Central Park dabbling

I'll get this out of the way:  I am still scared of Central Park.  I can't bring myself to touch the front panel with it plugged in.

Check this start /"Replay" switch at the front of the machine.

ummmmmmm

Let's review:
The front plate?  metal.
Start button?  metal.
Switch stack?  metal plates.
Activated by?  Metal button pressing switches.
Switch voltage?  120V line voltage.
WHAT THE HELL COULD GO WRONG???

There was some worn fish paper and a piece of dried electrical tape.   What the hell kind of design was this?  Next time you complain about your electrician bill, please remember that safety codes are updated for very good reasons.

I wanted to play around with it a bit so I went out and asked the pinball community for an isolation transformer.
These are common in Ontario as, probably due to machines like we have here, were mandated by Ontario Hydro.  In a home environ with everything gone over, not really needed, but for the older games they were a great idea.
I even pulled one of these out of a Baywatch way back when.  For newer machines, they are still somewhat useful if one machine has a ground issues and someone touches lockdown bars on two machines in a row.
But everyone pulls them out because even if the game is off, they still draw a bit.

A quick aside, that thread I linked above had lots of gem information, including details about the bounce switch we had pondered in this machine.  A message I sent a friend:

Yeah, so that's a thing.
I so want a 1960s video of an operator going down the rows KICKING each of his machines to "turn it off".
WHY THE HELL WERE ON/OFF SWITCHES AN OBSCURE CONCEPT?

But here it is, in all of it's glory.  The circular metal bar in the center of that round plastic goes all the way down to the bottom of the cabinet so that yes, it can bounce if kicked.  If that circuit is opened, the voltage to the transformer temporarily disappears, the hold relay has lost power and disengages, turning off the GI and all power on the other wise of the transformer.

I got an isolation transformer from another collector in under 24 hours. rescuing it from the recycler:

this thing is over 10 pounds.  You could develop a workout regime around it.

One thing to note:  apparently if these things get hot, they are bad.  In the thread I linked, an operator relates the story of one catching fire in his workshop, and luckily being noticed immediately.


I put 5 layers of electrical tape in a stack and used that to buffer the start button.  Even with the isolation transformer and fresh tape barrier, I still pressed that start button with a plastic funnel.
I couldn't do it otherwise.
The game started chunking forward, but I went around back and noticed a whiff of smoke.  OMG NO!
Unplugged it right away.

I took a look at the rear stepper unit and behind it was this badass oldschool resistor.  But neither it nor the stepper solenoid were warm.

this might as well be a prop on The Flintstones

Next day:
Upon getting the machine, I had previously swapped out 2 x 20A fuses with 2 10A ones.  the main line fuse was 15A, but should have been 5A, so put that one in.
I raised the playfield and turned it on so I could better identify where the issue was, but aside from buzzing on the continuous solenoid relays, I couldn't find anything noticeable.  No smoke. 
I remain paranoid.


So instead of going further, I wanted to at least do something productive and clean the player stepper unit.

You can see the grime on all of the rivets and their paths

first look with the outer plate removed, only a bit of sanding done in the upper left.  Note how dirty the points are.

cleaned and reassembled.

Next week I'll see if I can start muster the courage to "solve" the start button issue, and hopefully find what was smoking.
I just want my game to look like something other than this:

Corvette: kickback, optos, light socket

Now that I have the parts I ordered to the Ottawa Pinball show, it's time to get back to work!

There are a few little things to do on Corvette.

first was replacing the kickback plunger with a new one, plus cleaning that general area.

no fear, i took this assembly out and cleaned everything.

old kickback vs new one

The kickback wasn't struggling, but I figured with the plastic bit crumbling away, time to replace it.

I also got a bunch of spare 555 bulb twist-and-lock sockets.  One under the playfield had snapped, so now I have replacements.


This still leaves me with 2 issues to figure out:
Modes started up the right ramp (CMIYC and Drag Race,) sometimes eject balls in to the shooter lane at the start of the mode.  CMIYC, multiball is only when you win [which is hard,] and while the drag race is easy, the balls should only be ejected at the end of it.
Since replacing the LT5 ramp, the lock kickout sometimes struggles, and I can't tell what's different.


