One thing to share is that I found the Pinsound sub and Ringmaster mech did not get on together so well

Im sure it has been shared but I added the sub at the start of the rebuild and only added the ringmaster mech very recently.

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When I first tried to lower the playfield the mech would catch on the sub (sorry for mess inside)

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This is because the sub is much bigger (and super awesome) than the puny standard so called "sub"

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I first tried to remove the adapter that came with the sub and this made things better but it just wasn't enough to clear. So I removed the speaker fitting and this gave the needed clearance

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at the moment i have mounted the sub directly to the bottom panel and will check the speaker cone displacement to make sure it is not hitting the panel. As the sub is staying and the bottom panel is made of Ply I don't see a problem. If the cone does hit the panel I have about 2mm clearance so will make another fitting

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And powered on with luckily no fuses blow

Still have a few gremlins to remove as all the stand ups are permanently closed which probably means I have wired them wrong and the backbox to finish off but it looks soooooooo good. Colours are so rich and deep

Fingers crossed I should be ready for the first game in the next couple of days.

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I’m a little stuck with the ringmaster head though as I don’t remember the top plate being so high above the head.

In the photos there is a 2-3mm gap where you can see the coil for the magnet.

Is this normal?
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Thank you bobukcat

I didnt think that was right how it was looking. Will remove the head and figure out what’s going on. I’ve still got the old ringmaster head and coil so will compare in case they are causing the top to be proud

I’m still having trouble with the ringmaster so any help would be greatly appreciated

I took the ringmaster head off and could see any problems, so I warmed it up with a hot air gun which allows it to become much more movable and was able to get it to go back better. I put the screws at the back in and waited for it to cool but when I tighten the screws there was not way the back of the head would close up and in the end the screw pulled through the plastic so will need to get a new one

I wonder is there some technique for the head. The problem I can see is the plate that the magnet sits on won’t allow the head to close as it pushes up on the bulges for the screws at the back

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The only way I could get this plate to not interfere with the head was the put the plate below the bulges which would allow the top of the magnet to sit below the top of the head and as such the top plate with the wow decal now site flush but the hex spacer is now below the bottom of the head

I’m going to try and tighten the top plate to see if this will pull every thing down together but wanted to check if anyone knows of a better way first in case I cause more damage?

Managed to get the ringmaster head to fit much better. I used a heat gun to warm the head so it was a little more elastic.

I then put it onto the base plate and loosely attached the two screws at the back.

Then I carefully heated the head in situ for only a few seconds and making sure to avoid the plastics and play field.

I then squealed and pulled to stretch the head. I put a zip tie around the centre of the head and pulled it as this squeezed the head and made it higher slightly. Then a bite more heat to the top and more squeezing and while holding it in the right format I let it cool.

I’m sure there must a better way but I can only assume the head as a repro was slightly off spec or something

Fits good but took and hour or so and I have ordered a new one as I would prefer to have a non damaged on on the machine

Hopefully this may help others who see the same thing

Finally got all the switches behaving and was able to run a game which was awsm

Highlighted a couple of problems to fix, namely the disappearing bumper thinks it’s up when down and down when up. Need to figure out why that is.

The right slingshot solenoid is connected to the auto launch, school boy error

I made a mod for the ringmaster eyes and they work but the flasher inside the head doesn’t which I should have checked before I put the head on

Apart from a couple of flasher that are not working or I used the wrong colour, everything else is looking good

Should be a day or two more

Loads of debugging and got all switches and lamps (bar ringmaster flashes) working and mirrors blades on. Game plays sooo fast compared to before and the kick outs and poppers are nice and powerful.

So close now, so close

Yes I know, I have still got to replace loads of connectors and their pins but that is something to do while I can play it with my boy

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Finally finished the backbox. Had to do quite a bit of work to get the upgraded speakers to fit but it’s done and what a difference to before 3B9DB06A-622E-4230-8E64-42809C83AAA0 (resized).jpegB31F47B3-2AB4-4189-9907-D0C1F533E4BA (resized).jpeg

And finally after 3 months the backbox tub and translite is back on the machine FAA398C8-EE83-4BFF-82FD-CAC8D6EA7C6F (resized).jpeg

Thanks Johncare07 it has been a hard slog but well worth it. Still have a few things to swap out and tidy up but finally playable and my son is with me this week and has just come and we have had our first game together so all the pain, frustration, cuts, cursing had been well worth it to see the look in his face

Got the scrolls on and peeled off the protective film on the rad cals also attached side rails.

