Strange Science project...going to need a helping hand.

[SUPERBEE]

Hey guys,
Just became the proud babysitter of a Strange Science. This machine has some history.. My friend Andrew purchased this pin from Drano if i recall and im sure that Doug has probably had his hands on it at one point or another..(could be wrong though) and will probably be in my hands for at least a year or two until Andrew is in a position to take it back. . The goal here is not to fully restore, but i just make it a really nice players machine for him, (at least this is the plan so far) . My limited knowledge is with Williams and i am honestly finding that these 8603 Ballys are pretty much french to me . Going to need your help and guidance along the way (Doug...are you listening ? lol ) to help me make this a nice machine for him. He has been through a lot of trying times so i want to help . And so it begins.......

 

[eh97ac]

These just came out. Freeplay does great work
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/freeplay40-ramps/page/21#post-3532668

 

[stiffler4444]

If your friend decides he'd rather have something else within that year, let me know. Looking for a Strange Science.....not in a rush though.

 

[Menace]

Terry, whenever you have questions or need a hand you have my number and I'd be glad to help. (and my hands have been ON that machine but not IN it!)

D

 

[SUPERBEE]

These just came out. Freeplay does great work
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/freeplay40-ramps/page/21#post-3532668

Yeah i saw them. Not sure about new ramps at this point but you never know.

If your friend decides he'd rather have something else within that year, let me know. Looking for a Strange Science.....not in a rush though.

Im pretty sure its a keeper for him but ill let you know if that changes down the road.

Terry, whenever you have questions or need a hand you have my number and I'd be glad to help. (and my hands have been ON that machine but not IN it!)

Thanks Doug, I do appreciate it.

 

[SUPERBEE]

Issue number 1.. Ive been told that the center light socket in the head to illuminate the backglass doesnt work. Need to look into it but im not sure what bulb to use for this. Any ideas ?


Also, needs a full flipper rebuild. Does anyone know where i can get a full rebuild kit ? Marco seems to only have the two flipper kit but strange science has 3 flippers. I guess i could buy all the parts seperately but would be much easier to buy as a kit. Does anyone know if Doug would have the kits at Starburst ? I think ill give him a shout tomorrow.

 

[Menace]

Any household bulb will work in that holder Terry. I would suggest an LED version from Home Depot to save on heat.

One of the first things you should do is pull the lower PCB in the head with all the connectors on it, and reflow all the connectors. That PCB is notorious for bad /cold solder joints and can cause all sorts of weird behavior.

D

 

[SUPERBEE]

Which board ? the main board in the upper right ?

 

[Menace]

No, lower right with all the fuses.

D

 

[DRANO]

I always remove the backbox bulbs from my 6803 games. It was a bad design and they create a really bad reflection that shows up a LOT on the playfield glass and makes a lot of these games almost unplayable. When I bought that machine I was just happy to see there was no bulb and left it alone So the socket itself is bad? I would first look for a busted wire. I think that connection may even be socketed... not sure.

What else do you plan to do to the machine? From what I recall it was in really nice shape to begin with and working 100% (well, aside from that bulb apparently). The ramps were a bit cloudy but in decent shape if I recall, The blue 'Anti-Gravity' reverse ramp had typical damage but I think I included the cliffy protector that also hides the damage. It was a nice machine... I even upgraded to blue LED score displays.
Looking back at my photos now. Even the cab was way above average for a 6803. Maybe a couple of scratches.

I'm sure it'll be the nicest example in these parts and I was happy that Andrew found this pin. He seemed to really have a connection to it.
Good luck with the machine and I'm sure you'll be able to get whatever help you need here.

Enjoy!

Here are some of my original pics of the SS

 

[SUPERBEE]

Is this the way the keypads came ?
View attachment 7924

 

[SUPERBEE]

 

[SUPERBEE]

No, lower right with all the fuses.

Thanks Doug, I will check it out. Maybe start with checking for bad wires on the socket also.

 

[SUPERBEE]

Hey Drano, yeah, its in overall pretty good shape. The flippers need rebuilding but not too bad. There are some strange wire hacks under the playfield though. Work for another day Cliffy protector is there which is a good thing as the plastic is cracked in that spot . There are new ramps being produced by a guy on Pinside but they are not cheap. It must have spent time around a lot of smoking though as everything is pretty yellowed. Im sure it spent many a day in a smoke filled arcade or bowling ally back in its day and yes, this game is pretty special to Andrew. He speaks highly of you.

 

[SUPERBEE]

So, i have been busy fixing a few wiring hacks but a few still left that i will be reaching out to Doug on but a couple of issues atm. One is that the slings are not kicking. The switches are working and count points when activated but no kick on either side. The slings do kick during the solenoid test . Any ideas on where too look ?

 

[Menace]

Hmmm... I'd have to look this up, as I'm not sure if 6803 had any "special solenoids" like other systems or not.

D

 

[DRANO]

Hey Drano, yeah, its in overall pretty good shape. The flippers need rebuilding but not too bad. There are some strange wire hacks under the playfield though. Work for another day Cliffy protector is there which is a good thing as the plastic is cracked in that spot . There are new ramps being produced by a guy on Pinside but they are not cheap. It must have spent time around a lot of smoking though as everything is pretty yellowed. Im sure it spent many a day in a smoke filled arcade or bowling ally back in its day and yes, this game is pretty special to Andrew. He speaks highly of you.

Yes, there was some "extra" wiring under that playfield. As far as I could figure out, it looked like someone wanted to run some extra GI to a few places so that tapped in and added some bulbs. It's been a while so I don't recall what I did, but I thought I removed the extra sockets but may have left the wiring.... can;t recall for sure. Either way it didn't effect the game.

The slings are an option if you can believe that!
I'm guessing the settings have been cleared since I sold it to Andrew. You will need to tell the game you want slings in the settings.
Weird, I know

 

[Menace]

LOL, forgot about that setting... Music is a setting too! I wonder if some of the GTB Sys80 engineers went to go work for Bally?

D

 

[SUPERBEE]

Well what do you know ! Slings are now working. It was just a setting. Wow, that is just plain weird if you ask me ! lol Maybe they should have also put in a setting to disable the pop bumpers too. Hey, why not disable the flippers while your at it! Would make for a pretty exciting game no ? Thanks Drano, i would have never in a million years thought it was a setting.

 

[DRANO]

No worries. And Doug is correct. If the game has cycled back to factory settings, you may want to select the music option that plays all sounds.
It's amazing that they would make these things options yet, if you get a high score and enter your initials, they don't actually get saved or displayed ever again

As for the wiring, now that I think about it, I think there was a wire bypassed on one of the flippers. It's hard to remember and so many games have come and gone... But if you go to the manual and you find some notes in French, they basically say "busted wire bypassed". Again, not sure if it was SS but I think it was. I think I showed it to Andrew as well and told him to leave it alone. Looks like there was an internal break so they just ran a new wire.
Hope that helps.