(Topic ID: 104189)
Linked Games
Comet
Williams, 1985
Topic Gallery
Berea, OH
2 weeks later
Anybody have a scan of the ramp decal? If not would there be a way somebody could get me a high quality photo of it from directly above. Every photo I find is from some side angle. My ramp is missing the decal and I've been unable to find one from any stores.
Thanks!
3 weeks later
After looking at four brutally beat up Comets over the last six months, finally joined the club last night. Hope to have it cleaned up in the next couple days.
Quoted from CraigC:In the Comet Club!
Does anyone have a source for the orange corkscrew ramp? Mine has a black repro and looks sucky by comparison.-c
They must have sold a ton of the black repros, because I see those all the time. I would like to have an orange corkscrew ramp, these also had a black rim. See if you can find two 
Quoted from CraigC:In the Comet Club!
Does anyone have a source for the orange corkscrew ramp? Mine has a black repro and looks sucky by comparison.
Would love a new playfield, you know, if anyone has one just laying around
-c
No but I can get you an overlay for $150
After looking at three Comets in brutal condition, finally picked up one in decent shape. Comets really seems to have a lot of wear issues on the playfield. A few of the Comets I have looked at had really faded backglasses and this one seems to have retained its original colour well. Here are a couple photos.
I had a couple issues that I wanted to see if someone had experienced before. On the left side lane, underneath the Comet image, there is a piece of red plastic. This seems to be connected at one end but is interfering with the ball sometimes coming down the left side lane. Should this piece have two screws to keep it in place or is it likely broken? Should the ball be able to make it through the orange ramp on the top left side when shot with the plunger? I'm not sure if this is the original ramp assembly or maybe it has been repaired at some point? Here are a couple photos. Thanks for the help!
Quoted from pinballjah:After looking at three Comets in brutal condition, finally picked up one in decent shape. Comets really seems to have a lot of wear issues on the playfield. A few of the Comets I have looked at had really faded backglasses and this one seems to have retained its original colour well. Here are a couple photos.
Yeah, Comets usually lead a hard life. That one you picked up looks pretty darn good for an old Comet. I picked up two this year, one for the work break room, and a second one recently for my collection. The one for work had significant spots over 1" in diameter down to the wood at the shooter lane reentry point above the right sling, in the circles of the cycle jump, and along the entry to the corkscrew. The one for home much better (pic below) The one for home has a lot of peeling on the backbox laminate, but both backglasses are excellent.
Quoted from pinballjah:I had a couple issues that I wanted to see if someone had experienced before. On the left side lane, underneath the Comet image, there is a piece of red plastic. This seems to be connected at one end but is interfering with the ball sometimes coming down the left side lane. Should this piece have two screws to keep it in place or is it likely broken? Should the ball be able to make it through the orange ramp on the top left side when shot with the plunger? I'm not sure if this is the original ramp assembly or maybe it has been repaired at some point? Here are a couple photos. Thanks for the help!
Thats not the right plastic on the top photo. Not sure about the corkscrew, what is the ball hitting - the ramp flap not touching the playfield?
Quoted from pinballjah:I had a couple issues that I wanted to see if someone had experienced before. On the left side lane, underneath the Comet image, there is a piece of red plastic. This seems to be connected at one end but is interfering with the ball sometimes coming down the left side lane. Should this piece have two screws to keep it in place or is it likely broken? Should the ball be able to make it through the orange ramp on the top left side when shot with the plunger? I'm not sure if this is the original ramp assembly or maybe it has been repaired at some point? Here are a couple photos. Thanks for the help!
yes the ball should make it through the corkscrew ramp when shot with the plunger. The metal flap should be down even with the playfield or maybe your plunger spring is weak ?
Quoted from wayout440:That inlane/outlane plastic you have appears to be a key fob tied to a short incorrect plastic with a tie wrap.
Creativity is not always a good thing. 
Quoted from boydsc331:yes the ball should make it through the corkscrew ramp when shot with the plunger. The metal flap should be down even with the playfield or maybe your plunger spring is weak ?
Thanks for the feedback. I will see if I can improve the plunger power. I'm not sure if that is the original metal flap or if it was replaced at some point.
Quoted from wayout440:That inlane/outlane plastic you have appears to be a key fob tied to a short incorrect plastic with a tie wrap.
Quoted from wayout440:Hmmmm. I wonder...
hrmm I might have to try it. my ramp is structurally ok, just....looks weird.
thanks for the idea
-c
Quoted from boydsc331:No but I can get you an overlay for $150
How nice are these and how much of a pain in the arse are they to install? do people clear over them?
