Not familiar with terminology, what is reset phenolic links?

Bally part #P-1973-444 [LINK]
Note: The "P" stands for PLATE. Any thing that is cut, out of flat stock,
----- is called by the "P" suffix.

Lookup phenolic material. It is used a lot for pinball parts.

Got it, fiberglass link for reset.

When disassembled & cleaned they probably where flipped around.

Appreciate info, part number help to look up in Bally 1981 part manual

Thanks Vec-tor

Took inline DT bank Bally part #P-1973-444 [LINK] apart see if anything different, reassembled no change.

Attached are pics, see if you notice anything not right

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Take a look at the linkage (the metal L shaped piece that attaches to the plastic drop target and connects to the pivot bar). Sometimes these can slip past the slot that stops it. This could be caused by the hole being elongated at the pivot bar. Or a notch being worn in linkage where it makes contact with the stop.

There are three "L" brackets mounted to the inside back plate.
One tab is known to break off from this "L" bracket.

Inspected everything again, and decided to replace 5X DT with old one I had.

After 20 resets no issues, will do more testing tomorrow after adjusting couple of switches

When I rebuild DT banks had to replace a couple of those L brackets

Yes, as vec-tor stated, you have a broken bracket. Not sure if they are left hand or right hand parts in Fathom, but here's a pic of what the left hand part looks like. You may have to search for the part number for the right hand part if that is what you have. I made my own replacements several years ago but I forget which way they faced in the drop target mechanism. There are several aftermarket manufacturers of these brackets as well.

Screen Shot 2022-09-15 at 10.58.24 PM (resized).png

Shapeways also makes the piece:

https://www.shapeways.com/marketplace/tech/mechanical-parts?tag=swinksdrops

Replacing drop target 5X solved my problem.

Thanks for the help

Fathom is now in the line up

Listed a Fathom floor mat that I purchased a few years back and never used.

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/ad/142862

There was a defect in the die used to make the drop target frame on some games. Occasionally targets would overshoot the track when being reset. On games where this is a problem a breaking rod can be inserted through holes in the sides of the assembly that will stop the targets from jumping when reset.

as for the replay being reset to 08 this is a sign the battery failed causing memory settings to be set to gibberish. If the battery is good clear and reset it to correct the problem.

Just finished a swap and now things aren't working right Hope you all have some ideas.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/fathom-playfield-swap-switch-row-problems#post-7238637

Just a thought, but have you looked at the switch matrix on your playfield wiring diagram? Seems like your problems may be related to A4J2-9 on the matrix if I'm understanding what you are saying. If that's the case, look for a little brown wire with yellow striping at each component in the line. It's so easy to miss one since there is most often two wires of the same color [kind of like one in and one out] connected to each switch, it is easy to miss one that has busted loose from the swap. Also check your drop switches to make sure that they are actually connecting. I had to readjust mine and clean them after I did a swap in the same manner as you for my Flash Gordon. Your drops will not reset if a switch is not properly closing or there is a breach in the switch matrix - it does not "know" that all of the drops are down, so it does not reset. Same is true with your ball through switches. That is almost always a switch issue and I note the switch matrix shows "1 left of outhouse" on the same line as the saucer, a middle drop target, and the third inline blue. When I started things up I had similar issues and it was all a little wire off here and a switch out of alignment there. Good luck - it will work out!

I will take a look. Thanks!

Thanks to Quench, I found a shorted switch to the 5v lamp braid. Now my next problem is that when I lock a ball in either saucer, it doesn't raise the drop targets (either bank).

It calls out "Mermaid trapped", but it doesn't serve a ball or call out "Dive again." It's as if it doesn't know to take the next step.

Resolved! Turned out to be the switch not staying engaged after the initial hit.

Sorry for the newb question- are fathom original light socket’s different to other Bally’s from the era? Ie Fathom has the metal and white plastic #555 sockets? Where can you buy them?

Tractor doc would be the man to ask.

Those exact sockets are no longer made as they were an inferior design. Similar wedge lamp sockets are commonly available at all the usual places.

could you share were they are ?

as far as i know you have to change out to bayonet type sockets

you can buy a board type as a replacement for fathom the same as kiss

Yeah, for sure. I upgraded my Fathom to LED and had to modify every bulb to fit in those crappy sockets!

Wow, you are right, I can't find them anywhere. Maybe hiding on eBay somewhere. You can for sure replace them with bayonet 44 sockets and bulbs, or even better, use Yoppsicles.

