If you put in a color dmd, you unplug the high power connector to the dmd and tuck it away safe and unused. So it won't hurt anything as far as running high power to a dmd.

LTG : )

Are these caps are prone to leaking, that could damage the board? Or the state of the caps wouldn't deteriorate given the high power section of the board is no longer being used?

Caps aren't the usual thing that burns up on the high power section. If a couple big caps fail you can get the rolling image.

Once you disconnect the power cable to the DMD, nothing else will happen to the DMD driver section because nothing is going through it.

LTG : )

I joined the club today! Expect a barrage of questions, I've been pouring over this forum for a few day as I waited for it all come together. It came with a new Mirco playfield which was purchased over 10 years ago and never installed so I am looking forward to my first playfield swap. First up is a colour DMD and powdercoating all the legs and armour. Black? Black with red sparkle? Some kind of crinkle finish?

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I thought first up would be some feet protectors (to replace the temporary cardboard ones)

Congrats! Very nice looking game!

From this view it doesn’t look like it *needs* a new playfield. It’s badly worn?

I’d leave the metal as is, looks sharp as bare metal.

Nicely polished stainless steel is the best look this game can have imo.

I was going to say both these things. I'm a powdercoat guy and I re did my afm in stainless. It just looks right. That being said, black with red flakes sounds amazing too

There is some wear around the big saucer targets, at the inlanes and in front of the Stroke of Luck scoop. Someone has applied mylar on these. There are also a few chips and cracks here and there and some broken wood underneath like where the "I" Martian target is screwed in. Nothing that affects gameplay but since I have always wanted to do a playfield swap, I figure I will give it whirl. I will hold off on the powdercoat for awhile and see if the stainless grows on my and for now will invest heavily to replace the cardboard foot protectors. There's lots of cleaning and solder touch ups as well to keep me occupied for awhile.

Hey gang! Couple questions interpreting the diagnoses of a “Check Fuses F106/F101” problem that just occurred.

LED100- Off
LED102- Off
F106- blown
F101- good

D11: Black on diode band: 0.00v
Red on band: 0.00v

D12: black on band: 0.4v
Red on band: 0.7v

D13: black on band: 0.4v
Red on band: -0.3v (?)

D14: black on band: 0.4v
Red on band: 0.6v

TP102: 0.4vdc
TP100: 0.6vdc

With all that, it’s clear there’s a problem with the rectifying diodes, correct? D11 is obviously a short, but the others are not. I assume they’re testing strangely because of the shorted D11.

Any other interpretations or other tests I can do to further narrow down the problem? I really only want to pull the board out once to replace things.

Hard to test them in circuit.

Replace D11 and then see where you are at.

LTG : )

I am starting to get into the guts of my new toy and found this on the power driver board which I am thinking doesn't look good. The manual page 2-8 says there should be diodes in D25-28 but it doesn't list anything for D29-32. Should these jumpers really be there? Thanks.

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Yes. Works the same. Diodes that were there were removed and won't burn the board anymore.

LTG : )

I am getting prepare the new playfield I have to swap. Does anyone have a count of how many T-nuts of what size need to be installed? Also, do folks just drive them in with a mallet or do people put some washers on the top side of the playfield and use a screw to pull them in? Thanks.

dmacy has swapped 2 AFM playfields and documented the process. Topside: 6 8-32 T Nuts

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/afm-mirco-playfield-gone-over-by-kruzman-swap#post-5179846

Later says he changed them to 6-32s to allow for more adjustment:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/afm-mirco-playfield-gone-over-by-kruzman-swap#post-5206934

Here's the final count for top and bottom: 6 8-32 (or 6-32) on the top; 43 8-32 on the bottom:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/attilla-from-mars-another-afm-playfield-swap#post-5113071

Awesome! Thanks for that!

Brian

What brand are you guys using for flipper rings? The one I have keep busting.

