Nailed it. Found cut wires buried in the coin door harness. At least one of them leads to the test switch. After some tracing it looks like a prior owner cut the wires from the center coin switch and didn’t connect them back up. Weird! Thanks!!

Edit: yep, after connecting those wires together everything tested ok continuity to the connector. I did get into test mode and it seemed like it tried to start a game. I’ll mess with it more tomorrow and see what the other issues are. Thanks again!

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Figured that was a good place to check because I have two iffy coin door wires on my own BH, to the coin slot lamps and the coin reject relay. Open the door just so and they can cut out but they both 'work' with the door closed. Someday I'll have to replace them, the insulation is fine but the wires have broken internally from flexing via the door opening and closing.

Note: I have had to fix the wiring harness to many Gottlieb games at the coin door.
The wires break at the point where the harness bends at the hinge.
In all, it causes erratic switch problems.

Getting really hard to find the edge type connector housings to replace the ones that are IDC and can't be repinned. PBR doesn't have them, GPE seems to be out of stock on all the ones I want and the Docent place has such bizarre ordering requirements I would rather not even try them. Any other suggestions people have found?

I may go to Plan B and carefully drill the boards, solder in regular molex headers like in a WPC game and use the standard .156 connectors.

Docent Electronics has them. Also has the interconnect harness. I just ordered new connectors and an interconnect for my Black Hole restoration. It's really not that bad, text your order to the number provided and they sent you a text back with your total including shipping. Head to the post office and get a money order for the total and mail it to them. When they receive it they ship your order. It's a little weird but they are the only place that has them I think.

Does anyone have any black hole boards they want to sell? Boards from my machine have been gone for almost eight months with hopes of being repaired. No sign or update when they will be ready or if they are being worked on. Ive had game since january and would really like to play it. Anybody know of any please let me know.

I checked everyone else and Docent is the only one who has them available. I decided to give them my business rather than making my own solution. It was a little strange the way you order, but I do notice they are under new ownership as of this month, so maybe that will change? Either way, I am glad they are there otherwise I think these parts would not be available at all.

I'm back in after escaping.

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Can someone help me and tell me what the original coil number is for the tube kicker. Right now I have a A-4893 and the ball comes up the tube so fast that it flies into the plastic and gets stuck. I know that there is a mod for a coil and end of stroke switch that allows you to adjust the kicker stroke. Looking to see what coil I have and where to go from here. Thanks

A-4893 is the correct original. You could try swapping in an A-1496, it's a little higher resistance, and you already have a lot of them in the game. Remember the pitch of the game also impacts how quickly the ball goes up the tube.

Guess I'll check the pitch to rule that out. What's funny is that I was looking at the kicker unit and left the coil stop off by mistake. Speed of the ball was perfect coming out of the tube before I remembered I left it off. Only a few test with it off. I'll try swapping in a A-1496 if I have a extra

Just checked the pitch and looking at 5 to 5 1/2 degrees. Does anyone know what pitch is recommended on black hole? Looking through manual but not finding what pitch is suppose to be. Thanks

<<Right now I have a A-4893 and the ball comes up the tube so fast that it flies into the plastic and gets stuck>>

Which plastic, and gets stuck where?

5 & 1/2 or 6 degree pitch sounds good.

I have a Wms coil that is very close to the original coil, never fails with perfect delivery, I'm at slightly less than 5 & 1/2 degrees. You could also try tweaking the bracket with the rubber stop just a little or use a rubber stop that sticks out further to shorten the stroke of the kicker arm a tad. Funny that without the coil stop you got a slower, better kick... I woulda guessed it would be the opposite.

You can see the damage on the plastic that was there before I got the game. Got where I could fire it up yesterday and this problem started right off the first test. The ball will actually get on top of this plastic and get stuck between the plastic and glass. Good idea shorting the stroke up somehow. I will look at this tomorrow. Thanks

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Cliffys eos mod is the way to go imo

This was a test with the glass on. You can see why the plastic is broke. It usually hits the edge or goes on top. Usually I here that the factory coil is not strong enough. What I'm seeing is just the opposite. Going to look at Cliffys mod so I can adjust to my liking if I can not resolve this issue. Going to look and try to shorten stroke if I can at a first attempt.

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Hi,
There is a mod on pinwiki to set an EOS on the tube ball return coil. Often, the coil is not powerfull enough to return the ball upstairs so people change it for a bigger one... That may be the consequence you meet.

The mod replace the original A1496 by a flipper coil with an EOS, that allow you to adjust the power, enough to go up in one shot, but not too much to damage anything.

Looking for a replacement plastic disk for the back glass. The one I have has a serious bow that can't be removed. If anybody has had any luck straightening the disk please let me know.

have you tried an oven?

Really wish someone would reproduce these :/

The pinwiki talked about not being able to remove the bow. Looking at other options.

No reason not to try the oven method then if it's a completely lost cause.

Ding Ding!

I'd get two flat sheets of glass and give it a go. Start at 110F and work from there. Heat up for 10 min, and then let cool to room temp.

Check. Still warped? bump 10-20 degrees and try again.

