Technically they're all unobtainium as WMS isn't making parts.... so anything you get is a modern recreation/replacement. Because of this, I just buy the raw blades and contacts from pinball resource and build my own. I either replace the existing stacked parts one blade at a time maintaining the stack spacing, or I create a new stack as I have tons of the little bakelite pieces and tubing laying around from when you could buy a populated playfield at a show for $10 for a treasure trove of parts. At some point I actually had time to strip all the PF's down to the switches and sorted them into a bin for easy access.

I have a physical copy of the 1980 parts catalog myself but for people that don't it's available for viewing on planetary's webiste.
https://www.planetarypinball.com/williamsbally-parts-manuals

Thanks. The sleeve kit from Marco is incomplete then, as it only comes with two of the 2 1/16" sleeves.

Pop bumper reference pix for @crispin.

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Hello,

Early production BK owner here. Looking for new stand off's to use on a new set of re-pop plastics set. Question, are the old ones re-usable considering they were furled and rolled over the original plastics almost like a rivet?

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SteelTigers , I also have an early production unit, and I reused every single one of those standoffs when I replaced all my plastics a few months ago. I had assumed that these parts are only available from 'parted out' machines, which I don't have access to.

I used a philips screwdriver to (slowly and gently but also very firmly) push the rolled edge back through the hole, then used needle-nose pliers to manually unroll the edge just enough to push it into the new hole. Then I used the same screwdriver, stuck it in the tip that I just unrolled, and pushed down while rotating, to 're-roll' it.

It may be a little crude, but it is also very effective. Once mounted, nobody could ever tell the difference. Works fine, looks fine, job done.

Good luck!

Yes, they are not included with new plastics, so you need to re-use them, or source them.

It is possible to heat them and sink the plastic back on.. I think most people just file the top bevel off, and then find a suitable screw to put them on which makes future servicing easier as well.

Interesting process, thank you for the heads up.

Another great idea, thanks guys.

What do you all suggest for one of the main upper playfield plastic, and the round head rivets on the L-shaped brackets - when swapping the fastening hardware on to new plastics?

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I just joined the club!

It was a long-time HUO (the family owned it since 1982) and has seen little use, but it definitely needs a shop out since they didn't maintain it well. Batteries were also leaking, so I will have to go through it.

For the riveted pieces, I drilled out the rivets and reused the brackets. Instead of a new rivet, I used a #6 nylon screw and nut to reconnect, then painted the nylon screw head red (with a Sharpie) to match the plastic. Invisible unless you know to look directly at it.

I have an extra BK game manual and flipper maintenance manual to sell if anyone interested...PM me.

[SOLVED: Stuck credit switch] I've recently bought a Black Knight. There's a weird issue I'm not sure what it is. Before starting a game (even during) there's a random sound that happens every once and a while. Sometimes it's just one sound but sometimes there's a bunch in a row. It almost sounds like a video game phaser shooting sound. I first thought it was a stuck switch so I tried pushing all switches to see if I could replicate the same sound. It's close to the sound the upper ramp gate (or spinner) makes but it's slightly different. Also when that sound happens during a game, no points get scored so I don't think it's s stuck switch as I originally thought. Any ideas what is making that sound?

Sounds like a ground issue. Does your sound and speech board have all the screws attached to hold these boards to the sound board mount on the back box? Have you checked the header pins on the pcb and wires on the connector at 10J3 on the sound board? Look for cracked solder joints on each pin on the 10J3 header, reflow solder if necessary. Then check the IJ8 header connection on the MPU in the same fashion, check the pins and wires running into the connector, look for bent connectors inside the Molex connector or wire fraying. Check the boards and components for corrosion on each IC leg, transistor or diode or anything that might cause out of spec resistance.

If you already done this, it might be time to break out the logic probe and dmm and start looking at the CPU, PIA, RAM and or ROM on the sound board Also probe the PIA at location IC36 on the MPU board...

The sound was the credit added sound. The credit switch was stuck. I have the game on free play so I've actually never heard the added credit sound.

Interesting. Sounded like a random ground problem, I obviously read to much into the issue...

And on another note, my playfield plastics arrived. I'm gonna go with the tube rivets for the original look for the plastics that require brackets.

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Ok guys, my rivet press and rivets arrived. For the BK plastics you will want the 1/8" x 3/16" mild steel, zinc plated rivet. The 1/8" being the head diameter and 3/16" being the tube length. I went with this c-clamp style press because if you look closely, I placed a bracket next to it, to show how close the bracket rivet hole is to the press shaft. So clearance was considered when searching for a suitable press.

I ran a Dremel polish wheel on the brackets. Now it's time to re-install the brackets on the new plastic set. Catch up later...

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Hello; my girlfriend has a BK we picked up a year or so ago; her family had one when she was a kid and wanted for her collection. My experience in dealing with games has been newer (90's and newer) and older (one old EM game I have), so this era of machine is new to me (electronics, but weirder than I'm used to!).

