Yes, and here's the rub. It's the only coil that does not work and all coils do not fire when ground to earth which was strange.

That is very strange.

Bit of a long shot. I have been posting on the DE JP thread asking for some help with a video problem and am wondering if this might be a more general Data East problem.

I have 2 scenarios that lead to the same symptom. The symptom is that the video in the top 3/4 of the screen gets frozen.

The first scenario is after playing a ball or two, the trex in the skill shot stops moving across the screen and the video clips for modes or going into the control room stop showing as the display may be stuck on the current score or whatever.

To narrow things down, the second scenario is to turn the game on from cold (ie left for several hours), start a game which plays through the game start video and then the skill shot comes up. To start with, the trex moves backwards and forwards across the screen. After a random period of time, the trex just stops.

What has been done:
- rebuilt the power supply board with new caps (c1, c2, c3, c4 x 4, c7), bridge rectifier, VR1 and the 2 caps near it,
- cleaned up CN1 as pin 12 was a little burnt
- reflowed all the pins on the power board
- had the power board, mpu, dmd board and dmd screen checked by a board repair chap who had them running on a test rig. All he found was the mpu rom was corrupt, so burnt a new one
- replaced the dmd board power supply molex and reflowed the pins on the board
- ribbon cables were checked as being ok
- removed CN4 on the mpu (18v supply to the control lamps) to see if reducing the power demand stopped the symptom. It did not, even after replacing VR1 on the power board, the video freezes with this CN4 connector removed
- visually checked all the diodes on the playfield. All are connected, none look damaged.

Latest thoughts are that there is a loose wire or a dry solder joint on a pin connector. Where to start.

With the game video frozen, I have tried removing the dmd power supply and refitting. This did nothing. Removing the small ribbon cable and replacing, you can sometimes see that the video has refreshed, but is still frozen at a different place, ie the trex has moved.

Has anybody experienced a similar issue on a Data East game? Does not have to be JP. My thought is that with the same board sets being used, this issue is probably not game specific. Just a hunch.

Thanks in advance
Skippy2904

hello!!! a friend is looking for the grills of the speakers of this machine if anyone knows of any for sale .... preferably in Europe ... greetings!?

I have a TFTC that has a problem launching balls. The trough struggles sometimes to get balls into the shooter lane. Also, the Crypt and the upper right VUK are having this same issue as well, but not as frequently. This starting happening after I shopped the game. Is it something I did, or did I "fix" something?!!

Did you replace the coil sleeves? Check the slop in the coil, make sure that the coil isn't cocked, which would slow down the plunger.

DE The Simpsons would be great.

Simpsons for sure would be great!

does anyone have a rocky bullwinkle engine to sell in europe? .I mean the motor of the toy on the right, the one with the granny in the trunk.... reference 041-5023-00....thanks!!!!

Looking for an affordable CPU board for a BTTF if anyone has one for sale.

RESOLVED: Lowering the value of R25 to 1k or 1.5k will allow you to bring the volume down to nothing.

Hey there DE/Sega heads. Looking for some confirmation making sure I'm reading this circuit right. I want to discuss the volume control section of the sound board circuit.

The volume input on the circuit seems to take -5V (from the output of VR1) and the pot controls the volume control on the TDA8199. From the way I understand it, the closer you get to ground (0) the louder it is, the closer you get to -5v, the quieter it is.

For a while now, I've just been adding a resistor in series with the volume pot wiring to make sure the volume pot can go ALL the way down, however there's no real ideal or secure way to ensure that a volume pot will stay in place. A slipped wire in the volume pot line can make the board read as 0 and make it go LOUD, which sucks.

So I'm looking at the board and thinking if there's anyway to lower the signal level as a whole to bring the signal closer to, or below, -5V. Thinking that R12, R13, or R25 are the ones I should be focusing on and increasing the value, but not sure which one to start at. I think in the past I changed R25 to something higher, but I also royally fucked that board up in an accident and can't really look back at it for reference.