For the right ramp I thought maybe the opto was dirty, and I was at least correct that there was dirty there.

this is the plate with the optos

the gunk that had been wiped off

After the cleaning, no change in behaviour.  still the occasional misfires.  I have no idea if has anything to do with this opto, but I do know that when I did not have it plugged in after rebuilding the playfield, it would ALWAYS behave in the wonky manner.

Intermittent problems are the WORST.

Introducing... Central Park!

Helllllllllllloooooooooooooo beautiful Central Park!!!

Sinbad left the basement to be shared at the 5th annual Ottawa Pinball & Gameroom show.  After that it went to a friend's house for a while, freeing up space for an extra project!

oh wait, something's not right here.

 So this machine was delivered as NOT WORKING, a challenge I readily accepted.

I left the playfield out so I could take a look at the transformer and all of them guts.
First thing though:  checking all of the fuses,  IT'S JUST A FUSE might some day be true.  Not the case here, all fuses worked, thought 2 slots had 20s instead of 10s, so fixed that.  All others, fine for continuity.

Just for a lark, I plug the machine in.   I go to hit the on button to test, and.... there's no ON switch.  Nothing.  Not sure what year they started using ON SWITCHES, but 1966 wasn't that year, let me tell you.
The game is supposed to be on just when plugged in.  OK, that seems perilous.

Next up was tracing the line voltage from the cord through the machine.  We start at the live line and attach a DMM node there.

we start at the beginning, Sherlock!

these 2 switches provided continuity.  The one on the right is extra odd, and would only seem to break if the machine was basically upside down, but I'm guessing people were rowdier in those days.

After the security switches, the line voltage comes to... this panel at the front.  Then connects via plug to THE COIN DOOR.  OH GOD DON'T CONNECT LINE VOLTAGE TO THE COIN DOOR.

Let's say that again:  OH GOD DON'T CONNECT LINE VOLTAGE TO THE COIN DOOR.
Stupid security switch there...

I then traced the return wires over to here, and you can see the black wires runs parallel and continues on...

And here is where the black wire runs to!  This is the hold (R) relay.

 At this point I dug out all of the long-detached labels and noticed the title...

ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN VOLTS, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Yes, this is a stupid relay that allows the 115 volts to continue.  that's a lot of voltage to pump through a relay.

Using a wooden chopstick, I closed that relay and it LOCKED ON immediately.  The game motor ran, the lights were on, and the score reels reset to zero.  PROGRESS!

But now, why wasn't the hold relay coming on normally?
To the schematic!

Ok OK, I don't have a Central Park schematic, but I do have one for a 1963 Slick Chick, and while not 100%, will basically do the job.

CLICK TO EMBIGGEN!

Take note of that circuit.  one key thing is the 6 volts on the top side of the transformer.  That powers the lights.  If you don't have GI lights on, you're either getting nothing on that side of the transformer, or every single light is out.  A quick test with the DMM confirm that the transformer isn't powered.
So how does the power make a circuit?  The bottom line of the schematic is the line of switches we tested, but the SB relay needs to be activated to complete the circuit.  SB is activated by the coin chute or by pressing the replay button on the front with credits in the unit.

At this point I took a look at the credits unit up in the head:

No, I don't think that coiled wire is stock...

So there were 2 things odd with the credits unit:  This wire was wrapped around one of the poles that moved with the cogged disc, preventing it from advancing.
Also, when it went clockwise all of the way it went too far and would short the two switch banks.
I took the wire off from around that pole, and added some credits.  One other odd note:  The wheel that displays the credits is entirely misaligned by 180 degrees, so whether at zero or 15 credits, nothing will be displayed on the front.
I think my end strategy for this will be to jumper the switches and not have the credit wheel move, and always have the game on free play.  I don't need this mess.
But I also think it was mucking up the game.

So I've traced the SB (start) relay, it is on the backside of the playfield.  I think I've solved the main issue, a funky credit unit needing lots of love.
With everything connected, I plug the game in again and boom, all of the lights are on immediately.

I go to press the start button, aka the "Replay Button" and BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
I depress the button, but am rewarded with a big electric ZAP.
the game starts, the balls are released, but I don't mess around with line voltage.

There is still a short somewhere.
Time to bring in some assistance and hunt down the short.

