Hello all!

I have a an issue(s) with s catacomb I'm working on for a friend who has it in an arcade. He said it was working then it stopped launching the ball. Had a blown fuse. But the turnstyle isn't working. I checked Q14 and its bad. The thing I can't figure out is why it will randomly act like the ball has drained and the box playfield is active. I saw thread that talks about the switches having issues so maybe that might be it. Haven't put it in test mode yet. First time working on this one. Is there anything else besides those switches I should be looking at?

Thanks in advance!

Those trough switches can be very touchy....that whole system of metal switches is weird. So just start there.

Thanks! I appreciate the help!

I really don't like those trough switches. But I have straightened them out. I want to devise a way to use cherry switches. Still have the random issue when you launch the ball and the playfield is dead and only the backbox playfield is working. Also when you land in the right or left kickout spots is the game supposed to launch another ball out because it just sits there and nothing happens. The switches and coils are good for both of them.

I thought the switches in catacomb and the other multiball games right around it were actually a pretty good design, but not if they've been mangled.

Your game is still not reading the state properly on them if you got a ball in the lock, it does the capture speech and you get nothing. It's not seeing the first switch in the trough next to the PF properly.

Hi everyone. Well i finally got the left outhole switch working finally. But now I have a new problem. 2 switches that worked before I fixed the outhole aren't registering. They are sw 33 ,and 17. Sw 9 I don't remember if it did or didn't. Right outhole, outhole reflex, and top thumper bumper respectively. I traced all the wires to the J2 plug and everything tones out.

Also sw 25, spot 6 roll over wire doesn't work.

Ok now I don't what I did but I did the solenoid test and only the knocker fires. The backbox flipper will fire when I hit the flipper button. And now it's being flakey on bootup. It beeps and the mpu led flashes and it won't stop. Every 3rd flash is a double flash. If I turn it off and reseat connectors it will bootup properly. I hope I didn't seriously mess it up.

Just picked up a catacomb and between ball 2 and 3 3-4-7 will display on all 4 displays. Also happens in display mode.

Are these error codes? Anyone know?

Tia!!

That's the hstd probably corrupt reset in audit number four.

Ahhh makes sense. Game isn’t posting the high score. Txs!

I/m going out on a limb here and say that the Catacomb Back glass must have been
a multi screen backglass process.
1) first part is the RGB separation multi-tone art work.
2) second part is the credit insert and cover smoke silk screened.
[ref. 2a) Bally used a white on clear credit decal on their backglasses.]
If the glass sample was NOS, I would assume it came off a left over production line.
;that did not have the second step setup. [ White finishing screen could be lost ]

Anyone have an idea how to fix this?

My tech is not sure.

There are 2 white buttons on your coin door. One is memory reset. The other lets you roll through the system see what is going on. Roll through and then clear memory. If you are not careful you will lose your high scores etc. If you don't care, just roll thru everything and do a memory clear and see if that helps.

If it does help, please come back and say if your problem was solved. Thanks.

definitely the best way to go when you see garbage being displayed-

This actually worked! Rolled thru and hit the other white button when I got to the 347 hstd display. This wiped it and displayed 0 in all displays ie no hs. Played a game rebooted and it still had new proper hs displayed. Then beat it and it updated the hs.

Txs guys!

Thanks for posting the resolution.

Hi I've joined the club. I have an empty lightning cab and a head, been looking to frankenstein something together. BUT im looking for the backbox headboard. Or many many MANY pictures of it so I can try to build my own. Thanks!

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/ad/140540

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oh boy those are some pretty beat up games

Tell me about it! Glad there's a hardtop

CPR is reproducing the Catacomb play field. If you are going up you may as well go all the way !

Catacomb will be a challenge for several reasons. Currently, there no reproduction of the graphics in the back box. There is also no drawings in the Catacomb manual for all of the wiring in the back box.

The wiring in Catacomb is a little different on my Catacomb when compared to the manual. There are some things that Stern did not see fit to draw up.

If your play field wiring is intact on that Cat play field, that gets you a long way.

I have a CPR Catacomb play field but have decided my Catacomb is too nice to swap another play field into. So I am thinking of scratch building a Catacomb to get one just the way I want.

