Hi guys!

Since saturday, I'm the proud owner of an early production Diner. I'm very happy. Everything works and it's in wonderful shape.

Got a few questions about the game:

Mine as yellow legs and have longer legs at the back. It this normal? One of the few sample with those specs? Or just a mismatch with custom color?

Mine also has a center post betwwen flippers and the wire railing behind the flippers are down to the playfield instead of raised up. Again, someone else has that? This looks totally factory and guessing it's a sample feature but I know not every sample has those. Anyone else got that?

Here's a few pics the seller sent me before I buy. And yes, the glass is scratched as hell

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IMG_20150410_143756 1.jpg
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It is a repro yes. And the color is off, it's kinda pink instead of orange.

Not sure where the guy told me it was from. He ordered 2 and I have 1 more spare + the original broken.

Good eye

Hey All,

I'm about to replace my posts rubber sleeves and can't decide on a color. Blue, yellow red, orange?

Can some of you with custom color can post pictures to help me out on my decision?

Thanks!

P.S. I kinda saw yellow on Cliff website but I'd like more views

Actually, I already ordered from Cliff, lite blue rubber sleeves. I think it will complement the other blue accent well. I'll post pictures when installed. I thought about white but it gets dirty faster...

I also ordered the right ramp protector to keep it intact and a slot protector for the left ramp/ right inlane drop.

Can't afford toppers, my basement ceiling's too low! I wonder what I'll do when I get the coveted Taxi or Whitewater.

Who's thinking about replacing their Coffee Cup for a new one? Who did it? Worth the price tag? 60$ cup + 25$ decals + shipping will set me back more than 100$ here in Canada. Mine is pretty yellowed but still it's only cosmetic.

I'm about to get a big order from Marco and wondering if I should pick up one...

Some you you with a new cup can show me pictures to see the difference?

Yes, I just got a hold of that thread! Will try!!!! I'll try to salvage the decal as well, worst case I get new one from BAA at 16$.

We'll keep you posted!

Question about the game rules:

Whenever I enable multiball, rush or dine time, all I got to do is enter the top eject hole to complete "release", rush1 or dine time, without going through the spinner first which should be the correct shot.

For example, I'll shot "special" and the auto kicker will then shoot around to the top eject hole and complete the shot. Same with multiball, if a ball re-enters the top eject hole after being ejected, it will count as "rush1".

Should the game register the ball going through the spinner first?

How does it play for you guys? I know there is a game setting for the top eject that does something about that but I'm "factory" so I assume it should not be this way...

Bump!

I found my answer. The setting I was talking about, "eject hole award", does that. By default it does not require to go through the spinner to get the shot.

I'm wondering why it's ON by default.

how do you remove the coffee cup? I can't seem to remove the backboard without the cup and vice versa. Do I need to remove the left ramp as well?

I got my Coffee cup out and tried retrobrite without success. Clear plastic won't get unyellowed. I'm ordering a new cup as everything is apart now. Would be silly to re-install this old one. I'm looking forward to put everything back together and play...

Soaked the cup in hydrogen peroxide for 5 days under both the sun and UV light without success...

About 33% of the time, when I get a strong hit into the right ramp, the ball will get "stuck" on the switch gate (about 4" from the bottom) and roll/bounce back onto the playflield. Like if there was not enough room for the ball to get through the gate. But there is plenty. Wondering if the ball gets slightly airborne and jam in the gate. Any of you have this problem?

I ordered a new repro finally. After removing a bunch of things to get to the cup, I though it would be silly to leave that old yellowed one in place. I get Mof about how his Diner look "vintage" but mine is actually very very clean and a new cup will look great.

Ordered a bunch of new parts for my Diner. Even if those cost only a few bucks the total ramp up pretty quickly. With new legs and coffee cup, got for about 250$ on new hardware to put in. Looking forward to it

Mmmm, weird. DP playfield yet chrome habitrail... What's the production number?

Thanks for that! Your playfield will need quite a bit of work. We can clearly see where there is the most ball action. Mine have very slight wear to certain area (above the "E" from the eat lane) and I can see why now looking at yours.

I don't know how many plays difference there are between yours and mine but I can only think the Diamond Plated playfields hold on way better.

