how do i tell what build number my jd is? am i looking at the correct numbers?

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Wanna sell one of those?

I'd be interested in a couple of them if possible?

Never heard of a Bally/Williams build numbers...

Playfields were built separately than cabinets...

Ok my machine seems to have a different color scheme on cabinet coin door panel (no red in the lettering and blue gloves instead of green). Maybe this is fade though? See pic. But also, mine does not have the cutouts for the topper feet. So I was thinking maybe it is an early build?

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I'd guess the color diff is because of fade. Red goes away often.

As for your backbox, anything is possible --- maybe Bally/Williams made a batch without the notches.

You might try posting outside of this thread. I've found that many JD owners don't read this thread.

I'm really thinking that's because the backbox on your machine is off another machine. I have not heard of any different head unit's being used for this machine before and if you look on the IPDB there is also no mention of that. If you consider the fact that the backbox on a widebody machine is exactly the same size as any regular size machine, yours could be off anything!

Agree (I suggested this earlier too). But it would mean someone reapplied decals. Are the decals in really good shape compared to the rest of the game?

They look the same as the main cabinet decals. Maybe there is a serial number in the back box I can look for. Should there be one there? Do all the williams/bally back boxes have the bumped out section (without the topper feet cutouts)? Mine is bumped out but just doesn't have the cutouts. That's why I am thinking that I have the ultra rare prototype version! Wishful thinking???

Kidding of course. My build date is November 1993 so 2 months after production started...

Looking for a little input regarding how the drop targets should work when spelling Judge.

It seems most of the time, if you hit a target out of order then the target will drop and not change the flashing light. Then, if you hit the correct target, it's possible you end up with a flashing light for a target that is already down.

Is this normal? Or should the game pop up all the targets in this case?

When this happens, you can shoot the center subway (assuming the drop target in front is down) to light the letter.

In case this isn't clear, here is a specific example.

JUDGE are all up. J is flashing.
I hit the U target. It goes down.
J is still flashing
I now hit the J target. It goes down.
U is now flashing but it is already down.

at this point I need to hit the D target so it goes down
and then shoot the ball into the subway, which now lights the D target

I'm hopeful this is normal behavior. However, I wasn't able to find anyone stating the correct behavior... hence this post.

Thanks!

... Altan

How about some side shots of the cab. Head and lower cab.

Yes this normal. If the J is flashing and you hit the "UDGE" they will drop. J will only count if you hit J or enter subway. If you hit the J and all others are down than they reset. The same for all letters. If you have one letter up and all are down and hit subway, the one flashing will be counted and move to the next.
I think I explained it right. Beer and pin 400 miles away

Thanks. Matches what I described and I'm seeing. No weird behavior.

.. Altan

The colouring is correct, just faded, same as my machine. I was thinking that maybe the center portion of wood between the cutouts may have been damaged and someone has made the whole area uniform by removing it. On closer zoom of your pic, which is a little unclear, it looks like the "bumped" out section is about 2/3 rd's the width of the whole backbox. That's also unusual. I'm guessing now it may be an original but someone's done some extra "bumping"
Might have had a fair bit of damage to the leading edge so to make it look kinda normal that approach was taken, just a thought

I think I'm leaving the club soon. Tough decision, but it's one of the games I've had the longest. It will probably be back at some point. Market ad coming soon..

Cursed Earth one would be awesome, I would defo be interested in one of those too if you got around to it. Thanks Dudah

I have no idea when it started, but my ball crane no longer picks up balls (at all, not even a little). Anyone have any ideas on what I should be checking out?

Do you mean the arm doesn't move?

Or that the magnet does not engage to pick up the ball?

First, remember the crane magnet doesn't work with coin door open.

I'd check its connector hasn't come off under the playfield.

Also run solenoid test for magnet and see if it will pick up anything.

... Altan

Any thoughts on why the crane would work in test mode but not in the actual game? I do have a rotten dog board in there. Could that be the problem?

Arm moves, but the magnet does not engage. I have also noted that the arm seems to move more before the game starts, during boot up...it seems to just keep on going until I start a game or open the menus. I've never noticed the VUK's firing during bootup either, and they fire a few times as well.

I checked the connectors and it seems like everything is tight, unless something came off in the backbox. Do you know what the corresponding connector is in the backbox?

In the solenoid test the magnet works, though I'm not sure about how strong it should be, it doesn't feel very strong.

Same issue I'm having

Wondering if anyone else has run into this…If I'm in multiball and cradling the left flipper and a ball goes into the left launch lane when the coil fires to autolaunch the ball out my left flipper will pulse and will sometimes completely drop. Is this normal or do i have something odd happening?

You need to start there. It sounds like the game is doing a ball search. Go into switch test and make sure the trough switches and all optos are working. JD is extremely picky about all optos working. Then if you still have problems you can dig into the crane issue. Might want to start a technical thread on this.

