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The OFFICIAL "Hey, I got a new machine" thread

Aunt Agnes

Aunt Agnes

Member
Nov 5, 2015
80
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Kitchener, Ontario
Aunt Agnes said:
Picked up a Stern Stars on the weekend and setup today with a new Altek ultimate mpu board but already dealing with a few issues: the flipper buttons are registering points with each press, one of the digits in the lower right display is out, the travel of the right flipper is not going as high as it should.

:(
Click to expand...

Fixed the flipper registering points issue. Just a switch for a spinner that was closed.
 
Menace

Menace

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Nov 14, 2012
2,440
255
83
Santiago de Aurora
The flipper scoring points is one of two things, one being fairly straight forward the other a royal pain in the ass. There is likely a PF switch that is gapped too close and the vibratoins from the flippers flipping are causing this switch to close, adding the points. If you can narrow down the amount of points being added each time you should be able to narrow down what switches to check. Failing that you will have to check each switch on the pf. If you can 100% rule out it's none of the switches causing the points, then it's unfortunately EMF running up the switch wiring and causing havoc on the MPU. (it usually causes random pop bumper firings as well) The best way to confirm it's EMF is to have someone physically hold one of the flipper bats in the "Up" position and then quickly press/flick that flipper button. If you have random scoring happening (or pops firing) at this point it's clearly not mechanical vibration causing the issue.

I had this very issue with a clients Mata Hari and it took me a LOT of time to figure this out, and the only solution was to separate the switch harness from the coil harness all the way from the MPU down as far as I could onto the PF. This requires clipping all of the zip ties and physically separating all of the switch wires away from any coil wires as much as possible, then tie each new bundle up and re-fasten to the backbox and PF. (and the further away from each other the better) As crazy as it sounds this solved the problem, and it's an issue that seems to be more frequent these days as there is a a HUGE thread over on pinside with tons of great information and testing surroudning this problem.

Here's a quick vid showing the issue on the Mata Hari;

Hopfeully it's just a mis-adjusted switch.

D
 
Aunt Agnes

Aunt Agnes

Member
Nov 5, 2015
80
22
8
45
Kitchener, Ontario
Menace said:
The flipper scoring points is one of two things, one being fairly straight forward the other a royal pain in the ass. There is likely a PF switch that is gapped too close and the vibratoins from the flippers flipping are causing this switch to close, adding the points. If you can narrow down the amount of points being added each time you should be able to narrow down what switches to check. Failing that you will have to check each switch on the pf. If you can 100% rule out it's none of the switches causing the points, then it's unfortunately EMF running up the switch wiring and causing havoc on the MPU. (it usually causes random pop bumper firings as well) The best way to confirm it's EMF is to have someone physically hold one of the flipper bats in the "Up" position and then quickly press/flick that flipper button. If you have random scoring happening (or pops firing) at this point it's clearly not mechanical vibration causing the issue.

I had this very issue with a clients Mata Hari and it took me a LOT of time to figure this out, and the only solution was to separate the switch harness from the coil harness all the way from the MPU down as far as I could onto the PF. This requires clipping all of the zip ties and physically separating all of the switch wires away from any coil wires as much as possible, then tie each new bundle up and re-fasten to the backbox and PF. (and the further away from each other the better) As crazy as it sounds this solved the problem, and it's an issue that seems to be more frequent these days as there is a a HUGE thread over on pinside with tons of great information and testing surroudning this problem.

Here's a quick vid showing the issue on the Mata Hari;

Hopfeully it's just a mis-adjusted switch.

D
Click to expand...

Hey Menace,

Thanks for all the great advice, but I had already figured it out. I noticed that it was scoring 200 points so I looked at the spinners and one of them was closed. Readjusting that fixed it. It *was* playing well yesterday, I walked away for a few minutes when the credit/start button decided to not start a game. One thing I did notice on the last one or two games was it was starting a two player game instead of one. Now to figure out what's going on there. *sigh* So if you have any advice for that one.....
 
Aunt Agnes

Aunt Agnes

Member
Nov 5, 2015
80
22
8
45
Kitchener, Ontario
Turned it on again yesterday after it was off for about a day and it worked. Not sure if the problem happened because it was on for "too" long, but I'll test out that theory when I have a chance, but for now it seems to be working.
 
a.stebel

a.stebel

Active Member
Jul 7, 2014
184
46
28
50
Barrie
Sold my Austin Powers and upgraded to X-Men Wolverine. Thanks Luch.
 

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DRANO

DRANO

Super Member
Nov 15, 2012
2,827
519
113
Mississauga
And yet another pickup.
Sell one, buy three... this is not very sustainable.

That being said, I don't think this new game will be here for TOO long. I have a habit of just 'trying' games out for a spell.
Bounty Hunter is super uncommon 'round these parts so I could not pass up the chance to take it for a spin. Loading up the gun and catching Cactus Sam when he randomly pops out of the playfield should be lots of fun... even if it totally unbalances the scoring.
I'm told this is the first 'pinball' to have alphanumerics from a major manufacturer. Hyperball had them but isn't really considered a pin and Wico released AFTOR, so take that with a grain of salt.

Hopefully I'll have it on legs in a day or two. For now, here are a couple of teasers.

20160919_142903.jpg



20160919_142859.jpg
 
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Aunt Agnes

Aunt Agnes

Member
Nov 5, 2015
80
22
8
45
Kitchener, Ontario
DRANO said:
And yet another pickup.
Sell one, buy three... this is not very sustainable.

That being said, I don't think this new game will be here for TOO long. I have a habit of just 'trying' games out for a spell.
Bounty Hunter is super uncommon 'round these parts so I could not pass up the chance to take it for a spin. Loading up the gun and catching Cactus Sam when he randomly pops out of the playfield should be lots of fun... even if it totally unbalances the scoring.
I'm told this is the first 'pinball' to have alphanumerics from a major manufacturer. Hyperball had them but isn't really considered a pin and Wico released AFTOR, so take that with a grain of salt.

Hopefully I'll have it on legs in a day or two. For now, here are a couple of teasers.

View attachment 7074



View attachment 7073
Click to expand...

Nice. Was it this one that you picked up?

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/bounty-hunter-price-check
 
DRANO

DRANO

Super Member
Nov 15, 2012
2,827
519
113
Mississauga
Aunt Agnes said:
Nice. Was it this one that you picked up?

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/bounty-hunter-price-check
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's the one.
I know the pinsider that posted that thread and that he was looking for one... so I reached out to a local collector I knew who had one and tried to put them together.

The owner was willing to sell but, as you see in that thread, my friend wasn't too keen on the asking price. I personally thought it was fair. It's a hard title to come by or quantify in value, the theme is great and the condition was really good.... so I decided to take it for a spin myself after he passed on it.
 
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