I recently acquired an NOS EBD playfield!! How many of these are out there? Anybody have any idea?

Hi,
Joined this club last Saturday. I have wanted an EBD for a while ,but ,could not find what I was looking for. Talked with a great guy in South Jersey about doing a full hi end restore ,but then spent my intended funds / last space else where (Star Trek Prem VE). This game shows up as a project close by home. With the lock in , I needed something to help spend the time and took a plunge. I have only owned one SS game ( a FG) that needed some minimal trouble shooting and I have never really bought a "project" before ,so, I will need some help. This is a very active club, as I have seen, so all comments/ hints appreciated. Pics will follow. This is my plan/assessment since Saturday.

The game is in pretty good cosmetic condition for a project. I have ordered the cosmetics which I will put on last. So far ordered : new play field plastics, new bumper caps, new drop targets and springs, new posts and new white rubber ( tho as I have been changing bulbs putting on new rubber here and there so that when the time comes can play test the game). The pics will speak for themselves on the cosmetics.

Like I said, bought the game as a project. Prior to purchase, figured,I would have to replace all the boards/displays (except the Squawk/talk I would send for repair). So, where that is not the case , I see up side. Also figured there would be money spent under the play field ( on coils, parts, caps, diods,etc.). All this plus what I saw for the play field plastics.

I have limited skills here so this definitely is a learning experience f. Anyway, my assessment so far:

Power Supply: Bought a replacement rectifier board sight unseen. Figured 40 year old power rectifier board with a bridge relocated to the metal transformer support plate was a good investment . Good news, the existing power supply seems to be working fine as I have been taking measurements during my assessment No found blown fuses ,but, I will have to check fuse ratings (just thought of this as I write). Good enough to get me going so to speak.

MPU: Looks in real good shape. Did not boot right away. Reseated a couple of chips and then it booted up fine or at least I get the seven flashes. No problems booting since that time. Looks like a keeper. Up side already . If I try to play a game, you can see points registering. so switch inputs work.

Displays: Four of the five displays look great right off the bat after the initial boot up. The lower right display at first looked dim but all the numbers worked. Subsequently, after plugging/unpluging connectors, the dim display went bright. After more plugging/unplugging is dim right now. Must be a connection issue. So far looks like keepers. More upside !

Main light board: Looks like original. No visual problems. Light problems so far: About two thirds of the play field lights work. The balance of the non working play field lights look to have no power ( tho a couple may be burnt bulbs). Two rows of four GI lights , underneath the large plastic/clear pieces at the top of the play field will occasionally light very dimly, otherwise, they are off. There are a couple of burnt connectors attached to this board. All the back glass lights work. Not sure if these back glass lights are indicative of a good Aux Light board, but if so , upside baby ! In the light self test mode, the Solenoid expander relay under the play field actuates. It does pass current ( more on this later). So definitely replace a couple of connectors and may be a new Main light Board.

Solenoid driver board. Looks horrible! So powered up game, got the non-desirable faint burnt plastic smell. Shut down game quickly. Found one of the two 7 drop target reset coils to be frozen . Disconnected that solenoid and tried again. Will not go thru all my iterations ,but, this is what I found and where I presently am:

The flipper relays work! Actually the flippers are pretty strong, however, I have rebuild kits on order. During the Solenoid test mode, The only solenoids that work besides the flippers are the solenoid expander relay under the play field and a relay in the back box. No other solenoids actuate. I was blowing the 1 amp fuse under the play field. Subsequent troubleshooting led to disconnecting the saucer coil. The Sol Expander relay will now actuate without blowing the 1 amp fuse, but no play field coils actuate.

When I first started, the replay knocker coil worked. Along the way it stopped and is not firing now either.

So now I have two coils disconnected ( 7 bank reset and Saucer). Some of the coils have 43 VDC applied to them and some have zero ( maybe broke a daisy chain? ). There are burnt connectors to the Solenoid driver board.

Squawk Board: When boots gets a flash and I guess what you would call two flickers on the LED. Condition looks good. Only sound I hear on boot up of the game is the typical start up recorded sound. No other sounds. No sound in the test mode. No sounds at all when I start a game to test the switches.

Ok that's it so far. My plan at this point:

Order pins/ connectors and replace burnt board connectors as a start

Order two coils for the ones I have disconnected ( need to resolder a couple of coil leads I disconnected in troubleshooting the blowing 1 amp fuse)

Order a new Solenoid Driver board. The one in place looks like crap. No way I just want to replace components. Whose replacement board should I order?

