If anyone is interested...I still have FT plastic protectors for sale:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/new-product-fishtales-plastic-protectors

I am happy to announce that I am finally in the Fish Tales Casters Club! I picked up my FT yesterday. There are a few things I need to address and am making a parts list. One thing I noticed after setting up and playing a few games is the tail on the fish doesn't seem to move as much as I remember others moving, it's more like a "twitch" than a flip. I am thinking maybe something is wore out or broken? The coil fires strong and is loud like I remember others being. Is the tail supposed to have some more travel to it or is it just supposed to twitch like mine?

Is there anything that is common that breaks or wears out I should look at?

Welcome to the club.

Take the dome off and give it a look. You will need a security torx bit from the hardware store.

The plunger may be sticking, or the spring may be broke, or something loose. Some owners also modify theirs to make it quieter, so check if padding or spacers were added.

congrats @pindude80, it could be as Neal_W said the plunger spring could be busted OR it's moving inside the coil... this can sometimes happen if the wrong coil sleeve is used. I would pay close attention to the coil sleeve and make sure the spring cannot get in the coil and be binding.

Thanks for the replies! I guess the tail should move more than the twitch I'm getting? I will pull the dome and take a look at the stuff you mentioned. On a side note, does anyone know where to get a replacement dome? I was thinking they were available somewhat cheap, but so far only saw one for $120 on Marco's site and they are out of stock.

My game has standard flippers on it and I don't like it, I want to put Lightning flippers on it, but would like green flipper bats. Has anyone ever heard of or seen green flipper bats?

pindude80 the Williams branded lightning flippers you won’t find in green. However there is a seller on here that makes aftermarket ones. The only place I have seen topper domes lately was starship fantasy http://www.starship-fantasy.com/ramps/Whitewater-Topper-Dome

Do you by chance know who makes the aftermarket flippers? I was thinking of getting regular yellow flippers and spray painting green, but would rather have ones made in green. Thanks for the link on the topper dome, more than I probably want to spend right now, was thinking they were cheaper, all of a sudden mine doesn't look too bad!

here ya go https://pinside.com/pinball/market/shops/1047-multigame/01075-flipperfinger-3-lightning-20-9250-

Thanks for the link, but he says they are 3" long, I believe that is regular length and lightning flippers are 1/8" shorter, not quite sure why he would call them lightning, but would have been cool if they were the right ones, I would have ordered a set!

Yellow bats, Green rubber looks great

Wow!! I did not even realize, or take the time to think about the actual length... that’s a bummer why one would make a lighting flipper bat that’s not a lighting Flipper bat length is beside me??

This mob have green lightning but i'm not sure of the sizing though, might have to message them.
http://www.pinball.center/en/shop/pinball-parts/flipper-components/flipper/2402/flipper-with-lightning-bolt-green?c=2212

Thanks for the idea, found this pic in the gallery and I do like it!

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Yup I did that exact color combo myself

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From IPDB:
The flippers have a lightning bolt pattern molded into them and reportedly are 1/8 inch shorter than the standard Williams flippers. Designer Mark Ritchie stated that the European distributors had wanted a shorter flipper.

wayout440 point of clarification I’m fully aware of the difference between a normal
Flipper and lightning flipper. The discussion
Above was about a seller on Pinside selling flippers with the lightning bolt molded into
It...yet they are normal Length... that makes no sense was my point

I understand - I just posted it for those who might not be familiar. As you were

Yessssss I'm In!

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Nice great looking Fish bright side decals how’s the other side

Decals are nice and bright both sides. Just a wee bit of wrinkling around where the legs attach. Not really that important at the moment. I have to get it apart, get it to the basement game room and then go through it thoroughly piece by piece starting with the fuses and ending with clean and wax, this is going to be fun.

Hi Casters club. I checked out a project f.t. local to me yesterday. P.f. Looks not too bad, but has a couple of little chips by edges of some big fish inserts,small fish inserts and tackle box, those inserts have sunken a very small amount, but the rest of p.f. looks good. Cab is faded bed, and all exterior needs work. It doesn't boot up, but sounds like it's trying to with only vertical bars on dmd showing up.
I am after a project, and this looks like good bones....thoughts anyone

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All depends on the price and what you want the game to become. Some people would leave the cabinet alone and be perfectly happy with it. If you are good with electronics, sounds like a fair project.

Thanks, I'm looking at it as always going to be a"players", but a good opertunity to learn some skills if the price is right, so I'm gonna think about an offer. I bought a J. P. A year ago In a similar state (15 years stored and not going) and had fun cleaning and fixing.

