Repair & Maintenance Log
09/16/22: Acquired game. Installed one of my standard-keyed (751) locks on the coin door.
10/03/22: Turned off free play. Of course you don't get to simply "turn off" free play on these old EM games. I had to figure out how the game had been hacked. After 16 years of owning solid state games, this was my first hands-on foray into the world of EM pinball and EM pinball schematics.
The zero position switch on the replay unit appeared to be mechanically sound, properly adjusted and otherwise unmolested. Turns out that someone had selected the one-coin/one-play option for chute #1 and then moved the #1 chute wire from the coin chute switch to the replay button. Thus, the replay button effectively bypassed the zero position switch. None of my research had suggested this particular free play hack.
Schematic representation of the game's free play hack.
I moved the blue wire from the replay button back to the coin chute switch and all was well. I selected two replays per coin drop for each chute.
I believe it's been decades since any coins have passed though this game. The game's previous owner had replaced the coin door (or at least the outside parts), but the inner bracketry and reject chutes were filled with rust and crud. I dissembled and cleaned all that up. The coin acceptors were missing. I added a new pair of Suzo-Happ quarter acceptors and readjusted the old mangled chute switches. And I added a new pair of 25¢ - 2 PLAYS entrance plate labels. I wasn't pedantic enough to reactivate the disconnected lockout coil. I believe much of the linkage is missing.
New acceptors ready for quarters.
New entrance plate labels.
10/13/22: I found a set of no-name reproduction plastics on eBay. Not sure what to make of the color accuracy. They're far more vibrant than any picture I've ever seen of any Sky Jump. On the other hand, they look reasonably close to what's depicted on the game flyer. I decided to give them a try.
An existing plastic compared to a reproduction.
Reproduction colors compared to the game flyer picture.
While I had the plastics off I changed out the rings and lamps and waxed the playfield. The game may have had some sort of silicone ring kit. I installed a new conventional white ring kit. The game had warm white LEDs throughout. I restored the top side of the playfield to incandescent lamps. The inserts looked okay so I left the LEDs under the playfield. I also left the LEDs in the backbox. The game has a reproduction backglass which looked pretty anemic when I tried incandescent bulbs. There's always another lamp socket needing to be soldered shut or replaced.
Done.
10/14/22: Fixed total play meter. The total play meter had been stuck between 86,999 and 87,000. All I did was pull off the cover and manually cycle the mechanism a few times. After that it worked on its own. Maybe it doesn't have enough oomph to turn four reels. Guess I'll have to play another thousand games to find out... Actually, it still doesn't work.
Cover removed.
Working again (not).
10/06/24: Sold game.