Episode 17 - Schematic Symbols Described

For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·11m 57s·analyzed·Mar 28, 2015

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.016

TL;DR

Educational guide to interpreting schematic symbols in EM pinball machines.

Summary

Nick Baldridge provides an educational overview of schematic symbols used in electromechanical pinball machines, explaining how to read and interpret the electrical maps that are critical for troubleshooting and repair. The episode covers fundamental symbols including fuses, switches, transformers, coils, resistors, stepper units, motors, capacitors, and wiring representations, using a Bounty bingo machine schematic as a reference example. This is intentionally presented as a less technical introduction to schematics to make the content more accessible to a broader audience.

Key Claims

Schematics are the most important piece of paperwork for fixing any era game because they show the electrical map of the entire machine
high confidence · Nick Baldridge, discussing the importance of schematics at the beginning of the episode
The Bounty bingo schematic is infamous because it was handwritten and appears to have been rushed
high confidence · Nick Baldridge, describing the quality of the Bounty schematic documentation
System 11 and System 9 games use warming resistors that keep bulbs carrying current so flashers activate immediately without warm-up delay
high confidence · Nick Baldridge explaining the function of resistors in modern systems
Transformers in EM machines typically step down voltage from 120 volts to 50 volts for the common circuit
medium confidence · Nick Baldridge describing the transformer in the Bounty schematic
Bounty has two reflex units, among many other stepper units including winner disc, timer disc, search disc, and red and yellow score discs
high confidence · Nick Baldridge examining the Bounty bingo machine schematic

Notable Quotes

“Schematics are incredibly important if you're fixing any era game, but in my mind, they're the most important piece of the paperwork. They show you the electrical map of the entire machine, and from that, you're able to identify where electricity is flowing and when.”
Nick Baldridge @ Opening section — Establishes the foundational importance of understanding schematics for pinball repair
“I thought tonight instead of doing something highly technical, we would go over schematics. The least technical thing that you can possibly talk about.”
Nick Baldridge @ Opening — Self-aware humor about the topic's perceived accessibility; acknowledges audience feedback from his wife about technical complexity
“The Bounty schematic is infamous because it was handwritten and it looks like they really rushed to prepare it.”
Nick Baldridge @ Mid-episode — Commentary on documentation quality issues with vintage machines
“When you apply electricity to [coils], they become a magnet. Now, these magnets can be used for various purposes. On a flipper game, when you push in the cabinet flipper switch, it's going to allow current to flow into the coil and energize that big magnet, and it will pull in a metal piece, which is attached to the flipper, which allows the flipper to move.”
Nick Baldridge @ Coils explanation section — Clear explanation of how fundamental EM mechanics operate via electromagnetic principles
“Most of the time they act as helpers to timing”
Nick Baldridge @ Resistors section — Identifies a primary function of resistors in EM machine circuits

Entities

Nick BaldridgepersonBountygameFor Amusement OnlyorganizationWilliamscompany GottliebcompanySystem 11productSystem 9product

Signals

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content_signal: Host explicitly adjusting content difficulty based on audience feedback (wife's comment about technical complexity), suggesting a pivot toward more accessible technical education
high · 'I was talking with my wife earlier about the podcast and she said honestly i can't listen to it it's way too technical so i thought tonight instead of doing something highly technical, we would go over schematics. The least technical thing that you can possibly talk about.'
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restoration_signal: Episode indicates there is a knowledge gap in the EM pinball community regarding schematic interpretation and symbol recognition, necessitating foundational educational content
high · Entire episode is dedicated to teaching basic schematic symbol interpretation, suggesting this is an educational need
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historical_signal: Documentation practices varied significantly across vintage pinball manufacturers; Bounty schematic noted as handwritten and hastily prepared compared to other contemporary machines
high · 'this bounty schematic is infamous because it was handwritten and it looks like they really rushed to prepare it'
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restoration_signal: Host establishes schematic reading as foundational skill for EM machine troubleshooting and repair; promises deeper content on lamp and coil circuit troubleshooting in future episodes
high · 'Schematics are incredibly important if you're fixing any era game' and 'Join me next time when we talk a little bit more in depth about schematics and how to read and troubleshoot lamp circuits and coil circuits'
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Topics

Schematic symbol interpretation and electrical theoryprimaryElectromechanical pinball machine repair and troubleshootingprimaryBingo pinball machines and their specific characteristicssecondaryFlipper game mechanics and solenoid operationsecondaryTransformer and power distribution in vintage machinessecondaryDocumentation quality and preservation of vintage game informationmentioned

Sentiment

positive(0.8)— Nick Baldridge maintains an educational, encouraging tone throughout. He is patient and methodical in explaining complex technical concepts. Mild criticism of the Bounty schematic's quality is presented matter-of-factly rather than harshly. Overall sentiment is constructive and supportive of the listener's learning journey.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.036

