As Midcoast recommended, stick with the original boards as much as possible. Rebuilding them is very simple.

Man, that looks scary. But if it works.

I put a new power board in on my. When I bought it from the estate sale, the owner had the board hot wired for the GI lights and something else. $159 on macro for a new power board sure. Then I knew, I was good to go on that board. Power is everything.

I have a basic understanding of board work, but not much experience doing it. I guess I can try it and if it doesn’t work then I can buy a new board. Would like to keep everything as original as possible if I can help it though. Thanks for the tips/suggestions everyone.

New Comet owner here!

A few months ago my wife was telling me all about the pinball machine her family had when she was a kid in the early 90s. After a little research, we eventually realized it had been a Comet. She made a few phone calls and we found that after her parents had parted with it it had been passed between family friends for a while before eventually ending up in the back of a barn at a walnut orchard. And there it sat for around 10 years.

Father-in-law unloading the pin

Having sat in a barn for a decade, with minimal maintenance prior to that, the machine was not in the best shape. The playfield was worn and covered in grime. The alkaline batteries hadn't been removed before it was put into storage so one corner of the MPU board was corroded. The rubber rings were filthy, brittle and falling apart. Ramps were cracked, and plastics were warped or missing. And those were just the issues that were obvious without turning it on!

Condition of the playfield when it arrived
The usual corrosion

Repairing the PCB was first order of business since that would let me determine what else on the game needs work. I've done some electronics repair work before, but nothing quite like this.

I ended up desoldering most of the passives in the power input and sound section of the MPU since they had signs of corrision. The corrosion on the PCB itself was mostly limited to the immediate vicinity of the batteries. I removed that with fine-grit sandpaper and then installed fresh components. Rather than reinstalling batteries I swapped the RAM out for NVRAM.

MPU board after repair, but before installing the NVRAM

Once the PCB was in good shape I was finally able to power the machine on. It booted up without any drama (phew!) and I was able to use game diagnostics to verify that the playfield electronics were in good shape (modulo the few dozen burnt-out lamps).

Next came the clean up of the playfield. This was all entirely new to me, so I roped in my 7yo daughter to help. The playfield itself was dirty but not as bad as I'd first thought, though the paint had worn away in a few high-traffic areas. There's a lot of planking, which I suppose is to be expected after being stored in an unheated barn for a decade, and some paint is flaking off behind the right flipper.

Dirty playfield
Much better!

While replacing burnt-out / missing lamps on the playfield I noticed that none of the general illumination lamps appeared to be working. I probed around with a multimeter for longer than I'd care to admit, then thought to check their connection to the power supply. Low and behold, a pin had broken off the connector. The lights work much better now that they're getting power!

Something's missing here!

We installed a playfield protector to limit future damage to the worn and flaking areas, then replaced broken posts, installed fresh rubbers, new plastics, ramps and decals. It's finally starting to look like a real pinball machine!

Playfield under lights
Playfield at night
Pin all lit up at night

There's a few odds and ends left to do before I declare it done and put the glass back on. The player four score display doesn't work. The Dummy drop target adjustment bracket broke at some point so the target sits below the playfield when dropped, perfect to hang up the ball. The flippers are a little loose and probably need to be rebuilt. I'm sure I'll notice more things the more time I spend with it.

But the important part is that we rescued my wife's childhood pinball machine and restored it to working order! We've put a few dozen games on it in the last few days, and my wife is already plotting which pin we should pick up next

Pinball wizard in training

Looks great! Nice save!

Best first post on Pinside!

Congrats on saving that Comet. You did excellent work on bringing it back to life. As you'll hear over and over again here, they have a tendency to multiply so be forewarned.

Welcome to the addiction.

-Paul

Beautiful work. Congratulations on saving it!

Having a lamp issue on our Comet and am wondering if something Comet-specific could help with troubleshooting. A few of the insert lamps (non-ghosting LEDs) are lighting when they shouldn't be. The issue doesn't occur when I switch out the bulbs for incandescents, or when I use an OCD board. I've checked for reversed diodes.

