Rollergames diverter replacement

So the diverter was a bit of an issue.  It had built up some pitting and would not close the gate the entire way.  This meant the ball would get stuck along the top area.  Well, sometimes it would rattle a bit and roll down, sometimes the machine would need a shove.
Either way, this classic game by Steve "king of flow" Ritchie was not flowing at all.

Note the pitting in the bar, dug in by the solenoid slamming the roll pin against it

These diverter bars were considered Unobtainium, but amazingly someone on pinside had reproduced them.  (they apparently still have a few available, so best stock up!)
And the guy that owned the game had already got his copy:

SHINY AND NEW

 Only problem is, once it was installed the gates STILL were not closing all of the way!  What's up with that?

Turns out, this diverter bar is the SECOND take on the diverter mechanism.

First version, from the manual:

Second version, via a tech bulletin:

A crucial difference is that the revised version used a special coil stop that was a bit shorter than the normal one.  Part code subcode B, or something like that, and it was no longer around to order.
Luckily it is far easier to subtract than add, so I took to grinding it!  Not on an electric grinder, nope that'd be too easy, I got it in my head to just use the tools I had and grind it by hand.
Not recommended.
(edit: it is Solenoid Bracket Assembly B-13488 revision 'A')

Another look at the diverters:

This is not properly closed...

If the coil stop is too long, the solenoid can't pull in the entire way, and you don't get the proper curve

This smashed corner is an example of the damage that can happen when the diverter is not hitting the correct spot.

And last but not least, I want to mention how annoying games are when the playfield just has a pivot point.  No sliding it up + forward, and therefore no easy access to disassemble the back end of the playfield apparatus.

So what to do?  First, struggle like hell to lift the playfield up off the pivot brackets.  Then get a board and slide the playfield forward, resting the flipper solenoid brackets on to it.  Thanks to the pinsiders for the tips on this.

Uggggh.

It should never have come to this.

And Rollergames is gone as well, now!  Back home to it's owner with many a problems solved.
Oh, what to do with all of this sudden space????

Rollergames progress

The upper flipper is where all of the points are, so if that's out of whack, the game is wack.
I saw "magnet grab" pushed the ball down in to the flipper, demonstrating that it was too far out.  I adjusted the flipper position, and it made the shot SO MUCH better.
But then when the ball came from the popper, it was having trouble getting stopped by the magnet.  I had overcompensated:  Now there was no friction of the flipper and the ball sailed past.  After a second adjustment, both the grabs and shots seem to be on point.

too much!

too little!

The big thing to work on was the wonky display issue.  Thanks to this pinside thread, we got the problem solved.

Tracing back in the schematics, we can see that those characters come from the main CPU board, specifically SRC2.
I took a moment to inspect the component on the board, didn't see much.  But then I bent it upwards and WOAH there was our obvious issue:  the bolt on the battery holder must have rubbed that component when it was installed.

UHHHHHHHHH NOPE

But that's just one part of a larger issue:  there had obviously been a battery issue in the past as there was corrosion on the board in the general area.  I am told any contacts that are tarnished do not shine are most likely corrosion.
Someone dealt with a bad battery and battery holder, and did a bit of a hack fix with the bolt on the battery holder, leaving corrosion on the board, and damaging SRC2 in the process.

segment g and comma are always on

here we see g and 'com' are next to each other, pins 25 and 26 of the data cable, which I inspect for damage but find none.  (CLICK TO EMBIGGEN)

trace back to MPU board we see that 'g' and 'com' are pins 8 and 9 of that same SRC2

So here's the thing with these "SIP Packs" as they are referred to:  they are banks of resistors, with a small capacitor to assist in filtering.  They are also unobtainium.
Someone has made exact replacements, but they are ridiculously pricey.  (search for R/C Module)
You can get by with just using a 40 cent SIP pack that is just resistors, which is what we did.  A pinsider kindly sent some my way, we clipped the 10th leg on it (only 9 holes, and this is fine as long as you align the dots,) and now the display is working just fine!

But if you read the bottom of the pinside post, this board might be unseavable in the long run.

pinball party status report

Had a PWO meetup and as we all know, inviting people over for a night is the best way to stress test your machines.  Here's how they all stood up.

