Running Horse Unit

dirty reset bank

The steppers have been cleaned and are ready to be installed. This shows the reel on the back side along with the wiper, barely visible through the spokes of the reel.

wear in front of capture hole

The last dirty stepper is being removed from the frame. The wiring harness has been tagged so I know where to mount the solenoid coils and switches.

mounting the score board

The standoff tubes have been cleaned and remounted. Notice how they are varying lengths allowing the stepper unit to be directly under the horse.

mounting screws

All the clean steppers have been installed. The horse tubes, holding the horse carriage upright along the path, have also been installed.

mounting screws

The wiring harness is draped over the frame, roughly in the correct position. Each stepper has a red and black solenoid and a switch stack.

mounting screws

The running unit is finished except for a couple of details. You can see the reverse side of the horses at the top. All the wiring is in place. Even the strings are on the correct pulleys and are taut.

I have examined the wiring and determined which circuits advance the horses. I am creating a movie that shows the horse movement.

I made one dramatic mistake. I can generally put things back together once I have taken them apart. Unfortunately I unsoldered the two wires leading to the back of the reel. These two indicate the place and finish horses during play. I assumed they just completed a circuit and did not realize they were separate circuits. I know where the two wires go but do not know which goes to which lug on the switch stack! Worse, the schematic has no circuitry for the show lights! I have some pictures that will give me a clue but they are poorly positioned and the color of the fabric on the wiring is difficult to discern. I have not figured out how to fix this problem yet. I am sure I can do it once the game is running but prefer to do it sooner.

I like to turn on a game and have it work first time!

mounting screws

These are the horse carriages. The bushings on top show the wires that hold the horses. You can see the string that moves the carriage and the pulleys that route the string.

mounting screws

The horse above and the carriage below show how the horse moves. Note also the tubes that locate the carriage and the spring on the carriage that keeps the string taut.