_innovation: Multi-Races token dispenser mechanic using artwork by Ryan Claytor, first production run tokens from Ulex Store
high · Detailed description of token commissioning and Claytor artwork collaboration
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restoration_signal: Nick Baldridge providing detailed diagnostic framework for timer unit failures in bingo machines (primary cause) and lifter switch issues (secondary)
high · Systematic troubleshooting on Gaiety machine showing timer unit rebuild and lifter switch cleaning as primary solutions
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product_concern: King of Diamonds 0-9 unit misassembled with set screw installed on shaft instead of flat spot, jamming the collar and preventing proper rotation
high · Detailed description of King of Diamonds repair: 'somebody had rammed that on incorrectly and then put the set screw into the shaft directly instead of on the flat spot'
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Topics

Bingo machine timer unit maintenance and repairprimaryYork Show 2019 preparations and exhibitionsprimaryMulti-Races homebrew machine debut and giveaway tokensprimaryKing of Diamonds replay system troubleshootingprimaryGottlieb pinball machine assembly and design (0-9 units, match units)secondaryEM pinball switch adjustment and maintenancesecondaryHomebrew/custom pinball machinessecondaryPodcast production logistics and personal updatesmentioned

Sentiment

positive(0.75)— Overall positive tone with enthusiasm for York Show, helpful technical advice, and collaboration with community members. Mild negative sentiment regarding personal delays (garage door, back injury) but framed pragmatically. Strong professional and passionate engagement with technical problem-solving.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.034

