For any of y'all doing playfield swaps and want nice new rails for your new playfield, I sent my old set to ibis https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/pinball-rails-reproduction-rails
(Topic ID: 85981)
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Big Game
Stern Electronics, 1980
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Quoted from FantasticPinball:First (sample) one complete. Waiting for the printer to be available to print the first batch. Expect 20 by mid April and then 20 per month after that.
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Hopefully I’m #1 on the list!
Lisle, IL
Quoted from Quench:You've got the ribbon cables plugged into the sound board in the wrong halves. Pin 1 goes to pin 1, pin 17 to pin 17, etc.
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Switched the sound board cables. It now boots. All displays not working and all coils not work(except flippers,they work).
On first time turning on a puff a smoke came from solenoid board. Need to check fuses next. Thanks for the help with the sound cables.
Quoted from play_pinball:For any of y'all doing playfield swaps and want nice new rails for your new playfield, I sent my old set to ibis https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/pinball-rails-reproduction-rails
me +1 
Quoted from chuckwurt:Hopefully I’m #1 on the list!
wait... I thought i was? 
Quoted from TheLaw:Thankfully I painted/cleared my OG PF to where I'm happy... can't go thru another PF swap!
This will be my first. Pray for me.
Quoted from cottonm4:Big Game is getting all of this attention. Those of you who spend some time in front your Big Game can probably relate to this.
It has been a great game in this session. You are on Ball 2 but more than likely on Ball 3. The outlanes have been friendly to you. You have the house lights turned down. And you have 26 of the 27 bingo card lights lit up making the play field shine bright. You also have 4 of the 5 pink lights on the play field lit up. You are playing along and the ball is moving fast. All your concentration is on the play field.
And Bingo ! You get that last light lit up. It all happens in the blink of your eyes. With # 27 light lit, the 5th pink light lights up and all 27 bingo card lights go out and the play field goes dark and those 5 pink lights shine brightly in the new dark contrast. This action never fails to thrill me ( I am easily amused ). Then this action is capped off when the ball drains and the bingo card lights start doing their bonus countdown. For me, this few seconds of action is my dopamine rush.
I know this probably sounds goofball but does anybody else get off on this action with their Big Game?
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Well described cotton. Very well described.
It is a RUSH for SURE! In fact, I would say it is THE best bonus countdown
of any machine from the early ss era, perhaps even all-time!
The speed and increasingly high pitch are wild!
Lets you know you're alive, if 'ya know what I mean.
Can someone post a picture of how the ribbon cables are oriented between the sound board and the MPU? I cannot remember how they go, but I think two pins on the mpu are unused and cannot remember which ones.
Quoted from chuckwurt:Can someone post a picture of how the ribbon cables are oriented between the sound board and the MPU? I cannot remember how they go, but I think two pins on the mpu are unused and cannot remember which ones.
I can but they are numbered I believe
20230402_154059.jpgQuoted from TheLaw:I can but they are numbered I believe[quoted image]
The pins justify to the right. Leaving you with 2 open pins on the left.
Quoted from chuckwurt:Got it. Thanks!
There should be one pin that has been cut off and then a corresponding key blocker on the left cable. You don't need it, but....
4 weeks later
What do you guys think happened here? Only GI was working when I took the transformer out and found the melted insulation.
20230501_130200 (resized).jpg20230501_130207 (resized).jpg20230501_130218 (resized).jpg20230501_131520 (resized).jpgQuoted from TheLaw:Ah the green goo.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/re-pinning-big-game-what-is-this-green-goop
Time for a new rectifier board anyway
Well that's a weird one. Yep, I ordered a rectifier board kit from barakandl last night and got my tracking number at 7 this morning! Is there a good place to order these connectors from? They are a little different than on any of my other games, this is my first Stern Electronics. I'm impressed with the build quality, very very sturdy I would say. The playfield feels like it's about 50 pounds heavier than my even wider Paragon. I really like the plywood and hinge used in the backbox light panel as well and the lamp sockets seem top notch. I'm excited to get this one dialed in, I think it will be in my collection for a very long time.