Last bit to go on is the shaker, switched power supply for mods and anti glare glass

Here is how it looks so far, love the gloss on the rad cals

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Must admit, I’m regretting not getting the Pinsound plus and going for the Neo. Don’t get me wrong it is a definite improvement but I have the plus on my Cftbl and love that I can adjust volume between sub and speakers but also the EQ so I can set the levels for bass/treble

Might swap for the plus so if anyone in the UK is interested in a Neo that has only been on for about 45 mins at half price ping me

Hi Bluefishy

Cheers for the offer mate and great to hear there is another CV close by and will defo ping if I need some help. There were many times I got stuck as I hadn’t taken enough pics to figure out how things went back so great to know you ain’t that far

Thanks homegameroom

I thought it was awsm before but with the new play field and the colours of the leds the game is outstanding and the ball plays so fast. With all honesty he poppers, slings kicking out the ball at super speed.

Problem now is at my age and dodgy eyesight I am at a serious disadvantage with my 9 year old

The CV is a beautiful machine

Lots of playing and lots of tweaking. Ball was getting stuck by the spinner to the right of the ringmaster as the bracket that hold the stud had got bent so some gentle bending and got that sorted.

The bloody lamps for the right W on wow and number 1 for the ring master battles keep not lighting. New lamp holders and a new board and no matter how much o tweak they work then lose the contact.

Will need to take them off and have a close look which is a pain as the wow board is a mate to get to without removing the ringmaster

Shaker motor in and one lesson learnt is only mount on the left side. I didn’t listen to the instructions and mounted on the right as there was more space and yes, the ringmaster kept fouling

Then realised that there are no shaker files for the Pinsound boards so have started creating one with my son. Great bonding experience

Some more pics and will put a link to video I made with my son playing. Seeing him smiling and getting so excited makes it so much more worth it

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Got a nice compact 12v and 5v dc power supply for the plasma mod and future mods. Will hook it up over the next few days

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On my CFTBL I have a hole at the side of the power box with a feed directly from the switch.

On this build I am going to use a the service outlet which is hooked directly to the mains via a 90 degree IEC C14 socket and mount it in front of the power box between the box and the door on the bottom panel. I will then run a 12v and 5v line to the back of the cab where I can take feeds as needed

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I have all normal IEC C14 connector and as the 90 degree hasn’t arrived yet, I will take photos of how I am planning to set it up in case that helps

Thanks Johncare07 for sharing, could you share the link for the splitter you have shown?

In my CFTBL I had created a daisy chained feed by attaching 3 pin IDC connector every 2-3 cm along two wires. When a new tap is needed then all that is needed is to add another 3 pin IDC up to the current rating of the power supply. This was run at the back of the playfield and one end was attached to a 3 pin molex and then connected to the output of the power supply. I will open up my CFTBL and take some photos as my CFTBL has lots of mods. Benefit of this way is you dont need to buy anything apart from IDC connectors and can keep adding as long as there is wire to attach and current to supply

I like the splitter you are using and think I may add one of these onto the end of the playfield and then run a fly to the power supply. This looks like a cleaner implementation

As an example, I’ve mocked up below but of course the two wires would be much longer

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Thanks GRB1959

Just thought I would clarify for safety. The power outlet (at least the ones in Europe) have the service outlet connected directly to the mains before the switch and as such if the switch on the wall outlet is switched to on, then it is live.

My machines are always off from the wall but if you use the service outlet then take care as much the connectors on power supply will be live and the any connections to the power supply outputs will be live

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US colours are

black = hot/live
Green = ground/Earth
White = Neutral

If you zoom into the photo you will see the black is connected to L or Live

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For the LEDs, it depends if the internal led has a 5v input voltage and a resistor to drop the 1.8v or if they were manufactured as 6.8 v LEDs. Most likely they are 5v with a resistor in the casing. You could sacrifice one to see or get the spec sheet for them.

