Diode replacement complete.

Problem solved!

Game now saves settings!

Had a good look over everything and it looks brand new.

Just waiting for ColorDMD.

Great news!

Good job on the troubleshooting.

For those who would like to upgrade the static Dalek topper, Mark Davidson just finished 6 more of his famous Wobble head mechs. I just got another one, so he has 5 left. https://www.basementarcade.com/Project-Wobble-Head.html

Hey guys, quick question

I have 2 machines which behave differently.

In wave 3 video mode when you get the extra ball - one of my machines knocks the other one doesn't.

Normal game play they are identical. Only other difference is one has wobble head and one doesnt.

Any ideas?

Also one has a genuine MPU the other one has a Rottendog replacement.

Could swap the MPU boards between games and see if the behavior switch too? If not then something in the game itself.

If the behavior follows the MPU are they both running the same ROM version? If you swap ROM chips between games does the behavior switch too? Are both using batteries or is one using NVRAM?

Thanks for the reply. I cant really be bothered changing out the MPU for that. On your machine does it knock during video mode or not?

They both seem to be running 20006 L-2

Actually its a Homepin replacement not Rottendog

I’ve never heard my machine knock during video mode. Are all the settings exactly the same? You could try restoring factory settings on each then compare.

I'm wondering if its something to do with the different MPU

If you can swap them between games that would tell for sure. Which version knocks now?

The Homepin one does, the Bally/Williams doesn't.

Can anyone else comment if their video mode fires the knock coil when you collect the EB ?

I am guessing it is just a setting. Restore both to factory and make sure they are running the same revision

Its not a setting, they are both on factory settings

My DW is in Ohio right now, but I am 99.999% sure it does knock during the video mode, when you collect the EB icon on the 2nd(?) wave

All boards original. Maybe check your ROM revision

I've never heard mine knock in video mode.

So my machine that I just manually forced balls to light up targets and WHO extra ball, it only knocks on high score replay, and when special is lit on ESCAPE targets. Doing a W H O ramps in order and then going down the extra ball lane that is lit, only gets you an extra ball, NO knock. My machine is set to wave 5 video extra ball. So I went through all 5 videos and got extra ball, but No knock. I have original WPC 89 CPU with level 2 chip. My power board is from PinLED in Germany 2005. Wonder why the difference in your machines.

Mine does not knock when awarding the extra ball in video mode.

I worked it out!

My Original MPU (Hard Soldered DIPs) No Knock
IMG_1126 (resized).jpg

Homepin MPU Knocks
IMG_1128 (resized).jpg

Homepin MPU with the same DIPs set to ON No Knock!
IMG_1127 (resized).jpg

Well there you go.

Good detective work!

I know that the recent auction that the Museum (but not museum quality) pinballs and arcades sold for inflated prices, but can you believe that Doctor Who sold for $8000 plus shipping??? It did not even have any upgrades such as color DMD, or Pinsound board, or moving Dalek topper.

And don't forget auction fees

The $8000 included auction fees and taxes of 25%.

In case you have been needing a new Time Expander Plastic; Marco has them in stock but they are bare bones no decals (Which are out of stock). I just got mine in the mail and bought a new red cap for it. Here is the link...

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/03-8666

get the decal here:

https://www.ministryofpinball.com/en/dr-who-police-box-and-expander-decal-set.html

In the club today..only problem I'm having is direct shots to the left lock bounce right out. I kind of have to bounce or slowly roll it in. Time to figure that out but loving the game so far.

PXL_20210925_124516184.MP (resized).jpg

Welcome Time Lord!

Nice looking game.

@pinballnreno thanks! I saw your post about fifty pages back about bending the scoop down to keep shots from rejecting? Did you just use pliers? I don't want to mess anything up but the right multiball shot goes in almost every time and the left lock shot only about ten percent and never with straight shots.
Or do you seen anything else that may be an issue?

PXL_20210927_012112794 (resized).jpg

I was having an issue with one of the optos on the Time Expander so I ended up buying a replacement receiver and transmitter board set from Marco. Once I installed the new boards none of the optos are working at all. What should I be looking at?

So how the heck do you fix your game from the ball going into the pops, only to leave from where it came and going down the middle drain? A direct hit from the right flipper is basically a suicide mission. I see as the pop bumpers activate, the gate bounces, and often times lets the ball come out and back out the left orbit. Anyone have a fix for this? It's driving me nuts.

I would measure the height distance of the working scoop and duplicate it on the non-working one. I would use pliers of large channel lock pliers to bend it. I rebuilt my MPF a couple months back with the valuable use of the FAZ guide. I also added Cliffies to a new MPF wood from CPR. The old MPF was banged up pretty bad and I wanted my new one to last. While cleaning up and polishing the scoops before reattachment, I noticed one was out of shape and pointing to the sky. I had it out, so bent it with pliers in a vice to match the other one. Reattaching them with new screws in new wood was a challenge. But I pre-dimpled with a sharp nail where the screws were supposed to go. Then pre-drilled them smaller than the screws. While removing the old wood screws from the old MPF, I noticed how big the holes were, as the screws were sloppy holding the metal walls and scoop down. If you find this in yours, you may be able to increase the screw diameter one size, but may have to make the attachment holes bigger in the metal. Just my 2 cents. MPF After4 (resized).JPG

Top MPF 1 (resized).JPG

Original vs New MPF Top (resized).JPG

Tophervette thank you for the advice.