I'll try this later when I'm by my machine, but I'm doubtful it's normal.

Does it happen if you hold the left flipper and just bang hard on the left side of the cabinet?

I'm wondering if your flipper opto mech is a little funky and, since it's so close to the solenoid that fires the left auto launch, might cause it to briefly toggle.

I'm really curious about this as well...

Yeah! I seem to have my Deadworld working well! Just ran 50+ balls through the "unload glebe test" and all worked 100% (lifted and got dropped through the exit optos!).

I'll run another 50 tomorrow...

I'll have to try it out tomorrow. I did notice last night when I was playing that the strength of the "pulse" is really varied so that may be how strongly its being affected by the solenoid firing each time.

Guys,
any idea of the potential faulty opto that lead to a 6-multiballs during normal game ?
Once i activate multi in a game, it's always 6 balls (i'm on L6 rom)
Not sure it's the normal behavior..
The back out mode is ok with its two balls still.

thanks !

benetnath, I believe it is normal game play. Take a look at this.

http://pinball.org/rules/judgedredd.html

This should help you out

Hey indeed, i don't know why, i was persuaded that multiball was only 3, and 6 for supergame..

my JD is 100% working then (good news as i'm using most of my free time to fix my Dr Who gearbox (harder than the JD gearbox..)

Did you check the through opto boards? Very common failure for this game. To check it, just remove the driver board (green) and view it through a cell phone camera.

Edit: Also, check the through opto receive board.

I have the great lakes modular trough opto board on my JD that the 100uf capacitor has failed on. I replaced it, and still the 2nd bank of lights wouldn't work. Any tips on what may be the problem would be appreciated. Has anyone had it where the LED's fail, or perhaps the resistors, and if its the resistors, what values are they? TIA
I have contacted Great lakes, and await their reply also.

Added over 8 years ago: It is the transmitter board, not the receiver board!!

Check fuse f-105. Mine was blown and the crane would not work in test mode. I was still having issues with it picking up the ball. I was running a rotten dog board and switched it with an original Williams board and now it works fine. Rottendog doesn't play well in some games it seems.

Just installed these original inside decals tonight which I ordered from hassanchop few weeks ago here:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/original-inside-decals-60-shipped

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How well do they survive opening the playfield?

Yeah, got those too and they look awesome. This is one of the few game/decal combos where the decals look much better than mirror blades.
You need to be careful when taking out the glass or flipping the playfield though. The top clear layer on mine somehow got damaged by the glass at a spot where there is a crack in the plastic "glass guide" thingy..

€: I stuck soft felt to the edge of my playfield, so far no damage from that (2 years in semi-public operation with regular maintenance with the decals now).

hassanchop's decals appear pretty durable so I'm sure as long as you are careful lifting and lowering your playfield these should look great for a long time. In regards to clearance there is plenty on both sides and I definitely prefer these over mirror blades which I have installed in some of my other games.

Backbox mystery solved! Looks like a previous owner did not like the cutouts since he did not have the topper. So, he put a trim piece over it, lol. Looks nice I suppose. In the the pics below you can see the light poking through where the cutouts are...

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oh there's more. actually it looks like this trim piece is the topper bracket. Damn and I just bought a new bracket too lol!

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Couldn't get the problem to duplicate by banging the side of the cabinet, but after looking at the flipper board and pictures of the left side in this thread i realized that it was a replacement board hacked into place. A previous owner apparently replaced it by removing the entire old left opto assembly and putting in a normal one and cutting the board and rotating it in order to get it to fit. Ordered a replacement from GLM.

I was missing the protect bar that sits behind the drop targets on my project JD machine and decided to have a go at making one from scratch, pretty happy with the result overall. Quick pop quiz, which one is the remake, left or right??? (to be honest it's not a hard quiz )

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left!

My "Drain Shield" insert text is worn and looks more like "Drain Sh___", anyone know where I could find an insert decal with the text to make it look better?

Hiya Dredd Heads. I'm currently in on a JD that'll be coming over from Italy in a container deal. I've posted some pics below. The PF and plastics look good.. the cabinet nice except that back peeling (how big of a deal is that?). One concern is the pics appear to be of the game running in track mode however the JUDGE drop targets are in the down position, I think they are normally up?

Any advice and critiques welcome on this somewhat risky purchase.

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Wood glue and a long clamp! Then bondo and touch up paint!

Looks already painted, where's the stencil warning label?

May TAF has a little raised grain at the bottom of the stenciled area that I would like to make perfect, but without stenciling the back.

Targets do not pop up during attract, so this isn't a warning sign.

I did notice it is missing the Police plastics that cover the left and right ramps.

Thanks and good spot.. damn that's annoying..

Would this combo work for both?

http://www.pinballspareparts.com.au/a-18616.html

ebay.com link: Bally Judge Dredd Pinball Machine Playfield Ramp Sign Police Siren Decal NEW NOS