What did you do today in the hobby?

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cait001
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Re: What did you do today in the hobby?

Post by cait001 »

Last weekend before the Ottawa show! Good luck, everyone!
backglasses wanted: Star-Jet, Fairy, Star Trek (1971 Gottlieb)
marquees wanted: Roller Aces, Quiz Dragon, Strider, Varkon, Dark Planet, R-Type (w/ship), Quantum, Ninja (Sega)
blog -- collection -- want list -- Pinball Women Ottawa -- Ottawa Pinball Map -- ratings

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Re: What did you do today in the hobby?

Post by Pindude152 »

For me, this week is Pinball Week. I had to take the whole week off work just to be able to attend the show since I was supposed to work on the 19th and the 20th.
Wanted: Bally 20 hole Bingo machine: Orient, London, Safari, Super 7, Bonus 7 or Hawaii.
Bally: Mad World
Williams: Pot 'O' gold, Beat the clock
Rally Play Company of Nice France: Any Flip Tronic(s) era machine produced between 1966 and 1969


"It's heavy. What is it? ... The, uh, stuff dreams are made of"
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I know for you this doesn't look a lot. For me this is the only thing I got"
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Check out my blog at http://pindude152.blogspot.ca/ for quality content about electromechanical amusement
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Fifty
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Re: What did you do today in the hobby?

Post by Fifty »

Pindude152 wrote:For me, this week is Pinball Week. I had to take the whole week off work just to be able to attend the show since I was supposed to work on the 19th and the 20th.
Sweet! I wish I could take the week off for the show!

Was playing WH2O on the weekend... I've been practising some different shots, mainly the bounceback targets. It was then that I noticed there was an actual bounceback insert in the outer left lane. I never noticed it before because it's a bit hidden by the Insanity Falls ramp, but the main reason I never noticed it before was because I had never seen it light up. So I propped up the PF to take a look. The bounceback uses a #555 on a teeny tiny PCB. There was a red LED in there, so I swapped it out with another. No improvement. So I took the bulb housing and plugged it into the Wet Willy's insert to see if the bulb and socket were good. Yep, all good. So I grabbed my DMM and checked the voltages on the PCB. Power was getting to it, so I started thinking maybe the two metal tabs weren't making proper contact with the board. I grabbed a spare bit of wire and jumpered the power directly to the LED. The bulb lit up brightly. It was then I noticed there was a diode on the teeny tiny PCB. I jumpered it using my spare bit of wire and the LED lit up brightly again. Bad diode? I removed the board, then the diode and replaced it with a new one. Soldered everything back up and turned on the pin. Success! I was pretty happy to figure this out so quickly. :D Especially since the old diode had no noticeable signs of failure.

This was the second time in a Williams machine were I had issues with a diode. The first was on F-14 when one of the leads on a diode secured to the left flipper coil had broken off. It caused all sorts of phantom switching. This one took me close to a month to track down. :?

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Re: What did you do today in the hobby?

Post by cdnpinballer »

I decided to tackle the no speech problem I noticed on my Firepower.

I hit up my go-to tech hot spot called RGP or rec.games.pinball. For those of you not in the know about what RGP is - it's a usenet group that has been active since the 90's and is literally a massive treasure trove of tech and pinball discussion that you can search.

People mostly access RGP via a google group interface linked here: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum ... es.pinball although some users use different software platforms like newsreaders to access it.

Anyway, back to my problem re: no speech. It took some digging but my research pointed me towards a small (I mean VERY small) dip switch on the soundboard. Evidently dip switch #2 has to be in the 'on' position to enable speech and for some reason on my game it was in the 'off' position. Such a simple solution to what could have taken hours of digging and messing with boards and connectors. This is why everyone into wrenching on pins needs to be aware of the RGP archive all you can read tech buffet.

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Re: What did you do today in the hobby?

Post by miker_70 »

I started this insanity
IMG_5471.JPG

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cait001
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Re: What did you do today in the hobby?

Post by cait001 »

miker_70 wrote:I started this insanity
IMG_5471.JPG
Woah, good luck! I think that was the one I owned before.
I miss that game, it was really a tonne of fun.
backglasses wanted: Star-Jet, Fairy, Star Trek (1971 Gottlieb)
marquees wanted: Roller Aces, Quiz Dragon, Strider, Varkon, Dark Planet, R-Type (w/ship), Quantum, Ninja (Sega)
blog -- collection -- want list -- Pinball Women Ottawa -- Ottawa Pinball Map -- ratings

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Re: What did you do today in the hobby?

Post by Honey Badger »

Picked up a 4th pin in as many days :FP:
WTB: Cyclopes, Split Second, Flight 2000, Warlok, BMX, Alien Star, Stern Iron Maiden SS, Vampire, Superman

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Re: What did you do today in the hobby?

