Shopping my Bally Harlem Globetrotters - The Molexmaster's Apprentice

[TopJimmyCooks]

As mentioned elsewhere here I picked up a Bally Harlem Globetrotters for $500 in about 90% working condition.  Shortly after setting it up at home the timer circuit crapped out and it started playing very slowly and eventually wouldn't get out of attract mode.  Thanks to help from PinballJim and a new MPU board, it's now working well and I just need to fix some lighting, and then get into some serious cleaning.  It's not a high value machine, so I'm just going to clean and service it rather than getting into a lot of cosmetic work.  Miraculously, this thing is painted white on the inside.  




So far the timer on the mpu was shot and I gave it the old college try, but lost patience and picked up a new board for $200.  I have since ordered a new 555 timer chip to try, hopefully I can get my old MPU working and maybe sell the Alltek replacement on to someone else.  It is a sweet board especially when compared to the old bally boards.

Most of the lights are out, so now that the MPU is up, I'm diving into that - $35 order of chips and SCR's.  

I already got a kit of service parts:  $35 order for new rubber, plunger springs, clean ball, lamps, etc.  Detecting a cash flow pattern here?

Playfield is decent but has a lot of swirl marks from the rusty ball.  I will be going after it with a magic eraser.  The plastic inserts are all very low and the playfield is worn down above each of them, and they change the ball roll direction significantly.  I will be investigating that to see what can be done there.  

I'll be trying to flatten some of the playfield plastics.  

Since my arcade project is in full swing it will be a little slow but I'm looking forward to getting this thing healthy.  Hopefully more playin' and less spending in my future, knock on wood.

[TopJimmyCooks]

They are both recessed and a little concave on top.  Fortunately, no playfield art crosses over onto them like on a lot of machines, so it should be a doable thing.  I'm going to go back and do a bunch of reading before I get into it.  For right now I'm just going to wipe it all down, put a new ball in and play the game with 2/3rds of the lights out for a few weeks. 

It's fun guessing which inserts I've got lit up.   

[TopJimmyCooks]

yeah, I need to get into it. the general illumination on the right side of the playfield and the backbox are the only working lighting right now so it's more than lamps or sockets.  something more systemic, which is why i went ahead and got the $12 set of light board chips and sockets just in case. 

I haven't even begun to troubleshoot it, I just got the alltek board and got it in last night and It wasn't starting a game for some reason so I went to bed.  Woke up with the realization that I might need to add some credits with the brand new MPU.  Needless to say, I was an hour late to work.

[TopJimmyCooks]

Got everything leveled and playfield at about 5 degrees.  Lined up the plunger and metal plunger cover to keep the plunger from hitting it.  Replaced the rusty ball.  Put rubbers on a couple of posts and a bumper that were missing them, allowing the ball to get trapped.  More miscellaneous cleaning/dusting of playfield.  Confirmed all display digits were working (P4 hundred thousands digit was off before and I was scared I would have to replace the display to get it working.  even if intermittent i should be able to replace board components as long as the glass is working) 

Set new high score. 

[TopJimmyCooks]

Flipper question: 
When the two left flippers are actuated, they go their full travel and come back, no matter how lightly I press the button. 

On the right side single flipper, I can lightly flutter the button and the flipper will go back and forth to about half way through it's travel.  a solid press or a press and hold goes to the top and holds at the end of stroke, no problem.  it doesn't seem weak, it seems to hit harder and faster than the left side ones.

Which flipper is working better?  anything I should look into here?

[TopJimmyCooks]

They all hold fine.  Maybe My right hand is better at fluttering than my left. 

Uh, this thread is now closed to further comments . . . . 

[TopJimmyCooks]

[TopJimmyCooks]

That's all that's left, the machine burned to the ground.   

Actually, got a connector kit installed just in time to save the house from impending immolation. 

[Nephasth]

Looked like a job for the "Master of Molex".

[TopJimmyCooks]

Did you see the second pic?  the hole in the housing was big enough that the pin was falling out the side.

besides, Unlike Nep (all kneel at the feet of the Crimpmaster), I don't buy my molex by the train car load, so it was just as cheap to buy the kit as to buy in bulk. 



PBJ**I did reuse the key plug things from the old connectors. 

[Nephasth]

Looks good! And that rail spur cost me a fortune to put in my backyard.

[yotsuya]

I actually admire the molex work you do, Nep. 

[Nephasth]

I just noticed the change of title of this thread. That's some good stuff...

Thanks yotsuya. Would love to see what you're working on. Based on the info you've been gathering, I'm very interested.

[yotsuya]

I may post it, but it's really just fixing up some old gutted cabs. Nothing Pixelhuggy/Ondy about it. 

I DID do a wet vinyl application of my marquee tonight, and damned if it didn't work perfectly! I'm excited.