Cyclone -- one of the best System 11 games ever made.

Best clown in pinball.
Great theme.
Great music and sound effects.
Ronald and Nancy Reagan on the backglass.
Some of the best call-outs in pinball: "You spend your money, you take your chances" and, "Hey you with the face!"
A fun game WITHOUT multi-ball.
Challenging skill shot when set up correctly.

I wanted to start up a Cyclone club so that other Cyclone owners can share the usual love for the machine as well as: repairs tips, restoration tips, part requests, topper ideas, and upgrade suggestions...

RESOURCES
cyclone ramp: http://www.pinballinc.com/ramps/Cyclone%20Ramp%20for%20Cyclone.html
http://www.jeff-z.com/pinball/cyclone/rules/rules.html

[x] add to your favorites

-mof

Unfortunately no, I don't have any rotation pins in my collection. I failed to plan for swapping pins out, with no room to expand.
-mof

Same here, Cyclone and Whirlwind were two must-have college-year nostalgia games for me in setting up my collection. I was so happy to find two good examples.
-mof

So... I'm new to Cyclone -- can someone help me understand why the [4x] flashes on game start? I presume I have mine set on "medium".

thanks!
-mof

Saw a playfield today. ebay.com link: New CPR Cyclone Pinball Playfield and Plastics Set
-mof

Good day for my Cyclone:

Longer "external shooter spring" arrived from Marco, along with a new black shooter rod and washer, E-clip and Tip.

Problem: Tip breaks off every time I raise the PF.
Solution: Get a longer shooter spring.

Problem solved! See the "before/after" shooter spring pics and how the tip is no longer protruding to get chopped off by the PF.

enjoy!
-mof

Cyclone_-_bigger_spring.jpg Cyclone_-_Just_the_Tip.jpg

Well, I have 8 machines and only 2 had this issue, and since I am not good at remembering $hit, I thought it would be good to future-proof this bugger from more tip-ripping... (ouch!)

-mof

Good question. It doesn't. What really does is the strength of the internal shooter spring. I put a weaker one on there so that my friends would have a chance in hell of hitting the skill shot. I played a Cyclone at the Alameda Pinball Museum, and they have a REALLY strong spring on there which makes it REALLY hard to get the skill shot, so some day, I'll go back and put the strong one back on there. I like to start out and make games more easy so my friends don't give up so quickly on 'em when they first arrive -- especially the skill shots -- I like to cater the spring to the game.
-mof

I took the glass off and gave it a try. I fired a couple shots into the boomerang. It seems the flashing indicator has to do with how close you are to a free ball. Meanwhile a steady 2x stays held which represents your multiplier. I am Not sure if my ideas are correct or not -- I would like to hear from other Cyclone owners

I really appreciate understanding that better now. Sounds like the flashing 4x is a target, so start up the game on medium, see 4x flashing, then 3 hits to boomerang = extra ball? You make that, then next game it might be at 5x flashing on start up... I'll check that out.

thanks!
-mof

Protecting Cyclone Ramps !

Anyone have a tip on how they have protected a ramp? Might be the entrance, or a ball drop area? I have some cracks in my Cyclone ramp where the Comet ramp drops the ball in. I'd love to know a best way to stop those cracks from changing. I talked to Cliffy, and he suggested ripping one of his post protectors into 2 pieces, and put one on each side of the Dracula plastic. The net effect is a Cyclone ramp that absorbs the fall much better I think. It used to slam into the nut on that upper right post on the Dracula plastic.

I'll show a photo tonight of what I have set up. It's nice, but... it doesn't solve my problem of protecting cracks that I already have -- I wonder what's good for that...

On my Comet ramp entrance, I have the two pieces from Mantis Amusements, and only after adjusting the posts to full turn, was I then able to tighten the top screws well to hold them in place. I am not happy with the design of them. I wish they used Cliffy's strategy to always have TWO screw points to anchor it down and stop it from moving. I think it's better than nothing, but I have a lot of missed shots on my Comet ramp, and I never know if it's the new entrance from the Mantis metal, or it it's something about the switch on the ramp entrance. I need to set up a video camera so I can slow it down and watch the problem better. I'll do that soon.

