Chris isn’t selling those. The guy next door is. Chris licensed them to him. I think they were $300 with a display frame and $160 without but will go by again and verify.

Chris had the Wonder Woman translites (I think they are gone) and various prints

Franchi should sell alternate pinball translites for various machines. He'd make a fortune.

Franchi cards from the autograph session

Going to replace the price card with it
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Awesome!! Have an extra one?

issue resolved

Amazing signature too!

No, sorry. Watching Chris sign it was cool.

And it didn't cost $40!

Rob

Question ... where’s this sliding piece of drainpipe supposed to go?

I presume it’s supposed to be attached near the turntable end of the wire ... it is literally cable tied to itself, and doesn’t do anything. Been that way since new.

rd

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It's the Bat-tube! It should be attached like this...
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Pic by RetroGamerJP

Cheers. What’s it cable tied to?

Seriously ... the two cable ties on my tube go around the tube. It is cabled tied to itself. lol

rd

There are metal brackets screwed into the playfield that the tube rests on and the zip ties attach to.
Here's one of the brackets...

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Awesome!

Cheers

rd

You're also missing the cover for the crane motor assembly. Was it ever there?

Rob

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Yep, I had the cover off.

I’ve been trying to rid the crane of the play, because when the crane is in the left most position, you whack the crane with the ball and the movement absorbs the shock, and it doesn’t register.

I did a few “key posts” a while back about the crane, we can add these notes to them.

I pulled out the crane motor and belt today, as the pulley was moving when the crane was hit. I was very surprised to see this:

A square shaft and a round gear.

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Now, anyone with any brains will know that ain’t gonna lock on the shaft. There’s no set screw or anything.

The way they’ve done it is to compress the gear between a heap of washers, including 2x curved compression washers to create a simple clutch arrangement. I guess they did it this way so if there is a catastrophic failure and the crane gets jammed up on the sides, the gear will slip and things won’t bust up.

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The downside of this is that unless the assembly is tightened beyond tight to compress the curved washers, the gear can slip pretty easily, and that’s what’s happening with mine. Hit the crane in the left most position, and it moves up, absorbing the shock.

So after some mucking around, I got it “tight as all f**k” and I’ve killed the movement, and the crane works like a champion.

For now.

rd

And they say you can't put a square peg in a round hole.

It's a clutch. You shouldn't have to tighten it 'beyond tight' for it to be secure. I have never touched the one on my game so I can't say how it's adjusted. No problems so I leave it alone.

Rob

You do when the crane moves pretty freely with a gentle touch.

The top bolt was pretty tight - but there was plenty of movement within the mechanism. The curved washers need to be compressed down to grip the gear tighter to stop the slipping.

Just depends if you want the left side shot to register 100% I guess. When I play a game, I want the thing to actually work as it should.

If it ain’t broke ... don’t fix it.

rd

Got my Hallmark Bat Girl ornament... so why no Penguin yet...?

Because we ran out of space in our machines to put him anywhere

LOL!!!

Exhibit A

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I thought he was in the crane?

No Hallmark ornament....

Do other BM66 owners find that the magnet rarely grabs the ball after answering the bat phone?
It’s as though the ball is rebounding too fast off the targets behind the magnet, not giving the magnet time to activate
I find if I do a soft backhanded shot off the targets, then the magnet activates in time
Is this common to all BM66 machines? If so, do you think they can adjust the magnet in the code so it is engaged as soon as the targets are hit?
I find this to be the one big issue on an otherwise superb game

Yes...I have the same issue.

Yup. Definitely an annoyance, especially when the magnet is supposed to grab but instead the ball rebounds SDTM.

I would be surprised if it could not be fixed in code. If Wolverine, the prison doors, Doc Ock, Sparky, etc can dead stop the ball 95% of the time, I can't see a reason why this one can't. Fingers crossed!

