Curious why you don't take out your playfield when working on the cabinet... you really don't want even a tiny chance of dropping something on that and damaging it; you'll regret it miserably... take it from someone who knows from experience.
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Curious why you don't take out your playfield when working on the cabinet... you really don't want even a tiny chance of dropping something on that and damaging it; you'll regret it miserably... take it from someone who knows from experience.
You'll love the way it plays when you're done bullet-proofing it, and when it does break down again, it's gonna be an easy fix. Great start!
Quoted from gdonovan:I see a lot of folks strip the board before cleaning. I have used a paint brush dipped in a cleaning solution myself.
I always take my mech boards out, load onto rotisserie, and go by sections, usually split into quarters... disassemble everything on a portion of the machine and clean with a green pad and simple green or alcohol, cleaning and wiping the gooey funk as you go. Repeat for each section. Placing the board on the rotisserie makes everything so much easier, and saves the back too. After detaching each section's mechs, that's when I go through each individual component, prior to cleaning that section.
Quoted from swillie:As far as drops not staying up when the bank resets... adjust the lift bar so that instead of the drops all raising evenly they are staggered so the drop farthest from the coil raises ahead of the others (does that make sense)? I had this problem and so I took a video of the action and slowed it down and found that the force of the coil actually flexed the lift bar and raised the first drops on the coil side and the far end drops were not being lifted up enough. Since I adjusted no drop has failed to reset in 18 years.
That's a great suggestion, but if that doesn't cut it, it's because your lock collars are worn badly and need replacing. PBR doesn't carry these, you've got to get replacements from MARCO...they call them "reset spacer blocks"... see post 361 on this thread:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/mata-hari-club-em-and-ss-all-are-welcome
I typically replace the collar on the opposite side of the coil, but sometimes there's so much wear on them you may need to replace both.
Unfortunately you'll still encounter the Bally brick issue where hitting a DT with force might not drop it... there's not enough downward spring pressure on each DT, so the target actually bounces off the rubber ring right back onto the ledge... Bally sucked for not fixing this issue by adding a secondary spring... they had to have known about it.
Quoted from Dono:That's a great suggestion, but if that doesn't cut it, it's because your lock collars are worn badly and need replacing. PBR doesn't carry these, you've got to get replacements from MARCO...they call them "reset spacer blocks"... see post 361 on this thread:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/mata-hari-club-em-and-ss-all-are-welcome
I typically replace the collar on the opposite side of the coil, but sometimes there's so much wear on them you may need to replace both.
Unfortunately you'll still encounter the Bally brick issue where hitting a DT with force might not drop it... there's not enough downward spring pressure on each DT, so the target actually bounces off the rubber ring right back onto the ledge... Bally sucked for not fixing this issue by adding a secondary spring... they had to have known about it.
Quoted from RonSS:OK, still having target issues. I've placed new collars on, but I'm finding if I set the screws too tight, that's when the bar doesn't drop on its own.
I'm thinking this may be my problem. Is there a washer and a clip here, or just the clip?
This is GDonovan's unit I'm referencing in the pic, but it's a general question.
[quoted image]
With the playfield up, viewing the targets from the underside, slowly lift the coil plunger to see how the reset bar is engaging the bottom of the targets during its lift motion. My guess is that the upper targets are engaged a bit later than the lower ones... you can adjust the collars a bit to change that if the targets are not being engaged simultaneously
Quoted from Sea_Wolf:Thanks for the info.
Thanks for that. That’s great to know if I do decide to put LEDs under the playfield.
I just did a Bally Old Chicago PF swap, and tried non-ghosting below the special, free ball, star rollover and double bonus lamps with Comet non-ghosting. All locations except the star rollover flickered so bad I had to revert back to 47s... folks here on Pinside have reported various results on different games... so if you're considering them, it's worth a shot IMO, as smart use of LEDs can enhance certain insert colors, especially with the warm non-ghosting varieties.
Quoted from Sea_Wolf:Thanks for the info. I think I’m just going to stay with the 47s under the playfield then and the Frosted LEDs in the backbox and on the playfield. It looks good that way to me.
Sorry to hijack this thread but lastly, I have to say how nice it was to have all the bulbs working or not flickering on My Aladdin’s Castle after installing LEDs. I thought I’d have to change a bunch of sockets but I didn’t have to change one.
Yep, SS in BG locations definitely adds some brightness in areas that need it... I like colored non-ghosting Comet LEDs behind a few areas, interspersed with 47s... kinda fun to experiment to get the look you like. Have fun with it.
Nice work.
Although the rubber rings behind your drop targets are going to get in the way. You need to ring to the adjacent post at the top of each bank and then put a single post rubber on the very top post you are ringed around now.
Just sayin in case.....</blockquoteSome folks have said that lower bounce alternatives to rubber work to reduce bricking on Bally drop banks, like super bands or titans... never tried it but i'm ordering a few for my Old Chicago bank to see if there's any change.
Quoted from RonSS:Thanks all.
Yeah, a few more rings here and there. I did remember to add them to the center target later.
I couldn't stand being so close, so I went back out and "finished" the job. We all know things are rarely finished, but I played a game at least.
The orange peel is still killing me in pics, but playing a game it isn't as bad.
So, I've got a few more tweaks, but I'm calling this "done". I'll post full pics and hopefully a short vid once I've wrapped up.
Thanks for riding along![quoted image]
Just curious why you didn't spray a heavier coat, let dry and sand flat, then hit the buffer... my Bally Expressway looked the same as yours after my 2nd coat... I had to spray two medium coats afterwards, sanding between coats to get it back to a nice non-bumpy sheen. Does take a LOT more time though. Like the look of the lamps... the game definitely needs some brightness... you nailed it.
Quoted from gdonovan:All part of the learning process my friend, there is always the next one to step things up!
Without a doubt! It's a tedious process and I've made my share of mistakes along the way. Every playfield you do from here on out it gets better. Keep on truckin!
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