Thank you kruzman. Enjoyed doing it and learning. Don’t think that I would entertain the idea of a game with ramps. Just gets too complex and the desire is not there. I have always wanted one of these machines and now that my kids are older it was on the to-do list.

As for Hugh Hefner and what he has allegedly done to women, not ao much in agreement there. One if the girls that was close to him, Holly, came out after he passed and had all this crap to say about how awful it was blah, blah, blah! Sorry don’t buy it. If things were so bad leave. Hell in LA there are plenty of places where one can go even if they have nothing. Don’t mean to be whatever here but shit, what kind of stuff do you think went on at the Playboy Mansion? Scripture readings. No it was all about sex, drugs and whatever. If that is not a scene you want to be involved with than simply don’t involve yourself and opt out. Don’t, however, take all the benefits from such an experience and then at the end say how awful it was. Bullshit.

Personally the drug scene is something I have always stayed away from by choice. Dont do it and have all the fun etc and then ten years later say how awful it was to me. Choices people. No victims. How about personal accountability. Personal responsibility. Not very popular concepts these days!

Back to more important stuff. Game is going well. Working out the bugs. Think I have a really frocked up MPU and have ordered an Alltek. The green led stays on solid and I have read that when this happens a whole slew of things could be wrong. The board is nearly fifty years old. Time to go though I will keep it with the game.

Really enjoyed the experience. Glad that I did it and thank you Ron for the playfield. Without that there would have been no point as the original was not so great

One benefit of a rotisserie on an early Bally SS PF swap is ease of tuning up the PF before installing it in the game. You mount the head backwards on the cabinet (weird I know). Then with the PF on the rotisserie you now have enough wire length to hook it up and power the game. this allows you to fine tune every switch. Being able to immediately flip the PF over after testing saves a lot of time raising and lowering the PF after it's been installed in a game. Mine can lower one end so I can set it at a 6 degree incline to mimic ball travel when installed.

I HIGHLY recommend the rotisserie….. used one for my swap.

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You will love that altec board. I have always had a problem with the BR /power board in the bally and stern games. they are always cobbeled together, and they are no fun to mount in the head on the ballys.
I will never forget when harry williams said :" if i would have known people were going to keep them longer than 3 years, I would have built them a lot cheaper"

I have a lot of 1950's thru 1990 HI FI and lo fi equipment, and after 20 years first thing I do is replace all of the capacitors, and resoldier most all connections. I think you are doing half the job if you restore a game like you did and dont upgrade the electronics. Plus who wants to wrench on it after you got it all perfect?!
Great work. As for the playboy mansion, I agree with all you said. I lived in LA from 91 to 94, and no one was against their will at the mansion. It was hefs friends that got his throw aways, and had their own mini mansions, that really doped up chicks, black mailed them, all kinds of crap. although if they would have stayed in pigs-knuckle AR, they wouldnt have had to worry about getting ruffied by bill cosby. I learned a lot of lessons the hard way also. I totally dont buy the one womans gripe who didnt become an executive at playboy... after being a centerfold. Only because she was a woman. That one cracked me up. On one hand show the goods to make a quick buck, but then get mad because you are not considered executive material. But whatever. I actually dont want to make any political statement of any kind on the net, and especially on pinside, except that I am holding out for bush to come back in style!

Thank you Ron. Was hoping to be able to keep the MPU just out of originality but hell when I replaced the physically biggest piece of the game I guess that thought was stupid. Oh well!!

I can appreciate your conservative approach to espousing political beliefs here. Don’t want to get moderated!! My avatar says it all!

Well I should have the new board on Thursday if tracking is correct and I’ll swap them out and see what happens.

Game looks amazing now just to get technically amazing with the help of others!! Lots of help lol

Hi Fellas

Ok removed the old MPU and put a new Alltek in. I now have startup tones and new XPin displays are working.

I have the Alltek board configured for free play. However when I depress the start button, new switch installed there, game does not start. Also, upon game powering up the knocker stays locked on. Did this before with the old original MPU and is still doing so with the new Alltek MPU.

