Make sure the wrappers didn’t just fall off and get tapped back on incorrectly. Seems unlikely someone would remove coils and change locations. But I have had lots of machines with incorrect coils.

Thanks for that info! You are absolutely correct; if you use the existing holes the bracket for the telephone plastic will not allow the screw to clear the hole. I was originally going to drill the clear plastics to keep from modifying the colored plastic but the problem I saw is the clear plastics still won't line up properly with the top blue plastic. The original plastics all line up perfectly. So based on that I decided to drill the top plastic, since the screw head is big enough to cover most of the enlarged hole.

I assume all of the TAF plastic sets out there are old IPB stock. There are other things about the sets I am not hot about. For example these bookcase signs:

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I decided to use the original over the new, even though it is a bit damaged.

I agree. Mine is an early game with a sticker covering the prototype plastic. I always use the original if possible when replacing plastics. They always look better if they are in decent condition.

while we are mentioning plastics , i'm just finishing up a CPR gold p/f swap( thanks to DCARUZA) and mojor tidy up on my TAF . have these plastics which I cannot find homes for .all have 31-1664- numbers , so they are off this game . no rotisserie playfield swap .

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Those are plastics that was abandoned beween the prototypes and the release of the final game. Not used.

Thy get attached over the ramp you need to make a bracket.
HEP has a post about it in his thread doing a prototype mod.

Found this new Funko pop at GameStop today. Maybe someone could make it into a lighted mod. It has a hole underneath already.

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Anyone have any tips for touching up minor wear around the flipper buttons on Addams? Thinking it should be relatively easy since it's black but curious to hear what others have done. Thanks!

satin black krylon

Thanks!

I used black cabinet button shields from Marco or Pinballlife.

After cleaning the newly bought TAF I started playing on it and realized immediately that the kick-out hole outside the Thing box doesn't eject the ball reliably. The coil get the ball almost out of the hole, but then it falls back in again. Sometimes it get the ball out but most often it will fail to eject ~10 times and then the thing have to come and take the ball out instead.

I have cleaned the whole eject assembly and changed sleeve, but didn't help. I noticed the plastic end of the plunger have a weird "waist-line" slightly below the tip, might be it have brushed against the switch arm close by and worn the plastic? I also noticed my coil is an AE-28-1500 while the manual on ipdb.org states it should be an AE-30-2000.

I've done some googling and it appear that others having the same problem with this hole on TAF have changed their "weak" original AE-30-2000 coil with the stronger 27-1200 and get it to work fine, but it kind of feels like a hack. Shouldn't the original coil, or my current (stronger?) AE-28-1500 be enough?

Note: the pics were taken while cleaning, so the black dot on the plunger tip for example is not a hole as it looks like but dirt that I've already removed.

Looking at the pictures right now I also realized the wooden edge where the ball is supposed to go up seem to have a deep dent, meaning maybe the ball gets "stuck" against the small edge and fall back in? Perhaps I should try fill it with some quickwood.

TL;DR

Should I buy a new plunger, a new stronger coil or both?

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Plunger is probably not centered or in-line under the ball and the ball slips past giving no power.
Adjust or bend the bracket a bit until it works better. Replace the plunger its also probably worn.

That plunger doesn't look right; looks rounded. It should look like this:

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/A-15371

Update regarding the Thing outhole above. I looked closely at the plunger angle and realized it hit above the center of the ball, thus not lifting it up properly. So I just added a #8 spacer between the kick-out assembly and the playfield (hold in place by one of the two screws for the actual assembly) and now the ball ejects properly every time.

can anyone scan their original apron for me . I will get mikonos to make new apron decals available WITHOUT horrible borders around them like the ones for sale now , he does beautiful work

One of my flashers for the cloud in the topbox won't work. Looking at the PCB for the twist-socket the contact points looks very worn. I've tried to find someone selling these PCBs but can't find them.

An ugly solution would be to simply solder the two cables directly to the black lamp socket, but that feels like a last resort.

I'm guessing trying to flow some solder over the missing parts won't work at all; perhaps wrapping tin-foil to replace the missing parts? I'm hoping someone here have a better fix for my problem.

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I would try re flowing the solder on the board first.

This works surprisingly well

Best Advice. Flow solder over silver worn area. Works like a charm and I have done this to many times to count. Had to do it to almost every light board on a Gilligan I fixed up.

This might interst some. Flex on AA has been building an Addams from parts: https://www.aussiearcade.com/showthread.php/98922-TAF-from-scratch

I assumed the solder would refuse to flow out/stick to the worn parts of the trace.

Thanks for the advice all, I will try this asap.