In the meantime, I get to start cleaning this beautiful dirty game up.

Introducing... Apollo 13

Yep, 2 swaps in one week.  First up Eight Ball Deluxe was swapped by it's owner for Alien Poker, and now someone else took their Raven out and dropped in a little APOLLO 13!
Definitely a welcome upgrade!

After playing a few games the day after we got it down, suddenly the ball drained and the game started to act confused.
Turned it off then back on, game said 4 balls were missing?  hmmm?
Slide the playfield glass off and then *SNIFF* a huge whiff of the far too familiar burning smell.  Something's smouldering.  Slide to the back, unplug it right away.

OK OK OK OK, what's burning?  I immediately feel the heat radiating from the MOON.  Darn this is HOT.
I accidentally touch the magnet and OMFG the thing is intense.  The magnet is as hot as a soldering iron.

I tend to my finger burn and come back with some ice, press a piece against the magnet and it SIZZLED.
Yes, after a few minutes of being unplugged the magnet was still hot enough to turn ice in to steam instantly.  I went through a few ice cubes and the hot magnet just ate right through them.  Ridiculous.

I AM THE MOLTEN MAGNET FROM HELL.  FEAR MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Remarkable that the moon itself didn't liquify.  Some damage, but hardly visible from the front.

So what happened?


First thing I checked was the fuse under the playfield at the back, it's supposed to be a 4A slow blow, but in there was a 6.3 (?) fast blow.  Ooops.
There is a small board that helps control the moon under the playfield on the right hand side and the transistor on that had an issue.

The moon got hot, the fuse failed to blow, then F21 blew on the driver board.
The game failed to properly advance the balls in the trough, so they were between the trough switches, and that gave us the 4 balls missing error message when the game was turned back on.

(For all of you on Clay's Pinball Ninja site, you can get a great video of the Apollo 13 trough.  And really you should donate the $20 on be on his site.)

I am leaving the moon fuse disconnected, disabling it in the adjustments menu, ordering a replacement transistor for the small moon control board, and replaced fuse F21.  Back in business!



Next up, the right flipper was not returning to it's proper position so we went in to change the coil sleeve.  In doing so we found that one of the screws holding the flipper assembly to the playfield was clean snapped off.  The coil stops were also heavily mushroomed.
So with the playfield up, coil sleeves on both sides were replaced and the coil stops were sanded.  A proper screw will be secured next week.

One thing that bugged me about the game was when a ball was shot in to the shooter lane, it made SUCH A BIG BANG.  Very unpleasant, so I used my adhesive padding and now it's not like a knocker hitting every time a ball is loaded.

Without that padding, it sounds like a replay knocker each time a ball is loaded.

In the solenoid tests I noticed not much happening on the ramp up/down, which is the ramp at the back of the playfield.  Shoot the left orbit, and if the ramp is down, it loads to the ramp, and if up, a full orbit.
The solenoid plunger was very very dirty and binding, so it got cleaned with a magic eraser and alcohol, and I put a new sleeve in there as well.

Now the ramp is lowering and raising just fine.


 

The game was in pretty good shape overall, but intensely dirty.  Exhibit A:  the wireforms.

The bottom wire I had cleaned and is what they are supposed to look like.  The other black wireforms?  Those are the same but covered in crud.


With rubber kit in hand, I started with the easy stuff:  All the rubbers from the outlanes and down, cleaning as I went.
I also started switching to LED GI.  You can see the difference with the coverage, as the 8 LEDs are in the lower portion:

This game needs lots of lighting, stat!

Most of the bulbs in the game are black with soot.  I think it will really be suited to a full LED conversion, especially the dim inserts.

And one last point of note:  The right inlane plastics were swapped by a prior owner to hide the fact the clear plastic, which is supposed to be on top, was damaged.  I put it back where it belonged.

No shame, little plastic, no shame.

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...

Raven: transistors in, almost done!

Wow, what a busy night for Raven.  I am ready to swap this machine out for another, and my dreams titter with what might be next.  Hopefully not another Gottlieb/Premier.  :)

it kind of looks mysterious like this.  WHAT WONDERS MIGHT IT CONTAIN?

The big thing done was taking out the driver board and replacing all the bad transistors!