Maybe we can email Stern and have Lyman and co fix this
I’ve started to shoot the ball from the right flipper at the E & T letters in Gadget
This works out great, as the ball angles nicely to the targets behind the magnet at a slower speed
This is an effective way to have the magnet grab the ball
Otherwise, a soft backhand from the left flipper is generally another good way for the ball to catch the magnet

I experience the same issue with my machine as well. A soft hit will grab the ball. Wish it would work like Metallica.

Munsters also grabs it just fine as well.....

Munsters magnet does work well indeed

I mean those Penguin modes that use the magnet seem strong enough to stop a ball. Is there an adjustment that we've all seed to miss?

Right of passage as a BM 66 owner,.. installed my Mod Couple Atomic Pile ,... bit nerve wracking trying to get the connector through,.. but you live and learn good techniques for feeding wiring when you've had to mod a System 11 machine. Had to lose my Joker toy as it was bracketed on to the original pile. Along with my shooter and custom loadedMezel Mods topper,.

I think,.. I am,.. done... (yeah, right)

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I'd estimate my magnet grabs the ball about 1 in every 4 times I answer the Bat Phone, to put a number on it. Yeah, kind of puzzling and disappointing.

So can Lyman simply crank up the power on the magnet, or provide a strength setting? I thought they were all or nothing.

I have the catwoman edition. 100% grab by the magnet. I also have some sticker mod laid down.

I wouldn't mind a standard for flipper and sling power settings (so I can lower them if I want, especially flipper). Things like this always seem to be put in at programmer discretion, just like trough kickout power. Increasing magnet power always runs the risk of damaging the electronics or (far less likely) causing a reset due to voltage drops. Better to err on the side of caution with that magnet and leave as is.

Rob

Interesting, I have a 2016 build and the magnet is only effective with a slow ball shot
I wonder with the later builds, if a stronger magnet is being used

Lots of things can affect this. How fast the game is playing, level of the turntable not causing airballs and perhaps the type of pinballs being used?

Rob

I have a catwoman with the sewer decal mod and Probably half the time I have it grab. Just matters the speed and angle I hit the target. Maybe my spinning table isn’t perfectly level or something.

Newer builds with different magnet, works everytime better. I know, because I’ve purchased both machines and the magnates are completely different, with the new one catching the ball no matter how fast it hits the targets. My first machine the magnet indented, this machine the magnet is dent free and looks stainless steel, instead of some kind of softer material on the older one. It is the same magnet used on the Munsters. More powerful for sure.

My Catwoman only grabs it every once in awhile.

That’s good because those claws can be dangerous...

Same here - no issues at all on my catwoman and I even have the sewer decal and a play-field protector in place.

That’s interesting, well I’ll get onto AMD and get them to order a new magnet from Stern for me

Oh, there is a sling power setting? I forgot there was, but nothing for flippers still I think. The settings could be categorized more to make things easier to find.

Rob

Some interesting results from other owners here
Appears the majority have a low percentage of sustained magnet/ball hold success

So I’ve done some tests myself, I own a Munsters with the same magnet/ball hold function
This works 100% of the time, so I took the magnet core w/stainless protector (I checked the manuals of BM66 & Munsters, & both are identical “part number and description “) out of the Munsters and put in BM66
Also I took the magnet/connector assy, 22-650 out of the Munsters and put it in BM66
These parts are again identical and have the same sticker with matching numbers on each

So seeing that the magnet core assembly are interchangeable, I tried out BM66 with The Munsters magnet

No difference, BM66 only grabs the ball with a slow shot
So I’ve gone to absolute basics, checked my levels, magnet & turntable with the playfield
Also pitch (not too steep, just average)
Perhaps it needs to set up steeper?

Still performs the same, so it’s either code adjustment to strengthen magnet pull or it’s just the games design, for example:
The Munsters magnet is set back further up the playfield, perhaps this is the difference
as the ball loses some momentum once it reaches its destination

Those that say they get 100% ball hold onto the magnet on BM66, that’s awesome
I just don’t see how, if you strike the ball flush and hard off the right flipper
That shot is way too powerful for the magnets pull to stick

For the record, I’ve added some Mylar to the magnet, maybe improves the ball hold a little, still testing