Had the same issue with my standard rings busting, so I replaced them with black super bands from Marco. Haven't had an issue with them failing, and I beat the shit out of my AFM. Only downside is they're slightly "grabbier" than natural rubber rings.

I use superbands flipper rubber on all machines, period.
I'm not a great player so i have no idea if they change how the game is played, but i've never had one break and they are easy to clean.
Only thing is they can be a pain to put on because they are so tight.
I would advise against installing them while the bats are on the machine or on old flipper bats because they can crush any weak points.

Someone suggested to me placing flipper rubbers in room temperature water for a bit. Makes them easier to put on the flippers.

I've never done it but it came to mind after watching these things bust left and right.

Titans on all my games. I can't stand superbands

Perfect Play from Pinball Life....Great quality and feel.

Re the trim...I've had a couple of Afms now and building a minty one from scratch with some custom options. I was going to go polished stainless trim, but this game just suits black better imo.

These were my last 2 I did, full photo shoot and details on my custom original one coming soon.

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3 AFMs?! Embarrassment of riches!

Loving your custom work.

Lol no. I paid dearly to get my first one back at the time!

This next one will be special though....especially with your awesome custom building!

I am looking for some troubleshooting advice. The top string of GI in the backbox is completely dark (green-white/green wiring). The other string in the backbox (violet-white/violet) is fine. As preamble, the GI section of the board was a disaster and I have replaced the header pins and redone the connectors on J105 and J106. There was a massive, bizarre connector wired into this circuit and J105 was fried, I assumed that replacing all these bits would fix the problem but no luck (see photos). I have checked continuity of the wiring in the backbox from the Molex connector to the end of the string, it is ok. When it is connected and powered up I measure 0 voltage across the lamps. When I unplug the Molex connector I measure 6.3V at the pins on the supply side. I have measured continuity from connector J106 pins 5 and 10 back to connector J103 pins 6 and 11 and it all matches the drawing and all fuses are ok. The connector at the transformer end looks ok as well. Given that I am seeing 6.3V across the supply when the backbox is unplugged I am thinking there must be something with high resistance on the supply side or a short but I can't find anything. Anyone seen this before? I am considering just wiring the green string to the violet one since LEDs will draw so much less current but I would rather fix the problem.

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Solved. Swapping the pins on the backbox connector between two strings proved that the problem was somewhere upstream. Finally worked my way back to the supply wire from the transformer to J103-5. With J103 being a black connector, I didn't notice that the wire in position 5 was also toasted. You can see in the photos below, before and after. Replaced that connector and everything lights. Last remaining task is to replace the header pins at J103, tonight's job.

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My new pin got what looked like it’s first cleaning under the plastics and ramps in its entire life. Used novus 1 and 2 to clean and then waxed. Metals were all polished. And Ramps were all cleaned with novus. It’s not perfect and has insert wear in the return to battle and city inserts, but I think it’s a great looking players pin now. Also all new comet leds, new plastics, titan rubbers, and rebuilt the pops.

I did have a ground short in row 7 error when I first started it back up. I looked at all of the wires in that row and didn’t see anything obvious. But after raising and lowering the playfield and moving some wires around it seemed to go away. Maybe it was just something making contact? I’ll keep and eye on it to see if I can find anything.

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Has anyone spray painted their ufo saucers? I’m thinking of spray painting them something a little darker gray/silver with a little more gloss. Like they look in the remake. Any tips or experiences?

Yes, I painted mine a metallic darker silver recommended on here years ago. Comes out nice.
I can't find the can for the life of me right now but it's one of those small automotive type plane label cans that was recommended way early in this thread specifically by like a paint code number. Tough to capture in a picture and I didn't paint the grooves black like some guys were doing because I was afraid it would come out sloppy looking but it looks cool one done properly.
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In case somebody needs one …
I just listed a complete 3 target assembly. NOS - got it in a warehouse buy.
https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/ad/128187

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I just saw these limited edition red ramps on CL. Never heard of them, anyone know who made them? Anyone have them on their game? They might look cool, I don't think it's worth $500 though. Not to me anyway

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I believe Pinball Inc ( James Loflin ) made them. No idea if Starship Fantasy ever made them or not.

