Hey fellow Earthshakers. Having some trouble with my shaker motor.

It's got me totally stumped.

Here’s the issue:

When the shaker motor and pops are both activated at the same time during gameplay they blow a fuse.

Details:

The shaker alone works during the game or in test mode likewise with the pops.

If you unplug the shaker motor the pops work fine and game plays without issue and that fuse (F3) doesn’t blow.

What I’ve tested:
The diode, resistor and transistor on the high power aux board (shaker board)
The transistor on the CPU that control the shaker.
The 0 Ohm resistor that the shaker and pops use on the main Aux board has been replaced. (W4 I think?)

The shaker was newly installed by the previous owner when he bought it, this one here: https://www.alliedelec.com/product/rs-pro-by-allied/3213192/71516156/

(some background that may or not be important: when i went to pick up the game the previous owner said the F3 fuse had just blown so he unplugged the shaker and threw a new fuse in and suggested it could be that the weights were coming into contact with the wire contacts. I've ruled that out and because he told me he didn't use the shaker when he played the game, now I'm suspecting the new motor he installed is somehow faulty. I'm more than willing to replace the motor but not sure how to determine if the motor is at fault before I spend the money on replacing it.)

The only insight that I can give you is make sure the motor spins freely with little to no resistance. check for burnt connectors. The fact that he replaced the motor should raise some questions. Good luck and hope you sort it out.

So that motor is spec'd for 8311rpm. The original is 3200rpm. That could be your issue.

I finished my first playfield swap (not a trivial task - HA!) and have an issue with the top right popper that sends the ball up the wire ramp and through the fault between the states. it works fine until i start 3 ball multiball. then the ball just sits there in the corner while i play the other two. once done with the other two, it does a ball search and kicks it out on the 2nd search.

Is there a certain switch that needs to be triggered to launch the upper right ball at the beginning of multiball?
-or- is there something wrong with my leaf switch on the top right popper is causing a time out or something for the coil? I'm really stumped here.
Any other ideas?

thanks for your help.

EDIT: update. figured out trough 1 was stuck open. problem resolved. Need to remember to take the balls out when looking for stuck switches.

I happened to pick up this backglass, but I don’t have an ES to put it in. Would like to find one of the samples with the sinking building.

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WOW! Where did you find that prototype backglass?

Why prototype? What are the differences?

I bought it from a former Williams employee. The pink Cadillac is the main difference, harig

The buildings up in the top left are different too, they are normally mirrored. Awesome pick up.

I noticed the different buildings.
Thx for the insight info

The chipping at the bottom is a shame, but yeah, it looks good. The skin tones on mine look like an f'ing ghost.

I bought some from Ebay. Did you look there?

Can anybody show me in a picture where the Solenoid 2C building flasher is?! I am not finding it very easily. All I know is it is "deep behind the building". Thank you!

I have the bracket and the shaker motor, but I’m missing the weights.

Would anyone be able to fabricate the weights for the shaker motor? I don’t have the raw metal or tap and die set to do this.

Any help or recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

If you pay for material, and a little for some labor, I can make them for you.

Sending you a pm

My shooter has the red spring in it. It cam barely make it up the sprial to the bypass. It almost always lands in the 100,000 skill shot. Any ideas on how to make it shoot correct? New spiral ramp if it helps.

http://www.planetarypinball.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=BK-535-6711&Category_Code=MOP

http://www.planetarypinball.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=MO-14-7951&Category_Code=GS-753

you would have to fabricate the weights

If anyone has the shooter not making it to the overpass issue with the red spring, my issue was solved when I noticed a washer that goes on the shooter rod right before the red spring was missing. Once replaced and aimed the shooter rod at the center of the ball, it flies up the ramp perfectly. Now the skills shots are really skills shot. Hopefully this helps out someone in the future.

If you change out to full LEDs and notice a slight flicker in your ramp flashers when you hit the flippers... a member named DumbAss makes a really nice replacement AUX Board that will fix it right. On his aux board he added LEDs to it to show you if a fuse is blown out or not. I do not know him personally but he has helped me a lot through electrical issues I was having so I thought I would throw his name out there if anyone elsr needs a new board or electrical help.

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Just finished up installing the sinking building mod. Few things to pass along to the next person.

It can be done by yourself with the playfield in the cabinet... but it won't be fun. The worst part of the whole install is getting that first screw through the mounting bracket into the bottom of the playfield. Trying to hold the unit in place and working updsidedownish sucked. I used a bit of contact cement to keep the screws in the bit holder... but having a second person operate the drill to run that first screw in place while I held the unit in place would of been the smart wait to do it. If the playfield is out, then it might be minor task by yourself... well getting the playfield out by yourself.. have fun.

