Just picked up a pin off my wishlist- Bally Power Play. This was the game I grew up with as it was in my grandmothers basement growing up. 3 days a week and every weekend my brother and sisters would play the heck out of that machine- Sadly- when my grandparents passed the machine was sold- lost but not forgotten. This machine was my introduction to pinball!
Fast forward to about 2 hours ago and my brother and I are now owners of a Power Play- I am not new to pinball machines and there refurbishment - but my comfort zone is with EM's. The solid state stuff just freaks me out a bit - Probably has alot to do with my Lucky Seven that took more time and money than I care to admit to get going- and after all that I just wasn't impressed with the game-

But PP is a different story - I have alot of history and memories of this machine and I will be doing this restoration with a great deal of care- the cosmetics I can handle but I'd like some advice on how to keep the electronics in order - as it sits now the game works and plays ok- the PF is really really rough so I will tackle that first. nothing I am too unfamiliar with there- that being said- any precautions with the electronics/boards/ harnesses? I know that Lucky seven had batteries - I didn't notice any on PP but that doesn't mean that they aren't there. if it has batteries, for example- do I get it reassembled at home and plugged in - then change batteries? I apologize for asking such "simple" questions- I just don't know much in the SS area and I don't want to do anything to damage a game that as of right now works and plays- any and all help/ advice is appreciated!

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Like I said PF is Rooooough! but I can handle this ( i think )

Awesome- Thanks vid- I'll get the battery changed - no harm leaving the game unplugged and sitting for several weeks/ couple months - right? no harm letting things sit till the cosmetics are completed?

Ok- so I'm going to clip the battery tonight after work-

As far as a remote pack- what are the options/ recommendations as far as voltage/# of cels, ect?

so a quick search of remote battery brings up a ton of info.... I have a bit of reading/research - I appreciate all the help- this is a great community

Thanks! I think I will really enjoy getting this up and running in our game room!

Quick question re: battery-

Thanks meSz! your BOPP looks flipping awesome!

Regarding this article: One inexpensive option is to replace the Ni-Cad rechargeable battery pack with a 4 AA battery pack plus diode using ordinary alkaline batteries. You must install a blocking diode (1N5817 or 1N4004 work fine) to prevent the game from trying to charge the battery and causing damage. Install the diode in the 1st bay with the banded side soldered to the "+" or RED terminal and the non-banded end to the "-" BLACK negative spring. Having a battery backup will save high scores & credits, and some sound settings. The holder can be mounted in a convenient spot in the backbox, and leads soldered to the MPU and a Molex .062 2 terminal pin and socket connected to the battery holder for easy servicing of the MPU. Mouser P/N 12BH348-GR for the 4 AA pack.

If I use this option- do I install 3 batteries? or does the 4th bay (with the diode) also get a cell installed? Can I make this, install the molex / wiring at either side of the existing battery, plug in the pack- THEN cut the battery off the board to save whatever setting are on the board already? or am I really over thinking this?

I will take care of this as soon as I get back home- I just wasn't sure what gets messed up with the loss of battery power-I am very new to the SS scene and I am a bit apprehensive and worried about screwing something up. I'm getting the feeling the battery/ board damage is much worst than losing data. Thanks for your help on this guys- I'll post when the battery is plucked out...

Thank you!

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Looks like the battery was replaced- but not before some board damage occurred

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It's out......

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So that's done. I'll add a remote battery at some point in the restoration. Am ok to leave thing as is now correct?

So the corrosion/damage will continue even with the battery removed? UGH

I'll read up on bulletproofing for sure. This is a title that we will be keeping in the family- in fact we are still looking for another 2 machines ( so each sibling has a Power Play in their collection)

I am sure this will be far from the last time I reach out to you guys for help- for now I'm going to complete the cleanup of an EM I have on the bench- then dive into Power Play's cosmetics. Thanks again!

Thanks Vid! Holy Moly nice tutorial!!!

With the battery off the board I have some time - right? I have an EM I'm working on and plan to get to Power Play when this one is completed.

Fantastic! I will post the progress!

Validpowerdetect- it looks like the ACF-50 would simply be applied to my board where the corrosion is present ( after removing loose green coating) and the material will fill/seep into the misc joints and crevasses to provide the corrosion protection. Is this correct? or am I removing the green and cleaning with vinegar or similar- then applying the ACF-50? as a sealer? sorry for the pesky questions- i just do not know better at this point .

Thanks! I ordered a can from Aircraft Spruce

Picked up a used PF a couple weeks ago. as the PF in the game now is really really beat- I am going to take a crack at touching up the donor and clearing it-
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As you can see the original PF is nasty!

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The donor PF is MUCH better

I actually started the process a couple weeks ago as soon as I get the progress pictures uploaded I'll share this part of the journey

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Here I made the touch-ups at the kick out hole area that was down to bare wood- and spotted the small pinholes in the red.