Screen Shot 2022-08-31 at 9.56.48 AM (resized).png

Hey DE fans! Just put my LW3 up for trade on the marketplace ..can add a little cash in on my end for the right title...all offers considered..loved the game but ready for something else

I am cross posting this. Bought a project TOMMY, looking for parts:

Tommy specific parts needed:

If anyone has a plastic, standard size "DMD" Data East speaker panel, I could really use that or, if someone could just measure the depth/height/width of one, that would even be useful. (Guns and Roses will not work, it's too large) I will just build one myself before I buy the $249 one on ebay.

Playfield parts needed:
Mirror drive motor assembly: (Including the "Z" metal frame+motor+switches+cam+arm)
-probably end up just building this from scratch. I found most of the needed parts new online. I believe it's the same assembly on a TFTC.

Also need:
-An original manual
-A lockdown bar (modern Stern one would work also)
-One spinner
-The entrance plastic for the right ramp shown here:
Screen Shot 2022-09-07 at 3.05.44 PM (resized).png

I own 2 data East so far: Robocop and Phantom of the Opera. Love about every data East I’ve played. Great games!

I have a Phantom of the opera game that seems to be missing the 8 AMP Slowblow fuse, and Cap. Does anyoine know where I can get one. Thanks Gene

IMG_3129 (resized).jpg

power unit fuse (resized).png

I bought a Tommy no one wanted… was missing over $1000 in parts…
I have been working on my Deger flippers. I have been building parts of the harness from scratch. I built a speaker panel from scratch. I built assemblies under the playfield that were completely missing. It’s taken a lot but, it’s forced me to step outside my comfort zone and be better at refurbishing games. I’m not even close to being done with it and I have this to state on DE pinball…

I do not regret any bit of it for one single second. I have finally realized that I like Data East pinball machines for a different reason than most people. I like them because I believe that they represent the beginning of the current push of modern pinball’s success. I see a lot of Gary Stern in these games and it makes me feel like Gary would do this even if he broke even (some years in early 2000 he probably did not!).

Anyway, that’s my recent thoughts on Data East…. I do believe they made some amazing decisions even if all of their games were not a home run. Thanks to you Gary! because I’m sick and tired of people not saying how important someone is while they are still around to hear it. You sir have helped saved modern pinball.

A06FD565-7E43-4E62-AC47-712BF22822DB (resized).jpeg

D434EDD0-18B8-4EA1-AA0E-0FB19040974F (resized).jpeg

Yeah.. Great how he was able to keep so many in the industry as well...

Buy an entire new fuse assembly and install it. This type of assembly is like what is used in boats. Auto parts stores may have it. Then you have to take the box apart and do some soldering. Here is one I bought on Amazon for an Indiana Jones: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000XBB8YI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00

Was super happy to get this nice Time Machine yesterday. Love the theme and the chimes are a hoot!!

2534F3BD-E2C9-443F-80EE-462BACEE43D0 (resized).jpeg

3E03992C-B5AC-481F-AD05-739A5A86E79D (resized).jpeg

82A1699F-111B-4AC3-B2F9-2D8373CF514F (resized).jpeg

D501782A-6A69-4ACC-938D-E099E0C7A309 (resized).jpeg

DE30637F-EECA-4749-88C3-08745C1959B4 (resized).jpeg

EA4C3ECD-78C8-4BB3-8789-D1C0A4543087 (resized).jpeg

EB2A8E00-6B36-48DA-812E-4E2A35963192 (resized).jpeg

FC6B6354-9177-410B-BE9A-B23540CD18EA (resized).jpeg

FD00C05D-3C9C-4AF1-9C2C-ECF78F372A4A (resized).jpeg

It's one of Data East's best titles.

I had two at one time!

52699e7063f6bdd714b6843e2897076bbab256e5 (resized).jpg

I have a Rottendog power supply board for sale, I was chasing a problem and the board was not the problem. Like new. $100 plus shipping.

I've noticed on the Data East wide bodies I've played (Royal Rumble and GnR specifically) that the GI around the inlanes strobes especially badly when LEDs are installed. I've also noticed that on these games in particular the flashing relay controlled GI is separate from the inlanes and does not strobe at all.

I'm sure these are related, and I'd love to find a good solution to it. Any thoughts? I can't find any indication in the schematics that these GI lines are separate, but I would love to be proven wrong (or right?)

