Bingo Overhaul
Step 20: Lamps!
magic ring |
| panel insert |
|---|
OK, this next part is tedious. This game has eight lamps on the playfield, two beneath the playfield, and about one hundred on the panel, and you'll want to check them all.
The first step is to replace all the #55 and #44 lamps with #47 lamps. While this is quasi-religious, the theory is that #47's are significantly cooler (and a little dimmer), which will reduce the tendancy to burn the backglass and the playfield plastics. You can also apply some common sense here. If the #55 lamp lights infrequently, or flashes, then it probably doesn't matter much. The general illumination lamps that are always on would have a much bigger impact.
Magic ring is a little unusual in that the score lamps and a couple other feature areas are #1464's (in fact, this is so unusual that Bally put that little red sticker in there saying to replace only with #1464 lamps. #1464's are 21V lamps, so if you put in #47's (6V), they won't last long. The lamps in the bingo cards are usually #1458's or #1464's, and this game is no exception.
The #1464 lamp areas are highlighted. The rest were full of mostly #55's, with a few #47's swapped in. If you are going to swap in #47's, do it now. If the lamp is loose in the socket, see dim/flickering lamps.
So, all you need to do is start a game. You can either pound the buttons to advance features/scores, or cheat and step the units up yourself by pushing in the step-up plunger once, then check the associated lamps. I usually remove all the lamps that don't work, or that work only when wiggled, then with the power off later, you can replace them and/or deal with the sloppy socket.
Access to the lamps in the ring is done by removing a couple screws,
and ring unit opens like a door. Turned out there are
lamps underneath the colored areas on the revolving ring. All were
burned out, missing, or corroded. These lamps are especially
important in the double-or-nothing games, where the lit color is the one
you must make two balls in.
