I'll be joining the club this week, pray the wife doesn't kill me from adding another pin!
Any common failures to look for when I pick it up?
(Topic ID: 50221)
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Congo
Williams, 1995
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Quoted from bigd1979:Maybe not glass gets dusty quickly depending on the home environment
Ok, got it cleaned up a little.
I ordered the volcano scoop from mantis... Looks like I need a new lower playfield window... Are these plastic? What is recommended?
Quoted from beelzeboob:I suppose it could. But you'll be happy when you see a brand new one in there. Might want to consider cleaning or replacing that left ramp too. The plastic above the ramp I had to cut out of a piece of lexan. Couldn't find it anywhere.
Quoted from Whysnow:take it out completely and clean it first. You may be surprised with how it cleans up
I'll do a full on shop job and replace parts that need it very soon, I'll do the volcano LED mod too... Should I go find cliffys?
Any other mods I should consider?
I'm only about half way reading this entire thread
Quoted from bigd1979:Mantis scoop, cliffys, leds, new window, newest rom version, shapeways protection
Where can I get the newest rom?, what's the latest version?
3 weeks later
I will be shopping mine out soon, anyone have an LED list they used for theirs that they are happy with? Pics of your game lit up?
2 weeks later
is everyone's cabinet made from MDF? mine is, just curious... I have the color Decals on the sides and front
2 weeks later
Quoted from leesparts:If you have it, hook it up and see how it works. It has to be an improvement.
we have 2 of those, they're very weak, I cant remember the wattage, but our first one blew the first week we had it from pumping up the bass too much
Some of you just like whacking AcDC bells with balls
Congo = $ + AcDC prem
I think I'll have that printed on my next Texas pin fest shirt , HeyO!
1 week later
Quoted from swampfire:I like to post these every 6-12 months, as a reminder of what a Congo used to look like. To each his own, I guess.
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Beautiful... Makes me want to use retro warm led's from cointaker.
1 week later
1 week later
Quoted from pinball_customs:Some new Congo goodies to wet your whistle
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/congo-metal-guide-mod-target-decals-sale
Could you please post some pictures of the metal guide mod?
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/congo-metal-guide-mod-target-decals-sale
here's the link for anyone else looking
1 month later
Quoted from AlexSMendes:Dude, not the whole gorilla, just the lower parts!
that's what she said
1 week later
Quoted from Wickerman2:amazon.com link »
Congo Shop Pics...hundreds. Should be able to d/l from that link, not positive.
So grateful, thank you
1 month later
Quoted from gliebig:Epic Congo game. Just destroyed my high score. Super multiball twice and think I got everything reward. Plus 248 diamonds .
So glad I put that new window in!20160205_175827_(resized).jpg
Nice work!
I'm thinking of putting in the side board blade decals, which ones look the best to you guys?
4 weeks later
So I found this... It's amazing, the poster would be perfect for a translite
But to acquire the poster, all 3 skateboards have to be purchased.
What do yall think?
1 week later
Quoted from Gnatty:Finally joined the club tonight, thanks to fellow Pinsider JRush2112. Great guy that contacted me because he knew I wanted one. 30 minute drive and Bam! It's home! Thanks John!
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"Niiiice!" Skill shot'
Quoted from swampfire:Long-time Congo owner here (about 14 years). I waxed mine for about the 10th time last night and it's still beautiful. I'm so glad I ignored the haters when I got mine. Best Trudeau pin ever IMHO.
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I think I just discovered my lighting scheme. Beautiful Sir!
1 month later
2 months later
3 weeks later
Quoted from silver_spinner:anyone sell just THIS plastic? i don't need a whole set, just this one.
I just bought that same one from pinball center, I bet they have more
2 months later
Quoted from jackbot:20 Year Congo design team mini reunion. John Trudeau, Ernie Hudson and myself at the Stern 30 year celebration.
Thanks for all the diamonds guys! We have a super cool game because of you!!
2 weeks later
My Congo did a strange thing...
One day when it was in attract mode, it reset to factory.
I turned it on a few days later and I opened the coin door, pressed the enter button and it reset again, this happened several times. Turned it off.