I guess those horrid sockets had such a bad rep nobody wants to use them. Factory workers told me that reaching into the box to grab a handful was like reaching into a box of razor blades. Back in the day I did some of the testing on wedge lamps. The original socket we tested along with the 444 bulbs was a proven design. Unfortunately the Bally purchasing department bought a cheaper inferior product for production which was loaded with issues.

I change all the insert one for 44 sockets and keep the one you see from the top original 555

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There was some discussion of the speech built into the Fathom S&T sound board in the Centaur club thread, but this is the place to post the info for those interested:

The following is the list of the sound commands (in HEX) sent to the S&T board that produce speech on Fathom: Comms between the MPU board and S&T are 4 bits wide so commands are sent as two nibbles - lower nibble first then upper nibble.

The sound board test button plays these speech phrases in backwards order from command 45 backwards to 2C:

2C= Danger
2D= Captured
2E= Trapped
2F= Attack Diver

30= Release
31= Revenge
32= Mermaids
33= Now You've Done It
34= Attack
35= Ahhh
36= Ahh Yes
37= The Trap Is Set
38= Fathom
39= Death Dive
3A= HnHnHaHaaHaaHaaHaaHaaHaaHaaa (evil laugh)
3B= Dive Again
3C= Sea Nymphs Await
3D= Air Tanks Refilled
3E= Air Gone
3F= Help Me

40= Air Supply Gone
41= Surface, Surface
42= Help
43= HooHuHooHuHaHaHaa (Laugh)
44= Help Me (slow)
45= Sea Nymphs
46= Danger Mermaids, Danger
47= "Danger Mermaids, Danger" randomly alternates with "Attack Diver"
48= Mermaids Captured
49= Mermaids Trapped
4A= "Mermaids Trapped" randomly alternates with "Mermaids Captured"
4B= Now You've Done It, Dive Again
4C= Death Dive, HnHnHaHaaHaaHaaHaaHaaHaaHaaa (evil laugh)
4D= Help, Surface, Surface Fathom
4E= Danger Sea Nymphs Await Fathom
4F= "Danger Sea Nymphs Await Fathom" randomly alternates with "Help, Surface, Surface Fathom"

50= Danger Mermaids Released
51= "Danger Mermaids Released" randomly alternates with "Attack Diver"
52= Ahh Yes, Air Tanks Refilled

Hi. I’ve had a Fathom backglass for a long time. Framed and hanging on the wall. Any quick way to tell if it’s an original vs reproduction?

Yes. The original is mirrored. The reproduction, even though advertised as mirrored, is just silver paint/ink. The repro looks ok, but side by side to an original, the difference is obvious.

Are your mirrored sections brilliant mirror?

Ok… when I’m bored, I’ll strip out of the frame and look. But looking at the “silver” around the display frames, it’s a 100% mirror. You can see the reflection of the room opposite (blue wall and edge grain wood) in the reflection.

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Ha… never noticed the bubbles escaping his nose as he is dragged down: Classic!

In some the of reproductions that I have seen, there’s a distinctive purplish hue. Not sure what they look like in person.

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The same - crap.

Imported one years ago as a back up. Never used it and took a hit when i eventually sold it.

Callouts question:

Under what conditions during gameplay result in the callouts “Air Gone” and “Air Supply Gone”???

I saw a list of callouts recently but have never heard my machine utter those phrases!

Tilt and/or slam?

The tilt/slam callout is: "DEATH DIVE.....MUAAAH HAAA HAAA HAAA HAAA HAAAA.....!", so it isn't "air supply" related.

Any other Fathom owners know??

I have also never heard the game say "Mermaid's REVENGE!"

i've been going nutty trying to figure it out!

They might not have been used. I'd have to dig into the code.
Olivers home ROM update added those two phrases to game events:

http://www.pinball4you.ch/okaegi/pro_softfathom.html

So Fathom could have some speech programmed, but not used?? I wonder why they might do that?

Back when I had a Fathom I remember those callouts. It was under very special circumstances.

Free Ball?
Second Free ball on same turn?
Novelty mode award?
High score beat?

I seem to remember they were tied to rarely won features. I used to always push to avoid having the coolest sounds and dialog not tied to rarely called events but sometimes the designers couldn't help themselves.

Hmmmm......the sounds for those events would be something positive, I would think.

These sounds don't appear to be because of anything good:

"Air Gone"
"Air Supply Gone"
"Mermaid's Revenge"

Then there's: "The Trap Is Set!" I have never heard that one either.

Weird...

The factory had to keep the line moving and get those games out the door whether the programmers were done or not. I remember reading, Eric (EPTHEGEEK) finding all sorts of stuff tucked away and unused in Cactus Canyon.

They are used. I have heard all those sounds at one time, but for the life of me I cannot remember the combination of events that called them.