Rollergames:
The ball gets stuck up at the top a lot.  Unsure if just a diverter issue, or it is bounces awkwardly and that is why it sits between the first and second exits.
Magnet sometimes does not grab the ball.  I think when I realigned that upper flipper I put it too far to the right and now there is less friction for the ball, so it sails past.

Jurassic Park:
After 2 hours, the DMD kept resetting, showing the software version.  I opened it up and noticed one of the screws was missing from the board, so perhaps was losing it's grounding.  I moved around the screws, but will have to go buy a proper replacement.

The standups certainly need reinforcement / rebuilding.  I think all of the Data East standups are super rare to find replacements for.

Lord Of The Rings:
Palantir target might need adjusting, as direct hits send the ball up to smack the glass.
The sword lock (white post) doesn't stop the ball properly, and balls are jumping out of the lock.
And finally by the end of the night, the DMD itself just went out!  Gone!  No idea what happened, but it was time for bed anyways.  The next day I turned the machine on, and it was fine. 

Apollo 13: 
perfect.

Rollergames: in the basement, and preliminary exam

We got it down!  The soldered connector wires were just for GI so we snipped them and will redo them later.

There are a TONNE of connectors in the head, looks more than the mosntrous WPC-S setup, but half of them are just at the interconnect board, so relatively few wires bundles to detach to get the head off, all considering.

And with the head off, the playfield was entirely unplugged, so we took the head, playfield, and body down in 3 trips.  So so so much easier.

Found another connector that was charred, as well this connector on the backbox lights was toasty, with pins damaged:

Notice the wire junction done with dried out electrical tape.  Yeah that's gonna get fixed.





So the complete list of what to tackle on the board front:
Interconnect Board:
J9: needs new 7 pin connector, new header pins, and the wires need to be redone
J6: needs new 9 pin connector
J7: needs enw 10 pin connector, new header pins, and wires need to be redone
Backbox:  needs new 7 pin connector, new header pins, and the wires need to be redone


The game is actually pretty clean in the parts I can see.  Original mylar means only wear along the orbits and top lanes.  No major accumulations of a decade+ of grime. 
But it will still eventually get a full teradown and have every rubber replaced.  Because hey, if you're tearing it down, let's just replace the damn things while in there.
Leaving it as incandescent as per the owner's request.

Before turning it on I inspected the fuses and found a number overfused:
On the Aux Power Driver Board:
F2A was 5 instead of 2.5
F5 was 5, instead of 2
F6 was 3, instead of 2

On the Power Board:
F2 and F3 were supposed to be 1/8 A slowblows, but were each 5A FAST blows.  I put in 1/4 A slowblows until I could order some 0.125 A fuses proper.
F1 was also 5A Fast Blow, but was supposed to be 3/8 A slowblow.

All fuses checked, time to turn it on!

There is an issue with the batteries on the game.  New ones in, but we still get the classic issue:

That is, the game is not saving the setup options, most likely due to battery/holder.

Notice the extra lights going on there?  Top display has extra commas and left-dashes.

Not sure where to start there exactly, but will do some research and report back.


When coining up I noticed there was no sound effects, just BGM.  We pushed in the sound board EPROMS and that seemed to do the trick.  Now all the wonderful sounds are here!

aux sound board.  Wiggled those three "SL 3" ROMs in their sockets.

What else?  Needs a new coin door lock.  New power cord
Upper right flipper needs some love.  It plays ok, but when the magnet freezes it and you FLIP! the ball up the wall ramp, it should make the shot readily, and right now it seems like it is just barely making it.

Introducing: Rollergames!

Another update!  Rock on!

Rollergames arrived the day Central Park left.  RG is a loaner from another friend (one who graciously helped get Central Park up the staircase of doom,) and it had been folded at his place for a while.  He agreed to let me borrow for an extended period and give it a solid once over.

He passed me a list of known issues with it, so defintely a bunch of work involved, not to mention the big deep clean.

Buuuuut there's an issue:  I can't get the head off just yet.
Here's why:

ummmmmmmmm

uhhhhhhhhh

In lieu of connectors, someone soldered some wires directly to the interconnect board.   So we now have to find time to properly desolder these in order to get the machine downstairs.

The connectors will need to be rebuilt, of course, but for now, it shall sit in the garage.

Le *sigh*