Help with Magnet Triple Action Crane 6-22998 282R

Check continuity & resistance through the magnet circuit. That should give indication as to the health of the magnet.

Thank you for the suggestion, can you offer some guidance on how to do that? Not something I am familiar with. 

Well, an electromagnet is simply wire wraps in a circle around a core; some steels and iron will work...carbon content is a factor, but you can make one with wire, 9v batt. and a penny nail. So... You have to test the wire coil to see if electricty makes it from one end to the other. If it doesn't, it's bad for sure. If it does connect we have to read how well it connects. This is a continuity test so far...a go/ no go test. An ohm meter can test continuity and then get precise. If there is continuity, there is a path and every path has some resistance to it, the meter can usually see that; in ohms. The ohm reading might give you sn idea if the coil were bad because we can guess how many ohms should be in a foot of wire. If it is fine, the ohms will reflect that. if there is a short 6" in, the resistance will be very low. You can also test the magnet with a quick hotwire to variable for a test that bypasses any board. (and telling you it is a board issue vs a magnet issue. or you could test the cranes magnet plug outlet for voltage. (magnet disconnected) Here's one you may be able to associate with...a speaker is just an electomagnet... 2ohm-16ohm is pretty common. 4-8ohm being most common. Your feeding it how many watts at how many ohms? How loud would that speaker be (pretty loud), and how hard did that magnet need to pull to smack the air that hard? Your magnet is lighter and less efficient but still holds a little kick. (oh, and heat. be careful when playing with electromagnets you dont toast a finger. They get hot. )