Any guidance here would be most appreciated. Have EddiePi assisting with this game and am fortunate to have his expertise but in between low and when he is avail, was hoping to gain some additional direction to help narrow things down.

Thank you as always. Making headway!! Yippee

Knocker should be an easy fix.

Probably a bad driver transistor for the knocker.

Change out the driver and the pre-driver transistors at the same time.

transistor Q3, connector pins J2-5/J3-4

Check out the coil to see if its shorted, and replace the diode on it. Bad diodes can blow transistors.

Thank you pinballinreno !! Should have mentioned that I have the Alltek solenoid driver board and it is reporting all good with the cyclone lights that spin.

Sorry

Ah ha!! Maybe this has something to do with the knocker!! Q19 solenoid diagnostic led is lit. Betcha it is fried!! Have to get a manual for the ultimate solenoid driver board to be sure. Ok. Moving forward. The led for Q19 should not be lit and it is. Maybe a board issue. Also, when the game boots, Q8 led and Q12 blinks briefly Red and then go out but according to the manual, no solenoids should fire upon startup and I have two that are. I have contaced Dave at Alltek for some guidance here. The SDB came with the game and it could be damaged as I picked up the game without seeing it alive (my choice and that is OK) just dont want to elimnate something that could be problematic.

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Just heard back from Dave at Alltek. Q19 should be on as that is the coin lockout transistor. Offered his cell to discuss tomorrow. Fantastic cust support. Wow Dave, many thanks.

Just an update on how my resto is going.

Had some smoke yesterday and could not locate it. Not sure what to say on that. Keep an eye peeled.
Removed the lamp driver board and replaced Q60 which is the scr that controls number four in the grotto. Also reheated all connections on the board. Put it back in, hooked up the XPin resistor networks and now have all my controlled lights working and not pulsing. Man that is ugly without the resistor networks!!

Still have an issue with the knocker firing and not letting go. Have to still chase that down. Also can’t get the start button to start a game but heck, I’m further ahead today than yesterday. All I can ask

Stay tuned

GPS Did you use rattle paint cans for your cabinet repaint? Primer and then base white with rattle inside the cabinet and outside? And how long were you letting it dry between colors and coats?

It looks great! - I have one sitting for me to do and I just have to start

Just tore mine down and waiting for a nicer day to start the acetone/sanding/filling/sanding/filler/sanding....etc. etc... LOL

I'm wondering too about the rattle-can purple/magenta. There's a YouTube video of a guy doing a stencil repaint on a Fathom, and he uses liquid (rather than aerosol) with a small roller, with great results. I'm thinking I might go this route too, to get the white and magenta colors closest to original. The area under the side rails reveals a great reference point. I've never been a fan of the white-white and the Barbie pink I'm seeing on a lot of restos.

Thoughts???

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I would be hesitant to use non-spray paint on the black and magenta simply because there may be issues when you goto remove the stencil. This is the tedious part. I used Rustoleum white on the base that I rolled with a small roller but then sprayed the black and magenta.

Using the white versus another color is definitely a personal preference but I do believe that the base color was white originally.

I just wrapped up my resto this eve. Had a small wiring problem that another pinsider Quench helped with big time. Game is done and worth the the effort for sure. Took about three months.

This was the first playfield swap that I did and it came out good. Don’t think I would venture into a complex playfield but would certainly do another Bally of this generation. What does your playfield look like?

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FYI. The original color was really close to the magenta and certainLy not a barbi pink. When the games faded they looked pink but the original color was very close to a magenta just fyi. I wanted my refit to be as close to original as possible.

I primered the outside using Bin if I recall properly. Than I used Rustoleum gloss white paint on the cab and then Rustoleum spray black and magenta for the other two colors

Dry time is very critical. Rustoleum is not anything like krylon. I hate Rustoleum but they had the. Ok it’s that would work so I used it. The can says 48 hours. I doubled that. The stuff just takes a long time to dry. This of course will vary with humidity and temp. I did mine in my garage in the winter though my garage is heated so I could get away with it. Dry times are long. Cannot express that enough.