Quoted from sullivcd40:... my first Stern Electronics. I'm impressed with the build quality.
..
You shouldn't be 
notoriously cheap down at Stern. But we love'm anyway.
For the board those are .156 molex connectors. https://www.greatplainselectronics.com/categories.asp?cat=37
The other molex I'm not too sure
Quoted from TheLaw:You shouldn't be notoriously cheap down at Stern. But we love'm anyway.
Hahaha, nothing changes dude.
Hamilton, ON
Quoted from roar:I've got some green goop on some of my connectors too... I was happily ignoring it, but is the sight of it a clear indicator you should re-pin connectors?
It's the insulation in the wire breaking down you have to cut back far enough where it's not coating the wires.
Quoted from slochar:It's the insulation in the wire breaking down you have to cut back far enough where it's not coating the wires.
Right, but if you see green goop should you fix it? It doesn't seem to be hurting anyone . The above post and the burnt connectors seem unrelated to me from the green goop issue. I'll just leave my green goop alone and deal with it if I do playfield swap, but if it is going to cause problems with the rectifier board or other board related issues I should probably look at doing something sooner than later.
I have had good success with using 90% alcohol to get the green goo cleaned off connectors so I dont have to replace the housing.
You'll have to scrape it off the wire strands when you put a new connector on. It's a pita to deal with. You can sometimes see it on each wire strand.
It's better than alkaline damage creeping up the wire at least.
Quoted from TheLaw:You shouldn't be notoriously cheap down at Stern. But we love'm anyway.
For the board those are .156 molex connectors. https://www.greatplainselectronics.com/categories.asp?cat=37
The other molex I'm not too sure
Is Great Plains back in business?
Quoted from cottonm4:Is Great Plains back in business?
They are just selling what they have left. When it’s gone it’s gone.
Shoot I'm forgetting what game it was now but I had a wire so goo'ed up that I just pulled it completely out of the harness and replaced it. It was supposed to be like white/blue but it was green/goo all the way through! Don't know if it would've worked because I replaced it during resto.
1 week later
Did anyone level their bingo card inserts? I would love to get mine perfectly flat but I'm a bit nervous to try the polycrylic drip and sand method.
Quoted from sullivcd40:Did anyone level their bingo card inserts? I would love to get mine perfectly flat but I'm a bit nervous to try the polycrylic drip and sand method.
Are the inserts cupped? Or just not laying flat? If they are cupped then you will have have to fill them and sand them.
If they are just not lying flat then remove them and reset them with epoxy. Or you might try placing a piece of 2 x 4 wood and tap with a hammer to drive them down.
Or get a play field protecter from pinsider Beehive Pinball. I made my own protector before I restored my BG play field. With one of these on it will play great.
https://www.beehivepinball.com/product/pinball-playshield-protector
Quoted from cottonm4:Are the inserts cupped? Or just not laying flat? If they are cupped then you will have have to fill them and sand them.
If they are just not lying flat then remove them and reset them with epoxy. Or you might try placing a piece of 2 x 4 wood and tap with a hammer to drive them down.
Or get a play field protecter from pinsider Beehive Pinball. I made my own protector before I restored my BG play field. With one of these on it will play great.
https://www.beehivepinball.com/product/pinball-playshield-protector
I thought they were cupped but they are actually just not flat. I'll try removal and reset, that would be way easier than fill and sand I would think. These sturdy old sterns, they must have used thicker inserts than williams and bally!
Quoted from sullivcd40:I thought they were cupped but they are actually just not flat. I'll try removal and reset, that would be way easier than fill and sand I would think. These sturdy old sterns, they must have used thicker inserts than williams and bally!
I can assure you Stern spared no extra expenses on anything
Quoted from sullivcd40:I thought they were cupped but they are actually just not flat. I'll try removal and reset, that would be way easier than fill and sand I would think. These sturdy old sterns, they must have used thicker inserts than williams and bally!
Dream on
An industrial heat gun and and just a little bit of heat, just a little bit and a 3/8" socket will usually break the bond with the 40 year old glue.
