Bram Stokers Dracula Club....Welcome to the Carpathians

Oh so you just want to know the polarity of your coil? Why didn't you just say so The banded side of the diode/lug it attaches to is positive. If there is no diode it doesn't matter you can hook the pos/neg up to either terminal.

thanks!

I need a new DMD to replace the original on my machine. Who's bought the Vishay from Marco and installed it? Does the display still look properly red? I think I remember reading at some point that the new displays are brighter. Thanks!

I would think any NOS DMD would look solid in the game as it red screen by nature lowers the resolution (planned I am sure) - Vishay Dale, Cherry, and Babcock are all good. Some folks prefer one brand over the other but there is no consensus - I have googled it. My humble opinion is the Vishay or Cherry for one simple reason - the Babcock buzzes like a cricket stuck in electrical outlet and it drives me crazy, but some cant hear it (inferior beings is my theory)

Some say the Babcock is brighter (and it oughta be with that sound) but I don't see it... DMD's come up on ebay sometimes too

Thanks, sleepygtr, just the sort of feedback I was hoping to receive. Pinsiders FTW once again!

Marco only stocks the Vishay, and I figured they would have compared the makes before deciding on a single one to stock. SC is just south of me, so their packages show up intact and fast, thus I've done a lot of business with them and was leaning toward ordering from them unless I was warned off the Vishay.

My original display buzzes pretty badly as well--had chalked it up to its age. During video mode the attract mode text (with long-gone credit dot!) is plainly visible. I was worried a too-bright display would cut through the filter a bit and it wouldn't look as red as it should.

Thanks again for this feedback, sleepygtr! This thread is chock full of good info; hope yours is as helpful to others down the line as it was to me. I had a fantasy of compiling all the good tech info from this thread in a single document, but as we're now approaching 50 pages it's a bit daunting to consider.

Woohoo! Acquired a BSD playfield (SP / Sun Process version). Some minor (usual) damage around rats hole and tiny dented track at the 'landing zone', though it's in better shape compared to my current one which is showing some minor planking overall and cracked paint at the landing zone (LS / Lenc Smith version).
Going to read all about polishing and waxing and step into the adventure of a playfield swap soon

Is there an easy way to tell which playfield type one has in their BSD? I know in mine i can see a serial number on playfield from an angle in between the slings ontop. Thanks

Under the apron. Either LS or SP.

Remove the left apron card, and look down at the playfield.

Mine has a LS playfield but it's gorgeous! Not a bit O' planking anywhere.

Thirty bucks cheaper at Pinball Life.

thanks for the quick replies, ill check when I get home. Is there a certain percentage that are LS or SP?

I used to have a bias of the LS playfields. I don't anymore after I've seen my share without issues.

Planking can happen to just about any pf.

You are correct. My SP playfield has a little bit of planking around the Dracula inserts. VERY minor so it doesnt bother me and I will never sell it.

Its been mentioned somewhere here before but a cool thing about the serial number between the slings is if you hold a black light on the numbers they will glow! Looks awesome with the lights down!

Congrats Nate! I would take a filthy BSD over a minty CCC or all the others I gave the boot. Put that next to Flash gordon and see which is more brutal.

Thanks Don! FG is still in pieces but it will win hands down as most brutal, also the most fun!

I miss the Shadow a bit but BSD wins in the "just one more game" category!

Opinions please....traditional red or color DMD? Having one restored and just wanted to see what people liked better/would recommend. I like the red as is but the color looks really cool from what I have seen.

Nobody has colorized Dracula yet. So you'd still be stuck with a single color display, though it would not have to be red.

I dont think there will be a color dmd made for BSD as the speaker panel has a red filter. You would need to replace the speaker panel along with the DMD.

Hmmm...may have to dig....saw one a few days back. If not....simple decision I guess...

I bought my BSD with regular flippers, I am going to buy lightning repro's. I have read varying reports of durability issues with certain types/colors. Anyone with suggestions on whom to buy from?