Several minutes later I turned it back on and I Open the coin door and press the enter button, no issue, place it on freeplay and let it sit for 20 minutes. Turned it off.
Next day, turn the game on, no problems.
Any ideas?
Quoted from jawjaw:The settings went to default or power cut off or both?
Both
I'll put on a remote battery holder and check the power cables and see how that works out. Thank you for the nudge!
Quoted from Skyemont:I deed a translite insert panel for my congo prewired. I guess they don't make one.
Do you not have one at all or is yours just broken?... I fix mine with hot glue and it works great
1 month later
Quoted from Wickerman2:amazon.com link »
Thank you for sharing this with everyone!
3 weeks later
My Congo decided not to turn on, I can hear the speakers come on, but no display, no gi, nothing.
Where do I start?
Thanks guys
Quoted from PinballManiac40:Can you post a picture of your MPU just below the battery pack. I had repaired a couple of minor battery damaged boards that do give the same symptoms as you describe. Hopefully, it is not as bad as the one jawjaw had, which even affected the back of the MPU.
Argh! Corrosion ...
Must have been hidden since I put the lithium batteries in
Ok... what do I need to do other than dab it with vinegar ?
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After cleaning with vinegar, let stand 5 minutes, rinsed with water, then dried for 3 hours
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U27 , U5 still has a bit of corrosion ,, I might have to replace C49 and U2... maybe even everything around U5 as well... any thoughts on what all I should do to stop the run of corrosion?
Quoted from PinballManiac40:Crap. That is worse than I hoped it would be, especially with the corrosion going through to the back of the board. I repaired mine and I was not happy how long it took to repair and it was not as bad as that board.
Any parts that were hit with corrosion need to be replaced. Worse thing you can do is apply heat to the top side of the board at this point. The heat basically burns up the pads and traces quickly where there is any corrosion. Parts need to be removed, board traces/pads sanded down, then the vinegar comes into play. Followed with alcohol to clean it up. It is quite time consuming. I don't know what to say about the backside, since likely corrosion is in the middle layers of the board as well.
Personally, I would sell this board and buy another board, be it a new Rottendog or hold out for a nice original MPU.
I think the pics are misleading. The back of the Mpu looks great, but 4 chips and a socket, and a few other components are possibly toast, cleaning is definitely in the cards, I'm guessing it will take a few hours once I have all the components. I'm no stranger to board repair, but I'll buy another later if it turns out junk.
I'll check in if I need some help sourcing parts, unless anyone has a source already 
Thank you guys for some guidance!
1 week later
Quoted from PinballManiac40:That is looking better, but as I had mentioned the damage is on the back of the board as well. You can see the blackness in the ground plane along the edges of the board and tracing around to the other areas of this ground plane, I can see how dark the solder mask is. Battery corrosion is under the solder mask and even changing the color of the solder mask in some of these areas. I believe you need to sand these dark areas down as well and treat them as well. You can compare the solder mask on the opposite side of the board. The solder mask should be a constant color throughout the whole side of the board.
It is unfortunate that the battery pack was sitting over the top of the huge ground plane.
I've been worrying about that , I'll just sand sand sand, maybe I can still save it. I'm not betting on it. Bummer
Quoted from PinballManiac40:Yours is horrible. Even I don't want to tackle it. Someone would want the challenge though.
A little more progress, I think I have all of the corrosion scraped away, I really feel like the corrosion that was on the backside was shadowing from the front side, now that I have all of the corrosion cleaned on the front side, I don't see any on the backside . That includes holding it up to the light and every angle I could look at it at to follow the shimmer of the traces under the solder mask to look for spots or any other anomalies that look anything close to corrosion under the solder mask .
Next I'll test for continuity again in case any trace may have broken, they all look good to the naked eye though .
Quoted from stef34:did you used a special product to clean the corrosion or just sanded it?
So far I've cleaned it with a vinegar solution and alcohol, and sanded with a fiberglass pen and some deferent high grit sand paper. Sanding it allows me to get the corrosion off in a more direct manner.