Hi there,

I'm restoring my Diner and messed up 2 plastics. I'm wondering if you got a new set of plastics and would be willing to sell me your old ones. They are the plastics that goes underneath the left side of the right ramp. See image below
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/oh-crap-i-messed-up-diner-plastics-wpictures

Thanks a lot, please get in touch!

GB

Well done! Do you have a few pictures? What is the overall condition?

Initially, all I wanted is to try to clean-up my Coffee Cup. Removed a few parts, took off some ramps, cleaned here and there, started making a shopping list... Now, I'm 400$ of parts in and took almost everything apart inside out, cleaning, repainting, replacing a whole lots of parts...

Haven't played a game for a few months now, waiting on my damn "back order" new coffee cup... God I look forward to finish it and play again. I said it before, it's gonna looks glorious.

Congrats and welcome!

Hey guys, I need some advice here...

I'm in the middle of a extensive clean up job for my Diner. Actually, I'm pretty much done except I'm waiting for the god damn coffee cup repro to be available again... So my game has been in pieces for 4 months now and I can't stand it anymore. I got to play.

My dilemma is: keep waiting so I put it back together only when I get the new cup. Or, put it back together now with my old yellowed cup and once it gets available again disable and re-assemble again...

ALL I wanted to do initially was to replace the yellowed cup, that was the ONLY reason I took my game apart. Now, replaced a shit load of part on it but considering putting it back together without having done what I aimed for. It's kinda silly...

What you guys would do?

I tried retrobrite my cup in the first place. It did nothing.

Are you saying you actually retrobrite your cup or did it on some other plastic? I believe the cup is from another type of plastic and won't work.

I'm talking with folks at Marco and Planetary and they both saying: "talked to the supplier, should have a few in a few weeks, really depends on the supplier..."

I really wanted a new one...

Hi all! After a few months, I'm finally done with my Diner. Please check out this link to dedicated thread

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/diner-restoration-wpictures

Here's a sneak peek.

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They are sold out. Planetary Pinball Supply (PPS) will get some at some point. Reach out to them as I've been harassing them for some time now, may be they can expedit the process if more people want one.

Really?

You LED shine very bright. Unlike mine which are still incandescent bulb for the diner letters and customers. That will make little defects stand out.

https://flic.kr/p/zq8CAw

Well, that's a huge decal for rectangular insert. I think this decal is meant to be a patch. Not a insert overlay, unless you manage to cut exactly what you need from the decal. Probably by removing the insert, cleaning it up from any ink, laying the decal face down and sticking the insert exactly where you need. Then cut around the insert for a nice flush insert overlay.

If you were to sand and clear the playfield, that big decal would work great though.

Only my 2 cents.

Were on the game when I bought it. No idea where they are coming from, never seen them before.

Pinfanatic, it's holding by a tiny Allen key screw through the spring assembly that attach to the coil plunger. https://flic.kr/p/zEqgDm, in the picture, bottom center next to the coil plunger with a spring around, the holder small end attach to the spring at the end of the plunger. The diverter goes through the holder larger end and is holding with Allen key.

Note that my spring is broken in the picture and had to replace it.

Paulywalnuts23, yes there is one, see: https://flic.kr/p/zq8BLW, same as the left side one I believe.

Here you go

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I did!

Np, cheers buddy!

Hey guys,

I will be putting my original Diner coffee cup up for sale, I found a new repro (the last one available on planet earth)

You can see it here, I can get you guys better pictures if interested. https://flic.kr/p/zFCitu

It's somewhat yellowed but clean and in perfect shape. Comes with the stickers. If you are in need of one, your's broken or cracked, that's a great contender.

PM and we can discuss pricing.

Cheers!

Mine came all LED when I bought it. I switched the playfield GI back to incandescent.

That's why!

https://flic.kr/p/yKGsyS

Yeah sure, I think other fellow Diner owner would like to know.

Looking good buddy, gotta love those new plastics

I'm telling you, Diner is hard to find (even more nice ones) and are getting a huge bump in value these days.

oh yeah, don't forget to protect the right rollover inlane slot with a cliffy. This one gets abuse over time. I got a ramp protector for mine as well.

The left drop does not get as much action depending on your gameplay strategy.