I have not decided to order main light board or not at this point. I am wondering if cleaning up connectors will solve problems with play field lights or do I need Board components/replacement. I am sticking with Incandescent bulbs ( old School on this one) so not a driver. Thoughts on chances of being successful with old board/ new connectors or just bite bullet and order new board (which manufacturer?)?

I would work on Squawk board last. Ideas on troubleshooting? Do I need a good Solenoid driver board for the Squawk to work? Worst case, I will send to Hibler for repair.

Hopefully this gets the game up and running where I can troubleshoot the one off's ( i.e. switches, bad bulbs, etc.).

Then consider cleaning/cosmetic work ( which will cause a new plan/questions, I am sure)

Pics to follow. Any thoughts/help appreciated
Sully
18A2D4BF-545C-40CF-A88A-D112670B6C91 (resized).jpeg2FF49740-6039-40CC-B498-0CEE7886E739 (resized).jpeg35455264-483D-4039-A01A-A6739A1ACE85 (resized).jpeg367C866A-07F0-4D46-B91D-6B14EA092D47 (resized).jpeg4B0BACF3-ECBB-4F97-995E-402381EACD0B (resized).jpeg71FC370F-73DF-4892-8BAF-E0B2BCECFCFC (resized).jpegAAB0CCDB-8951-46A8-82D6-5F37BB2439EE (resized).jpegC0FEDE03-E84A-4D46-BE06-742B1B589472 (resized).jpegDF6BBE9B-0CA5-4825-9A85-41959CCF57A3 (resized).jpegE7ACCEC2-D112-457F-A403-04E67E1FECFD (resized).jpeg

85A02257-AAA2-4AD8-8DB4-1254C500E816 (resized).jpeg819AA811-81DD-4CDB-B68D-71C787FAC2FA (resized).jpeg80EC39A7-73B3-44C6-BD8E-0D198B4D0EC5 (resized).jpegE6561A46-A224-4CEA-B31E-E51FD2A8FE1D (resized).jpeg20EC6E6C-013E-4A81-8347-E0F675BC24AE (resized).jpeg11AB9410-D6DF-4C62-B623-9BFAC3A2433C (resized).jpeg1B0CA4C4-86EF-4860-8EC3-B7792EB45471 (resized).jpeg

image (resized).jpg

image (resized).jpg

That pf is looks pretty nice. How much you want ? I would get her up n running than fine tune it all. this game is awesome.

Cut that battery off of the MPU pronto!

Looks really nice overall, repin all connectors (male & female), do recommended board updates, Add NVRAM, rebuild flippers, drop targets, pop bumpers, slingshots, then clean it up & play.
Don't goober it all up with LED's - incandescent all the way.

What do we use as a filler when playfield holes are blown out?

Better to go ahead and fill it before laying down the hardtop.

received_169754364367513 (resized).jpeg

Hello!

Can someone give me these 2 exact measurements ?

Thanks in advance!

Pic15 (resized).png

Mine is basically .75" for both BUT keep in mind that if you use my measurement your shooter rod may be off when striking the ball. You want to adjust this so that the shooter rod tip is hitting the pinball properly.

Joined the club today, very dirty but should clean up well. Looks like factory mylar and backglass is nice.

20200507_203255 (resized).jpg

Surely someone is reproing these by now.. Right?

Screenshot_20200508-112733 (resized).jpg

Personally, I'd drill that one through and use a tnut and machined post in it's place. The reason it is all mangled is they factory used a wood screw post and that one gets hit alot. Gotta remove the drop bank below to do the mod.

Nope. Not enough demand I suppose. I have been looking for years. Even if someone reproduces the cap and ring we still need the hot stamping done.

Man, that's a bummer. I'd pay way over what an orange set goes for to get a set of white repros.

I'd be more interested in a set of orange ones that last more than a dozen plays before the tabs break off. I've owned my EBD for 35 years now, and have broken dozens of caps over that time. I finally gave up buying new ones and have just been hot-gluing them now, even though I hate how that looks.

I actually looked into repo-ing these. First I tried to see if Steve at PBR would do them and he said the demand just wasnt there so no plans to do so.

I then had it looked into having them made and it was just under 5k to make 1000 sets. Tooling being the most expense.

I don't like that news at all! Or the broken tabs above... Grooooannnn

I'd dump $100 easy on a set of whites that aren't fragile pieces of crap. Surely I can't be the only idiot out there?