I would much rather buy a new board, but I want to hone my skills in this discipline rather than just throw money at the problem in this case. If it takes a dump I'll be getting a new one eventually
Quoted from freddy:even thou this is the most action this thread seen lately . Iam BOARD
I agree and I'm the one having all the fun!!
Not like there's anything innovative going on anyway
Quoted from Pinballer22:Yes, the printed decal was applied on a set of mirror blades similar some of the major companies
I noticed that, pretty slick!
Quoted from TimeBandit:Volcano shot from upper flipper caught on film - KME.
» YouTube video
"KEITH ELWIN" Ladies and Gentlemen!
Amazing
2 months later
Quoted from AlexSMendes:Meanwhile....
those are awesome! but why do you cover your pins? Not that theres anything wrong with that, Im just curious
OH, AND your translite! where can I get one?
Quoted from AlexSMendes:My game-room is located in a relatively open area near the pool. The pins are very well protected from sun and rain, but I wanted to provide a little more protection, mainly from dust...
The translite I acquired a few years ago, but I just can't remember where...
Right on, the covers are cool looking!
If you come across another translite like that, or remember the source, please let me know
3 weeks later
Quoted from swampfire:I've had my Congo for 15 years - my first DMD. I came dangerously close to selling it so I could buy an Aerosmith Pro. I'm so glad I came back to my senses. There's really nothing like Congo, except maybe Tron.
Tron is not anything like Congo, unless your smoking some real good stuff while playing them side by side!
However.... good on you for coming to your senses!!!
2 weeks later
Quoted from Robertstone0407:So i know decals can be a pain the the ass to put on so i copied my mirror blades and cut sheet metal and attached the decals to them like mirror blades. Easy install and replace if one gets damaged. Heres my dirty harry using them
... and still; it looks neither dirty or hairy
Good idea.
Quoted from Robertstone0407:Anyone use the pinbits AFM shaker for the volcano mod
I need more info here too, I need to add a shaker to mine as well
Quoted from Wickerman2:Yes. It's not as easy a hookup as the STTNG that is referenced in another thread(at least they made that sound easy). AFM seems to be the only one in stock.
I couldn't get it to work and had a tech help figure it out.
It was a while ago and I can't remember exactly what we did.
The AFM kit has the shaker/board and a couple harnesses with connectors. None of it is a plug and play for Congo.
The red/green/white/black/blue goes from the mini board and gets plugged in to the other connector they include and adds a purple wire(?) I think. Looks like we used the purple to go to a flasher(the blue crimp connector changes it to some extra green just to lengthen it), it looks like we used the red to go to another flasher. There's a black wire that I think is a ground that went to the head. Looks like the white and green are not used(that's where we got the extra green wire from).
Confused? Me too.
So, it CAN be done if someone with some smarts is involved.
I rotated the weights in the shaker to tame it and I added some felt strips to snug up the playfield glass rattling.
Right on, I bet that can get us pretty close, which flasher does it Connect to?
3 weeks later
Quoted from nikpinball:just got a Congo! I have a question, are the cabs direct print? We analyzed my cab and it doesn't look like decals. Any info might help me with some touch-up in the black.
They are screen printed I believe, so, yes direct
1 week later
Quoted from gliebig:What's a flame bulb?
A flame bulb is an LED that cycles multiple different colors to give the effect of a flickering flame
1 month later
Quoted from Platypus:That looks like a good fix. I hate wedge bulbs and am considering to do something like this but with bayonet sockets. has any one else done this, I thought I saw a previous post....
I always prefer to keep my games stock but this is a sucky problem that has better options
I cleaned mine the best I could, put leds in them, and hot glued all of the problem ones into place, also hot glued the few cracks in the plastic tub, has held well for a few years (on cv, and Congo)
2 months later
6 months later
Quoted from dudah:Forgot about Midnight Madness, got it tonight! The best mode!
Hey! It’s only 11:35!!!
8 months later
Quoted from jonesjb:Does Congo have the Trudeau flipper gap?
It does not
Quoted from Platypus:please explain the Trudeau flipper gap....
John Trudeau was famous for placing clippers in his games 1/4” wider apart than the normal gap... Judge Dredd and Ghostbusters come to mind
Quoted from jawjaw:Congo does have a wider gap but GB had a larger gap.