You need that Data East GI control board that one guy makes on Pinside. Currently, I think you need to add your name to his waitlist (link is in post #451):

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/led-gi-smoother-for-data-east/page/10

Crags boards are amazing, I own two of them, but they do not solve the issue I'm describing. When I say "strobing" I mean being able to visibly see the refresh rate of the LED when the ball is moving past.

That is an effect you see when a led is on AC voltage.
The led goes on and off at the rate of the frequency of the voltage (50 or 60HZ).
When a fast moving object (like the ball) goes past it, you see this effect like it jumps from one place to the next.
Just like a bad, low frame rate movie.
This does not happen when you use regular light bulbs.
They keep the "glow" in the fillament and stay lit all the time.
The led switches on and off at every 0V passage.

That strobing effect is awful on some games. Last one I ran into was on a Gameplan SharpShooter II and that one was fixed/upgraded by removing the cheap LEDs and replacing with #47 bulbs. LEDs aren’t always better.

On other games benefit greatly from a proper LED job. You may want to buy a few of these bulbs to try:

https://www.cometpinball.com/products/1flux-bulbs

They cost a bit more but I have had good results with them.

I can’t stand that strobing effect. Either higher quality LEDs or back to bulbs.

Right. I understand this. I work in video for a living. While you're right in principal, there's no reason, if they run on the same circuit as the manual says it does, that one GI thread should have worse strobing than the rest of the GI

This string of GI is clearly separate from the rest as it does not seem to interact with the "flashing" relay. I think possibly this is because their way of getting around the GI around the flippers flashing when multiball is ready is to make that GI string controlled by the lamp matrix rather than being in tandem with the rest of the GI. See the video below.

Could this be fixed by adding a capacitor to that thread to smooth out the matrix strobing or will that screw everything up/not fix the issue.

Thanks for bringing these up.
I have installed these on games before, but I didn't always notice a huge difference, and truthfully I really dislike the light they give off. Even the warm white is very very cool and offputting.

BUT I'm curious if the tech behind these bulbs can't be done externally, on the input or output side of the bulb.

Personally I'd leave them incandescents, but the game has already been LED'd and I don't want to have to redo ALL the LEDs to make the lower playfield not look dark but comparison.

This looks great. I hope someone reproduces the TMNT playfield at some point. I haven't seen that one anywhere.

One thing I could think of would be that someone has placed a diode in the cicuit of that particular GI string.
That would make the strobing twice as bad.
Which color wires are used for this string?
Image?

Joined the Data East club over the weekend with the purchase of a Laser War! Probably the easiest project pin Ive ever had - the missing left speaker channel was a pinched wire and the messed up right flipper was a poorly spaced EOS switch. Having a lot of fun so far, I cant remember any Data East games being around growing up.

20221024_163530 (resized).jpg

Anyone sell data East glass dust cover?

Someone said Etsy but can’t find that or Williams.

Possibly, but almost every single DE Wide Body (specifically that combo for some reason) I see really bad strobing on the Gi. Not sure if it has to do with the era in which they were produced or if it has to do with the cabinet size that made them change this.

The game is out on location right now, but I think the wire colors coming off those strings are Black and Black-Gray. Which is odd. Because I can't find a lik of any reference to that. IIRC those wire colors should be reserved for flasher strings. No?

I haven't seen any.

If you ever find some, post a link here. I need a DE and WPC dust cover for my TMNT and T2

Thanks for posting what you found on your BR1 8A fuse blown thread. I seem to have a similar problem. Which I also had suspected is a short in the playfield/coin door GI, but this help solidify my assumptions. Now I just need to track it down. With my luck I would be so lucky to find mine simply being in the coin door.

Hey everyone, having a few issues with my Laser War, hoping someone can point me in the right direction.
1) W-A-R lights: Usually the right flipper will let you change the W-A-R lights at the top but recently it stopped working. Flippers work fine.

2) 3-Ball Multiball: When entering 3-ball multiball play everything works as expected. However, when you lose one of the balls, it should no longer be in multiball with the Ion cannon bonus, but on my machine it's still playing the 3-ball music and you can still shoot the Ion cannon and get the bonus even if one ball has been lost (2 in play). Additionally, when you lose the 2nd ball (only 1 remaining in play) the Ion cannon bonus goes away but the music is still the music that plays when entering 3-ball play. At this point, if you then light up 3 targets and lock the only remaining ball in a base, the play goes back to the normal music in typical single ball play. I've checked the trough switches and all three seem to be triggering fine.