Almost all pin leds I have taken apart have at least one diode that rectifies the 6.8v AC to a crude 6.8v DC. The better leds have two diodes to create a bridge rectifier

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if you use the 12v output from the supply then you will need to drop the extra voltage to 6.8v with a resistor per led

If you use the 5v you won’t need to drop the voltage but as the LEDs already have a resistor in the casing to then they won’t be as bright but that won’t be super noticeable. Most arcade power supplies like the one I show have an adjuster for the 5v so you can increase the output closer to the 6.8v you need. Caveat is that no other mod which needs closer to 5v is connected.

For the current, you will need to make sure that the 5v output supports the total current draw of the 20 leds. Most pin leds draw a tiny current in the mA range but if your 5v output from your supply has a max of 2A then you can only connect enough items that do not exceed that current output

You need to account for the total current of the pin led including the resistor. All diodes drop 0.7v across them so their current draw is fairly well know but with the resistor this will be slightly higher though again only micro or milli amps

It is very likely you can hook up far more than 20 leds to a 2A source but it’s good to know what is being used by your setup so you know how much is left

You can either check the specs for the LEDs or hook one up to PSU supply it with 6.8v Dc and measure the current with a multimeter

The power supplies are regulated so you will always get the same voltage no master the current draw up to the Max current rating

Hope that helps

I haven’t but my son and I are making a mod for this CV using a screen from 4DSystems (inspired by swinks awesome poster mod for the CFTBL, Jady you are a star mate )

https://4dsystems.com.au/products/featured-products

These devices are awsm, cheap and so easy to code. The pc studio studio that comes with them allows you to design and program the screen to respond to inputs and display different things depending on code.

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We are planning to tap into a couple of switches and lamps using simple logic circuits and display different scenes or video depending on the trigger. Code and images/video are then stored on a micro sd on the screen and all that is needed is a 5v dc supply

TBH I am only doing this to help teach my son coding and electronics and to run an experiment to see what can be done

Another experiment I was going to try is to replace the start button with a touch screen version so you choose any colour but also show images and video rather than the static start button. Just an idea at the moment

We will share what we discover

Not quite plug and play

If you are looking to just play video or show images then this will do the job. I haven’t used this screen but a very similar one for the CFTBL poster mod.

You will need to write very simple code such that as soon as the screen is powered it starts playing the video or images or both as you can program it to cycle images and videos.

You will need to ensure the video and images are optimised for the resolution and buy the starter kit which has all you need to connect the screen to a PC.

Also you need to figure out how it’s mounted or create/buy/ make a casing

If you want it for to respond switches or inputs then note this only really has 2 inputs or outputs but that does mean you could really go for it a light and LED strip on the cab/backbox or play field when a certain video is played

So many possibilities

Soulrider911 thats is totally mental and awsm. Detail is amazing

swinks what you have done for the community is just totally amazing. Not just in your products, but in the inspiration to do better.

My 9 year old came up with the idea for both mods we want to experiment with as he refers back to the poster mod and it’s defo given him and me a “what if we try” mind-set

Thanks again

I am almost at the point that I am happy to say the rebuild is “finished”.

Need to connect up the Simba, Plasma disc mods, a final clean and polish of the play field and add the playfield glass. I have to replace the connectors (done about 40% of them) and a couple of tidy up jobs but that will give something to focus during lockdown plus the mods my boy and I will attempt

I will then write up my lessons learnt to hopefully help others. I am very proud of my pin and as it is in my living room, frequently look over and think damn she looks so fine, like a large toy shining proudly. Yes I am a big kid at heart but now I am thinking I need to revisit my Cftbl

If it wasn’t for this community I would have never got close to where I am now. These machines are so much more than the money makers they were designed to be. They are works of art and so much fun

You are all awesome

Couldn’t resist so ordered and just received the prototype Ringmaster

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I have both

Johncare07 - I used a bright nickel home plating kit which I use on my car restorations for the bolts, washers and screws

https://classic-plating.co.uk/product/bright-nickel-plating-kit/

I use both the tank plating and brush plating but following safety instructions and always test on throw away parts first