LTG : )

Extremely limited production. Not available for some time. Originally sold for $280

LTG : )

I have them on mine.They look better than the clear imo

Following up:

Replaced D11, D12, D13, and D14.
Replaced F106 as well.

Game works properly again!

Oohh that does look good.

Yeah, it really does. Thanks all for the info and pic

Having a problem with the three-target Motor Bank Up switch. When the game boots, the bank goes up, then down, then back up again, but as soon as a ball is launched, the bank goes down again and stays there. In diagnostics upon hitting Enter, I get a Motor Bank Up switch broken message.

Some background is in order in case I caused the problem. Originally, during multiball and sometimes during other circumstances, the Center Ramp Enter switch was also awarding the Right Ramp Enter, giving two jackpots for the price of one. With these two switches next to each other in the same column in the matrix, I reasoned that one of the switches had a bad diode, and I replaced both diodes and switches. I used 4004 diodes for replacement. When I replaced the Center Ramp Enter switch, I also found corrosion around the diode. This solved the double jackpot award problem. Hurrah. Wish I had stopped there.

Then I installed a protector in front of the three-target motor bank, which required some disassembly, and in the process I found that the white-violet wire came off of the Motor Bank Up switch, with the green-blue wire on the center lug intact. I can see from the manual (page 2-30) that the white-violet wire goes to the switch lug opposite the silver cathode, so I soldered it there and the problem began described above with the Motor Bank Up switch--which is in the same column as the above two switches and diodes I had already replaced. I removed the protector in case that was having any influence, but no change.

I do notice that the diode in the Motor Bank Up switch looks pretty mangled, which could have been preexisting or could have happened during disassembly. Should I replace the diode and the subminature switch to see what happens? Could the problem have anything to do with the complementary subminature switch above? This switch takes a white-blue and green-blue-wire and has no part number in the manual, but looks identical to the lower switch with all joints and mechanics looking intact. Before proceeding, I thought I should get advice first to see if I'm missing something or if anyone has any insights. I'm afraid I'm no good with a meter besides testing fuses, so I have to resort to more of a shotgun approach.

Help greatly appreciated to tackle this final vexing problem!

Tests - Switche Edge - do they work there when you press them ?

Tests - Target Bank - run it - anything bad pop up then ?

LTG : )

Thanks, Lloyd--as always, your advice helped get me there. And as usual, it was a case of operator error. When I reassembled the target bank originally, I had manually pushed the drop targets up and slid the motor shaft back in place. So the motor was running, but the targets were behaving the opposite of what they should have been. A switch test helped me figure that out. Once I disassembled and pushed the drop targets down, then reassembled, all was well.

Thanks again. You're the best!

Any thoughts on how to clean old dirty martians? I didn't want to be too aggressive so just using Dawn dish soap in warm water and a toothbrush. Not much impact, any recommendations? Thanks.

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Try soaking in Polident denture cleaner.

LTG : )

I've always used Mean Green, but I'll bet the Bryan Kelly solution is better. Those Martians are tough little buggers!

Polident, some scrubbing and dental work.

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Here is something easier...

https://www.mickspinball.com/big-o-jiggly-martian-add-on

Played some AFM today while remembering Lyman.

For me AFM is simply the greatest pinball ever!

Considering it was done in 1995 it has stood the test of time and is fun for every player that steps up to it.

Sure, there have been many great games since, but Lyman, you were the greatest and nowhere did you shine more than AFM

I have an issue with my AFM, and looking for direction.

The 3 bank target will not go down. It is in the upright position. Nothing happens in test mode. The bottom switch works, and the top is closed, as it should be when the bank is up I believe.

Any suggestion on what to test next? Thanks.

In test does the motor run ? If so has the cam in the back that rides in the horizontal slot slipped out of the slot ?

LTG : )