Well, it's a wise strategy to hit the left ramp in loop early in the game to go get that xball and max out the Dine Time value.

I recently got one from PPS as well, Did not installed yet. It is definitely not as clear as I would have hoped but better than the original that was there. I guess that's it? I can post a picture later.

Well, it definitely does not look like that.

http://www.planetarypinball.com/mm5/images/products/PPS-03-8361L.jpg

I'm wondering what PPS thinks of that?

yeah they are very cloudy that's the problem. My original is clearer but yellowed...

Hey man, where did you get that cup? Seems pretty clear to me.

Oh wow. OK!

Heys guys, finally took the time and replaced my yellowed cup. It just sucks to take apart a perfectly working game for something just esthetic. I can say I'm done now and I must admit, Diner is my favourite game I think.

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In the video, I also feel the cup is sitting pretty flat. Nothing seems to take away any momentum from the ball, it just goes around forever. On mine, it slows down pretty quickly I feel.

Got a left over from PPS a while back.

Diner does not knock for extra balls I believe.

Got the same as you and I get the scratched record sound when I plunge.

May be a different sound rom?

Check out this thread: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/williams-system-11-issue-diner#post-1835483

It should only come on on third ball if you made very low score on your first 2 balls. I don't know what the low score is but I bet it is very low since I never got them lit if I remember.

Since I usually get the 150 000 jukebox skillshot, that's pretty much 450 000 free. If the low score is any lower than than hitting max skillshot will prevent to benefit from that setting.

Pinbot is setup like that and I will get the extra ball outlanes lit once in a while.

Actually, according to pinball arcade rules, it says it's a 40 sec timer on your first 2 balls.

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They are tiny Phillips flat head screws, don't know the size but tiny. Mine does not have the screws hlding the ramp to the cup but it's nt needed. The ramp sit tight and flat against the cup.

something like that.

http://cdn3.volusion.com/vj539.howo6/v/vspfiles/photos/1600000-2.jpg?1467974646

I had a similar issue with my Pinbot. The problem was the topper flashers + pop bumpers were drawing too many amps on the circuit. It is using a 4 amps slo-blow and it keeps blowing after a few plunge. I could have changed my topper flasher to LED but instead put in a 5 amps fuse and it solved it. I know I know, I should not have done that. Well, I spent lot of times troubleshooting it and found the circuit was peaking at around 5.5 amp for the time the flashers were going ON and the pops as well. Some said the 4 amps slo-blow should have held the peak but it did not, may be I had a bad set of fuses. The fuses were the single strand with the solder dot in the middle. I prefer the coil/spring ones design.

See if you can increase the fuse by 1 amp and if it fixes your problem. Some say it should only be a temp solution but hell of a good one... If not something is really drawing too much current most likely a short. that would need fixing. Check for pinched wires or lamp socket touching the kicker lugs or something. May be the lamp wire on the backboard.

You can test Amps with a DMM (min 10 amps) were the fuse goes. If you see it peak very high quickly remove it. If you see it peak just abobe the amp rating, try a slightly bigger fuse and cross your fingers.

Some says its normal for old electronics to draw more current since the conductivity is not as good as it used to be.

My 2 cents, I know nothing.

This what mine looked like when I did my restoration. Yeah the switch goes through the ramp. But it disconnect from under the playfield (or the back board) fortunately.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/54032729@N00/21933821059/in/album-72157659775055921/

Yeah, don't need to remove the register to remove the ramps, or may be only the register but not the lift ramp. Definitely not the lift ramp.

I was asked a lot about the cards. One can be found on the internet (Free Play) but the rules a cannot find. They were on the game when I got it.

Well done!

I was too left with an extra rubber I believe, manual is wrong.

The backbox E-A-T letter and jukebox light sockets can be pulled out by raising the playfield slightly and holding it to create just enough space for your arm/hand to get in there.

FYI, elusive grill bonus plastic back in stock at Marco

http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/16-571-12

I have my original coffee cup available if someone's broken or missing. It's yellowed as expected but comes with decals.

Just PM me.

Yeah they were not that good and not a huge improvement.

-Diner as somewhat long ball time (mine is an early production with the post between flippers so I guess it helps).

