Alien Poker: done!

Well let's see, all the flippers are rebuild, entire new brackets installed to replace the 2 cracked coilstops, and oh how it plays!

Well, there was one issue:  with the new resistors in place, I noticed that one was exceedingly hot!  Gah touched it by accident.
It was so bad that I could turn the game on, and after 2 minutes of attract mode I could turn the game off, moisten a q-tip, and touching the resistor would cause a SIZZLE.


Based on this note at pinwiki, all signs pointed to the ICs sitting just above the resistor column.
They will always be warm, but what had happened previously was that one resistor had gotten SO HOT that it had desoldered itself.  Yeesh

Now with the ICs socketed and replaced, the heat levels are nominal.
All good, and ready to go.  Time to get some more games in before Alien Poker leaves me on Tuesday!
(OH WHAT COULD BE COMING???)

Alien Poker: lots of work!

We are knocking things off the list on Alien Poker.
I had some help today, and the assistance was much appreciated in fixing a problem I only recently started focusing on:  The left sling (the only sling in this game) was on for some games, but off for others.  Most likely a cracked solder joint or loose connector somewhere.
We took the board out and reflowed solder around the connectors and the "special solenoids" chips, and that took care of the issue.
Also put in the replacement resistors, and now all the lights are on and wonderful.

BTW, you can get amazing schematics for System 6 machines at FirePower Pinball, in their Tech Support section.  All schematics can be readily downloaded.


New drop target decals added.

hullo handsomes

All of the rubbers have been changed. (well, still need a 2" one...)

The left pop bumper's light wasn't working.  Want to know why?

oh wait that not's quite proper.

Installed a new light socket behind the drop targets as one there had basically crumbled.

After all that, there seems to be some issue with some of the lights not lighting properly (like the shoot again coming on) so some more investigation might be required.

Alien Poker: more progress

I want to spend a moment complaining about the length of EOS switches.  The old ones on this Alien Poker?  LONGER.

I got replacements,  the double-stack EOS on the bottom right flipper got swapped out, and the dang thing got stuck in the upright position!  What was happening?  The part of the flipper mech that hits the EOS switch was getting caught on the metal on the end.  The old one was like a 1/4" longer.
I eventually managed to bend a curve in to it so it does not get caught, but this was a pricey EOS stack!  I shouldn't have to do that.  Bleh.

This other EOS switch I have is the right length for the upper right flipper.

those actually line up to be the same length.

but not the left flipper..  WTF.

the new EOS only goes to where the bend starts in the old EOS

2 of the brackets have cracked coil stops.  Fun fun fun.  Oh and these are also the kinds where the coil stops are fused to the whole flipper assembly bracket.

ooops.

The spinner on  this game was sitting 90 degrees off, and the bars were just too bent to get it to sit in place, so I was given an old spinner from another game and swapped that in.
It sat perfectly and oh how satisfying this shot is now!

SO. MUCH. BETTER
(and yes I removed that old spinner from the playfield)

Another discovery was that the lockdown latch  (which is a bit bent) must have at one point cinched wires at the front of the playfield.  These got a bunch of electrical tape wrapped around them, but will need to be sealed properly with a heat gun.

eeeeep

I stumbled on a few spare rubbers to swap in.  While cleaning I had noticed that under each plastic there was a measurement for each rubber on the playfield artwork.  Convenient!  So I cleaned a bunch of the plastics, gathered a list of rubbers I would need to finish, and swapped in the rubbers that I did. 
This was also a good time to sub in the new rollovers lane I had bought/

soooooo much prettier than the faded old ones!

Finally, left sling was not working and I regapped it and it was working ok.  But, then it wasn't...  hmm might need to look in to that more.

Introducing.... Alien Poker

Look what just arrived!

Eight Ball Deluxe and I had some great times together, but EBD's owner came and swept it away, and when the dust settled, Alien Poker was there!
And oh so dusty.  This machine is in rough shape but plays pretty well.
The backglass looks roached but passable with the game off, but with any rear illumination the image is nigh impossible to see.

this is all impossible to see with any illumination up behind it.

The big thing wrong with the gameplay is that the top hole does not kick the ball out.  Did a quick test grounding it at the lug and it kicks just fine, but did not get any action on grounding the related transistor (Q43), so will probably have to check out the connector and wire.  Will test it properly later.

since that hole's kicker doesn't work, I've been playing with the glass off to pop it out manually.

Every time you hit your flippers the game would score.  I traced this back to the spinner staying in the halfway position.  Someone painted it at some point, and I think it's lost it's will to live --- I mean, ability to come back to rest properly.

SIT DOWN, CRAPPY SPINNER!
(also notice how horrible the rubbers look)

Drop Targets are bare, but decals are readily available.

The plastics are only broke in one spot, but are all rather warped.  I will look to flatten them.

In the backbox, first thing I noticed was that most of the boards were not securely attached, a few just by a single screw!  So off to get more screws... 
But how does a game get to be like that?  Did someone slowly harvest the other screws?

On the driver board the stack of resistors looks nice and crispy, with one resistor not even attached at one leg.

Toasty!

the 2nd one from the bottom is the busted one.  With the game in attract mode, touching it turns on a whole set of lights, including the P-O-K-E-R lights and the outlane specials.


Top rollover lanes have faded from red to light orange.  One pop bumper skirt is chipped.
And yup, rubbers are all gone hard.
This is a fun game, and I am looking forward to getting it playing 100%!  The owner has said I can keep it here until the winter, so I'll have plenty of time with it.


First thing I look at in a game?  FUSES.

top row, 4th from the left?   That was a 15A slow blow

should have been:  0.25 A slow blow.  HOLYCARP, thank goodness the displays didn't fry.

filth and fun!

fun and filth!

totally need a realignment...

skirt chip...