Thanks

I bought a yellow set from Marco back in October, and they have held up for 400+ games so far. They seemed to be built as well as original Williams.

I bought some lightning flippers from Marco. They are equal in length to standard flippers...

That sucks.

I just got these from Marco and they are correct

IMG_20150228_194623274.jpg

Hey guys, my HV coil line just went down again. I posted about this before here, but thought I had fixed it. I have a Rottendog CPU, my driver board was just rebuilt, all transistors are fine, fuses fine, coils all have power and proper resistance. I just played fifty games and all was as well as can be until I get my mist opto board and then all of a sudden, the entire line went down again. I thought it was the ball launch coil as that is what appeared to cause it last time, but I disconnected that and still no go.

Here is my thread. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/bram-stokers-dracula-high-voltage-coils-out-not-fuse

Alright ye vampire hunters, I'm back in the best club on pinside. I LOVE BSD and only got rid of the old one for a better game. It is my favorite game ever.

I Have a beautiful game now and here comes the question.

On my left inlane I have a touch of flipper chatter, where the rubber is slightly higher than the lane. I have measured both sides with a caliper and both are exactly the same. I have taken the lane off and on and it will not stay where it needs to. There just isn't much play in the holes to move the lane at all. Wondered if any of you have had this issue and what your fix was. I've never not been able to move the hardware to fix this so I'm curious as to what solutions you all have..

I don't think my skillshot is working properly but if someone can answer these questions, that would be helpful:

1) Should the top left drop target be down prior to plunging the ball or does hitting that drop target actually give the skill shot award?

2) Is there a setting to change the skillshot that i might of overlooked?

thanks

Pictures?

Drop should be up, hitting it should award the skills hot.
No settings I know of.

In the pic, the lightning flippers appear to be the same length as standard flippers, they are supposed to be 1/8" shorter then standard flippers..

Indeed.. Only in case you enabled 'Video Mode' with the previous ball, the drop target remains down at ball launch.
When the drop target is not activated, any other switch will activate the skill shot award (for example the roll over lanes above the pop bumpers).

@ZenTron: are you sure the drop target is functioning properly? Mine was stuck at some moment and was not raised.

The yellow ones are the original lightning flippers. The repros are identical

thanks for the quick replies!

I'll dig into it this evening when I get home, but the drop target is up and it drops but no skill shot is registered. The skill shot gets registered when ball goes over a rollover switch above pops.

Anything suggestions on wear I should look etc.. is appreciated. I assume it could be a loose wire possibly..

Lane is lower than the flipper by a hair. May try and move the flipper bushing now.

Is the target being reset immediately after it's hit? That sounds like the target switch isn't closing. The target should always immediately reset unless you have VIDEO spelled out. Once you shoot behind the target for video mode, it again resets.

Does anyone know where I can find target decals? Pinball decals has them for $30, was wondering if anywhere else has a set.

Thanks

There are multiple color choices. These are the ones I purchased:

http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/20-9734-5

Nevermind, I see now. Wonder why the yellow lightning flippers I got are longer then the yellow lightning flippers on my FT???

If they're off send them some pictures and I'm sure they'll make it right

So my shooter launches the ball up the ramp and it jumps into the little clear plastic cover at the top of the launch ramp about half the time. That kills the momentum and it either dribbles into the lanes or never makes the lanes. Suggestions?

Check to make sure the tip of ball launcher is hitting ball dead center.

Do you have the small clear square plastic that sits atop the shooter lane to prevent airballs?

Hope you can find some. I couldn't.

Hard to tell, but I think so!

I do, and that's part of the problem! The ball is jumping at the top of the ramp and clipping the back edge of the plastic, which slows it down

I don't think so, take a pic

A pic of the ball in the shooter lane?

Pic of the plastic and take one of just tip if you can it may be worn

Whoops. Missed that. How does your ramp flap look? Is it dented?

Is the plastic installed backwards? (mine was when I got it.) The overhang should be in front.

Huh, mines installed with overhang in back. I don't have any ball launch issues though.