Pindude152's Dragon repair log

Restoration/upgrades/fixes/fabrication of pins and vids
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semicolin
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Re: Pindude152's Dragon repair log

Post by semicolin »

So I bought one of these a couple of weeks ago and while it looks stunning, it's got some serious mechanical bugs that need to be worked out to make it playable reliably.

The motor in the head is gummed up badly enough that it doesn't move well from player to player, and this also causes issues on game startup where a game reset can take a minute or two to lock in. The solution is to pull the motor gearbox apart, give it a good scrub, re-lubricate, and re-assemble very, very carefully.

In my daily life I've done plenty of large motor work, but generally on an industrial motor you open the box, drain the oil, flush, and refill. Pinball is a very different beast, obviously. What product would you recommend for cleaning 'grease' out of a box- should I go with a detergent degreaser? And what lubricant should I use on the way out? I want something that won't polymerize, oxidize, or break down for many years, and something lightweight. What is the best product that is designed for this application?

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semicolin
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Re: Pindude152's Dragon repair log

Post by semicolin »

Alright, followed some of the John's Jukes tips. the 125V transformer tap isn't really tapped in the right place on the coil, so they recommend always hi-tapping to the 110V setting. Immediately everything had the right amount of juice, and the test points read the correct voltages.

The player motor is still a little gummier than I'd like, so I'll get in there at some point to clean it out, but for now it settles in after a couple of rotations.

Such a great game.

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puck
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Re: Pindude152's Dragon

Post by puck »

Pindude152 wrote: Sun Mar 22, 2015 6:14 pm Cabinet not ready? BAO-IT!
Introducing... Franken-Dragon.
It's alive!
Best way to troubleshoot :lol: everything is accessible. :beer
This was very helpful. Just wanted to say thanks. Didn't think of this and this post helped me solve some of my Dragon issues!

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