(see pics)

enjoy!
-mof cyclone_ramp_cracks.jpg cliffy-absorbtion.jpg

Finally after 8+ weeks of ownership, got to this on my list:
"Replace Duck Target Stickers"
Wow what a difference. Before they were white and ugly, now they look great especially in low lights.
I almost placed them on top of the old stickers, then thought... No way! I unscrewed each target and got ever sliver of old grief off of there with rubbing alcohol and a good thumbnail.
Case Closed.
Enjoy!
-mof

new_cyclone_ducks.jpg

Problem. (SOLVED!)
"Advance Ferris Wheel" light works GREAT on left side. Every pop bumper shot seems to light it up.

My right side one doesn't work. Already replaced the bulb.

Any ideas? (Yeah, here's an idea: use an actual flasher 89 instead of a 63, nub !)

thanks!
-mof

(bump)

page40:
the one that works is: 01C
Adv Ferris Wheel Bonus #89 flasher
the one that doesn't work is: 02C

thanks!
-mof

Teeth flasher? Do you know when that is supposed to light up? Do you mean the front of the roller coaster car?

Do you know what measurement I should take where to test it?
-mof

GOOD GRIEF !!!

It was all me... I was using a new 63 bulb instead of a 89 flasher... LOL !

nub!
-mof

I hear you on that one, mine is rather loud as well. Would love to know how to quiet it all down and make it happier.
-mof

I'm full mylar up to the pops. I'm keeping it, since the artwork is perfect, and I'd rather not chance it. I am happy with the ball travel. It's smooth.
-mof

Next thing I'd like to tackle in my Cyclone is the lighting.

Here's my plan:

ALL incandescents with the exception of:
2x,3x,4x,5x,6x,7x = blue non ghosting (6)
bonus, hold = green non ghosting (2)
boomerang = blue non ghosting (1)
shoot again = red non ghosting (1)

I installed 'em, and it's... crazy awesome. They were too bright, so I grabbed a Sharpie, and drew a nice criss-cross pattern across the tops. This dropped the brightness about 15% to better match the incandescent bulbs.

I still would like to kill two line-of-sight design flaws with the game. Anyone have any good ideas for 'em ? I was thinking of installing a grey plastic square underneath the ferris wheel ramp. Another option is a flex LED, but I really don't want to mix LEDs in the GI.

Looking for ideas on how to kill the two line-of-sight (LOS)...

thanks!
-mof

201309_cyclone_10-LEDs.jpg 201309_cyclone_sodas_los.jpg 201309_cyclone_boomerang_los.jpg

Also decided it was time to install a shooter light. Since I went 95% incandescent for Cyclone, I decided to install it below the shooter rod, and not drill baby drill through steel. Took 15 minutes, but it's well worth it, since now I can play in low light, and see my skill shot precisely.

I taped the bulb into place so that I can experiment with the location of the bulb before screwing it in.

please enjoy
-mof

201309_cyclone_shooter1.jpg 201309_cyclone_shooter2.jpg

I might try condoms at some point. Has anyone else done something cool to remedy these two LOS issues?

thanks!
-mof

I agree that my Cyclone is a bit on the powerful side. It feels really good overall to me. I think it's important to protect the front of the Cyclone ramp and find a way to minimize wear on the ball drop from Cyclone->Comet ramp.

-mof

My ball sticks coming out of the ferris wheel 1/4 times and goes around 2 times. Has anyone solved this? I have an extra band ready in case that's part of the fix. I bought it just as a backup plan in case some day it's slipping on the motor with the original band.

thanks!
-mof

Ok will try mine then. Any tips on replacing it? Is it easy?
-mof

Cyclone topper?
What the heck is that 1 foot clown head piece of plastic supposed to be for in a CPR set?
-mof

Sure, but um... has anyone actually used it as a topper? How in the world would you display it, (assuming you wanted to)
-mof

Can I ask for a few close ups of the stand for it?
I have the plastic but no stand.
=/
-mof

Any tricks to popping the holes? I'd hate to break it apart.
-mof

Time to grab a Cyclone ramp ! $99 USD
-mof

http://www.pinballinc.com/ramps/Cyclone%20Ramp%20for%20Cyclone.html

I'm struggling with the outlanes in Cyclone. They destroy me like no other machine I have.

Has anyone tweaked theirs to make them slightly more forgiving?

Is there some skill I'm missing to make those things less auto-drain?

thanks!
-mof

Trying my hand at a ferris wheel rubber replacement, pray for me !
-mof

8:30pm starting...