It has been working fine, but a while back the Start button stopped working. It's been in freeplay, but even adding credits, the button doesn't operate. Thinking it was just a dirty switch, I tried cleaning it, and then even jumpered it with a piece of metal, and it's not starting the game. Also confirmed the physical switch seems to work fine by testing it with a multimeter continuity test.

This seemed odd to me, so I've been mining this thread for more info, and see there's a whole concept of a "switch matrix".

Am I correct in understanding that if one of the other switches in the same column or row as the start button is not operating, it can also stop the start button from working?

I see this general Williams guide mentioned in the thread: http://www.firepowerpinball.com/downloads/FlipperManual.pdf

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/black-knight-clubmembers-only/page/15#post-3802375

I had a problem on my BK a while back where the start button wasn't working. I checked so many things until i finally looked at the switch matrix and realized i had to check every other switch on the same column and row as the start switch. Sure enough it was the ball-roll tilt on the left side of the cabinet had a wire broke off (same row as start switch). That's when i finally 'got' how the switch matrix works, and perhaps more importantly: how to troubleshoot it.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/black-knight-clubmembers-only/page/18#post-4146945

In looking at that FlipperManual.pdf above, I don't see where these "pins" for the "switch matrix" would be, where I might be jumpering between. Is that in the backbox somewhere?

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/black-knight-clubmembers-only/page/30#post-4665386

Aha, good to know the start button == "credit button"!

This post has a picture of the "switch matrix":

So, I think my plan is to:
- Try and get into switch test mode
- Test all of the switches in column 1 and row 3
- See if I can find where these switch matrix "pins" are to possibly jumper (still not real clear on this bit)
- PROFIT (oh, wait)
- Try and identify which of these switches (because it doesn't seem to be Start/Credit button switch itself) is not working (would it likely be OPEN? Or CLOSED?)

Seem about right? Thank you!

This may sound like a longshot, but worth it if it turns out to be the issue.

BK will not start a game if one or more balls are "not present" in the upper or lower troughs. Make sure there are no balls stuck somewhere on the playfield (outside of the troughs), make sure the balls in the troughs are actually sitting on their rollover switches, and lastly make sure those rollover switches in the troughs are registering in the switch test.

Holy heck Mathazar you nailed it. There was no ball in the top trough, which is something I never ever would have realized was a possible problem without your help. Many thanks!

The Black Knight lives again.

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Glad it's living again! But I want to be clear about something....you don't actually need a ball in the top trough to start a game. It can be empty and all 3 balls in the bottom trough....that should allow you to start a game, too. But what you discovered is a pretty major clue to the real root cause: if you have all three balls in the bottom trough, and the top trough is empty, and you cannot start a game that likely means one of the three rollover switches in the bottom trough isn't working right. You can narrow that down in the switch test.

Put the game in switch test mode with no balls in the game. Use your finger to depress each of the rollover switches, one at a time, in the bottom trough (you may need to remove the apron to access to rollover switches). If the switch is working, for each one you'll get the appropriate switch number displayed on the backglass and an audible tone.

johnstewart - if you're unfamiliar with the BK switch test, this video will help you. It's blurry, but really informative. About 5 minutes in he starts talking specifically about how the switch test works, but I'd recommend you watch the whole video if you've not done any System 7 machine self tests (like Black Knight) or need a refresher:

I have a Black Knight restoration going. The game was complete with spares, except the lower cab was badly damaged. I threw away everything except the cut off front of the original cabinet. I took measurements from a Solar Fire lower cabinet before I messed up and sold that game. I looked around for drawings and couldn't find any so I redrew it in Fusion 360 and made a set of parts drawings for my own use. I used them to build a lower and the dimensions are working out properly so far. I included the backbox as well. If anyone wants them for a replacement cab project, message me.

Standard disclaimer applies.

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Note, the playfield support block positions and lengths on these drawings are not right. I will revise to the final, correct locations and re-send to anyone who got the plans from me in the next few weeks after I can assemble a playfield enough to test. So far everything else is perfect.

Hi all.

Does anyone happen to have a good scan of the Display Intercabling Card on the back of the insert board?

Thanks!

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Good question, I have been looking for someone who might have a vector copy. Looks like the size paper on my bk is 8.5" x 5-3/8". Mine is intact but is turning a brownish color and the edges are a little crispy. lol...

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Well guys, I re-refitted and pressed the new rivets to the brackets. Waiting on Cliffy's BK Armor set for the playfield. Once I get those and install the protectors, I can finish up installing the rest of the plastics set...

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Can anybody tell me the rules of Last Chance? Working on somebody's game and when in Last Chance the game spits out multiple balls in the shooter lane. Makes it nearly impossible to launch the balls into play. Shooter lane switch is working in test mode and in the rest of the gameplay without issue.

That’s the way it works on mine.

As soon as a ball is ejected to the shooter lane, plunge before another is ejected and before time runs out.

Finished my Black Knight coin door this weekend and this pretty much completes the restoration. Time to play!

