Im a big fan of silicone wire right now.

Way more flexible, heat resistant, shrugs off dirt etc., should out-perform the original wire.

I would think automotive grade would suffice and be a little cheaper...I like military wire since it is rated for 600v rather than the more traditional 300v, But...If you wipe it with Maguires vinyl and rubber conditioner OMG is it a sweet piece of soft flexible protected wire.

Insulation thickness is also a consideration once you start choosing wire and considering 600v wire compared to 300v

While this is true...the dirty little secret is mil wire generally has a .030 difference in insulation thickness, not enough to be a problem with IDC connecters but offers twice the voltage rating. (For pretty much the same money)

Pinball’s mainly run on 5,12,50v why do you need such high voltage rated wires?

Just curious

3 reasons if I had think about it. The first being I dye wire with MEK and fuel dye and would have to consider the fact that the insulation may be compromised somewhat during the process....number two while usually not a problem on pinball machines, Jen works with a lot of monitors in arcade machines, sometimes there are extremely high voltages present in places you would least expect (I actually blew a filling out of my tooth one day) so I tend to favor a high voltage wire when/where I can. Number 3 wiring a complete machine is expensive and time consuming and I have to be of the opinion, it's just a better wire.

You're a cheap date, Wally.

What the ...!? This post elicits at least 3 questions—

Why are you dying wire with mek and fuel dye? I am questioning doing anything to electrical wire that compromises ratings??

Have to ask — Are you talking about yourself in the 3rd person?

And finally - blew a filling? You HAVE to explain this one - how did this happen???? I’m assuming a charged large cap but holy crap!!!

Well let's see...#1, I dye the wire to make the custom traces you can not buy in small batches, normally 1000ft is the minimum order and obviously cost could get out of hand. This is done with MEK (Methyl esters ketone) (normally used as a thinner for epoxy resins) 1oz. Thinner in a paint cup and .25ml dye with a eyedropper is the recipe I use, and since it drys incredibly fast I do not believe it compromises the dielectric ( although just to be safe I like starting with 600v wire....#2 Third person, I do not have a answer for this , let's ask Jennifer "HEY JENN GET IN HERE!) what's up with this calling yourself Jenni?...Lmao!...And #3 That was a Mrs pac man, with a faulty tube, unplugged mind you, I reached in and grabbed the monitor frame to lift it out and Omg, it zapped me with a hellish ZAP, burned my fingers arm went numb and spit out a filling like a popcorn seed...Bad day.

Ah monitor if a different story with high voltages lol.

What's new with the TAF. Any new parts coming in

You should start with the hard parts first, like the wireforms, Thing hand lower assy with motor, bookcase lower assy with motor, and wire harness. Once you find how difficult those are you might want to just buy a complete game.

You will not need that with the LCD color display.

@ Shred... That cab is going to take some loving to build, I wouldn't worry about the time, if you are on the list, There is lots to do while you wait...The circut board panel and the light board are difficult to find and should also be on your list....The corner brackets (OEM) for your new back box (my guess) will not line up with the holes on your new cab, so you want to find them and test fit.

A cabinet from VirtuaPin is well worth the wait. You can’t rush perfection.

I assume that you are having them build a TAF cabinet with the backbox and decals, right? If not, you should. They can handle drilling all of the correct holes and assembling everything correctly.

this, it could take forever to find some of those parts. it took me over a year to find wireforms for a TAF. I used to have a entire box of TAF parts and sold them all to a local guy. He might still have them.

Yikes, that shock sounds like no joke - could have been deadly? Those monitor caps hold a lot of charge.

Normally they are relatively safe to work on with precautions, I think that was just a perfect storm of circumstance,...You read all those skull and crossbones monitor FAQs but death would would be (IMO) very, very rare, ( never even heard of a real case) However a more common thing would be being electrocuted with a screwdriver in your hand, and natural reaction would be pull away, without muscle control...And stabbing yourself in the face.