201312-cyc-ferris-1.jpg

9:00pm ferris wheel out, cleaning the heck out of it... Oh crap, this 30 minute experiment is going to turn into 3 hours, no doubt, I'll be cleaning everything... haha.

201312-cyc-ferris-clean-wheel.jpg

Just finished... (2 hours total, no biggie at all)

New Ferris Wheel Rubber installed, and 0 fail transfers of the ball = no need whatsoever to install that hack. It's true, use a good clear hard rubber, and the wheel just flies around. I think that extra velocity means the ball never sticks to the wheel.

Also...

I added condoms to the two incandescent bulbs that were Line of Sight, and now, it just adds to the overall colorful look. I am really happy with it.

-mof

Under looks clean now !
201312-cyc-ferris-under.jpg

All and all much nicer... Finished !
201312-cyc-ferris-finished.jpg

I'm feeling very good about the overall approach to an outdoor carnival scene, which in my opinion MUST be all incandescent. Just used LEDs under the 10 green/red/blue inserts in the lower PF, and used 4 bulb condoms to remedy the poor line of sight design on 4 bulbs. All fixed ! (left the rest 44s, and then 47s in the backglass to keep the heat down.)

I now have bulb condoms on the three trouble spots:

Yellow left, Blue right, Green top left in the "tree" area.

Check it !

Blue right
201312-cyc-LOS1.jpg
Yellow left
201312-cyc-LOS2.jpg
Green up top
201312-cyc-LOS3-4.jpg
Finished !
201312-cyc-LOS-4condoms.jpg

What drives up the jackpot in Cyclone?
-mof

By playing hours and hours of Cyclone, my pinball skills have just gone up 20%... I can't believe I almost put this thing on the chopping block out of frustration. It forces you to become an aim-master AND a ball control-master. Wow... Never again judge a game without FRESH rubbers to allow for more ball control. I learned my lesson !
Not to mention Treasure Coving the mylar, and waxing the unmylared areas... This thing is playing like it should now...
-mof

No. Mine is rather quiet. Let us know what you find when you look into it.
-mof

Mine does this too. It works for a while, then doesn't and it puts what appears to be "1"s across the display before displaying a score. Then it corrects itself and works fine for a while. At least it doesn't affect game play...
-mof

Good thread here: http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/cyclone-mystery-wheel-problem#post-810733

-mof

Did an apron clean out + solenoid cleaning. Wow. Trough ball feed pops the ball LOUDLY into the shooter lane now. Worth it !!!
=)
-mof

Before and After

201312-cyclone-apron-cleanout.jpg
201312-cyclone-apron-after.jpg

Has anyone tried adding a lamp socket to:

1. drac hole?
2. boomerang?
3. cut through ball trough to light up the clown?

Thinking about what to try next...

-mof

thanks...

My goal is to brighten up the playfield a little... looking for a few spots to add light/color.
-mof

I think I'll try adding a red LED to the drac hole. I did it on Taxi, and it looks good. I'm not sure where to position it on Cyclone -- too bad I don't have any flex reds.

-mof

I tried red in the Drac Hole, then I realized there's a lot of red around that area, and the blue pops so nicely in the 2x-7x zone, so I went with blue, and I think it's a keeper. Now to find a nice place to mount it.
-mof

201312-cyclone-blue-drac-hole.jpg

My mystery wheel is fixed afaik... Dirty opto.

Just removed it in 30 seconds, and used a dry Qtip first, then another with a dash of 90% on there and then followed with a dry one. Seems like we are good.

5 minute fix. Went weeks with an easy to fix problem... sigh!

-mof

Just achieved my best HS ever. 14 hours of TLC and the reward is nice ! Been consistently getting about 4mil a game (near replays) with an occasional 6-8mil. I have my game on 5-ball, and so don't compare my score to yours if you are on 3-ball, I still have the training wheels on ! Just hit 10mil. First time ever...

It never occurred to me how odd it is to have a 7-digit display in a game where scoring 10million (2x the replay) shouldn't be too uncommon of an occurrence.

-mof

201401-cyclone-mof-HS-10068280.jpg

On 5-ball it's factory afaik: 4,200,000 and 8,400,000.
-mof

Yeah, I spoke too soon, it's acting funny again. I get errors in test mode...

Err9 H 256

Sometimes it gets it right.

When it gets the 256 error, the wheel fails to come to a rest, the musical tones go "doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, ... doooooooooooooo" and hold while still spinning.