Post by cdnpinballer »

Last night I Installed my Fathom topper (this had been on my to do list for at least 3 years).

Worked on my WCS94 that is going to the show for free play... Replaced a couple non working insert bulbs and fabricated/installed a small plastic piece near the goalie to permanently fix ball hang ups created by a broken plastic. I didn't want to install the complete new plastic set I have to fix this problem so instead I went the operator improvisation route. The game also has an upper playfield GI issue which I think is a bad Triac and/or pre-drive transistor but it should be fine for the show and I hope to put colour matched LED's in the inserts this weekend while at the show to brighten things up a bit.

Then did some work on my Firepower that is also going to the show. Adjusted EOS gaps and realized that two of the EOS switch stack screw holes on one of the flipper base plates was completely stripped so another operator improvisation technique was deployed. :FP: Anyways, she will get a fresh wax and rub tonight and will play experts only fast for the weekend. It will be for sale or trade and have a beautiful new Mayfair Backglass installed with frosted LED's behind.

EBD is also coming to the show to be let loose on the street......out of the garage for a while...

Tonight I am moving / folding the pins and packing up some items for my small flea market table that will be setup at the show.....

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Re: What did you do today in the hobby?

Post by Fifty »

Williams Fan wrote:Picked up a 4th pin in as many days :FP:
Sparky wrote:I got a pin too... :FP:

An SS Bally Mata Hari for 100$... I would have been stupid to say no. Backglass alone is worth twice that... and it is in amazing shape. Bought by owner in 1984, played occasionally, and hasn't worked since 1989... been stored in the basement since. Should make for an interesting story. The guy wanted it out. Started seeing it as a boat anchor.
Man, if I had a spare wish it would be to hang out with one of you guys for a day. A day in the life of Jason or Sparky where random pin purchasing just occurs. Awesome. :D

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Re: What did you do today in the hobby?

Post by redketchup »

Last night i put a Pinitech ram adapter in my Iron Maiden, and I'm really please with it... My iron maiden doesn't like the memeory cap and I don't want a battery remote.

http://www.pinitech.com/products/stern_mpu200_ram.php
Bally Centaur, Fathom, Stern Big Game, Flight 2000, Quicksilver, Catacomb, Stargazer, Nineball, Metallica Pro, Iron Maiden Pro, Wurlitzer 41, 700, 750e, 1100, 1900, 1700, Rockola 1428, tempo 1, seeburg HF 100R, VL 200, Ami I
To see it: http://www.pinballowners.com/redketchup

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Re: What did you do today in the hobby?

Post by sylvain »

Gorgar Speaks!

Ha, that game is much happier and reliable now after:
- replaced the 40-pin MPU-Driver interconnect;
- gently sanded the pins of most EPROMs (game used to freeze upon vibrations earlier, sometimes locking coils & blowing the 2.5A SB Solenoid fuse);
- eight new 27ohms 5W resistors installed on the driver board (old resistors are under-rated and always burned);
- new battery pack;
- etc.

Fun and simple game, great sounds.

Cheers,
- Sylvain.
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Looking for Bally Star-Jet, The Wiggler, Williams Magic City, Grand Lizard, Swords of Fury, 1986 Pinstar Gamatron, and a few others.
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Serious and fun hobby, powerful nostalgia !

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Re: What did you do today in the hobby?

Post by cait001 »

Today in tearing down a playfield...
IMG_20150922_233606.jpg
backglasses wanted: Star-Jet, Fairy, Star Trek (1971 Gottlieb)
marquees wanted: Roller Aces, Quiz Dragon, Strider, Varkon, Dark Planet, R-Type (w/ship), Quantum, Ninja (Sega)
blog -- collection -- want list -- Pinball Women Ottawa -- Ottawa Pinball Map -- ratings

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Re: What did you do today in the hobby?

Post by QN »

you have to admit, finishing nails ARE cheaper than the right sized rubbers....just sayin'

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Re: What did you do today in the hobby?

Post by Fifty »

cait001 wrote:Today in tearing down a playfield...
IMG_20150922_233606.jpg
That is AWESOME. :lol:

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Re: What did you do today in the hobby?

Post by Mobstar »

Today I tore down my mame cabinet to give it a nice facelift.

Going to get some vinyl side art and an actual bezel with glass.

Now I just wish someone could give me a copy of their Hyperspin setup to have something better to show off!
Sega - Gigas "Cocktail"
Mame - 2 Player cabinet.

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Re: What did you do today in the hobby?

Post by monty »

rolled my first EM! Gottlieb Surf Champ. just got into playing EMs the past few months and i'm absolutely hooked. previously the closest i had been to rolling one was a Williams Jubilee in Allentown (99,300).

now to roll one twice in the same game.

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Re: What did you do today in the hobby?

