Does anyone happen to have a goo picture that shows where any wireforms may go near the rear left of the play field? I was playing the machine and heard some weird noises when the ball went down for the jackpot. It got stuck and I found a 2 1/2" wireform stuck down in there. I can't see any that are missing on the play field and have no idea where this one goes and how it ended up down in there. It either recently came off from the back and fell in there or has been laying in the machine since before I acquired it over 19 years ago. Are there any around the rotating head assembly? Help me solve the mystery!

The machine is due for a set fresh rubbers and a good cleaning and can put back the wireform at the same time.

That looks like the piece I found and I can see the holes for it now so that is it. Thank you for posting the picture! Mystery solved. When I get the new rubber ring I'll tear my machine down, clean everything, novis my ramps and put that wireform back.

I like it! Put me down on the list when they are ready. Great job.

Where did you get the decals for inside the cabinet? I haven't seen that version before and I like that variation better than the others.

If you have someone in your area with access to an EPROM programmer and chips it isn't hard to make a replacement. Images are available at ipdb.org for your game. Just plug in the new chip. Not hard at all.

In all my years of working on early computers and games I have never seen an EPROM break like that. That is a new one!

Don't feel bad. I've had mine for about 20 years and still haven't done that. To be fair it sat unused half that time after moving.

I'm just at peace that I am better at fixing them than playing them?

Are these available anywhere?

I currently have L-7 in mine at the moment. If I recall correctly you really want at least version L-6 since that was supposed to have updates for the rotating head and supposedly had more forgiving timing. The earlier versions were a bit tight on timing and if the head was running a bit slow for any reason it would fail. Originally got my BOP when Williams was still in business and exchanged some e-mails with them about it and they told me about that fix. If I can find that message I'll have to post it. I know after running the newer code I've never seen errors with that.

Where did you read that? No, I would not recommend that at all.

Reflowing the solder by hand yes. Often remove some of the old solder first and resolder with fresh. From vibration, flexing, thermal expansion/contraction, and stress the solder joints at connectors and components can crack. That causes an open connection. It can often oxidize in the cracks. That’s why it helps to remove some of the old solder.

Also avoid the RoHS solder. It’s awful. Also brittle. Maybe limited use on new boards for rework but overall it is junk.

Totally different application doing new construction of surface Mount boards. I wouldn’t use that method on any of the pinball machine I’ve worked on.

If you want to read up on soldering there are some great videos by PACE online

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=pace+soldering+tutorial

I have one and it is a nice upgrade.

Congratulations! They are both great machines! I've owned both for 25 years and they are both keepers. If you haven't tried it yet get the new PEMBOT code for PINBOT. Refreshes the game and makes it a lot better. PINBOT was my first game and BOP the second. The BOP is currently my wife's favorite machine. There is plenty of support here if you have any issues with it.

This is exactly why I test all the caps I pull out and new ones before they go in. Haven’t had any issues with new caps fir sound boards but have come across questionable ones in monitor cap kits where the specs were off on a couple but the original were spot on with better specs so those went back in. Tested with a Sencore LC103 which tests at rated voltage, tests value, tests ESR, and Dielectric Absorption. It has helped to uncover failing caps where the value is still ok but under load act up. One it helped identify was where some tantalum caps in an analog circuit. Capacitance value was ok but when active we’re starting to act shorted. Wasn’t obvious since it wasn’t across the power rails which would have smoked them.

It's not for everyone but I have used it enough for all sorts of repairs over the years where it was totally worth the investment. You usually don't need that level of gear unless you do a ton of repairs. As long as you buy quality parts from reputable distributors then you can usually trust the replacements. I typically get caps from Digikey and Mouser which may cost a bit more but I usually don't have to worry about them too much.

Just glad to hear you got it fixed!

Does the machine have capacitors on the cabinet switches?

You should be able to confirm if you temporarily disconnect one of the leads on the output to remove the load downstream. If it doesn’t blown then the filter may be ok. If it does blow then you’ve confirmed it is probably bad.

Not so fast. Yes, you definitely need to have good tools but you also need practice. I wouldn't recommend learning on any of the original Williams/Bally WPC boards or the Rottendog replacements. They are not as forgiving as other boards and you need to be comfortable with board work before working on those. Some had components with the leads folded which are a bit more difficult to get cleanly out. difficultly also depends if you are trying to save the old part or not.

I've gotten in too many WPC boards (both original and a couple Rottendog) that had damaged pads, traces, and through hole plating from prior work. That takes additional time to repair and costs more than having someone do it that works on boards all the time.

That said someone can definitely learn and do it. Just be extremely careful on any of these boards.

What ROM version are you running. As I recall later versions had fixes for the head.