You will need a transformer. I have played my Catacomb with both the small 16B-3 transformer and the larger 16B-6 transformer. IMO, Catacomb with the small transformer is a waste of time, but that is me.

I could probably build you a complete ready-to-install lamp board but it would not be easy---or cheap.

EDIT: The scratch Catacomb I would like to build would use the Lightning cab with its elevated side walls. It would be perfect for adding some Stadium Lights to.

EDIT #2: All of the above said, a lot of people don't like Catacomb; It is a tough pin to play. So, price wise, you can get yourself buried very easily.

EDIT #3: After giving more thought, I think I would suggest you consider just buying a Catacomb when one comes up for sale.

Comb the Marketplace and look for the Catacombs that did not sell. Those who did not sell their Catacombs might still be wanting to sell.

Your Catacomb play field is a good source of parts. There are 4 drop target assemblies that bring good money today. There would be a market for the wire harness. There are 2 of the sought after plastic pop bumpers.

I know where there is a working Catacomb that can be bought for $2500.00. It needs everything, but everything is there. I passed because I could not do $2500.00. That would be a better deal for you than to try and bring this play field back to life, IMO.

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/archive?s=1&radius_latitude=37.675&radius_longitude=-97.32&keywords=catacomb&ad_condition=0&machine_type=&ad_machine_manuf=&year_from=&year_to=&radius_distancekm=0&sort_by=ad_end_date&sort_order=DESC#results

Good info. I have the transformer, all boards. I also Have an extra head wire harness from a Stern Galaxy. PF wire harness is all intact. Im currently building a Rolling Stones and Seawitch so i have experience frankentsteining things together. Only thing I'm afraid of is not finding the backbox headboard that whole assembly looks hard to make.. Hoping someone somewhere has 1 lying around in a corner
Hardtop+stencils+backglass is a lot cheaper than buying a used one for 2500 or 3k. Lots of work but I enjoy the challenge

- if there's a hardtop available for a game, I'd rather get the HT than CPR PF, im also OH born and raised and love giving outside edge my money

OK. Sounds like you know where you are headed.

The displays harness for Cat and Witch are the same. You may be able to adjust the wires in the Galaxy harness to fit. You will need to add some wiring for the 7 digit display.

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There is an outfit John Greatwich knows about that is making Stern cabinets. So getting a back box should not be too hard. Table saw to the rescue: I will probably make my own back box when the time comes.

The back box headboard is the lamp board if we are not talking past each other. That will be difficult. I am thinking I would have to strip mine down to bare wood and have the lamp board graphics scanned and then make some sort of vinyl overlay.
12 switches have be wired up and there is no drawing for them ( there is nothing in the drawings in the manual that addresses the bagatelle wiring in any way ). I can take you all the pictures you want.

Some custom brackets for the one-way gate would have to be designed and built. I have made about 30 of the wires gates to help some owners out. however, the 2 factory one-way gate brackets are scarce. I will not even send mine out to Mantis as a pattern for repro brackets ( with my luck they would get lost in the mail ).

I don't follow the hardtop guys but do they even make a hard top for Catacomb?

CPR makes the plastics so that is one hurdle you don't have to jump.

it's in the list
http://www.outsideedgeproducts.com/

Well I am in luck again because I have an extra hot hand back box headboard/light board thing. I would love some pictures. Today is day 2 of doing this so I might also get lucky and find the light board at the next couple of shows. But at least I have a great starting point here

Clarify please. Do you have a Hot Hand back box and the lamp board? Or just a Hot Hand lamp board? A Hot Hand lamp board is not going to do you much good, other than give you something to profile on a blank piece of wood.

If you have the back box along with the other items you say you have then you are close to golden.

I'll work on getting you some pictures but my schedule is rather full ATM.

Send me a PM if you would like.

I have a Stern Lightning cabinet, and then I Have a flight 2k head and a Stern Dracula head as well. And a hot hand light board to put in one of those

AFAIK, all Stern back boxes/heads are the same. You have almost everything. The transformer is a nice inventory item to have.

The HH lamp board is not going to help you, though. Even a Seawitch lamp board will not help you; While the displays harness should cross over without issue, the displays are in a slightly different position

This makes sense. I will PM you in a few days when I get caught up on other work. Have a great day

Found the backbox headboard, but the wires are cut from the display harness. Where do these go?