Probably bent too high up from repeated ball strikes. the angle of the back should deflect the ball down into the saucer.

I put the lower tab with the 3 holes in it, in a vice and bent it down a little.

Bending it in game is a lot of stress on the wood screws.

I de-sensitized the upper left pop bumber very slightly. This keeps the ball from exiting out the top so much.

It took a bit of time to get it right. POWER OFF when adjusting pops!

Also check your horizontal pitch, its critical to keep the balls from hitting the slings.

Also you can open the gap slightly on the slings to desensitize them a little, but they are supposed to be a hazard.

Mushroom targets are really tough.

I couldnt get the gulf stream boards to work well at all.

Read my posts on this, read Faz's guide on this.

The mushroom optos are sadly not plug and play, they need careful adjustment, in fact since you cant get the correct optos any more, its a real hassle. You can spend hours on this, get it perfect, and still it will change later in the game.

The flexible opto carrier is the culprit, buying a new one at marco wont help (i tried that).

The swinks opto carrier is a godsend! well worth the money. Totally rigid, no weirdness. It has to be black.

I had the best results with the pindorabox.com opto boards. They are way better due to the narrow beam and higher intensity. They still have to be gently bent into alignment when installed.

Make sure they are perfectly straight on assembly, then adjust the couple that need help.

Add a shim of fish paper or 3 layers of tape to the side that sticks in so far that it hits the interrupters.

You absolutely need the paper shroud (templates are available), It has to be black construction paper or black fish paper,

Read my posts on this.

Thanks for your response. I just ordered a set of pindorabox optos

Get the Swinks opto carrier. Its literally a game changer.

No more random failures due to microscopic changes in the flexible plastic factory one.

While you have the time expander out, do yourself a favor and examine the wires to the outer lock optos.

They are very close to the edge and suffer.

If they are crispy from age, replace them with new silicone flexable wires.

I had to remove the unit twice, just to fix broken wires.

Its very robust now after 1100 plays. Works very reliably. I havent had to do anything but play the game!

I have uploaded a new Pinsound orchestration to the community site. It is the Radiohead remix. Why Radiohead? Why not. I always thought Radiohead had a lot of futuristic sounds to their music, and lots of instrumental segments. So, personally, I thought it would go well with Doctor Who.

Here is the link to download it. Any feedback is appreciated.

https://www.pinsound-community.org/index.php?/files/file/365-radiohead-mix-pinballjah-v1/

Awesome Thanks. I have the others already loaded and change tunes every so often to keep it fresh!

Thought Id share some information about a possible replacement phototransistor that I have found for the mushroom targets with the same size and lenght as the original ones, the Optek OP598B, has the same head shape and a reciver angle of 25 degrees
https://datasheet.octopart.com/OP598B-TT-datasheet-10882.pdf

I have installed two, one with a original transmitter and one with a unknown replacement transmitter on the opposite circuit board, seems to work fine with both.
The data sheet is quite similar to the commonly replacement phototransistor QSD124,
https://pdf1.alldatasheet.com/datasheet-pdf/view/35360/QT/QSD124.html

Thanks @lhammer610, restorer at the Roanoke Pinball Museum for information about the QSD124 as well as reaching out to Ed at GPE.

I have only done some brief testing but seems promising, thoughts about the OP598B is appreciated, available at Digi-Key.

20210930_200201 (resized).jpg

It would be awesome if replacements for the original optos are available.

It would be great if this works out and Marcospecialties carried them. People need to know this is an option.

That would be good, it's absolutely fine with me if someone has an interest to look into this further.

The common replacement emitter is QED123, Im not sure which would be Opteks version of it, might be OP293B or OP298B but thats maybe not so important as long as the reciver works since the main problem seems to be the lenght of the original and maybe a bit narrower reciever angle.

So a ball got stuck between the time expander and the playfield, and it took out the gearbox. Looks like a previous owner had already tried to fix it by soldering the gear to the collar on the shaft, but it broke again. I have now brazed it, doubt it will ever come loose again! Thought I'd share, I reckon it might be a common point of failure

WhatsApp Image 2021-10-03 at 18.49.51 (resized).jpeg

It seems to be a rare occasion to have the ball stuck between the playfields, heard of it a couple years ago and it was the reason to why a better motor board was developed by @pellew.
Had to do the same bracing procedure after too much testing, on the downside it may be the teeth on the gears that breaks next time without protection.

received_758683381255468 (resized).jpeg

Looks like that board checks if the motor uses excessive current to determine if the mini playfield is stuck? Maybe its a good idea to put a fuse in line with the motor?

It's more common than you think. I've seen this a lot.

That repair may hold but the amount of torque is pretty high. Make sure your brackets are really straight, with little slop. Don't give the gear box any extra friction if you can help it. UHMW tape can help give extra glide as well as take up any slop between brackets (if that's the case).
faz

Its likely better than nothing, the motor draws about 0.5A with normal load, except during startup when it is higher and decreases, a SB fuse between 1-2A might work, it wont reverse the motor though if it blows.
If the ball get stuck or the elevator jams the motor runs for about 4 second and 3.5-4A until it reverses with the original board, can be seen about 4 minutes in to this video.

Ok, guess I have had the luck to avoid this, the bracket works fine so far, fingers crossed

Your repair will probably last for home use, its pretty solid but personally, I would order a new motor and gearbox while they are available.

Later on you might not be able to get one.