Make sure you apply the glue inside the insert hole and then push the insert back in. If you paint the glue on the insert you will have a mess of squeeze out to clean up.
Quoted from cottonm4:Dream on
An industrial heat gun and and just a little bit of heat, just a little bit and a 3/8" socket will usually break the bond with the 40 year old glue.
Make sure you apply the glue inside the insert hole and then push the insert back in. If you paint the glue on the insert you will have a mess of squeeze out to clean up.
Thanks for this tip. So I should be aiming to loosen the bond and then level the insert rather than completely removing, correct? Also, what type of epoxy do you use?
Quoted from sullivcd40:So I should be aiming to loosen the bond and then level the insert rather than completely removing, correct
Start with something easy. Try tapping them down with a hammer and a chunk of 2 x 4. And if it was me, I would get the play field protector, be done, and play the hell out of it.
Quoted from cottonm4:Start with something easy. Try tapping them down with a hammer and a chunk of 2 x 4. And if it was me, I would get the play field protector, be done, and play the hell out of it.
They aren't raised, they are kinda sunken on one side. Maybe I can tap them from underneath with a socket and hammer and go from there. I got turned off from playfield protectors at an arcade down in Georgia I went to. They must not have installed them correctly because there was a bunch of garbage trapped underneath that made the best artwork in pinball (Paragon) almost unrecognizable. I wrote them off after that.
Quoted from sullivcd40:They aren't raised, they are kinda sunken on one side. Maybe I can tap them from underneath with a socket and hammer and go from there. I got turned off from playfield protectors at an arcade down in Georgia I went to. They must not have installed them correctly because there was a bunch of garbage trapped underneath that made the best artwork in pinball (Paragon) almost unrecognizable. I wrote them off after that.
Maybe a PF protector wont bubble around a bunch of sunken inserts...but I wouldn't try so no thanks. I'd rather (and have) can cleared instead of a pinball condom.
Yeah use a socket or nut driver the same size as the insert and lightly tap....heat if needed. Hair dryer...heat gun too beaucoup.
Quoted from sullivcd40:They aren't raised, they are kinda sunken on one side. Maybe I can tap them from underneath with a socket and hammer and go from there.
OK. So yours are sunken. In that case you need to remove them and reglue them otherwise they will just sink again.
Quoted from sullivcd40:I got turned off from playfield protectors at an arcade down in Georgia I went to. They must not have installed them correctly because there was a bunch of garbage trapped underneath
To each their own. I get that. Get ready for a cliche: Don't throw out the baby with the bath water.
This shop might not have installed a protector correctly. The play field needs to be squeaky clean before a protector gets laid down. It is best to remove as many posts and other play field paraphernalia as you can, then sweep the play field with a cheap paintbrush, hit it with a can of compressed air, and a vacuum cleaner.
The edges of the protector also need to be inspected to make sure there is no shavings still attached along the edges as they will start coming off during game play and get under the protector.
Protectors will expand from the heat of the inserts lights. The slightest contact with the protector against a post or ball guide wire will cause the protector to bubble up during game play and give it a squishy feel. All it takes is the slightest bit of contact at just one point somewhere on the play field.
And while a protector will smooth over cupped or sunken inserts and give you a play field surface smooth as glass, the slightest, smallest piece of trash will make it feel like the protector has a zit that needs squeezed.
Here are my bingo cards. The "Z" was sunken---deep. The protector made all of that sunken inserts go away and the pin played great, but it was ugly with all of the of the hairline cracks in the clear Stern put on. I got tired of looking at ugly and sent the play field to the restore guy to make it look pretty.
Z Card (resized).JPG
Y card (resized).JPG
X Card (resized).JPG
This is my Catacomb. It suffers from cupped inserts. I made a protector for it 5-6 years ago. And I took some shortcuts with the cleaning procedure and got some garbage underneath. Game play was not affected but I finally got tired of seeing the trash and stripped the play field for a proper cleaning a couple of years ago. It is still clean underneath. It is not a perfect play field but it is too nice to go with the expense of giving it a clear coat. As long as I own this pin it will have a protector. And for anybody who thinks protectors make a pin play slower, come play my Catacomb; It is a speed demon.
