With some more progress made on Mariner, it’s time to drop past with another update showing off which assemblies have been pulled apart, serviced and cleaned. First up on the list this time are the flippers. Both flippers work, which is always a nice starting point to have. Unlike other old machines I’ve worked on, the rubber here isn’t hard and cracking (same for the rest of the playfield rubbers actually). The flipper bats are still reasonably white too. So I think the machine has been looked after over the years and likely to have had some replacement parts put in along the way.
Mariner – Bally (1971)
Repair, rebuild and service of a 1971 Bally Mariner pinball machine
With the apron area completed in the previous update, it’s time to move up the playfield and service some more of the assemblies that make up the game. Shifting my focus about 3cm higher than the apron, the first feature to look at in this update is the “up post”. This feature is pretty cool in game and a welcome addition given the lack of in lanes beside the sling shots. I’ve covered it slightly in previous updates where I sorted out some issues with it not functioning correctly, but this time i’ll be pulling it to pieces for a good clean.
Time to report in with the progress made on servicing the Mariner. It’s a been a little slow lately with other things taking priority, but I’m getting back into the swing of it now. First on the hit list for this update is the shooter rod. It’s in dire need of a clean as the rod sticks when pulled back, preventing it from returning to it’s normal position and applying any force to the ball. I’m keen to reuse as many of the parts as possible after servicing it since I’m not performing a restore. It doesn’t have to look “as new” since the cabinet is not being repainted – I’ll be happy with it cleaned and operating correctly.
First task on the to do list after my last update was test the carry switches on all score reels for each player. Previously, I tested that the score reels all advanced when the 10, 100 and 1000 point relays were manually triggered. These work and the score reels advance. This testing was done in game over / attract mode, so only the 1000 point carry switch could be tested. I now wanted to expand my testing to check the carry switch on the 10’s and 100’s too. These can only be tested with a game started. I finished the last update with the machine successfully running a game – so I’m was ready to begin.
During my initial inspection of the machine in the first update, I had noted down a few things to look at before I attempted powering it on for the first time. This update will focus on these items. First on my list is the fuse panel. Located just inside the coin door, there is a small panel which is home to 4 fuses. My understanding is that the fuse clips on Bally EM’s are crap and a common source of problems as they often break. One of the fuse holders has already been replaced, with the new fuse holder being installed over the old one. The fuse holder on the far right (8A line fuse) is missing one of the clip arms, so this will have to be replaced.