-c
Quoted from pinballjah:Ok, thanks. I will have a closer look. Not sure if I could find an original replacement piece?
Look at the playfield picture wayout posted above. The stock pieces you need are all readily available.
Quoted from pinballjah:Thanks for the feedback. I will see if I can improve the plunger power. I'm not sure if that is the original metal flap or if it was replaced at some point.
It looks like its original. mine looks exactly like yours. I would say make sure yours isn't sticking up above the playfield wood and your star is easy to push down.
Quoted from CraigC:How nice are these and how much of a pain in the arse are they to install? do people clear over them?
-c
They are very nice. Printed on clear vinyl so inserts are clear. The white areas are also printed on the overlay so no need to paint the playfield white before installing. The alignment is very good. and yes I would definitely clear over it, it helps protect it and lock down the edges so years from now the don't start to lift. But they are a lot of work, I will admit. But look at before and after.
1 week later
Quoted from pinballjah:Does anyone know if I can order these parts from somewhere; I need the red plastic that covers the left side bumper and I am missing one of the red bumpers at the bottom on the left side. Thanks for the assistance.
http://www.actionpinball.com/parts.php?item=03-7034-9
The red posts
http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/03-8319-9
ebay.com link: WILLIAMS COMET 85 PINBALL MACH PLAYFIELD PLASTIC RED POSTS METAL FASTENERS
Quoted from pinballjah:Does anyone know if I can order these parts from somewhere....
Whoever installed your playfield plastics forgot to remove the protective film from the tops of them....
2 weeks later
Just realized there's a Comet club. Picked this up the other weekend for a good price. The downside is its missing the MPU, the posts on each side of the center ramp look like someone beat on them with a hammer and it was absolutely filthy. I've gotten it cleaned up and repaired and visible damage. Hopefully I'll have a board soon and will be up and running. Looks like a very fun game...
1 week later
Quoted from Jason43:A piece of advice for my fellow comet owners...don't forget to switch your machine off before you go to bed like i did. Got woken up by the sound of the "the dummy" laughing followed by my fiance totally freaking out.
If we leave our games on in the basement we can hear them in our bedroom 
Quoted from Malenko:Since I pulled the Rubylith out of my SF2 , I decided to chop it up and make the score display red.
Before:After:
Very nice 
Is it normally tough to get the ball up the corkscrew ramp? I had some flipper issues and did a complete rebuild on both, but the right still seems like it's on the weak side. I can get the ball up and around the corkscrew if I hit it just right, but most of the time, it stops halfway and comes back down. Just trying to figure out if I have another issue I need to look at, or if this is just normal.
Quoted from Jason43:Is it normally tough to get the ball up the corkscrew ramp? I had some flipper issues and did a complete rebuild on both, but the right still seems like it's on the weak side. I can get the ball up and around the corkscrew if I hit it just right, but most of the time, it stops halfway and comes back down. Just trying to figure out if I have another issue I need to look at, or if this is just normal.
I get partial shots occasionally, but it really shouldn't be that difficult - especially with good flippers. Perhaps your game is set a little on the steep side? Try lowering the pitch 1 or 2 degrees and see if that helps.
I posted this a while ago and here is what people said.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/comet-corkscrew-ramp-how-hard-should-it-be-to-hit
I cleaned everything up and it was still a little too hard to hit the ramp so I took about 6' (I can't remember exactly how much, so I would search about how to do this) of wire off the flipper coil and resoldered it. It made the coil just a little stronger so a clean shot would make it consistently. Obviously be careful if you go this route as you don't want to change it too much.
It could have been that my machine was at a high angle, but this worked for me.
I should add that in addition to a complete rebuild, I cleaned the cab switch with emery cloth and re-soldered the connections at the coil. Don't remember what the reading with the DMM was off hand, but the coil was in spec. I also reduced the angle a bit, right now it's at about 5 degrees.
QuietEarp, I'll read up on that, thanks.
Think i found the problem. The flipper coils had been replaced at some point. Whoever did it used a fl-11722 coil on the right, which according to the Google web was used for the upper flippers on some games. Guess I'm buying a coil.
2 weeks later
Got it from boydsc331...great to do business with!
Great quality overlay as well - well done!
-scott
Quoted from drscottsmith:Got it from boydsc331...great to do business with!
Great quality overlay as well - well done!
-scott
My sister lives in Ducan....I will come and see you soon.
Phillip
Quoted from KellerDj:Jason, I think that is the first intact Dunk the Dummy plastic I have seen thanks
Jeff at Classic Arcades is making the dunk the dummy plastics. I purchased one from him at a pinball show.
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