Post by novaguy »

cait001 wrote:Today in tearing down a playfield...
IMG_20150922_233606.jpg
Love the rubber job that someone did.Central Park is the one game I have that I'd never sell.

Ted

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Re: What did you do today in the hobby?

Post by OTTOgd »

One leg wire-wheeled clean and painted, 3 to go.
100_2383.JPG
Also working on prettying up the coin door.
100_2380.JPG
100_2384.JPG

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Re: What did you do today in the hobby?

Post by Delroy666 »

I got my Trident pin working again. It stopped booting up the week before last and I just now got around to looking at it. The LED on the MPU board would flash twice, which indicates a problem with the 5101 SRAM chip at U8. I replaced the chip, but that didn't help. Pulled the board out and poked around the 5101 with the logic probe. All pins were toggling nicely except pin 19, which is the enable signal - it was stuck high, so this chip was never getting enabled. Traced that back to pin 8 of a 74LS00 NAND at U17. I put a working 74LS00 in the logic comparator, clipped the comparator onto U17 and powered up the board. Sure enough, the LED for pin 8 flashed. (which means the output of the suspect IC on the PCB is different than the output of the known-good IC in the comparator with the same input signals) Popped in a new 74LS00 and it got through the full boot sequence. Yay! I really like this pin and I play it pretty much every day, so it was making me grumpy having it out of commission.
Have: Vids: Joust, Robotron, Dig Dug, Centipede, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong Junior, Missile Command CT, Galaga, Scramble, Crystal Castles, Double Dragon, Race Drivin', Bad Dudes; Pins: Comet, Firepower, Trident, Magic, Alien Poker
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Re: What did you do today in the hobby?

Post by sylvain »

Good work Delroy666!

Note that on these Bally/Stern MPU boards, corrosion (open trace(s) or bad socket on/around the 5101) is often he cause of
MPU with two flashes/not booting, in addition to sometimes a bad 5101 chip itself.
Looking for Bally Star-Jet, The Wiggler, Williams Magic City, Grand Lizard, Swords of Fury, 1986 Pinstar Gamatron, and a few others.
Collecting & repairing electro-mechanical and solid state pinball machines with quality and care for 40+ years already.
Serious and fun hobby, powerful nostalgia !

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Re: What did you do today in the hobby?

Post by R.A.B. »

Not much done as far as the hobby is concerned since the OPGS, laying low and licking my wounds. Feeling much better now.

Pow Wow shaping up for this Friday. That should be something to post about in this thread, since it is hobby related, sort of. :?
http://www.montrealpinball.com
https://amusement.evolvo.com/

Bally 1936 "Bumper" - North Star 1949 "Sea Breeze" - North Star 1950 "Richelieu" - Universal 1950 "Feature Bell" - Gottlieb 1952 "Queen of Hearts" - Williams 1960 "Ten Spot" - Gottlieb 1971 "Challenger" - Williams 1973 "OXO" - Bally 1976 "Bonanza"

Maxed out at 10 machines, no more. Un max de 10 machines, pas plus.
Une règle suivi guéri de tout. A rule respected can cure anything.

A philosophy of doing shall rule until the days when I can no longer "do" arrive. Because when I am too old to adjust an AX relay or relieve a woman friend from sighing, there will only be memories to fill my time. So, the task at hand is to build that RRSP of memories in order to joyfully cushion the later stages of life.

Personally prefer the exceptional qualities lurking beneath any normal state of affairs. Alas, our day to day is being promoted as extraordinary via a world wide web largely fueled by the new dumb & followed closely by the latest breed of unscrupulous scoundrels & judas goats. So, god bless the fool hearted, the crazed, and the railroaded all in good measure for they will likely inherit what is left of the earth after the screwheads are done with it. God damn darwinian primates, why do they refuse to evolve, even after all we should have learned from being dumb savages for so long.

"I try my best to be just like I am, but everybody wants you, to be just like them. " - Zimmy

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Re: What did you do today in the hobby?

Post by cdnpinballer »

Bought a pin.

Sent a pin out on location.

Polished up a turd with my new ultrasonic cleaner and some parts I got at the Ottawa Show from Starburst.

Put a big score on my buddy's BSD loaner.

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Re: What did you do today in the hobby?

Post by monty »

cdnpinballer wrote: Sent a pin out on location.
cool! what pin and where's the location?

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Re: What did you do today in the hobby?

Post by cdnpinballer »

My Firepower went to vacation for the winter in my Cousin's mancave instead of being in my garage where my wife parks her vehicle :FP: .

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monty
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Re: What did you do today in the hobby?

Post by monty »

cdnpinballer wrote:My Firepower went to vacation for the winter in my Cousin's mancave instead of being in my garage where my wife parks her vehicle :FP: .
LOL :mrgreen:

was excited - always looking for new pins on location in the city. we could really use one here in the downtown core!

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