After working for months on free play, pressing Start no longer starts a game and the display asks for a coin, although the machine works normally in test mode. The battery holder was found loose and no batteries or NVRAM were fitted.

Game won't start a game after battery trouble: free play setting was lost

Cause: With no battery backup the game had lost its settings and gone back to factory defaults, which turned free play off.

Checks

• Check whether the display shows a credit or coin message.
• Add a credit with the coin switch: if a game then starts, it is a settings problem, not a trough problem.

Fix

• Set free play again in the adjustment menu (on this game it is one of the higher-numbered adjustments, past the first standard set).
• Fit fresh batteries in a secure holder, or an NVRAM, so settings are kept; the holder can be tied to the board through its mounting holes.

Games

• Hook

Related tips

• Free play is in the expanded adjustments
• Test a loose 128 x 16 display glass

Source: Pinball Repair help group!! (Facebook group)