I just looked more closely at the manual. The lamp location map shows "not used" for #59. However, the lamp matrix table DOES have something listed ("one million," the same as #57). And it just so happens that that #59 is in the same row and column with the lamps that are screwy. Does anyone know if #59 is actually used or not? What is it, and what should I check for? (I'll note that I posted in the general forum earlier, but just now noticed this potential Comet-specific detail.)

Thanks for any insight!

I have a Comet at a client's home, that the switches under the vortex ramp keep coming apart and hanging limp. I've looked and not been able to find the assembly available anywhere. Are there any good fixes for them?

I don’t have a picture atm. But the three switches under the vortex ramp. There is one for each hole. Their switch arms keep falling off.

Dammit!!! You are absolutely correct! Why in the heck did I write Comet on the notes!!

Sorry gang!

Hey everyone! Still looking for this metal ramp entrance piece as pictured in my post. stupid piece seems impossible to find.

The Space Shuttle games originally had 2 of these per game.

The modern replacement ramps come with conventional ramp-flaps.

So anyone who's restored their SS, should have some spares for you....
Shuttle-Inst-002.jpg

I recently joined the Comet club and have the game tuned in to my liking. I really enjoy this game, and it pairs well with my Cyclone, however there's two things that I can't figure out:

1) I can't get the "1986" lanes to cycle with the flipper. The B-8410 switches register fine, the lanes simply won't change. There are no stuck switches in the switch test. Is this a Game Adjustment setting that needs to be changed or something else?

2) How do you lower the high score below 3.5M? I've tried changing function 12 and 13, but I can't get the score to reduce. (Note that the High Score reset switch is shorted, but I've cut the white wire off. Not sure this has anything to do with it, but I thought that I would mention it.)

thanks!
-Kyle

20230513_194002-50 (resized).jpg

Does pressing the right flipper button register as switch 30 during the switch test? If not, inspect the lane change switch on the right flipper mechanism (2b in the diagram from the manual) to make sure it is clean and has the correct gap.

Screenshot 2023-05-23 at 09.04.55 (resized).png

bdash, that's it! The switch was not registering, so I adjusted the leaf switch and it works now! Thanks, I didn't catch that in the manual.

Welcome to the club! Now go buy a Hurricane!

So are y'all saying that I just have to play better to beat the 3.5M high score?

Git gud.

I finally took care of my display ghosting issue. Swapped the Pinscores out for some Wolffpacks. Much better, no ghosting at all! Only issue is they don't line up as well, the numbers are a bit lower on the boards. Unlike Pinscore, there is no adjusting via the holes either. That's okay though, I'll fix it one way or another, very happy with the Wolffpacks.

Strange thing I could use some help with!

I'm having issues with displays 1, 2, and the ball # display (right-side two-digit display).

During attract mode, the high score should have a 3 in the millions position (don't judge me), but it shows up as a 7. There's a little flickering in the thousands position, too.

During test mode, all numbers show up fine, except for the 4. Displays 1, 2, and the right-side two-digit display show as 0.

I thought the issue was related to connection between my Pinscore displays, and the board, but I repinned everything. Connections look good.

Thoughts?

lol i broke the ball gate wireform on the center ramp. it was bent and rusty. broke it trying to straighten it. does anyone else have this wire gate for sale other than Marco? its part #12-6658. $7 for the part plus like $8 shipping is wild.

A common fix is just to get the right gauge of wire, and bend it yourself! That's how I did this particular gate, personally.

...however, I will say that $7 doesn't sound too bad, to get the right part already pre-made. Especially when you'd likely buy the wire you're bending, along with the tool you need to bend it, from Marco as well. The shipping sucks, of course, so maybe it's worth holding off until you can combine it with a larger order

Good luck!

That gate is one that doesn't see a lot of stress. You could easily just a paper clip to make one.