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

Having me some fun remaking old Data East games. Ladies and gentlemen... the Phantom of the Opera (Remake)...

1) Laser War the "lane change" switches are mounted on the flipper EOS assembly, check for broken wire or diode.

2) Check trough switch again in service menu.

Thank you! Will take another look based on this!

Thanks again for your help @gdonovan! You were definitely right on #1. There was a broken wire on the EOS switch. Fixed that and the W-A-R lights work perfectly.

Still having an issue with #2. I doubled checked the trough switches again. Tool all the balls out. let the first one roll down. Outhole was triggered, then I manually advanced the ball to the trough and it triggered Trough 1. Let a second ball go down and again triggered the Outhole and Trough 2. Same with 3 and triggered the outhole and Trough 3. What is interesting is that when there were multiple balls in the trough, in test mode, the displays would alternate between showing trough 2 and trough 3 despite there being a ball in trough 1 as well. So when 1 ball in it displays trough 1 but doesn't seem to be displaying it when 2 or more balls are in the trough. Not sure if this has something to do with the multiball problem I'm having because it should exit multiball when there is just one ball in the trough.

Any ideas on where else to look for any issues with this multiball problem?

Hey guys,

Looking for assistance with my Hook. Previously this group of lights was working sporadically, but now it seems to be out consistently. Trying to figure out if this is something that has an amateur owner I should be able to at least attempt a repair on, or if I likely need to get a professional involved. Is there a likely place I should start testing for the issue?

Every light on this sequence is out.

PXL_20221120_225109940 (resized).jpg

PXL_20221120_225109940~2 (resized).jpg

It sounds like a connector issue. Do you know how to use a multimeter? If so, one lead to CN6, pin 7, and the other lead to the side of the bulb with a yellow trace. If you read close to zero ohms, you know your wiring is good. Now, place one lead on the circuit board side of CN6 pin 7 and the other to one of the bulbs’ wire that has a yellow trace. If this checks near zero ohms, then you know your connection at CN6, pin 7 is good.

Next step is to compare transistor Q77 to others on the board. I doubt the transistor is the issue - they usually don’t fail in an intermittent fashion.

Let us know what you find.

Check the diodes on every lamp socket in that line.

Hi All,

My DE Jurassic Park has started to give me trouble. It's near mint, and has never had issues before.

Lately, when I power it up, the G.I.s come on, I hear a click like I always have before the diagnostics start, but then nothing...no DMD, no diagnostics. Eventually it will come back to life, but when it does, I makes that roaring sound much more frequently than it used to, and that sound will interrupt other sounds/music.

It has a Rottendog MPU and the 6.0 ROM.

Has anyone see/heard of similar symptoms?

Thanks

Original power supply? Has it ever been serviced? There are a couple caps that go bad on the original power board. They can leak and etch open a trace on the board. Not too bad to fix. Also the fuse clips are a known weak spot on these.

Hey all, been plugging away at reversing all of the awful hacks done to my LW3 (love seeing speaker wire hastily soldered to boards) and in case people didn't already know, if anyone needs to replace a burnt out CN1 on a DE power supply board that Molex has a nice PCB-mount 12 pin connector as an excellent alternative. I much perfer it to the no longer manufactured and obsolete wafer the original had, or using long PCB pins with a tall female housing that I've seen recommended as an alternative to the wafer (not to mention I couldn't even buy the long pins from Digikey 'cause they were out of stock):

https://www.digikey.ca/en/products/detail/molex/0010181120/242821

Only caveat is that you'd have to repin the single male pin on the original harness so that they're all female, but it's easy peasy to do so and unlike the wafer the housing is keyed so the pin difference is no longer necessarry

20221122_214430.jpg

Yes, original power supply, Never been serviced. From the front, there doest appear to be any damage, I'll pull out the board and see what I can see.

Could a bad cap/trace cause the sound issue? It's almost as though the sequence gets interrupted and then starts over.

Edit: added pictures.

Frot (resized).jpg

back (resized).jpg