The instructions say to remove two white plastic "wire clamps". The mounting bracket kind of goes where they are. But removing the two wire clamps kind of creates a minor wiring issue, a mass of wires wants to rest/touch the soldier connection of the motor. Wire + sharp edges + vibration + time = sparks!

I was able to mount the 2 white plastic wire clamps to the plate. Where the relay is, I got a longer screw and secured it. I also put some yellow plastic split loom along the edge of the metal plate. You can see a smaller wiring bundle that is kind of snug against the metal plate. Same mathematical problem as before, so the yellow split loom should prevent those wires from damaged.

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The other wire clamp is secured in place with a screw that holds a plastic guide in place.

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I was able to secure the pigtail harness on with the wire clamp on the left so it can't hang around and fatigue fail down the road.

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Currently tearing down ES to make it all nice and pretty. Got the mylar off with no blood spilled! Very nice PF underneath. System 11's, they can be done.

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freeze?

Yep, upside down air (used 4 cans, lol) and then the glue came off with mostly that Orange 909 spray that I like.

Found this after removing spiral ramp. any idea's where it came from.

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I need to refurbish my playfield apron. Does anyone make a replacement decal for ES? The only ones I can find have the language on them to Lane Change with the flippers.

Thanks

Could have been used as a spacer on the plastic with the scores attached to the top of the spiral ramp?

Thanks for reply, seen some black plastic ones on spiral ramp, this one as marks on the edge as if something runs against it. I dont want to put it all back together and then find where it goes.

Still looking for help with these parts.

I have some left over AFM shaker weights. Think they'll work?

Here's what they look like.

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Hi everyone, I recently finished a restoration of my Earthshaker and wanted to share that with you guys.
I also want to ask a couple questions regarding Earthshaker because I've never owned one before and the one I restored was not in playable condition when I tore it down.

I replaced the shaker motor with a NOS one, identical to the one I removed. The motor really shakes hard and it makes a lot of racket, almost like the bracket is loose but on inspection its tight. Question is, how much rattle is normal on the arcade setting?

Second question is about the GI lights dimming when hitting a flipper. Now this one may be an example of fixing whats not broke.. I rebuilt the flippers and replaced all three coils with correct values from pinball life, however now the GI will dim when hitting the flippers, particularly the upper left. I did not observe this when I first got it back together and tested with old coils. Anyone else experience this on their ES?

Im really loving this game and it was an incredible and challenging experience to restore the whole machine. The example I started with was a diamond in the rough, incredibly dirty and had a hard life until it sat for many years collecting an impressive level of grime. So much time and effort but this wonderful game was well worth it.

Thank you for any insight anybody may have and I hope you enjoy seeing this game brought back to life as much as I do.

PS: in these pics I didn't replace that trim piece that holds the glass yet

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Yes, the shaker is quite strong on the arcade setting. Set it to 'street' for less shaking.
(or whatever the other setting is called I forget.... mine's on arcade....)

Hey everyone, I just got my first Earthshaker yesterday.

I'm curious if there's consensus on the sign placement for the center ramp, should it be positioned with the left bracket on the first post or the 2nd post? Thanks!

center ramp sign (resized).jpg

2, square to the ramp entrance.

It certainly looks better that way. I received it in position 1. Photos on IPDB and Pinside are inconsistent.

https://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=753&picno=4622&zoom=1

Flyer pic you can see it from above.

Someone must have bent your signs to get it to fit in position 1.

Hmmm... mine is in position 1, that is how I got it.

Hi
Mine is position 2.

Sorry to be a bother, I'm sure I'll have more questions. These sound roms are labeled "PROTO" - is there any reason to replace these with a later release? I'm aware a family version was released later, but curious if there were other revisions that were notable.

If my main rom chips are labeled REV 1, is that the same as the prototype or sample games with the sinking building code?

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I have a question about game play on Earthshaker.
If you hit the lock ramp on the first ball lock, where should the ball go?

It gets shot up, goes through the "Fault" and sits in the Lock hole with the extra ball insert.

That's what I thought, mine says 1 ball locked but shots it back into play. What could be the issue here? Thanks for replying btw

check the subway and vuk switches

I was having an awesome ball one over 7 million points, 2 extra balls and 79 miles gained. I shot 2 into the shelter after a multiball and the machine froze and the sound stuck and the following pictures was on the display. Any clue as to what happened?

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I'd say the CPU crashed. Start with removing circuit boards and looking over them with a magnifying glass - look for "cold" solder joints (cracked) and reflow them with a soldering iron, a little flux, and some fresh solder to repair them.

Without doing anything, and after powering off and on again, does everything seem okay?

Yeah everything was fine when I turned it off and then back on. My play on was not as good the second time though. Lol.