When it works right, it just makes the tones and stops promptly (in test mode).

-mof

Where is this attachment? Just looked don't see it.
-mof

ty
mof

I tried removing the 4 screws, but didn't see clearly how to then remove the gears.
One thing I am aware of is now the wheel has a hair less drag on it... but it's still erring out during test.
-mof

Ha, oh well, the field trip turned out the be a 1 hour time suck and frustrating, but at least I've done it ! haha

ty for the pics!

Ya, I don't think I have an allen wrench long enough to make it. Will figure that out another day.
-mof

Dang, other than the mystery wheel, this Cyclone is playing great... Got the GI problem licked with the new connector. Now I'm wondering about removing the mylar...

Has anyone tried doing a mylar remove on their Cyclone? I've never done one. I have a few weird creases in the mylar on this guy... Would sure hate to hurt any of the perfect paint job on this guy...

-mof

How do we know it's a gold at Planet?
-mof

Good point. I would like to know the same thing. My guess is between 50-100 hours. I can't think about following through with my first swap, until I figure out a rotisserie and a tumbler solution.

-mof

I'm thinking of going the same route, but doing a CPR restore would be months away for me. Hope you take 900+ pictures as you go, for those of us thinking about doing the same. As for the blue plastic, wish I had info to help out.
-mof

Life on Pinside is good!

Anyone else missing any other hard to find parts?
-mof

Sometimes you get a game that makes you better. The last game I put 8 hours of play into, to up my skills was Cyclone played over Christmas break.

I got a Black Hole two weeks ago, tuned it up for 30 hours like a maniac, and put in 4 hours of play over the weekend...

I walk by Cyclone and it calls to me. I turn it on tonight and realize I haven't turned it on in 3 weeks. No warm up.

Nailed a new high score.

5-ball, 11,310,650

Sweet !
-mof

20140127_162137.jpg

Easy Player Question:
What are the best/worst things to target when in 2x scoring mode?
-mof

Are there any shots that are not affected by the 2x?
-mof

I'll post a few ideas in your Cyclone thread. It's never a good idea to troubleshoot in a club thread...
-mof

Oh, it's just that the best way to get help is to make a separate thread in "Tech" whenever your need assistance, and more people with chime in with help. Use THIS thread to alert other Cyclone owners to look at THAT thread.

Does that make more sense?
(I don't just want Cyclone owners' help, when I'm in a jam)
(Also -- it's messy to put your personal fixit thread in this big club thread for quick questions and answers to general Cyclone stuff.)

-mof

The dude has had his own Cyclone tech-help thread up and running for a while...
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/cyclone-tech-help
-mof

Def not an "issue" I just want you and others to get the best help possible. Isolated threads for that work best.
-mof

Fuse F1 for the aux driver board -- cyclone manual says 2A SB, other internet sources show this is 5A SB on other 11B games. I believe it's 25v to the slingshot solenoids.

-mof

After 3 years of ownership, I think my Cyclone deserves a shop job! Can't wait to get dirty...
-mof

1. I wonder why there's no way to know what your ferris wheel bonus is while you build it up. You can hold right flipper and wait 20 seconds, but sheesh...

2. Anyone know how the end of ball bonus works? Seems REALLY small in this game. I played with glass off, and found out each set of 3 targets lights Bonus and Hold -- but not sure what completing 1 means versus 2...

Anyone know the rules REALLY well and care to chime in?

-mof

bump for Cyclone rule-master to speak up.
-mof

Congrats on pick up. Pics?
Mof

I gotta straighten out my monorail plastic. Looks good!
-mof

LEDs do look nice and bright...

But It's funny how a super well-lit LED'd Cyclone actually looks less like an amusement park to me... it's just not the way I remember them -- my brain very much prefers dark spots, and natural lighting -- incannies -- to really capture this theme...

The total brightness reminds me more of modern indoor settings -- like leaving every light on in a Target or something.

-mof

From here, looks HUO!
Crisp head corners
Bright white PF
-mof

Looking for GI help here: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/cyclone-gi-help

Anyone need a clear plastic to protect the drac plastic?

Just saw this:

ebay.com link: itm

It was fun being in the Cyclone club for 5 good years.
I felt I had to move on -- to bring in a lovely pinbot to keep me company -- made by nearly the same design team. =)
-mof