-Big scores are possible but you got to build your jackpot which adds replay value.

-I like it better than my Taxi (from same designer and similar in gameplay) and most of my family and friend also does. The theme is very friendly and appealing.

-Rules are not that deep (common or that era) but again need to build the jackpot.

-A few extra balls are available.

-Multiball is very hard to complete and can be challenging to get it to pay. Easy to start, hard to complete.

-Very exciting sound design. End of game high score music is awesome.

-Diner is raising in popularity and value.

My 2 cents!

There might be the clock assembly on the back glass that is different and could use a test if its works properly.

Mine's ghosting.

Flash News: CPR is taking pre-order for Diner repro playfield.

Looking at the pictures I've taken from this part of the game, I don't see how the ball could go through the lock kick out hole and straight into the bumpers. May be your ball deflector is missing it's blue pad or is missing all together or twisted.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/54032729@N00/22120721305/in/album-72157659775055921/

Actually, perhaps the wire guide is missing:

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Sure shiffdog . The curved lane guide should bring the ball to the kick out hole. I don't see how it could go through in any way. The back left ramp assembly is not too bad to remove if I remember. Good luck and report back.

Jukebox skill shot is awarded at any first switch it triggers. Either the kickout hole or any E-A-T lanes.

I think all playfields flashers are 906, not sure about the back box but most likely the same. Would it be easier to take a peek at your game?

My Diner made it into he last issue of Pinball Magazine (#4) featuring Mark Ritchie's games. Both the pictures from the playfield and the backglass. I love my Diner and it made her even more special

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Yes congrats. Nice cab, please take it away from the sunlight.

Mine is an early production model (diamond plated and yellow habitrail) and YES it has a center post.

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No worries!

My switch have a washer on each side to raise it. Everything else looks good.

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No idea, I don't think it belongs anyway.

Well done. What is that at the front, stickers?

These need to be adjusted just right. Just like Pinbot. You should be alright for a long time now.

1st ball through the spinner (rush 1), then the second ball in the "today's special" (rush 2). Then you do ramps for 500 000.

tip: Never collects the cup bonus so you are 2 shoots away of multiball. Start multiball through the spinner as much as possible before relying on Today's special to award multiball. Leave it for your 3rd ball because it's an easy shot.

You are 100% your switches do not need adjusting?

Exactly! Take this time to clean up everything and wax the targets for nice snappy sliding.

I didn't and I wish I did. The red comes off a little bit when cleaning the target with novus2. Be gentle. so Yes extra protection never hurts.

Here's mine.

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It depends what you mean by non-yellow. I have one, I replaced it by anew one. It's not bad, non-broken. Honestly, not sure it was worth the money. It's up for sale.

Do you have a picture of yours to compare?

Here's mine. Looks like a big difference but once in the game it's barely noticeable.

I should have flame polished my new cup before installing btw...

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PPS about 3 years ago. I think it was hidden somewhere.

We are low profile

Usual playfield wear around the top from the shooter lane exit to the eject hole. Broken clock on the backbox. Broken plastic over the center drop targets.

Enjoy your game buddy!

Nice looking game!

Terrible picture.

I own both as well.

Diner is more rare, hard to find in some places and in good condition, it will fetch more money I think. Diner will become more collectable as some people love sys11.

As for gameplay. Pinbot is a far more difficult and punishing game. It's a more mature theme as well.

Diner is more family oriented and games last generally longer, at least for me. Rules are simpler I think. I like Pinbot road to multi-ball better than Diner which is hard to finish (spinner shot if tough in mine). Diner is a very pretty game. Diner music is great as well.

I owned both Diner and Taxi and I sold Taxi. I liked Diner better of the two in terms of gameplay. Taxi's music and callouts are tough to beat though.

Make sure the cash register ramp goes up down correctly. Verify the diverter works on the right ramp to the cup. Make sure the clock works in the backglass. Check for broken plastic on center drop targets. Check for wear on the orbit out of the shooter lane on top of the game (orange part). And check for raised insert (especially the big customer ones in the middle)

Sure but it easier to come by. So a sys11 collector is most likely to try and add Diner to his line up.

That was my line of thought.

Did you verify the connector? Do you have power at the connector?

That's gold!

Any pictures?