woohoo, I can join the club!
got myself a Harlem Globetrotters. its in poor condition, powered it on and nothing happened other than a couple of GI lights came on. but the backglass is in great condition with only the first stage of puling away from the glass in one corner.

Looks like it will be fun when its working

So do we have a cool secret handshake or anything?

Thanks for the info, I didn't even know that site existed!

Got a question about a Harlem Globetrotters. I am getting ready to redo the cabinet. The existing orange/red is woefully faded:IMG_1753 (resized).JPG

Anyone know what color it "should" be? the images from the original brochure http://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=1125&picno=3818&zoom=1 show a fairly deep orangey/red color. I assumed it wa ssupposed to be the color of a classic basketball, but it looks more orange to me so I was thinking of using the star color from the brochure.

Got a question about one of the digits display board on a Harlem Globetrotters. The board is shown here:
overall board

In the center, it looks burned. Here is a closeup:close up

Do you think that looks bad enough to replace the component? I am guessing all 3 resistors would have to be replaced, would there be anything else? Are all the boards the same? (I can get the values from the other boards)

According to the schematic ( http://mirror2.ipdb.org/files/1125/Bally_1979_Harlem_Globetrotters_On_Tour_Manual.pdf ) page 29, resistors 7,9,11 are all 100k but it doesn't say the wattage... are these 1/4w, 1/2w, 1w, etc.? How would I find this out

thanks...what a great resource!

I am having a problem with my Harlem Globetrotters that I am trying to bring back to life. I just put a new rectifier board into it and am getting nothing at all when I power it up. I think its possible I did something wrong but before I went down that road I thought I would check some voltages. The test points on the board show zero so I started from the wall.

At the wall I show about 120v AC ground to side. Coming in from the wall, I checked at FL1 (https://ia600809.us.archive.org/34/items/arcademanual_Harlem_Globetrotters_OPS/Harlem_Globetrotters_OPS.pdf page 40) and show 61v AC from ground to side. I am assuming that is normal as FL1 is converting to DC and the capacitors would cut into the AC on the source side??? IMG_2736 (resized).JPGIMG_2735 (resized).JPG

Then I checked the Service Outlet which is the next thing down the line. I am showing nothing on it in DC and a couple of volts in AC. IMG_2738 (resized).JPG

Is it possible my FL1 is not working or am I just not checking things right?

thanks guys - its obvious I have something wrong, just not sure what its supposed to look like. I am pretty confident it is wired as spec'ed, hard to see the ribbing down in the box to see if hot and neutral are swapped - but I will double-check tonight. The way I am reading the schematic I should see 115v AC on the service outlet as that is literally the next thing down the line from the filter. Capture (resized).JPG

And that will be powered no matter what the main power switch is set to, is that right?

So....progress. The problem is compounded by my lack of ability to use a multi-meter. When I plugged a lamp into the service outlet it worked just fine. So power is successfully getting there. The next piece down the line is the power switch. Theoretically I should have power on both front sides (black/white wires) and no power on the back sides (blue/yellow wires) until its turned on. My initial test with the multimeter shows that I am getting 60v AC at all 4 connections no matter if the switch is on or off...IMG_2744 (resized).JPG

sigh, I no longer trust my ability with the multi-meter so I cannot tell if the switch is shorted on or not. Even if it is, then that still means I should have power on to the next stage down the line.

Going past that, reading page 40 and 43 of the schematic.