IMG_3120 (resized).jpg
IMG_3119 (resized).jpg
IMG_3118 (resized).jpg
I'm not telling you what to do, but for myself, I would do a complete top side strip/shop job, clean the play field with some Novus and install a protector.
For the record, I have made play field protectors for 5 pins. And if another pin comes around that needs this kind of action I will make another protector.
Man, you have some rare birds in your collection cotton, very cool. What about mylaring just the bingo sections? The rest of my inserts are flat as a board.
Quoted from sullivcd40:Man, you have some rare birds in your collection cotton, very cool. What about mylaring just the bingo sections? The rest of my inserts are flat as a board.
I did that with some super thin mylar about 20 years ago that Pinball Pal used to sell way back when. Not at home so can’t post pics but it works like a champ. Feels like a regular playfield and no impact on ball trajectory at the edges. Looks okay, you get used to it. Balls generally going too fast to worry about that anyway lol. Not sure if you can still find that, but worth looking for in my opinion.
Quoted from sullivcd40:Man, you have some rare birds in your collection cotton, very cool. What about mylaring just the bingo sections? The rest of my inserts are flat as a board.
Mylar? I loath those little half-circles that are placed in front of the sling shots. I could not give you an objective answer.
Thanks for the compliments. The collection was built out of ignorance of all the cool old pins to buy. Big Game was my first and I started learning about the other classic Sterns on pinside and began my chase. One of the cool things about these 18 MPU-200 classic Sterns is that no two of them are alike.
EDIT: I seem to recall Ron Kruzman saying at one time that he has some low-tack mylar. You might contact him and see if he has some to sell. If it is low-tack then you could "supposedly" remove it without lifting all your play field along with it.
But if you are absolutely against a protector, then just drive out the inserts and reset them with some epoxy.
I haven’t tried these personally but a Mylar option available here: https://pinside.com/pinball/market/shops/1343-the-pinball-scientist/05802-circular-mylar-stickers-for-leveling-inserts
Quoted from cottonm4:EDIT: I seem to recall Ron Kruzman saying at one time that he has some low-tack mylar. You might contact him and see if he has some to sell. If it is low-tack then you could "supposedly" remove it without lifting all your play field along with it.
That might be the same stuff I was talking about. It was also billed as being removable, though I’ve never tried to remove it.
I installed a new rectifier board and repinned those connectors, all power tests good. I turned the game on, the led on the mpu board flashed and then didn’t come on and a weird humming noise came from the machine. I then reseated sound board connectors and turned the game back on. The mpu led stayed lit this time and a weird static noise came from the machine. The displays flickered both times and the GI came on and stayed on. I should be looking at the sound board now probably right?
I disconnected the sound board and got 7 mpu flashes and the game went into a sort of dull attract mode. Making progress.
I repinned J3 on the sound board and plugged everything back in and only got GI. I unplugged J2 and got 7 mpu flashes, attract mode in non GI lamps, and displays cycling as if in test. Not sure what to make of that. I will re pin J2 next but it has two wires together at both pins, I’ve never done any like that.
Quoted from tatman9999:My playfield is about ready for some love .Touch up and auto clear.
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Yours isn't too bad, I'm holding for a reproduction.
Cleaned it up. Got the mylar and glue off.
31412CE4-F367-4E8B-A5CE-74503541F39E (resized).jpeg7284059B-E69E-4E90-867D-286B01963CC9 (resized).jpegB9C946A2-E27F-4B43-A353-DC4B2C27EEE4 (resized).jpegCA8D1388-DC98-494B-A0DF-15FCF44BE103 (resized).jpegEC7654A6-40EC-458C-A184-73F2163262F4 (resized).jpegF526E9F4-ED66-4705-813D-287C1449DADF (resized).jpegQuoted from tatman9999:Cleaned it up. Got the mylar and glue off.
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How did you get the glue off? I removed some off a sys 11 and swore I would never do it again.
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