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I would need to see where those wires are in relation to the rest of the harness.

First guess is that they are for connector J-3 on the rectifier

Got a lot of things done....Cabinet stenciled, wire harness made, used my cricut to make the images a past pinsider had on here for drop target decals, hardtopped....many other things!

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I'd like to see your drop targets decals.

Also, what color of green did you use?

Couple of things I'm having issues with, the left flipper button switch is wired to J3-16, which I got. But, it's also wired to J2-1, which I am not sure how that is wired, since J2-1 is on the playfield, do I have to daisy chain this somehow?

Also having issue with the VSU 100 wiring. I can understand everything except "J3 pin 1 to GI buss" ...which GI buss should I connect this to since there are multiple GI Buss labeled in the schematic? Thanks

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Both switches do double duty. I'll have to open mine up and get you some pics.

Is your lamp board wired up complete? Is the bagatelle wired up?

None of the bagatelle stuff is in the drawing.

What are these pictures of? On Catacomb, there are 4 drops with 3 targets each. You have 3 sets of four decals. How will you be using these?

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I would assume one design per bank so each bank would have one dragon, one rat, one shackle

Yep that's what I did. 1 of each, 4 times. Pictures are on this pinside thread page 1 of image gallery

Where did you find the Catacomb lightboard with the unique bagatelle field?

The guy I bought the playfield from found the bagatelle board in his barn a few months later

The hot side of any GI bus that is always on should work. The GI lamps on the backbox illumination will probably be fairly convenient given the location of the board.

This is one of the final things I'm confused about, any pictures would be great
Using a Dracula Cabinet wire harness
When i say Left flipper switch, I mean the one in the matrix for moving lights for bagatelle.
Catacomb Manual shows the left flipper switch, J3-16, that was in the cube molex for the coin door so I cut that and im ready to connect that to flipper switch, but how should I wire this J2-1 W-R since the other switches in that daisy chain column are on the playfield? Thanks

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I disassembled some of my wiring a couple of years ago and made a drawing of the bagatelle wiring. I'll dig it up for you.

Here is the drawing I made up of the bagatelle wiring. It is not the easiest to read and I need to study it again myself.

Any questions? Ask. We'll get you going.

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I wish to ask, did your Catacomb play field come with the multi-ball launch hardware?

That part of the switch wiring diagram makes no sense. The cabinet switch matrix wiring diagram shows it correctly. Below is what it should look like modified in red:
Red-Yellow wire is the strobe #0 wire with the diode. Yellow wire is the I7 return wire.

cottonm4 and I actually discussed this a few years ago over PM. Per his diagram above his game uses an Orange-Red wire in place of the Yellow wire. There are pictures of the left flipper switches in this thread at:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/catacomb-club/page/17#post-5338662
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/catacomb-club/page/4#post-2648876

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I need to redo this drawing. I can hardly read it myself. It is an abortion of a drawing.

Been there and done that. At times, makes me wonder if I was black-out drunk when I wrote them down.

Im not understanding the pictures, does Flipper switch for the bagatelle has 3 lugs? Lug with Yellow wire doesn't have diode, lug with Red/yellow wire has banded side, and other lug non banded diode? And, I'm daisy chaining the coin door switch red yellow wire to the flipper switch correct? Thanks

Left flipper switch. It is a stacked switch with two blade sets. There are 5 lugs. The 5th lug is for your diode feed.

10 pics. If you need more clarity, I can get more pics at different angles.

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Right flipper is nothing special.

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The back box mechanicals. You are going to have a lot of questions. We'll do it one wire at a time. Hopefully, all of these parts are on the back box panel your seller located.

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Thank you for the great pics!!!

Hello all! Got our Catacomb a few weeks ago. After cleaning exterior of the cabinet, cleaning & waxing playfield, cleaning posts and plastics and new rubber kit, she looks pretty dang good. Cabinet is in pretty good shape and playfield is in great shape. Going to “update” pop bumpers to translucent orange with Metallica pop bumper as seen on cottonm4 machine, but slightly different. Will post pics.

On another note, does anyone have some old plastics they have replaced? We need a right slingshot plastic, ours is broken. Also, the large plastic in the Bagatelle? Not looking for free, just not wanting to get a complete set.

And last, our game is number 5805.

Cheers!