Output from the switch is the blue (30) and yellow (20) wires, running to A2J2-6 and A2J2-7. Page 43 shows A2J2-6,7 as coming in to the transformer but its tough to know where they go since it all goes to one line.

pulling off a whole-playfield sheet of mylar sounds so dangerous. I can't imagine what the odds are to not damage something.
Congrats on the Globetrotters! If I ever get mine working I expect it to be a lot of fun

Speaking of Globetrotters, I have a question about one. I purchased the replacement MPU board (mine was missing.) When I turn it on after a couple of days, it seems to start up correctly. I get a click from the solenoid board around the 4th flash of the MPU board LED, then I get a second click a couple seconds later when the MPU LED gets to the 6th flash and the MPU LED stays on dimly (normal for the new MPU board)

What is weird is that after a couple of minutes, when power cycling, the first click happens and then everything stops - the MPU LED is solid on with just 4 flashes. I don't get any more flashes or a second click. I'm not sure what is clicking or if that is a symptom or the problem. Does anyone know what to check? I could send the MPU board back for testing but I suspect its somewhere else, something that warms up and stops working, just not sure what to look for. I have replaced C23 on the solenoid board but thats all so far.
Mark

Got a question about a switch on my Globetrotters. The Right Gate (Solenoid 13) seems wrong to me. According to the schematic ( http://mirror2.ipdb.org/files/1125/Bally_1979_Harlem_Globetrotters_On_Tour_Manual.pdf ) I think it is supposed to have a switch on it. (page 45)

Note: Not sure as I am having trouble locating it on the schematic.

Looking at it on the table shows only part of the switch is there and its clean, it looks like it has never been soldered at all. Plus I can find no wires that look to be dangling. Seems weird and I was hoping someone could tell me if this is the way its supposed to be or not.

IMG_2908-closeup (resized).jpg

IMG_2909 (resized).JPG

thanks for the response!
on flippers there is an activation phase and a "keep it energized" phase and they have different voltages and are controlled by switches.

It makes sense that there is something similar on the gate since it stays open or closed, but it seems weird to try and do it without any switches at all. How is the CPU supposed to know how long to energize the solenoid...strange.

Looks like I may have a sticky relay? After letting it warm up, by physically banging on the relay housing (and thus the whole solenoid board) It seems to fix the problem and it boots up, at least partially. At least the MPU board goes all the way to success and I can run the self-test.

Anyone know if new Globetrotter playfield plastics are being made by anyone? Got a cracked one on my table and figured before I went eBay I would see if anyone sold them. Marcos and Pinballlife don't have any that I could find.

Thanks Tsskinne, I will keep you in mind. Since I only need the one, perhaps I will try and make it myself.

Question about power in the Globetrotters. I purchased a replacement Rectifier board and everything works except I have no power to the front door (with the start game switch) - the GI lights above the coin slots are not on. I don't see power in the connector for the front door and am trying to trace it back more but I don't understand the schematic.

When I look at the schematic. the 3 lights are on the GI bus via A2J2-1 and A2J2-5. Does that mean I should go to the transformer board (A2), connector J2 and look at pins 1,5? and I should have 5.9vac on them? I think that's what the schematic is saying.

or am I looking at it wrong and I don't understand the reference to something about J1 pins 17,18 in the little door plug table

schem (resized).PNG

schem2 (resized).PNG

cool, thanks

I was able to track down weird bizarre problems by pulling all the connectors off the boards except the power ones and seeing if the board would boot up. Once it booted up (and nothing worked) I could plug them in one at a time and see if the relevant self-test came up. In my case I had just a couple of working solenoids and lights but it turned out that most of the connectors were bad and had to be replaced. Try wiggling the connectors and see if any GI lights flicker, that should tell you if the connectors are bad.

I hope that helps!

The first thing I would do is cross-connect the cables (or move the display if the cables are not long enough) - if the problem moves, its the display module (either the connector, display itself or its board.) If the problem stays, its either the cable connector or the display board.

Do the cable connectors drive individual display segments on those? if so it could be a bad connector but I don't know

what is the best source for display connectors? I have a globetrotters with a flaky display but I think its the connector and not the display itself. It looks corroded.

8d0498e18e1c90800e960463b6b91a5d594de887 (resized).jpg

does anyone know if the Globetrotters can be set to free-play? I can't find any mention of it in the manual

Ok, thanks guys!