I was offered a set of 3 white caps w/o the rings for $300 but was too much for me to spend. This was years ago.

For this reason even if I had white caps I would only put them on for show only.

WOOF. Not surprised though, for originals. No rings though... Jesus.

Yeah at that kind of price I don't think I could use them in an actual machine. That's a bummer.

Yeah and that's not including the license fee for Rick. Due to these having the EBD on them they would need licensed. Not sure what he charges but need to add that into the cost as well.

I planned to re-drill the hole and T nut the bottom side. Just wanted to see what people used to fill the void.

Alas, I decided to go with 2 part epoxy and I'll sand it flush when it cures before re-drilling.

Thanks,

received_558647451726706 (resized).jpeg

Really unfortunate it seems these have so many hurdles that they'll almost certainly never happen.

Any idea if a white cap even exists in this style? I did a quick glance didn't find anything.

Screenshot_20200508-185418 (resized).jpg

Screenshot_20200508-185423 (resized).jpg

If you check the resistance, its almost the same on a six -foot run. This is not used in an aircraft, so why pay 5 times more.

I guess because the job is about time and material. My time is not worth using the wrong material

Also I have some first hand experience with 12v halogen lighting. Steel ain’t the way To go...

Have fun

Have it in machines 20+ years. That’s first hand experience. Halogen? Wtf.

FYI. Pinball on that circuit is either 6-7v ac or dc.

Your right. I’m wrong.

Obviously

There is/was a set that had screw down caps. But they didn't look so great with 2 big holes on the tops of them.

They do exist. I have 5 rings. 2 of them are nice used ones and 3 nos. I only need caps. There is a white version w red art on it and I have it. I'm pretty sure it was a prototype since the production run has black art. I bought it from a former Bally employee. I think I posted a pic of it in this thread somewhere.

Did you put the game in lamp test and listen the the
solenoid expander relay. You should here a clean "click"
If your here "chattering" Then the lamp bridge is going bad.

Yes, I have some of those also. At one point I had a huge stack of broken caps, but I eventually just threw out a bunch of them. Still have several of them though.

Trouble shooting the squawk box. No sound at all when in game play. When I push the test button however, I can hear the test call outs. The MPU boots up successfully (as per the flashes). You can hear the start up sound on the game when first turned on.

No sound in test mode either.

I am going to re pin the connectors any other thoughts?

That sucks. Apparently you play your often. they should've kept the original pop bumper design.

Do you hear speech and sound or just sound? Is the coin door sound setting swr to 03?

Yes, for many years it was my only machine...and it still sees plenty of play.

When I push the test button on board I hear a speech only. Counts down the balls even numbers.

Yes adjusted. Setting 18 to 03.
No sound at all except on power up

Before you replace the bridges, check the header pin joints on the solenoid expander for cracks. Might need some touch up with solder.

The best fix for EBD lamp bridge is to double up the bridges.
1) replace the 35 amp wire pdb mount bridge.
2) mount a 2nd bridge to the metal frame.
-- 2a. add 18 AWG or 16 AWG wire jumpers
----- from the new bridge to the PCB power supply bidge.
--2b. make sure to keep jumpes in the same direction
----- eg. cathode to cathode , anode to anode.

Push on the SEB connector while it's buzzing and listen for any changes. Cold solder joints are hard to see w/o a magnifying glass.

could it also be overheated or tarnished fuse clips on the rect board?

email sent

Also make sure lamp driver board in head is grounded via mounting screws. Also make sure ground strap from cab is connected to the back box. No LED in the lamp socket next EBD, has to be incandescent.

EBD Owners help a schematically challenged guy out! In my picture you can see I have a Black/Green (b/g) wire that has no home. I know that wire is lighting up the 4X insert but I don’t know where the other is to go? I found b/g is going to J3 on lamp board pin 14 the schematic shows this to be for FROM AUXL. EXPANDER J1 pin3 but that’s a solid black wire.

Also notice pin2 on the Expander J1 you’ll see it’s a light blue wire that comes in but then, it appears someone jumped it, goes out to the 555 socket above the Expander.

So my questions are.... is the light blue wire going to the Expandor a hack?
Where does the b/g wire go?

C1450E91-1083-43DC-ADFF-BCF6CC5F0CAB (resized).jpeg

Does the lamp under the playfield flash in unison the other lamps during the self test?

forget the bridges .you would be have major problems with all the lamps if the bridges were bad.