Worse case scenario as PCBs go I can't see how that would be remotely difficult for someone to fabricate, unless I'm missing something really obvious. It's two wire connectors that have a single trace each that goes to a conductive hole

Send one to these guys:

https://www.pcbway.com/

you can have new ones in a few days super inexpensive.

Update to the flasher PCB issue:

I tried to flow solder over the worn parts but as I suspected the solder didn't want to cover the parts where the trace were gone from the PCB. In the end I installed the twist-socket in the PCB and by turning it only halfway around it still rests on the intact trace, thus the flasher working.

I have no idea how I were supposed to get the solder to coat the clean PCB surface (where copper trace were gone), don't think its possible tbh. If you have succeeded in this then please tell me what I did wrong.

Anyway, problem solved, although not as nicely as I had hoped.

Anyone running gold rom know if there is an extra mode or bonus for collecting all of cousin its goodies (hair spray, car keys, etc) or if its just random extra points at random times for mansion lights?

random extra points is correct

Ok thanks. After decades of playing standard version I changed to LX-3 gold because color dmd recommends it for the animations. Every time I see cousin it giving away goodies or hear Gomez calling out thing for missing the swamp shot it makes me chuckle. Love the color display. Nothing against mod peeps I just think color display and battery eliminator chip are the only ones needed. TAF rules!

You did nothing wrong.
If the copper trace is gone, there is nothing for the solder to stick to.

There are copper trace rebuild kits fir this type of problem.
Its basically thin copper that you cut and glue into place.

Turning the base half way and thickening it with solder is what I would have done.

I also have ordered replacement pc boards too.

I just paid for my TAF and I'm waiting for it to arrive. I can't wait!

Looks great! Where did you find one?

SDTM Episode 92: The Addams Family Pinball Machine Review

I was just given one of these Predator series Alligator toys for free this year before getting my Addams. I'll post a photo once I mount mine as well.

not sure, I think its just random points awarded.

I did a little work on my Addams this weekend. Nothing major. I replaced the regular battery holder with a button battery board so I shouldn't have to worry about the batteries leaking. Also replaced a leg tee bracket in the back that was stripped. Wasn't too hard to do. I ended up lifting the playfield off its bracket and sliding it forward kinda like a data east or gottlieb game can come forward and up. Probably not the best thing for it, but I had to access the back of the cabinet.

hey guys, can you help me out. what would a HUO be worth with 651 plays?

A keeper!
Location, location, location followed by
(Most important).
Condition, Condition, Condition!!!!!
Throw in some good timing.....

Condition is king. Number of plays can be zeroed out simply by doing a factory reset.

ah.. i didnt know that.. i am new to this and bought my first machine last week actually...

Ha, the 651 plays and HUO raises a lot of red flags...

Maybe it's completely restored?
New playfield?

Lots if questions on this.

If you want, get some photos up and people will be able to give you some idea of its condition. A genuine 651 plays TAF would be mint.

651 total plays on a HUO (if true) TAF would be a unicorn, in my opinion. It's a 27 year old pin, so that would mean an average of 24 games a year, or 2 a month. It's possible, in a massive collection, but very unlikely.

Always buy pinball machines on condition. In many cases HUO can't be proven definitively (save if they have the original purchase invoice in their name, but that doesn't guarantee it was never lent out, or put on route or whatever), and bookkeeping stats can be reset at will.

thats why i asked. its going to be at a retail location. it isnt in yet, they just let me know its coming so not sure on condition yet

Hopefully it's a nicely restored game.

Added a spotlight towards the 3rd flipper area.
Comet 44 bulb matrix with a 555 extender on it.

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The typical wear spots on TAF are chipping around the lower mansion inserts and wear from the ball landing in the upper right orbit on a full plunge, so start there. Paint wear around the flipper buttons occurs with many plays, so look there for touchups.

I guess some ways to identify a replaced playfield, would be to look at the end of the playfield where the 'Churchill cabinets' stamp and manufacture date and number are shown, etc. Also a pin with a new PF would still have tons of black dust in the cabinet, unless that was restored too.

Giving it some test plays will also give you an idea about condition. A fully working TAF with nice cabinet, unhacked boards, and nice PF is one of the most valuable pins around. (excluding titles that were limited production)

WOW, just added Pinstadium lights to my first pin, I can finally play Addams Family with the lights off like it was back in the old arcade days! What a difference, with such a lack of GI lights on Addams, the game is really dark in a dimly lit room. Now, I can see everything clearly and the light show from the UV flashers is awesome! The mirror blades just add to the light chaos! Great mod for sure. Not needed in some games, but this one for sure.

Firs picture I just added LED, Middle is with pin stadium, last is game assembled with mirror blades and NO pinstadium in daytime.
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AWESOME!! What a difference!! Have it installed on my T2 and have one for TAF, but haven’t installed it yet.

How much did that kit run?