Hey 565
TAF Insert Panel measures 25 13/16 x 16 15/16 inches, 1/2 inch MDF. Template attached. Align at bottom right. Cutout at the bottom is not necessary. Will clear ColorDmd if cut straight across.
Wally
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100_2187 (resized).JPG

Just made a couple.. not too bad to make.
Have an extra one if interested. Next up to make are speaker panels and bottom u trim speaker panel sits in.

image (resized).jpg

5/8” hole for the lamp sockets. Those IDC lamp sockets are kind of a pain to source. If you find a source ... I’d be interested as well.

Actually you wouldn’t have to use the IDC sockets if you are rolling your own... you could use a bayonet style socket and secure them with a 3/8 screw (like playfied GI sockets). The IDC is more for production efficiency. It all depends how authentic you want to be.

Those through wire Idcs were done on a press, not easy to duplicate by hand (hence the hard to find)..."How original do you want it" This is a good question, since there are alternatives, led strips for example , I believe there is actually a kit for that and beauty would be pretty much no holes at all except the little ones on the ends of the strips to daisy chain them together in strings.

Marco sells them

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/24-8818

Hmm... slightly different than what’s used on WPC but prob ok. The GI socket on WPC is a natural color. Later models of WPC used a black socket with an integrated diode for flasher bulbs.

These are the exact sockets in the TAF. I ordered 100 when I did mine. I sold a few, but probably have enough for one more light board, maybe two.

https://www.pinballspareparts.com.au/24-8817.html

Yup!

I have used these with no issues.

Not sure what to put a price on it as i wasnt doing for resale but if you want you can have it for $30 but with shipping from canada might not make sence price wise.
If you do decide to make them and need some measurement just let me know.
Pictures above are just with primer.....i painted them with a gloss white yesterday

I’m no financial advisor but if you sink over 12-15k with interest and the return would be less then 10k, well then your loss is the banks gain I guess.

I am thinking Stretch laid a golden egg at your feet friend...That hole placement is quite game specific, and even as a pattern very reasonable for what he did.

Order those pf tnuts next will most likely be the first things u install

Why aren't you starting with the hard parts as suggested? You may not even be able to find them. Then what will you do?

How does that change things? He can always resell the parts, but if they go out of stock before he finds *hard part X*, he's stuck anyway. I started with a sweet Scared Stiff playfield and ended up with every mech(well, I have to make a coffin diverter, but aside from that...).

I was under the impression you had the money to blow on this expensive endeavor. Now youre saying youve got a credit card funding this whole thing.

This is a bad idea. Let alone the lack of experience but the lack of money now youre in debt over this thing. Build a virtual pin, its affordable and not so specific.

Somebody post a picture of the underside of the playfield and point out parts that are obsolete and/or expensive. No exaggeration this will cost you 10k on the low end. And if you already have to take out a credit line youre going to dig yourself into a hole.

And lastly, what ive noticed is you are buying alot of generic cosmetic parts. Thats a red flag. Do you have a list of all the mechs and coils. Where do you plan on finding a harness, you need over $1000 in boards.

Theres no shame in settling for a virtual pin. Buy some project pins and fix them up and sell them, thatll scratch your engineering itch.

There kinda is...

Boy, there are a lot of armchair quarterbacks here...
Most of whom probably haven’t built anything more complicated than a sandwich...

You guys act like it is impossible to build a pinball machine- it’s not. You guys act like he is going to try to go to the moon... He is not new to big projects. He KNOWS it is not the easy road.

He has picked a pin that was huge in production numbers- nothing is impossible to find with the internet, just takes time and money.

There is just something about being a man and wanting to see if you can build something with your own hands, even if you know it is cheaper and easier to write a check to have someone else do the work.
I have spent twice the money and twice the time on many, many, many projects (ask my wife) and even given up on a few that just beat me. But the ones that worked out felt great. I couldn’t imagine how sad a man who has never felt this.

I admire this guy for trying but I believe it won't end well.

I’m all for trying — but it does seem like the OP wants to do it his way, regardless of most advice from others.. some of which I’d say is pretty logical.. like checking off near-ubtanium parts first to ensure other efforts and funds aren’t spent in vein. End goals can be reached in many ways I suppose. We shall see... I guess having a play field and cab sitting in your house could be very motivating as well to an end goal!