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Looking great!

How's it playing?

That’s the way the game should have looked off the assembly line! Good job.

It's playing fan-damn-tastic. It's super-lively with the new rubber set, the hardtop is fast, and the flippers and slings are strong. Drop targets are all behaving nicely and the spinner is smooth. I'm most pleased with the three ball transition areas where I used to get annoying hops:

- upper playfield as the ball rolls along the long rubber feeding into the upper left flipper
- both lower inlanes that feed to the flippers

All three areas are dialed in now for silky smooth transitions...no hops as the ball reaches the flipper!

One thing I'm going to work on - my upper trough still has the occasional fly-through when it's empty and the first ball in is hit hard. I'd say it flies through 2 time out of 10. It used to be 6 or 7 out of 10 before I put in the Cliffy and rigged up a small piece of foam to slow the ball down upon entry, so it's better. But I can probably twiddle with it some more to make it bullet-proof.

Going to enjoy the game and a nice clean rec room for a little while, then set up my streaming/recording rig to capture some gameplay for my restoration thread.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/black-knight-clubmembers-only/page/54#post-7139173

This is the way to do it, no foam. Like I said in the linked post (this is frunch 's pic, not mine.... I can't find mine and too lazy to take another) - you block the entry that would fly through with metal angled so that you don't ding up the ball or whatever type of bracket you use, it cannot fly through (or bounce out.)

Just bumping this in case anyone can help out here.

Thanks.

A

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Ahhh! Where did you get the coin switch cover?

You can get 3d printed off Ebay, but Action Pinball had a couple OS yellow ones in stock when I last looked.

So I'm going to admit to something embarassing. I had no idea until my coin door restoration was finished and I was putting on my repro'd labels.

My only excuse is that this is my first Williams SS restoration (even tho I've had and played this Black Knight for a few years already prior to the restore, lol).

My original coin door came with one yellow cover for the right most coin slot switch and it didn't have the OEM sticker on it. I thought it was just a cover to protect the leaf switch from dust, dirt, whatever. After I reassembled the coin door and starting applying the decals, I saw the text of the sticker that goes on the yellow cover saying "PRESS HERE TO ENTER CREDITS". I thought "that's odd...there no button there or anything" and that's when I noticed a part of that yellow cover is a ridge pressed up against the leaf switch. And there's a notch cut into the top of the yellow cover. And when you press on the upper part of that yellow cover, it goes into the notch, the ridge presses against and closes the leaf switch, and a credit is added. Brilliant.

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Heh your excuse is better than mine. I've had my HUO BK for 30 years, it has all three of those plastic covers but I never noticed that sticker either until now. Hell I wasn't really sure if the covers were *there* until I went and looked. I probably set it to free play when I got it so I've never touched the coin mechs or coin switches.

That’s wild.

Not a fan of the black coin door. Such a shame to cover the beautiful stainless.

That era of Williams looks so awesome with the stainless doors.

I'll take factory stainless over paint any day of the week but since the title is Black Knight and the base color is black, I kinda like the whole black out treatment on this one, it doesn't stick out. Would be different if everything was painted red or yellow or whatever.

Not surprised - you've not liked my BK resto job since I stripped off the scratched paint to repair the gouged and planked cabinet and head, lol.

That's the beauty of this hobby - there's room for everybody.

Don't want to remove mine to scan it but here's a couple of pretty straight photos if you can use them.

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The thing I try to keep in mind with fixing and restoring games is they are only original once. The more original fabric you can save the better.

Excellent, thank you!

I just brought home a Black Knight last night. It needs some love, I can tell you that. I do not know how to fix/work on a pinball machine. Hiring it out. Having said that, I full expect to be playing this bad boy in the next two weeks. I am so excited.

You should be. Congratulations!

I got mine just a few months ago, and I love and appreciate it more now than I did as a kid in 1980.

Unsolicited (but sincere) recommendation for you or your restoration technician, while you're waiting for the Knight to put his arse-kicking boots back on:

Jack up your playfield incline to 5.2 degrees.
(inclinometer on PF surface, not on the glass)

Here's another.

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New member of the Black Knight club, prepping this game for hard top and fixing quite a few things. Just got done swapping in a new backbox board. The old one was moldy and warped. Pulled all the lamp sockets, displays and hardware. I want to order new hardware for the right side alignment bracket and the latch.

Ordered a new board from the guy off ebay. It's a perfect match for the original. Had a Williams genuine sticker on it as well.

I'm currently in the process of putting all new headers on all the boards and well as switching to Trifurcon with molex connectors and getting away from IDC.

I've already recapped the entire power supply board and have an Inkochnito rectifier board on the way. Waiting for Digikey to deliver the caps for the sound and speech board. My unit came with a Rottendog MPU327-1.

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Used lower playfield good for a hard top project. $150 plus shipping in the US. Send me a pm.

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Fixing up this black knight and wanting to correct this gi hack. Can anyone take a couple pics showing how the upper pf right side gi wiring should look?

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