Strange, I’ve played it a thousand times and never noticed... learn something new every day ! Thanks!
1 month later
Quoted from jackbot:That is correct. On CONGO, both upper and lower flippers fire at the same time. There is no 'staging'.
That was my choice and the way I wanted them to operate for this game.
Wut?! We have an original designer looking in, thanks for dropping in!
11 months later
Quoted from lordloss:I don't have rails, I am building up a Congo from scratch and have most parts already.
You can see my test fit into my test cabinet. Doesn't look like much now, but it will be a full Congo this year. Will be buying a new cabinet once the pf is wired.[quoted image]
Wow, that’s intense, I hope you find everything you need to complete it
1 year later
Quoted from cleanandlevel:thinking about joining the club, how does this title hold up in larger collections? thx guys. always wanted one of these.
We love ours, I moved it to our lake house so we could single it out for more focused play. I’m afraid I’d miss it if we let it go, plus I’m certain I’d not find another to replace it
6 months later
Quoted from sbmania:Quick question: Does Congo have the stop eating my sesame cake audio sound clip during play? Or was that not one of the film sound clips used in the game?
I’ve owned the game for over 5 years, I’ve never heard this clip in my machine
8 months later
Hippo’s!
About time to totally shop my machine again;
A couple questions...
1.The small center jump ramp, is pbc in Germany the only place to get a new one?
2.Clear coating the playfield... does it make Congo too fast?
3. Lower Playfield window... who has the best one?
4. Titan rubber... what’s the best color on Congo?
Quoted from BozoTheClown:You can buy the set or any of the 3 individually. I have them and they look beautiful.
https://www.starship-fantasy.com/ramps/Congo-3-Ramp-SetI installed a full playfield protector to help out on 2 spots that a previous owner/operator had used too long of a screw under the playfield. It plays just fine.
This is the only place I could find that sold the clear window. Plenty of places had the green tinted one for creature.
https://www.ministryofpinball.com/en/creature-from-the-black-lagoon-congo-playfield-window.html
Thank you, I appreciate you responding to all of this
Quoted from Zigzagzag:I have clearcoated mine and find it plays just right
I ordered the right hand ramp from free-play.se, maybe they have what you need ?
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Thank you, looks amazing too!
10 months later
Quoted from brobra:Picked up this conversion playfield….it was never installed in a game. Hoping to build it up over the summer…
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How!?! Why!? That’s amazing !!!
1 month later
Quoted from Luke_Nukem:This is actually a game I've been working on in preparation of picking one up next month from Gman3. If you aren't familiar with my pinsound work.. Ive done BSD, TS, and JD. All intense and epic scores. For Congo.. I'm going with a Cannibalistic, tribal, jungle, chant type of tonality. Replacing the lighthearted Jingles and monkey noises with something more mean. I will post here when I get further along, but for now here is a video with some pictures of the Congo restoration and a song I'm working on to replace the main play theme.
Let me know what you think so far!
I’m stoked to see what you do, I’d be good for a change at some point
2 weeks later
Quoted from TheNecromancer:Well I got the parts back from the coater and finally got it set up last night. It was 1 am before I was all finished so only played a few games.
First impressions are it's a beautiful game with lots of great call outs. Plenty of fun shots. It's taking some time getting used to the wide flipper gap. Almost all of my balls drain through the flippers vs outlanes.
I'll have to echo what so many have said before me, the lower playfield is just to easy. I'll see if there's a way to limit the time more to make it more difficult.
I like the music with the exception of the caves video mode. That gets a bit much and it seems like you get the cave video mode more often then I had imagined.
I bought John's tranlight for the game and I do really like it. It seems to flow together with the side art now but will say I feel the material for the translight is to thin. As much as I tried I could not get the translight mounted without some wrinkles. If the material was just a little thicker like the original it would be perfect.
I need more time with the game to make a better assessment but so far happy overall.
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The image looks cool though
4 weeks later
Quoted from BozoTheClown:They haven't shipped to the US in years. You would need to use Mailboxde.com as an intermediary. That's who I use and have never had an issue.
Yes
This
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