Next I mixed up the blue and hit the scratch in the wing part of the skate and the misc pinholes of the blue ( this pic is pre-blue touch-ups)

Sorry for kinda going backwards here- this is the donor PF prior to stripping
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Here it is ready for touch-ups
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Tons of issues to begin with- I didn't take pictures because I was freaking out- I finished the touch-ups, cleaned the PF, cleaned it again, used a pre-paint prep solvent to clean again- then tented myself in and hit the PF with Eastwoods 2K gloss clear- I should really have misted, and waited a while before hitting with a second, fuller, coat. I had fisheyes galore.... Again I should have taken pictures but I was gutted seeing all the fisheyes.....
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So I waited overnight, and block sanded the finish out the next night. Then I sprayed into a cup and I hit the low spots ( fisheyes and cupped inserts) using a pipette- that worked pretty good! Waited a couple days and block sanded out- to get the spots of clear even with the rest of the PF- at this point I am using 320 girt wet/ dry. It is somewhat aggressive and but still took some time to get the surface on the same plane. At this point I then hit with another coat of clear- this coat was a full wet coat from the get- go:

MUCH better this time!

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So last night I block sanded again with 320 ( I am using a automotive block sander- very hard rubber )
and assessed the low spots again- several dozen that needed spotting again- so with a nice bright light shining across the sanded PF my son and I hit all the low spots ( still shiny against the matte sanded parts of the PF) with drops of finish on toothpicks

The clear at this point ( before the sanding) has been sitting in the basement for about a week and I was happy with how hard it had gotten in that time.

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So here is where we sit as of now- I'll be away from the shop for a few days after tonight. The plan is to sand out the touch-up blobs and let it sit till I can get back- then I'll clean the surface again ( clean the walls of the holes in the PF again as well) then hit it for hopefully the last time with a full wet coat - then wait to buff it our for about a month. That should give me enough time to rebuild the drop banks, flipper assemblies, and gather the courage to swap out the harness and remaining components from the games PF to this one.... oh, I'll need to make a second roticeree as well....

I guess it's worth saying here that I used creatix paints for the touch-ups I really liked how well they worked- I did use a paintbrush mostly and only frisketed/sprayed the white at the top of the ball arch... the whites on this game are yellowed a bit and although I thought I adjusted right the ball arch looked waaaay too white.

I ended up hitting it again with a wash of transparent yellow and it matches enough for a part of the PF that will be under the plastics up there. Every white section of this PF was just a little bit different than the next, and for whatever reason I found that to be the worst part of the experience. It was for this reason that I did NOT respray all the whites on the PF- a choice, looking back, I might change on the next PF I do. I halted the idea of re-spraying all the white areas- but the areas in question that I did not hit will be under plastics.

So that's it so far- I'll post more progress as I get more done.

Thank you I definitely will- I appreciate the heads up on the donor PF! I'd still be masking and painting that original one if I had to keep it.

Thank you!

Same here! I played this title in my grandmothers basement growing up! The plan is ultimately to have a Power Play in each of my siblings homes (this on is my younger brothers game)

I might try my hand at repairing/ painting/ clearing the original one in the game now after I remove it for the swap. If it turns out ok I'll do another swap with the refurbished PF when the next PP comes to my house... but that task goes toward the end of the line as I have a few more games to take care of and possibly sell to make room.

Thanks dothedoo, I'm going to give it a go with no second roticeree- we'll see how well it goes- I'll post progress pics as I go. I did the final sand of the PF last night when I got back in town- I'll shoot the last coat of clear ( hopefully last coat) tonight. I'll post the outcome....

I need to get back into the El Toro restore - I've been picking at it as I work on PP but PP has eaten up alot of time-

After El Toro I have about 15 pins to choose from... might just grab a bingo to got through next....

Thanks for all the support here guys- gotta say I love this community!

What MIGHT be the last coat sprayed tonight. I think I left some fuzz from the wiping cloth. I'll know tomorrow if it needs another sand out and re-sprayimage-542.jpgimage.jpg

Scratch the idea of that being the last coat- checked tonight before I left for work and there are alot of pimples- my guess is from the cloth I used to wipe down the PF ( with 90% iso alchohol) before I sprayed the PF- ugh! Sand - out tonight and another coat. I'll hit it with a tac cloth this time after I wipe down. disappointed in myself for kinda rushing it last night...

Thought about trying to buff them out but not sure if that will take care of the issue or not- sighhhhh

so I'm removing the ground wire as well- correct? The whole of the assembly slides onto the new ( replacement) PF backside? that would be simpler than what I had envisioned having to do. I'm assuming you remove the drop banks, up post assembly and flipper assemblies from the old PF before you do the slide? that's what I see myself doing- actually rebuilding the ones from the donor PF and re-installing.

I have a bit of time- during the last coat I ran out of 2K spray right as I finished- should have been a perfect scenario had the spray been consistent and even I might have been able to move on with having only used 3 cans. Now I need to sand again and then activate another can to spray again. Steep learning curve here but I think the effort is worth it. This means I waste a good amount of material in the next can... I need to find more stuff to clear....

Will do- I think that will actually help keep everything a better together as I slide the onto the new PF

Finally finished with the last coat of clear this weekend- I really think it came out great!
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