I did not paint inside the cabinet bi cleaned the inside of the. An and let it go. The interior of the cab was not painted originally except at the top probably due to overspray. Again wanted this resto to look as close to original as possible.

Yes, my untouched Playboy cabinet is white first, then magenta then black.

Oh, I’m definitely using white, but the original white was not a refrigerator white, but a slightly off-white. I’ll probably go with that. Curious though why you used a gloss white, then a satin magenta?

And my playfield and backglass are remarkably well-preserved given the age of the game, and compared to the cabinet. I dropped a playfield protector in, to help keep it that way. Just a tiny bit of ball trail wear near the grotto kickout.

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I could not find a gloss magenta. Only satin. It really does not look objectionable at all. Figured while I was doing it I could always spray a clear gloss over it if it looked like it needed it. You’re fortunate to have a nice playfield and backglass. The playfield on mine was roached. I mean bad. So I knew I was in for a swap when I bought it. That new playfield is just stunning. Was able to get one from kruzman and according to him it was the last that he had that was not a digital print. More like the original(screened) and that was fantastic as I wanted this to be as much like the original as I could get.

Backglass is not perfect but certainly acceptable. If I am able to locate a better one I will but for now it is just fine.

Just take your time with painting the cabinet. Don’t rush it. I also added the Williams style corner braces and than also added the metal cabinet protectors under the legs so the cab does not get damaged by the attachment of the legs. Was also fortunate to find a pinsider that had the correct top for the coin box! I always feel that is an important thing to not forget.

It is a fun game after all is said and done. With all the modern games out there I was thinking I may not be that enthused by this one but not the case. It plays like new, is fast and very pretty. It’s like a piece of art to me. I don’t even have to ply it to enjoy it but always like to have it “right” if you will. Thanks again to Quench as well as many others who helped get me through the process.

Anything I can do for anyone else to help them, I am here and more than willing. Just ask

There is NO WAY that I could have completed this without the proficient help of those here on pinside. Thank you all again!!

In my opinion the colors used on Playboy's pf and cab, really look bad with an average amount of wear for the era. many other games with similar wear are fine by me, like globetrotters, or 6mdm, but playboy just looks unacceptable to me without getting restored. I would love to be able to take a week off work and do mine.

Ron

Take the time and do it. Mine came out nicely and I am so glad that you had the new playfield. Without that I would have been screwed. I am looking for a Star Trek playfield. I am going to make that my next resto job.

You are right though. When a playboy gets old the colors just kill the look of the machine. You’re right that you really have to do a resto. Colors just don’t hold up as you said like other machines for some reason

When renovating my Playboy, I used a real clear white and a real dark magenta. Not beause I am sure it is historically corrext, but just because I like it

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Looks really good.

Second that!! Looks very nice.

G

Wanted to pass along something that I learned today from You Tube and Joes Pinball Repair. The sound board was producing a humming sound quite noticeably that synced with the new LED displays when they were blinking in attract mode. Cutting to the chase, what got rid of this was to isolate the sound board from the backbox ground. Just used a couple nylon spacers so that the grounds on the board would not contact the backbox ground. Solved, totally. Hopefully this may be helpful to others with a similar issue.

I have had this happen on my home HIFI equipment. I have tube amps and pre amp. I even have a CD player with a digital to analogue converter tube board. Any time you have a hum, its almost always a ground problem. There are a couple different ground probs, but at least I know where to start. Sometimes a sound board just needs its own ground line. The nylon spacers were a great idea and use of something on hand.

I wanted to post that the pure white on the cab, ties in to your lighting as well as the polished rails, and the mirror on the BG. Looks perfect. perfect!
does it play as good as it looks?

I would tend to say yes. I like the game play very much. I am still practicing the shot through that right passage into the grotto at the left, which is very challenging for me. I think I am better in repair and refurbish than a player.

