Yikes that's terrible! Yeah the games at whacky wings aren't that bad, just incredibly dirty at this point. I assume the "technicians" are basically just people that know how to turn the games on and off. Pretty bad if they powered the game back up knowing full well it wasn't playable.
The Pinball Diaries (what did you do today?)
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Chris Bardon
Well-Known Member
You'd think they'd at least take the glass off and take the loose hulk arm out of there and stick it in the cabinet or something...
There's a reason we haven't had a TOPL night at Playdium in years.
There's a reason we haven't had a TOPL night at Playdium in years.
Despite drilling my hand and treating this annoying poison ivy problem on my leg, I *actually* met my goal of making 25 shooter rods from start to finish within 1 week. I may be able to make a full-time go of this yet! 
Also placed an ad for some freelance sculptors to keep the ball rolling on new designs.
Also placed an ad for some freelance sculptors to keep the ball rolling on new designs.
Chris Bardon
Well-Known Member
Got my SM set up and playing really nicely. Tilt is tight, and PF is pretty steep, so it plays pretty fast, but for some reason shots seem easier to hit than on other SMs I've played. Might just be coincidence though.
Also finally fixed the topper on my whitewater. For months now it's been locked on (not tracking the lights, just on solid), ever since the last repair I did to fix a GI strand. Checked all the bulbs-those are still good. Checked the connectors on the chaser board-those were all solid. Pulled the chaser board to look for damage-looked OK. Just as I was getting ready to see about testing the board in another game, I thought to trace the connector back to the driver board, and found that there was a dangling plug that hadn't been reconnected In my defense, I figured that the one connector on the chaser board would go to one plug on the driver board, so nothing would go on at all if it was missing, but evidently it splits to two places (one to power the lights and one to control the movement). Still a dumb mistake though... On a similar note, I was amazed at how hot those bulbs in there got after just a short time of being on. No wonder these things get cooked. Nice to have the waterfall effect working again though!
Also finally fixed the topper on my whitewater. For months now it's been locked on (not tracking the lights, just on solid), ever since the last repair I did to fix a GI strand. Checked all the bulbs-those are still good. Checked the connectors on the chaser board-those were all solid. Pulled the chaser board to look for damage-looked OK. Just as I was getting ready to see about testing the board in another game, I thought to trace the connector back to the driver board, and found that there was a dangling plug that hadn't been reconnected
In my defense, I figured that the one connector on the chaser board would go to one plug on the driver board, so nothing would go on at all if it was missing, but evidently it splits to two places (one to power the lights and one to control the movement). Still a dumb mistake though... On a similar note, I was amazed at how hot those bulbs in there got after just a short time of being on. No wonder these things get cooked. Nice to have the waterfall effect working again though!
Chris Bardon said:
Congrats on getting my old SM Chris and glad to hear it is playing exactly the way I had it before I sold it to Reg. Just be careful when you lift the playfield and you will notice I put some electrical tape on the metal stops which can make contact with the cabinet sides.
tim.sanderson
Active Member
Chris Bardon
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I knew I'd get it eventually
Did you replace the DMD in it with the LED one, or was the game a reimport? I noticed that it came up configured for Taiwan originally, but that could have just been someone setting the DIP switches by mistake. Didn't have to do much to tweak it though-just level it and take out some of the more obnoxious GI LEDs and replace with incandescents. Strobe effect was way too brutal down by the slings with those things in. I may also have to change some of the flashers-some of those are blindingly bright. The effect of the interactive undercab lighting is pretty neat though, and I never really appreciated the music/audio/lighting in this game. One of the benefits of being able to play in a quiet home environment vs somewhere where everything else is going at once.