So what got swapped?
Q35 was the only MPS-A13 transistor swapped, and that controlled the 1X light.
The other transistors were all MPS-U45s, which are in limited supply, and only seem to be available from Marco.  There is a somewhat similar equivalent you can get, but the legs are in the wrong spots and need to be bent.
Q22: spinner light, which was locked on, and is a VERY crucial shot.
Q25: 3000 light
Q45: #1 right spot target
Q46: #2 right spot target
Q48: right side rollover (fed from ramp)
Q52: left side rollover (fed from ramp)

well hello there, driver board.

 
After all this, 2 lights were still OUT!  But easy fix, just changed the bulbs and omg things work so much better.

(you might wonder why bother writing all of this?  Well the pinball community here is small, so chances are the next owner of this machine will be someone local, or maybe even someone I know, so whatever I can easily log here might really help the next (few) owner(s) as well.)

It becomes pretty obvious which are the old ones and which are the new ones.

Next issue was the GI.  I had found the issue with the Tilt relay, but finally gapped it properly tonight so we have some nice GI lighting.

Upper right sniper wasn't dropping:
The computer can raise or lower each of the 4 sniper drops, and if they stay up that is a gameplay annoyance, especially for this upper right one since that is the spinner shot, and you're not making it to the upper rollovers if the target has remained up.
There is a tiny coil up near the playfield that pulls in a metal disc on a fulcrum to tap the drop target off it's ledge and have it fall.  This was no where close to happening for this one target.  We tried bending the metal piece, but to no avail.  Cramped quarters, hard to get to at all, and pretty hard metal made for a bunch of zero fun.
In the end what worked was grabbing some adhevsive padding I used way back in a Rocky and Bullwinkle backbox animation repair.  Putting some on the bottom of the playfield limited the range the metal plate could rise, keeping it closer to the magnet coil, and ensuring it would get drawn in properly each time.

Ground mods?  DONE!
Ok, well most of them.  there are some further optional ones, but we connected all of the grounds at the transformer, added an extra ground to the driver board, an extra interconnect wire, and a ground for pin2 on the power supply board.

Oh and the lower right pop had gone out, blown fuse.  I replaced it and it was fine.  I inspected the hardware and was unable to see any strain, resistance, or anything that would lead me to believe it was suspect.  Wait and see on that one.

Last but not least, the fluorescent light was put back in.  The holders needed to be reattached, but in the end the light wouldn't go.  Unbeknownst to me, older fluorescents sometimes had a starter required, and the one here will need to be replaced.

So at this point, I think I just need to grab a $3 part?
Woot.

keep it classy, Raven.

Numerous fixes!

A quick summary of a few things that got fixed:

Eight Ball Deluxe had the Game Over lights stuck ON in the backglass.  HAD.
I had people over for the Pinball Women Ottawa group I run, and after a night of playing, the next day I noticed that suddenly the Game Over was behaving. 
If it was locked on, I was sure a bad transistor, and had one ready to replace it, but welp, it's working!
For all the dickheads out there that whine whine whine about women in pinball:  FUCK. YOU.
What we witnessed was the magic powers of women playing pinball:  shit just randomly fixes itself, apparently.
Take that, meninists.

Oh, and I had also re-adjusted the upper plastics above the 8-ball target.  Now with tighter alignment, shots don't fly by the Bonus Collect hole and in to the rollovers.  Very important for collecting bonus on hard shots!  It is devastating if you were shooting for that collect and the ball didn't stick in.


Corvette!
Small issue with the ball sitting on the LT5 gate and not falling in to the lock.  Expanded the hole on that new LT5 upwards ever so slightly, and now the alignment is far better and the ball rolls down appropriately.


Sinbad!
While playing the game would stall on ball reset and say to check coil 7 (thanks, Pascal board!)
But it was intermittent.  I'd check it, look for cracked solder, but all was good.  On power up, game would reset fine and you could play for a while until the error arose again.
The problem turned out to be the fuse:  It wasn't blown, but one side's metal part had cracked / come loose.  So when I raised the playfield, it shifted and connected again.  After a few solenoid bangs under the playfield, it jiggled a bit loose and caused the error.
1 new fuse solved that issue.