Trying to find a photo that I did not yet post. In this photo, you see I took a little freedom in the colours on the playfield and replaced certain parts with magenta. Also, you see why the siderails are so shiny - they are new. Here you see them with the protective foil still on. I always have to replace them since I am not able to remove the nailed original ones without damage.
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By the way, I did that as well. I guess it is needed to do so since you will have that humming if you don't.

There is nothing that compares with perfection. You should be proud of your work.

I guess I already told that I have two (slightly different) playfields for my playboy. Did I already tell where I store the one that is currently not in use? I don't want it standing in the way nor getting dirty.

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Very clever!

Got any more internal pictures showing what you did to the cabinet?

There are two changes I needed to make to get place for the spare playfield. One you can see in this picture: The bar that holds the playfield in the halfway upright position could not be reinstalled. But I know that many restorers leave that part away, anyhow, since it deforms the playfield when you leave it on that bar to long. So it was not a big issue to me to go without that part.

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In this picture, you see the wooden rests for the second playfield. I made them the same size like the original rests for the first playfield, so they do not look unfamiliar, but like something that could havbe been there since ever.

You also can see the second part I had to leave out - it's the rollin ball tilt. Respectively, you don't see

I just needed that space. But the machine plays quite good even without that part.

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Here you can see the dust cover. It's just a small frame with a black fabric. It prevents the stored playfield from the dust that is falling down from the playfield in use.

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I need to make cabinet that holds 5 or 6 playfields.

I think it would be fun to have a cabinet with two real different games to change (using a aftermarket MPU where you can change the game via Dip-switch)

Maybe, my next project.

But, there is no space to store a second backglass.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/seawitch-from-scratch-allentown-edition

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Thanks for sharing, clever indeed!

I presume you are/going to build some kind of rack to store them?

Yes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paternoster_lift#/media/File:Paternoster_animated.gif

Could always go deeproot.

I hear "Yakety Sax" every time I see this gif.

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gdonovan WOW, that's reeeeeally impressive!!

Thanks! Been a fun project making it work, there is A LOT of hardware packed in there. There is FOUR sound boards in there, five if you count the chime box in the cabinet. Not to mention the Flash Gordon strobe module.

Now there is two of them; though I have not painted the second yet nor done the adjustable lamp/display panel. Still deciding on the paint or decal scheme while working on other projects.

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Question...

Have a Bally Playboy that plays just fine, if there is no sound board connected.

But, when I connect the sound board, the coils all fire incorrectly. Like when the ball trough eject is supposed to fire, instead the right slingshot fires. When the top left pop bumper is supposed to fire, instead the top right pop bumper fires.

Then I unplug the sound board and all is fine.

Is this a common thing and there is a simple fix for this? Or a common place to investigate first?

By the way, the sound board is a new one from nvram.weebly.com. https://nvram.weebly.com/bally--32--50.html

Thanks!

Would I be correct in saying the right slingshot fires when the drop target reset coil is suppose to activate rather than the outhole coil since they happen at almost the same time at the start of a ball?

If yes, the other pop bumper error you mentioned points to a loss of solenoid select signal at the solenoid driver board on J4 pin 6 (blue-yellow wire). This wire is daisy chained from the sound board connector but the problem is more likely at the solenoid driver board since you moved the cabling.

Hoping you fellas would weigh in on my situation please...

OK, when I was doing my playfield swap, I fricked up the star rollover base. Broke one of the little "clamp arms" that holds the star in place. Can't seem to find an Amber one anywhere save for Australia! I have a red one but will putting the red in totally devalue the game? Don't want that to happen!!

If you know of an Amber version out there, please enlighten me. I know that Pinball Life says that they have them on their site but then when you go to checkout, it advises to contact Margaret as there is an issue with this particular part. Just assume its not avail.

Thanks for your opinions Guys. Thanks also to Quench. Appreciate all the help!

George

Ebay seems to have it.

ebay.com link: itm

Many thanks. Just ordered it. Thanks again!!!