Not sure if Reg changed the LEDs in the GI but I had PBL frosted whites in there and whatever LED flashers I had in my stash. In regards to the DMD it is just a $16.00 red cover that I got from pinbits.
http://www.pinbits.com/index.php?main_p ... cts_id=451
The game is definitely not a re-import as Astill bought it brand new in box several years ago from Danny at DC Amusements. I'm not too sure why it says Taiwan but that is the way I got it from Astill and all the call outs and dots were in English so I didn't bother :lol:
http://www.pinbits.com/index.php?main_p ... cts_id=451
The game is definitely not a re-import as Astill bought it brand new in box several years ago from Danny at DC Amusements. I'm not too sure why it says Taiwan but that is the way I got it from Astill and all the call outs and dots were in English so I didn't bother :lol:
Chris Bardon
Well-Known Member
Ah, that would do it then-the red made it look like the LED DMD in X-Men, but the lack of gridlines should have been a dead giveaway. I just thought it was a different manufacturer that had a better process I think it was the frosted whites all through, and they're OK in the stuff that further back, but I got a real bad strobe effect from the slings on it, but that's really down to preference.
Those dip switches to set the country don't seem to do much (at least not much that I can find). I think if you set to certain regions the language in the menus changes-it's probably a case that a couple of them got switched inadvertently. Changed em back to Canada 1 and nothing blew up. Canada 2 probably makes the game french.
I think it was the frosted whites all through, and they're OK in the stuff that further back, but I got a real bad strobe effect from the slings on it, but that's really down to preference. Those dip switches to set the country don't seem to do much (at least not much that I can find). I think if you set to certain regions the language in the menus changes-it's probably a case that a couple of them got switched inadvertently. Changed em back to Canada 1 and nothing blew up. Canada 2 probably makes the game french.
Bigbossfan
Active Member
Nope, never changed a thing on it Mike and Chris, except add the shaker, target decals and undercab lighting. Glad you're enjoying it Chris!
Since there aren't many posts to lurk on today then I will post what I've been doing. Tried to fix a problem on a STTNG... and succeeded . The original diagnosis was that the left gun wasn't able to find the home position. I checked the gun home switch itself and it seemed to be fine, checked the diode and it was good. Decided to break out the schematics and checked every other switch in the column and they all worked. Checked every switch in the row and only two of them worked. I was confused at first because the gun switch was in between the other two switches that worked and there was a bunch before the working switch that didn't work. Turns out all the switches aren't exactly wired in order starting at the end and returning back to the CPU. To make things more confusing someone conveniently replaced a white and purple wire with a white and black wire and in turn made reading the schematics more difficult. In the end it turns out there was a break in the row between the right ramp made switch and the left gun home switch. Tested it out with a long test lead and everything worked again. There is no more satisfying feeling than chasing a problem and finding the cause.
I have also have replaced a bunch of lights with LEDs from comet the last week or so. I'm really happy with the results.
. The original diagnosis was that the left gun wasn't able to find the home position. I checked the gun home switch itself and it seemed to be fine, checked the diode and it was good. Decided to break out the schematics and checked every other switch in the column and they all worked. Checked every switch in the row and only two of them worked. I was confused at first because the gun switch was in between the other two switches that worked and there was a bunch before the working switch that didn't work. Turns out all the switches aren't exactly wired in order starting at the end and returning back to the CPU. To make things more confusing someone conveniently replaced a white and purple wire with a white and black wire and in turn made reading the schematics more difficult. In the end it turns out there was a break in the row between the right ramp made switch and the left gun home switch. Tested it out with a long test lead and everything worked again. There is no more satisfying feeling than chasing a problem and finding the cause. I have also have replaced a bunch of lights with LEDs from comet the last week or so. I'm really happy with the results.
meegis
Well-Known Member
Chris Bardon
Well-Known Member
Installed the 2 missing target decals on SM last night (the sandman ones). Huge pain in the ass to get at these from the top, but significantly easier to just remove the target from the bottom and get it that way. That Back Alley building mod definitely makes it more time consuming to raise/lower the PF though (since they all have to come off before you move it).
Haven't had much time for pinball, but I was on the waiting list for a GI OCD board and just got it. Installed it in the JD and my GI LEDs are much better now. Blackout, capturing a judge, etc. all give a much better light show. I can't believe the difference it makes.
I still need to install my LED OCD board. Not sure which pin I'll stick it in (Tron or IM)
Anyway that's #132 on my "To Do" list.
Anyway that's #132 on my "To Do" list.
