Agreed. The size you want is .047" available on amazon, eBay, etc.

thanks everyone for quick replies. Yes, making a new one-way gate is my final option. I am hoping to find the entire assembly, bracket and wire. My bracket is tweaked and very scratched, and the wire is no longer anything like the original shape. I am kind of OCD about having original parts if possible.....

I’ve made this one and a couple more with a paper clip and two pair of needle-nosed pliers. They hold up to hits, and they work perfectly.

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That is not always true though. I have made gates out of all kinds of spare metal anything and everything. As in your case, if the ball is just falling downward on it, it will probably hold up fine.

If a gate gets direct forward ball momentum from flipper power or is right next to a pop bumper, a paperclip is not thick enough and after 100's of plays, it gets destroyed.

Piano wire is an option. I have also found out though years of looking for something that works as a local store purchase, that these yard marking things @ Home Depot are a perfect fit and thickness to make gates as well! 100 for 10 cents ea... you will NEVER run out and can make gates for your friend's games or for a game that is missing them all!

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Empire-3-5-in-x-2-5-in-Glo-Orange-Flag-Stakes-100-Pack-78-002/100148662?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&&mtc=SHOPPING-BF-CDP-GGL-D25T-025_001_HAND_TOOLS-NA-Multi-NA-SMART-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-Hand_Tools&cm_mmc=SHOPPING-BF-CDP-GGL-D25T-025_001_HAND_TOOLS-NA-Multi-NA-SMART-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-Hand_Tools-71700000086053656-58700007291967538-92700072581141399&gclid=CjwKCAjw3POhBhBQEiwAqTCuBvE7SucXrcPGlfCyu5QxHJw9UqfM13aZQ4EpUAqdBZlq7ysEH_1gbRoC_iMQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I dunno….I’ve used the more substantial paper clips and they’ve worked perfectly, even the ones that take the forward hits.

I've tried paper clips and they didn't hold up. Got bent with all the direct hits. I guess it depends where you put them. But I've used spring steel (piano wire) and works perfectly. I provided a link above where you can buy some, but I didn't mention that I stopped in a piano retailer once (they do maintenance in the back), and asked about a short piece of piano wire, and the guy just gave me a piece...enough to do a bunch of gates. Free.

It seems like this part from Marco would work. You'd need to take the wire out, and turn it around. The stopping piece of the wire may be close to the plastic now, so you might have to do a bit of adjusting.

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https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/A-10827

excellent, thanks for the information. I really did look on the various vendor sites!

Hi guys,
I foolishly sold my Fathom 18 years ago and find myself wanting the game again. As you know the prices are out of reach on this title for some including myself , so I’ve decided to do a scratch build. If anyone has any spare parts for sale I would greatly appreciate it. It’s not going to be easy, but with a little time and patience I believe I can get it done. This is some of the parts I have so far. Thank you for your time.
Lmjdad

Cpr playfield & plastics
Backglass
Ball guides
Coin door
Lockdown bar
Light panel
Legs

I’m going to sell mine pm me for details . I got looked out of my account so try to start over previously trimoto11

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looks sweet

Nice looking game.

That’s a beauty. Hardtop, new PF or original? Looks great no matter which.

Pretty good pictures… if it’s a scam account.

I have a full set of CPR plastics - unopened
Call if you’re still looking. Cheers

I already have some. Thanks for the offer. I’m in need of an in-line 3 drop target memory bank and a three ball multi ball trough assembly.

Can someone with a Fathom be kind enough to verify what the differences are between a multiball trough Vs a single ball trough? Are any of the pieces used for that mechanism interchangeable? I have the kicker assembly and I’m trying to gather the surrounding pieces. The pieces look similar to a single ball assembly in the internet photos but I’m not 100% certain. I can’t seem to find the breakdown of this assembly in various Bally manuals of that era either. Thank you in advance.

Bally used different types of outhole kicker and ball release combos. Fathom uses a modified linear sling shot assembly for the ball outhole kicker. The assembly uses a hook-like actuator in place of the standard linear flipper striker. I also believe a standard bally trough is utilized. I could find no picture in the parts guide. However I found this part and diagram at the Marco site:
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/C-972-3

Also, you will need a Fathom Apron as their is an extra curved section added in the centre of the apron which covers a ball in that particular set-up when all the balls are resting in the trough. Maybe one or two other games have this style apron & trough set-up or maybe it is Just Fathom - not sure.

Couple of pics here might help:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/fathom-owners-club/page/13#post-6205791

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/fathom-owners-club/page/7#post-4210024

swinks has reproduced that part https://www.shapeways.com/product/5A3C6F67G/bally-pinball-ball-outhole-kicker-arm-c-972-3?optionId=43401482&li=marketplace

if you are in Australia I keep some in stock saving you expensive freight costs to Aus

The extra curve was added because there was not enough room to grab onto when lifting the playfield. It was too easy to damage the trough switches.

Ah ok, would not have thought of that. The curve will still double to help cover the ball that protrudes in front of the apron's front edge - without it, looking directly down on the apron's centre the resting ball would be partially visible.

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I have the ball kicker assembly and the apron. The pieces in question are the ones surrounding the ball trough especially the back curved piece which is one piece and slightly different than the single ball pieces that are out there. Also the trough piece itself is cut short at the ends of it where the ball kicks out onto the playfield. For this reason I do believe that the more commonly used pieces may not work.

original fathom owner here, quick question before I go digging around inside...

where can I find a good tap for 12V - under cabinet LED strips?

