Arcade Collecting > Pinball
OG Play pinball because you are a boy
bobbyb13:
The stupidity continues-
Chapter 3
So I get the thing home and already I know that even though Guy had treated the thing for termites and there weren't any still chewing away at it that thing has suffered.
The bottom of the cabinet where the bottom dado was cut in was tearing off, the backbox support pieces were like paper mache' in spots, and there was enough termite crap that had spilled back into the coffin in transit that I knew the wood in a bunch of places was in pretty bad shape.
Well, ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---, it's only a box, right? Has to be easier than a video game cabinet, no?
Sure, the magenta color is completely burned out of the cabinet art, but at least I have an original to work from.
Turns out, there are a number of interesting details to a pinball machine cabinet, epecially if you are going to re-engineer it slightly so that you don't have to buy a few really expensive router bits (and maybe you are a little impatient too.)
A little glue and head scratching later and...
But of course if I am going through all of THIS trouble then I can't just leave that nasty playfield (which it turns out has had a bunch of termite damage also) in a NEW cabinet, can I?!
And, the slippery slope steepens.
pbj:
Theme is a no-go for me, but I’m here to hold your hand and look into your eyes while you ---fudgesicle--- your wallet.
How do the boards look? As you’re obviously learning, literally everything for that machine has been reproduced.
I’ll check, I may have some plasma displays laying around. If I recall correctly, though, the logic on the displays is driven by 5V on each display PCB and you can solder in LEDs and just leave the high voltage disconnected. (On Williams, all the logic is on the master display board and only high voltage runs out to the displays, so you can’t mix and match those)
Or just buy these…
https://www.wolffpactech.com/6-digit-display-kits
I don’t even bother trying to repair old boards and displays anymore. But you’re crazier so I’m here for it.
bobbyb13:
Thanks for chiming in!
The newer Playboy ones are definitely a no-go for me but this one is SO cheesy that it still works, and when Nikki found it funny too I thought screw it.
I figured this could be a skill building exercise I would just sell but surprisingly I like the game play.
Not sure how it stacks up with others from 1978 but the sound, light, mechanics, and scoring are all fun enough to me anyway- certainly for something this vintage.
Even more fun to play with a group of mildly intoxicated people.
As far as the state of the machine goes I have to accept that I enjoy the self-flagellation of something currently beyond my scope.
The last guy had spent all the cheddar to get a few new boards to make (nearly everything) work but didn't know to follow through with replacing the connectors and headers where needed- so that will sort out the remainder of what was flaky.
Even those crazy plasma displays seem to all work- for now anyway.
I need to have a look at those wolf displays again anyway though.
The box and playfield were termite farms for a while as it is so to hell with purist delusions.
The ass-pounding my wallet will suffer is almost entirely in the repro playfield and stenciling the new cabinet I'm nearly done with.
New fasteners are cheap and the effort to strip off, clean, and polish all this other crap to swap over will be fleeting moments of zen for me.
Although I really do want to replace the old bulbs with leds that are the proper color tone of an old incandescent.
Any suggestions on who to give my money to for those pbj?
I have read that I need something to increase load so that they fire completely and don't flicker.
In the meantime I'm expanding on some miter saw stand turned rotisserie examples I have seen to make a pair to use for this and the EBD.
If I can get the freakin picture nazi software to accept something again I'll keep this fiasco more visible.
pbj:
Well, if he's replaced the MPU and driver board, you may not need to do this, but I recall Bally games require a resistor across each LED to prevent flickering. I think some of the repro boards fix this problem.
I use "warm white" LEDs from a seller called Gearius on Ali Express (which look suspiciously like those sold by a US seller under a different name and more expensive). I held out a long, long time but I finally switched all my games over. Reduces strain on the boards and wiring. They don't get hot so you don't have to worry about them burning up plastics. For awhile I had Firepower next to Alien Poker, one with LEDs and the other with incandescents. I couldn't tell the difference. When people first started switching over 20 years ago, the LEDs looked terrible.
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803150389968.html
:cheers:
bobbyb13:
Geez am I getting old.
Forgot you had mentioned those bulbs previously :o
Just ordered a bunch for this and the Eight Ball Deluxe while I was at it.
I need to decide if I'm soldering 100 resistors or buying an Alltek lamp driver board for this as there is still an original in this machine.
--- Quote from: pbj on September 19, 2024, 09:41:35 am ---Well, if he's replaced the MPU and driver board, you may not need to do this, but I recall Bally games require a resistor across each LED to prevent flickering. I think some of the repro boards fix this problem.
I use "warm white" LEDs from a seller called Gearius on Ali Express (which look suspiciously like those sold by a US seller under a different name and more expensive). I held out a long, long time but I finally switched all my games over. Reduces strain on the boards and wiring. They don't get hot so you don't have to worry about them burning up plastics. For awhile I had Firepower next to Alien Poker, one with LEDs and the other with incandescents. I couldn't tell the difference. When people first started switching over 20 years ago, the LEDs looked terrible.
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803150389968.html
:cheers:
--- End quote ---
I finally (after 4 tries at the saw table last night) succeeded in milling out a new bottom channel piece for the backbox which carries the glass. That seems to be the only part of the backbox that termites destroyed.
Man was that a pain in the ass to get right.
I also got another coat of white enamel on everything, which was easy on the new coffin but getting the layer of nicotine and latex crap that someone rolled onto the backbox off sucked.
I need to go roll out those stencils so they'll be easy to work with since hopefully this coming week I can be spraying that thing.
Maybe one more layer of white rolled and sanded out and then a last coat of white sprayed for flatness and should be ready for color stenciling.
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