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I have a Bally 742 or I think it is a 742 but there is no model/serial plate on the right side of the machine.

I am having a problem with the 1st and 2nd reel not spinning.

I read many of the posts here and especiall oldreno's how-to's.

It seems if I pull very soft on the handle I can get reel two to rotate but not the first.

I also have The Complete Service Manual but couldn't find anything in there.

Can someone point me in the right direction? I pulled the reel mech out and did some oiling but it didn't help.

Is there a way to get the year of this machine without the MFG plate?

Thanks!

It looks to me that when the first reel does not spin, the Index Lever Arm (on the Wiper Plate Assembly) immediately locks onto the Index Reel as soon as the reels are suppose to spin.

After single drop oiling all the moving parts in the Reel Mechanism Assembly - Center, the first reel still will not spin unless the handle is pulled at the very lightest pull.

I did find that the Drive Lever Assembly in the first reel to be somewhat sticky but oil has free'd that up. I found the Drive Lever sticky while the Trip Lever was wound up on the Latch Lever on the right side of the Reel Mech.

So now I am trying to figure out why the Index Lever Arm does not stay open long enough to let the reel spin.

has this problem been getting worse or did it just happen?
just wondering if the machine is not  kicking off correctly

I just got the machine from my dad who has had it for about 15 years. It worked perfect until a few years ago. It sat on  the same stand for all those years and he said he oiled the machine but I don't think he ever removed the reel mech. He said he had the neighbor kids play with it and it may have started acting up on hard pulls.

Only a soft handle pull will spin the first reel. Anything harder and the Index Lever Arm immediately locks the reel.

I just got the machine last week.

I'm now looking at a manual at the Right Side Reel Trip and Spin Adjustments but I am not comfortable adjusting anything yet.

I have mostly been focusing on the center of the reel mech (cleaning/oiling) and am wondering if it has to do something with the outer right side of the reel mech.

Thanks for the reply.

Make sure the machine is WARM.  A cold machine won't work well until it warms up for some time.
You can pull the reel mech out and manually kick it off by pushing back (fairly hard) on your pump arm and see if the reels spin correctly out of the machine.
I suspect you need an adjust on the length of kick.
You can do this 2 ways.
Find the long threaded rod attached to the pump arm and your front half-gear.  The one with the large spring around it, and two 1/2' nuts which keep it in place at the back.
By moving these two nuts forward or backward a couple of turns you can adjust the kick length.  My mind is fuzzy this morning, and I don't remember which shortens or lengthens the kick...sorry.  Try loosening the back nut 2 turns, and then snug it up by chasing it with the front nut until it's snug.  Remember how many turns you put on each try.  That should either make it better or worse.  If worse, then do the same thing the other way an equal number of turns from your original starting point.
You can also adjust the L trip bracket (don't know its right name, don't have parts manual in front of me), by moving it forward or backward a little bit.  When working on the floor, I would sometimes bend it with my pliers either forward or back to get it to kick right, but this was under adverse conditions, with 10 more machines to fix and customers waiting.  The right way is loosen the bolts and move it that way, and I am deeply ashamed at having used pliers....
You can also pull out your 3 reels and watch the linkages work as you pull the handle.  The wipers should fall all the way back and latch until they kick and the fan running down releases them.
Anyway, that should give you somewhere to start....

OldReno, thank you very much for the write up and direction.

My machine is spinning fine now.

I spent all morning yesterday going through the reel mechanism again and re-cleaning / re-oiling everything in the center portion. One place I did not oil initially was the Timer Latch Link Assembly. Also the Drive Lever Assembly for reel 1 was not moving as smooth as the other reels. I spent extra time cleaning and oiling every pivot point. So again going through every location where something moves. Clean, then Oil and then work the oil into the joint.

I also worked on the left side of the reel mech oiling the Clock Unit and everything that moves with off of that unit. Again Cleaning and Oiling and working it in.

I put everything back together and all three reels were spinning on normal pulls.

I left the machine on for a few hours and the spins were fine. Even on hard pulls I would get a good kick, good spin and good timing on the Index Lever/Wiper. We played for a few hours on this and a 809 that I recieved.

Since my basement is set for 57 degrees I was anxious to see what would happen this morning upon power up.

The reels spin normal. So I am lucky that this wasn't a difficult issue to resolve. I hope it stays resolved.

It was a little intimidating at first going inside the machine but I am a lot more comfortable inside there now. THe online documentation helps and OldReno's expansive responses to peoples inquiries makes things easier to understand.

Finally, I am told this is a 1964 Money Honey however there is no model/serial plate on the right side of the machine. I also could not find any labeling anywhere inside regarding model/serial/date? Is there anyway to tell exactly what year this is? I assume the model number is 742a.

Thanks.