I am assuming of the power supply board? but Im sure someone has already identified

thanks!

12v you can tap off the cabinet power assembly.

Thanks, looking at the schematic for the P/S rectifier board, I didn't see any 12V tap, but now I'll get the fluke out and look closer

appreciated!

mike

I’ve connected automotive LED strips from TP3 on the regulator board. It’s the 11.5 unregulated which worked fine for me. It’s a half wave signal which gets over 16v but automotive devices can easily handle it.

I also just purchased a small 110v AC to 12v DC power supply for $15 that I can tap in to the AC after the power switch, so thinking that may be a simple answer

thanks

Bally refers to the 12v output as the unregulated 5v because it feeds the 5v voltage regulator.

Are you sure you need 12v? Some lighting kits I've looked at tap off the 6.3v GI?

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Thanks, yeah, I read at TP3 and on mine its reading 15V. Im good with adding a small PS - that way (however trivial) I am not adding any load t the vintage electronics & I have the same LEDSsame color on 4 machines lined up, so prefer them all to be the same intensity. Yes they are 12V strips

I just have to move the 110v AC plug jack from up stream to downstream of the power switch. Odd that by design it is up stream, why would you want additional power source not switched?

appreciated!

LED strips that you can buy off of Amazon are more commonly sold as 12V. I was unable to find 6V LED strips that the pinball LED guys can source.

For soldering

Ahh, makes sense and valuable. Makes me laugh at all the soldering I have done in the cabinet with my soldering iron attached to an extension cord, cause I never knew the outlet was in there anyway. LOL

"Service outlet." So a tech in a dark arcade could plug in a light, solder iron or anything else without having to go diving under a machine to get to an outlet. And you could do this without having the machine fired up. No extension cord required.

Shawn

My original fathom's playfield slope is very shallow, and I have the 3" leg levelers all the way up in the rear. Does anyone else have this issue? I'm wondering if perhaps the original had shorter legs in the front. I am not having luck sourcing 4" leg levelers.
-gb

How shallow?

You can also boost height with a 2x4 under the back legs. I have done that before. I routed out a channel in the center of the board for the feet to rest in, so the legs couldn't slip off.

The subject of slope comes up all the time as younger players have become accustomed to the fast pace of modern games.

Back in the day, at the factory we would set up a game by leveling the bottom of the cabinet. If you set your game that way it is sloped as the designer intended.
I preferred a modestly faster game and would raise my rear legs about 1/2 way. (on a hard surface like tile or wood fours)
You have to remember, these were money making machines. The idea was to strike a balance between cashbox earnings and player satisfaction.
If you jacked up the rear legs all the way and even worse, added a 2x4 underneath them, the ball drains too quickly and players get pissed and move on.

In my defense, it was a Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure , with correct Bally/Williams legs and 3" levelers that we couldn't get more than like 5.5 pitch on for some reason. Not sure what the deal was with that one. Game played floaty as hell until we put the board under the legs.

But also why I asked how shallow, if it was just in comparison to newer games or if it's a legit problem like I had.

Pinball Life lists classic Bally legs at 28.5 inches. I'd measure the front and back legs to see if you have shorter or longer legs mismatched.

https://www.pinballlife.com/bally-gray-legs-set-of-4.html

Sharing my scratch build log I just started. This is technically a homebrew machine but I'm trying to do a Fathom theme. Interesting trying to find parts for this guy. I've had to make some compromises.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/fathom-sea-captain-s-log-homebrew-scratch-build#post-7693194

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Bought a playfield, parts and overlay (meanwhile hoping for a hardtop) wish me good luck

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Fathom callout "???? trapped/captured"

My game sounds like it is saying "Rummage trapped" and sounds nothing like "Mermaid". Am I losing it or something I'm missing?

thanks

I did an overlay on my Space Invaders and then put a play field protector over that. Took a little trimming to get it perfect but it plays wonderfully now.

Might go that direction also, or just clear coat a nr of times

Probably related to the clock resistor for the U12 (TMS5200) speech chip or the chip itself. If the resistor is out of spec it will affect the speech to be slow, fast or garbled. Can make the words sound different too as a result.

R9 needs to be 130K to be in spec, also the TMS5200 chip can change over time too even if the resistor is in spec - I have found they can sound a bit different to each other when you swap different TMS5200 chips in the same board. Otherwise a corrupted speech chip ROM, but I think most likely related to the U12.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/flash-gordon-wrong-speech#post-5350790

Do I just replace U12 then?

Not first up, best to check the resistor value first as that will affect the speech if out of spec, then if that's ok, look at the chip - it's an expensive chip (about $25.00 from Arcadeshop) probably would be good to clean the legs of U12 if tarnished & reseat, but they are quite often brittle legs on that chip, so would need to be careful. Maybe do the same on the speech chip if it looks tarnished too.

Maybe some other suggestions before buying a chip as the chip itself may not be at fault. Although it's good to have a spare TMS5200 on hand anyway as they are very hard to get now & a new one in may make the problem go away as they all vary somewhat.

Any ideas on what this custom topper should sell for? The sea nymph is beautiful hand painted on metal.

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