I just picked up my first two AS-2518 games and have a few noob questions. I've always had NIB till now, so I'm new to restoring/fixing older games.

1. Is the battery soldered on? Or does it just seem that way from the leakage, corrosion?

2. Does it require a battery to run? Or, can I take it out for now and just not worry about saving scores and such?

I ask because I have a Xenon that the last owner says worked fine, but hadn't turned it on in a while, and now it doesn't start up. I can see the battery is old and a little leaky.

A few pics of my SBM playfield. Can I get rid of that black swirly cloud looking stuff? Not sure whether to try and restore it at all, or just try and stop the wear and tear. Any thoughts?

SMB_playfield_(resized).JPG

SBM_close_up_playfield_wear_(resized).JPG

I have a -54 rectifier board that reads 3.8VDC at TP1. It should be ~6.5VDC. But on the other boards, my 5VDC test points seem fine. Should I be concerned?

With the connector to the playfield disconnected, I still get 3.8VDC. So that points to BR1 or maybe a bad solder joint or something?
Somewhere, I saw a guide to replacing bridge rectifiers. I'll look into it and post what I find. Thanks for the help.

6.5 degree pitch for these old Bally's?

The two I bought were at around a 3 degree pitch, I raised it some right away. Now, I need new levelers on one to go any further. I was just wondering if 6.5 is standard for all games from all eras? Or, what?

Ya, I guess I'll play around and see what works for me.

I imagine the ball my not land in the saucers as easily on Xenon with a higher pitch. That may be a limiting factor.

Anyone know of a guide to re-pinning/re-working the connectors?

Thanks guys. Redoing connectors will be next after replacing many light sockets, which comes after building a playfield rotisserie.

Is there a way to stand up the playfield in the game on these old Ballys? Right now all I can do is prop up the playfield like a car hood. I'd like to open it further like the way the new Sterns do. Where the playfield leans against the back box. I have a few repairs that I think I could do without taking the playfield all the way out. The games in question are Xenon and Silverball Mania. Do most people just remove the playfield from the cabinet when working on the underside?

Thanks! The right side is a notch, the left is more of a step with a drop off on one side. I saw those before and thought they might be used for that. But when I tried it I got resistance and so I backed off. Turns out the wiring is a little tangled and that's the resistance I felt.