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 so i was talking with my wife earlier about the podcast and she said honestly i can't listen to it it's way too technical so i thought tonight instead of doing something highly technical, we would go over schematics. The least technical thing that you can possibly talk about. Schematics are incredibly important if you're fixing any era game, but in my mind, they're the most important piece of the paperwork. They show you the electrical map of the entire machine, and from that, you're able to identify where electricity is flowing and when. And just from looking at the schematic, you can make some educated guesses about how the machine is going to behave. So I've got a bingo schematic here. I'm looking at the schematic for Bounty, the Magic Screen game. and each schematic on the far left-hand side, typically, will have a representation of the power plug. And from that, you'll see various fuses and switches, and you'll see the transformer. Now, I thought I would go over, for this first dip into schematics, what the symbols are and what they mean. So, as I say, you have a representation of the power plug, and moving up from that, you see what looks like the letter S. The letter S on a schematic, writ large, is a fuse. and fuses will have their values written beside them. So in this case, there's a 10 amp line fuse. And then moving up from there, we'll see what looks like a break in the solid line, which represents one part of the power plug. So this is moving up from the S. And that break in the line is leaning up against another line. And that is representative of a switch Now this switch happens to be the cabinet power toggle switch And most switches are labeled with their functions. Now, some schematics it can be hard to read. Like, for example, this bounty schematic is infamous because it was handwritten and it looks like they really rushed to prepare it. Moving along, we'll see a few different curly lines. If you see a large set of curly lines with lines in between them, vertical lines, that's a transformer. And what a transformer does is it takes a certain input voltage and either steps it up or steps it down as appropriate based on the number of windings. So this is how power is transmitted to your home over great distances is AC power can be stepped up for transit. and then step down once it comes from the wall to power your devices. So we have a step-down transformer, where part of the machine runs on 120 volts, which is your input line voltage, and then it's stepped down to 50 volts for the common. we'll go over what the common means at a later date. So for today, again, we're just focusing on symbols. So anywhere that you see a line, that's representative of a wire. So an unbroken line is a wire. you'll see various incarnations of that switch symbol that I was mentioning where you have a break in the line and on certain schematics you'll have a switch facing to the left and that means normally closed or you'll have a switch facing to the right and that means normally open this bounty schematic is written that way however, in a more modern game or perhaps different manufacturer. It's going to depend on the engineer who drew up the schematics. A normally open switch will actually appear open on the schematic, and a normally closed switch will appear as if it's laying on the continuation of the line. You also see semicircles dotted throughout and all that showing you is that intersecting wires are actually not electrically connected So it's almost like it's jumping over a wire that happened to be in its way. So I mentioned the large squiggly lines with the vertical lines in between them. and how those are transformers, small squiggly lines that have two loops are coils. And coils are electromagnets. They're basically just big spools of wire, and when you apply electricity to them, they become a magnet. Now, these magnets can be used for various purposes. on a flipper game, when you push in the cabinet flipper switch, it's going to allow current to flow into the coil and energize that big magnet, and it will pull in a metal piece, which is attached to the flipper, which allows the flipper to move. If we're talking about a relay, when power is applied to the coil, it will pull in the metal actuation plate, which in turn is connected to the various switches, and it'll pull them closed or open as displayed on the schematic. So, moving on. the representation that looks like a lightning bolt is what's called a resistor and as I mentioned in the rant about fuses that I had last episode resistors increase the current flow deliberately in a circuit in order to prevent or allow something to happen so a modern system or a more modern system that uses resistors effectively are system 11 games that have flash lamps or system 9 games these machines have what are called warming resistors which allow the bulbs to always carry a certain amount of current so that when you actuate something in the game that causes the flasher to go off, it will immediately go off instead of having to wait for the bulb to warm up and go down. In these older games, they serve various purposes. Most of the time they act as helpers to timing So another item that you see on the schematics for an EM are rectangular boxes with diagonal lines through them. These are stepper units. So, for example, I'm looking at the bounty, and I see a winner unit disc, a timer unit disc, skill shot reflex disc. Bounty has actually two reflex units. The search disc, the red scores disc, the yellow scores disc, etc. So there are many, many steppers in a bingo. If you see a circle on a schematic, that's a motor. A circle with an M inside of it. A plain circle is a representation of one or more light bulbs. If you see a horizontal line with a semicircle beneath of it, and they appear to be directly in line with each other above and below, that's a capacitor. And a capacitor's job is to hold a certain amount of current and then release it into the circuit slowly if power dissipates. On some machines, the capacitor is used as a delay. So again, it aids with timing. I'm thinking later 70s Williams EMs. or on Gottlieb EMs, it can help with the timing of, say, a spinner unit. Those are the vast majority of the symbols that you'll need to start troubleshooting your first EM. Join me next time when we talk a little bit more in depth about schematics and how to read and troubleshoot lamp circuits and coil circuits. That's all for this episode. Thank you for joining me. My name again is Nick Baldrige. You can reach me at 4amusementonlypodcast at gmail.com. You can find us online at 4amusementonly.libsyn.com or on iTunes, Stitcher, RSS, and yes, Facebook. Thanks again. See you next time.