Oh and I'd flatbed scan that first in case the worst happens.

Came in contact with a guy that has a heat press. Going to give it a go and report back

Does anyone know what causes those discs to bow in the first place? Seems pretty common, and consistent in presentation, but hard to understand how/why this would happen from normal use. The heat buildup from the bulbs can't be that bad... or does it happen after a while if the motor is disabled?

Part of me assumes it's something to do with the motors dying and then the flashers heating up just a part of it.

If the warp always comes back after the oven method, it would be great if could use two sheets of glass that had just tiny bit of curve in them to make the disc go past the warp in the opposite direction, but when it cooled it might end up flat. When Piniwiki said it doesn't work who knows if that meant it has no effect, or just not enough because the warp always springs back a little bit.

Looking at mine the motor shaft sits out a little further than where the disk bolts two. If this is the case across the board the bolts would tend to pull on disk over time warping disk. Throw in the heat from lamps and the problem could be a greater problem. Some of these may be warping due to set being wrong

I agree with the oven method. If you have a large teflon cookie sheet preheat oven to 200 degrees. Place plastic silkscreen side up and pop it in the oven on the cookie sheet. Watch it through the window. When it lays down flat it is done. It should not take more than 10 minutes. Let it cool between a couple large books or glass. Anything smooth will work.

I finally took the time to replace a ton of connectors with nice new ones and also removed a rat's nest of wiring hacks in my Black Hole. Now my game plays perfectly, runs rock solid and all of the sound issues are completely fixed. The game is brutally fast, but I was able to finally make use of that 7th digit in the new displays!! This really is a great game and so beautiful I turn it on just to look at it as I walk by.

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Man I'll never forget walking up to Black Hole when it was brand new as a 7 year old, in a dark arcade, and just feeling total awe.

I would have been over the moon if I knew I'd own one 40 years later.

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I gotta upgrade, and update my LEDS on My game. Yours looks great, mine not so much.

I'm going to try and clamp the disk between two pieces of smooth tile and heat the tile and disk together. We are using a heat press to try and heat everything together. Once its heated we want to pull disk and tile out together and let it cool together still clamped. Hopefully this will help hold straight until it's cool. That's the plan anyways.

Starting on a massive black hole project. Can someone post pics of the bottom of your lower playfield, the inside of the cabinet and the inside of the back box.

Thank you!

We have been working on a home remodel since last sept. We have one spot in the living room for a pin so the wife wanted to bring in the BlackHole. Great choice as it looks great in the house.

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Great Score!! What is everyone's best strategy for high scores? I have got close to the default 770000 but nothing even close to this.

Got 2.1 million in Janurary. Combination of lower playfield bonus at 5x, double G force. Good thing I have the 7 digit displays in mine.

BH is a feast or famine game it seems.... less than 100k or 800k+.... really depends on how you do on the lower playfield more than anything.

I think my highest is still 2.9 mil. High scores are all about G-force being active during multiball plus having bonus stacked up at the end of that ball. You can get some insane scores as long as you can keep at least 1 ball active on the lower playfield before having any others released back up on the top. My personal strategy is to try to light the ball lock targets and get 1 g force active before hitting the lower playfield and locking a ball. Then hit the second ball lock and either trying to get the other g force or just going for multiball right away (depending how close I am to the other g force and what ball Im on).

Still one of my favorite games. Its can be fast and brutal, but its completely unique!

Are we talking 3 ball or 5 ball setups here?

Three ball for me

3 ball always for me except for EMs.

I can turn the score over on 3 ball sometimes, haven’t done it yet on 5.

3 ball for me. Getting the upper lock lit on the first ball while slaying drop targets and lighting G forces. Also, when the gate is open and you drain on the lower playfield it really helps to hit it directly back down to the lower playfield without hitting anything else to keep the gate open. And yes, multipliers and extra balls are important. Dropping the white targets twice lights extra ball.

Had mine on 5 ball forever, then finally changed to 3 ball and I'm keeping it this way, I like it. It eases up a bit on the rules like the higher scores on the pops and how the yellow standup targets' status is kept from ball to ball to make multiball a little easier.

Black Hole is 3 ball all day. 5 ball on Sys80s is weird and just doesn't play nice with the rules or the scoring.

I logged my highest score here on pinside, coming in at 3,852,020. I would love to have some carry over digits, but I just don't love the way the 7 digit displays look in this game, and I like keeping my system software original.

3 ball for me also. The 7 digit displays are a must for me. I wouldnt be able to know my scores most of the time otherwise! Still on the hunt for 2 more though. Things are hard to find.

I might have some in my stash.

I think with the pascal boards the displays can be readily swapped over to the 7 digit displays right? Any idea if the Swemmer boards can do that?

Not without changing the ROM. You also need to add a wire into the display harness enable the seventh digit.... Probably have to do that with the Pascal board too.

I got my displays from Boston Pinball Company. It's a little pricey, but I already had the Pascal board. The kit comes with four 7-digit displays, one 6-digit display for the playfield bonus and one for the apron. They look awesome!!