Technical issues...
Here's Bret (or at least his hands) from Puget Sound Amusements
soldering on a new score display unit to the display board. He hooked it up and it worked like new. This method is much cheaper than buying a new LED display and it retains more of the classic feel of the game without having to make a significant change to the display appearance. With his desoldering thingy he also replaced a worn connector on the power distributing board.
Later that evening I pulled apart the plunger assembly. It's held on by a C clip that holds the partially compressed spring in place. I replaced the white sleeve that goes in between the plunger rod and its housing and installed new springs. It now has the power it should. This job is difficult to do with just two hands because of the pressure on the C clip. It has to be pulled back and secured first with tight locking wrench.
The next step was to rebuild the weak left flipper to make the game playable again. It takes some time, but it just comes down to a step by step process. I replaced the flipper coil as well (the big blue thing). The big problem with this flipper was the mechanism and the end-of-stroke switch (a leaf switch shown left) which had burned out. This switch cuts off the power to the flipper after it reaches the upright position during play. If it wasn't there, the coil would burn out quickly. Connected to the switch is some thing that I forgot the name of. But it reduces the spark from the release of the switch (and would seem to cut electricity use down too). I think it's newer technology that was not originally used on this machine.
The job finished after assembly and switch adjustment.
Bad plugs can do a number of really bad things to your machine. They can use more electricity, cause shorts that can damage boards, and not work at all, besides looking like a bad toothache. I replaced two plugs that are responsible for the GI (general illumination). These are the lights for the playfield and backglass that stay on. They are not part of the scoring or effects but without them the playfield and glass can be rather dark and dull. On this machine some didn't work at all and others came on when they felt like it.
Replacing these plugs and possibly the male end connector is a great way to renew that appeal that the machine had when it came out of the box. To replace the header connector you need to know something about board repair including removal and reinstall. But it's only needed if you see that the header plastic is either broken or otherwise cracked and falling apart.
However these wire connectors take very little technical skill. In the picture above, the red one and the far right verticle one are the GI connectors I replaced. I wanted to get it perfect the first time so I did one wire at a time and transferred it to the new connector. Be sure to snip the wires as close as you can to the old connector to make sure there will be enough wire left over for the new connector to be able to reach the board. There are two types you can use. The ones shown here are sip sockets. They require you to push the end of the wire in sideways into the top of the socket and let the metal piece of the socket pinch through the wire covering, making the connection. The other method is a molex connector not shown. They require you to strip the ends of the wire and crimp them into a pin, which is then inserted into the end of the molex. Many collectors believe that the molex is the better one.
Solid state pinball collectors ussually agree that taking care of onboard batteries is a priority. Most solid state games use 3 AA batteries to maintain the machine's programming and keep a record of high scores. New games manufactured by Stern use a form of computer flash memory that doesn't need batteries. Some solid state games use either a rechargable or long life soldered on specialty battery.
The 4 AA's are located in a battery holder mounted directly on the MPU board. This can have some definite disadvantages, but can easily be fixed. What happens to batteries when they go dead? After a while they often leak battery acid. This destroys computer boards often leading to a non working machine and an expensive repair. Some would say that if you change the batteries every few years there is nothing to worry about. I wouldn't put that much faith in it. Older computer boards can cost hundreds to fix or replace, if they are even available. I wouldn't stake the future of my machine on if's and maybe's, especially since the solution costs less than $5.
In the picture right is the complete works. Please read Lou's page on creating and installing one of these if you have the standard configuration. Also read the rest of this if your board battery holder has been modified and does not look like the one on Lou's page.
Most installations will work with Lou's setup. However you might run into a unique configuration of the battery holder. Most holders place the batteries verticle. With this machine they are horizontal after a repair job, and require different placement of the dowels
Also most on board holders are metal and fit the dowels perfectly. If it is plastic like this one they will need to be taped in place. Also you must pay very close attention to the way the polarity is set up (one battery slot will be empty when your done). Compare this custom job to the one on Lou's page. Bear in mind that yours may be different than either one of these. But there is probably a 99% chance it is standard and you can go by Lou's method. If still have trouble, Lou is the best person to ask. He figured out how to set up my custom job.
Notice in the picture above that the batteries are now located on the base of the backbox at the lower right and the holder is held on by screws to the wood. The wires by polarity connect to the dowels on the on board original holder. Now if the batteries leak they won't cause any damage to computer components.