What's that sound? It's 4 Amusement Only, the EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast. and egress from the game room broke. So I had loaded in a new game and unfortunately when I brought the garage door down it gave its last. So I've been waiting for a new garage door to come in stock for a while and it finally did. And it was just installed this past week on the day when I normally put up this episode. So I wasn't able to record at that time, and I managed to hurt my back moving a bunch of games out so that the door could be installed. Who would have figured? So that put me behind as well. On top of that, I've just got quite a bit going on. So let's talk kind of rapid fire about some of those things. First of all, I'll be at the York Show October 11th and 12th of 2019, and the 10th as well if you're there on Thursday bringing a game. I'll be there representing Coin-Op Carnival with the booth, and I'll also be in Bingo Row. And at Bingo Row, we're going to have a fairly substantial selection of bingos from all different eras. On top of that, there's going to be the multi-bingo, which can play every production bingo game that was made in the United States. and multi-races, which is the same concept, but for one-ball horse race games. Those were made from 1936 to 1952. Every year I have a little giveaway for people who do well on the games, and this year, to celebrate the inaugural run of multi-races, I'm going to have special tokens that dispense from multi-races. Thanks to David from Ulex Store for the quick work. So if you're able to succeed and win some replays on certain games on multi-races, it will dispense a token. And you can take that home with you if you like. The artwork was done by Ryan Claytor, the comics artist, and a good friend of mine who also did all the artwork for Coin-Op Carnival. So if you familiar with his work through the book or through his numerous pinball accomplishments you be familiar with his style and I think that translates well to the token So while you there play win and hopefully take home a token or two on me. So, aside from that, what else is going on? I've been helping people fix their games as usual. There was a fellow who posted that he had a Gaiety, which is a Magic Pockets bingo pinball machine, one of two that they made, and he was having trouble with his shutter. This is a problem that I see very frequently from new bingo owners or new bingo mechanics, that they can't get the game to start properly. So they're starting and lifting a ball, and then when you shoot the first ball, it's supposed to close the shutter so that the game can actually progress and play. And like I say, I see this very frequently where the shutter doesn't close. Well, the thing that is the most likely cause of that is the timer unit. and that timer unit needs to step up crisply and it needs to reset very quickly. And it has to reset all the way back to zero. Frequently, the problem is going to be just crud on the timer unit. But once the timer unit's rebuilt, it's good for quite some time. And the secondary cause that I see frequently is the lifter switch. So on the lifter motor itself, there is a switch. and that switch needs to be clean and well-adjusted. It tends to get fouled very easily. It doesn't tend to come out of adjustment very easily. It's in not exactly a protected area, but it's kind of tucked away in a spot where it's unlikely to come out of adjustment just from bending in the machine and actually snagging a switch with a long-sleeve shirt or something. so check those things and make sure they're working properly and almost guaranteed the game's going to fire right up and then you'll be on to the next thing if there's another problem but yeah that that solved it in this case and that was good and then went over to my friend In Steve's house he has a King of Diamonds that he is getting ready for the York Show, hopefully, and it's got some replay problems. For those who have played King of Diamonds, you know it's all about the replays, so it's kind of tragic if the replays don function Somebody had been through this game and misadjusted a lot of the switches and the long blades of the switches were deformed in many cases That is kind of an annoying problem because you have to reform all the switches in order to make them have the appropriate amount of travel after they meet. So there was a lot of, you know, what controls this? Okay, find that. Oh, look, the switch is misadjusted. Re-adjust it, that kind of thing. There were a couple of switches in particular, one on the credit unit, and part of this was done in service of free play mode. I guess they didn't want the credit unit to move for some reason. they had wired the coin switch to the door switch which is probably the easiest way you can put that on free play but unfortunately the credit unit had also been mangled in various different ways there's a normally closed switch which opens when the max credits are hit and that switch just wasn't making when it was jumped out then replays would be awarded but only certain ones now again for those familiar with the game I apologize but for those who haven't played it in this kind of depth there is a sequence and that sequence is all of the cards ace through king in a single suit in this case diamond and you want to hit them rollovers, targets, etc. are all labeled. And then there's a big carousel roto target, which will randomize and give you up to, I think it's five targets that you can hit at one time, at one facing of the unit. So once you get all the targets knocked down, then you're awarded a replay. There's replays for score, and those all worked with jumping that switch out. What did not work was the secondary replay sequence. And that's controlled by YA, YB, and ZB, I think, those relays. And essentially what happens is there's a rotating cast of face cards, or cards in the full house, so ace through ten. Ace, ten, jack, queen, king. and the match unit will move the 0 unit in Gottlieb speak will move and for each position that it moved to there a different card that you have to hit and so that card will light up on the play field and when you hit it you supposed to get the crack of a replay. Well, that didn't happen, and took that unit apart. Everything looked okay. Somebody had misassembled the 0-9 unit, and on those, there's a triangular piece. It's kind of like on the Rotos that has to be reassembled with the flat spot facing. The set screw that you put on to hold this collar on, and unfortunately somebody had rammed that on incorrectly and then put the set screw into the shaft directly instead of on the flat spot. So the set screw, of course, pushes on the metal and pushes it away, but there's nowhere for it to go. So basically this collar was jammed into place and that prevented us from, you know, taking the unit completely apart. The nice thing about Gottliebs is you can take a few of those hairpins out and then you can look at the backside, but you can't really see what's going on without actually getting the unit apart. so I was a bit stymied there but either there's a wire which is not making which grounds the unit or there's some kind of problem with the spaghetti side of the 0 to 9 unit and what that might be I don't know the game had been fooled around with so much that you know maybe there was a solder bomb in there you know somebody had dropped a daub of solder in there and it just didn't work. The interesting thing is that it doesn't work in any position. So it's something common to all of it, and that speaks to me of a ground feed type situation. Conductivity through all of the fingers was correct. So it's something on the rivet side. Time waits for no one, and unfortunately, me especially at the moment. So please come and join me at the York Show, the White Rose Game Room Show. I look forward to seeing you, and until that time, keep those EMs running. All right, well, thanks very much for listening. My name again is Nick Baldrige. You can reach me at 4amusementonlypodcast at gmail.com, or you can call me on the bingos line. That's 724-BINGOS1. You can listen to the show on iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Cast, via RSS, on Facebook, on Twitter, at bingopodcast. You can follow me on Instagram, also at bingopodcast, or you can listen to me on my website. which is foramusementonly.libsyn.com. Thanks very much for listening, and I'll talk to you next time.