FuryosJustin not a bad looking project. Mine way WAY worse, my playfield was in similar condition but I was able to clean it up pretty nice yours should too. I paid around 2600.00 for mine... all said and done knowing what I know about th machine now... it was high. But this is how the pinball market can go

Things to check
- the large fishing reel plastic isn’t broken (the big left one) it can’t be bough
- the plastic boat ramp is commonly cracked at the joints
- do a reel test make sure optos are functioning.

-check boards specifically mpu for alkaline damage.

Thanks Soulrider911 ill check the reel plastic, the reel itself was missing the drive band, and the reel turned, but not freely, altho it was in 1 piece. I think it has a dmd driver problem, as no picture, only thick vertical lines displayed, I could here the check trouble "ding ding" on startup. I didn't get to talk to the owner much as he had to leave, so I'll find out how much he is after and have another look

I have a few spare drive bands if you need one. And as far as the display could be the display driver board... those tend to get toasted in games that where on a lot. Repairing is pretty reasonable ChrisHibler is the man for that

Could also be due to a bad ribbon cable, or just need's reseating.

Yup, mine had slightly worse wear around the fish inserts, auto cast insert, and mini PF inserts, and had a lot more playfield corrosion. It cleaned up nice and I did a little touch up around the inserts with acrylic gloss paint and a tiny brush and put down a few coats of turtle wax. It still plays awesome, after 3yrs and 2000 plays.

My stretch the truth sign was leaning back farther than I thought it should. I took a look at it yesterday and figured it out. One of the spacer/posts the sign bracket mounts on was gone and the other one wasn't screwed in. I am getting ready to order some parts, I looked at the manual, couldn't find the part on the diagram, but did find what I think is right on the parts list, can anyone confirm if this is the correct part? http://www.marcospecialties.com/control/keywordsearch;jsessionid=9DBB1F16AFF0B5CC6ABA34B55857C404.jvm1?SEARCH_STRING=02-4433

Looks like it they are on both sides of the ball guide right? Here is a pic of mine maybe will help

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yes on both side, I am missing one. Are you able to get a height measurement?

Sure pindude80 I can this evening when I’m. Home

cool, thanks!

Ok casters club.... looks like I'm in, I got a very nice price from the seller on the project, and the o.k. from chief financial controller (my mrs). Will try to seal the deal this weeknd.

You won’t regret it. I wasn’t a huge fish tales fan until I picked one up. It will never leave. Might even rival whirlwind for my favorite game even.

I have a question. When the ball returns down the left spinner lane, how often is it SDTM? (Shooter shot or loop shot when ball is medium to fast speed). Sometimes mine seems to "bounce" off left rail just above reel. There are no obvious defects and rail appears to be in its manufactured position. Game is level and I have tried tweaking the level. I would guess about 1 in 4 times the ball goes SDTM. Normal? Anyone ever see this?

Zero is normal on the 2 Fishtales I've had.

Ok. Thanks. The last 2 games I played were not too bad, but I also noticed the flipper bats are out,of alignment a little. I already have new bats on order, so after they are correct I will see how it plays.

Mine did that. Play with the level of the game until it stops. It took a bit of tinkering to get just perfect

Yes. It goes against intuition, but if it is low on the left the ball hugs the outside rail and spins out away from it. Tweaked it up and it has improved greatly.

I don't even have this game dialed in yet and it is so much fun. Just got rock the boat champion and beat my wife's score. I know what she will be doing tomorrow.

Mine does this and was actually meaning to take a picture and post about it. At the bottom of the left outer lane guide in the orbit there are 2 posts with a rubber around them that if the ball hits this it goes SDTM. I was wondering if maybe my lane guide is out of adjustment or the rubber was too thick. If I recall correctly the outer ball guide on the right is the same with a single post and a rubber ring. It does the same thing on my game, but not as often as the left orbit.

I just finished a fresh restore and mine does not exhibit this issue, it always comes to the left flipper. Could be the ball guide has moved or is loose?

that's what I was going to look at, just haven't had a chance yet, but I'm not sure how much adjustment is in the guide itself.

Could be a bit of leveling issue, or the guide needs a baby tap over a bit. It should hit the left bat nicely

Yes, seems all in the leveling. No play in the rail at all which is screwed firmly into the playfield. If you think "raise the right side levelers to make the ball hug the left rail to return to the left flipper,'...that seems to make it worse, causing the ball to spin off the rail prematurely into the center of the flippers. ...that was what I found to be happening anyway.

This exactly! Mine hit the rubber on the post and went SDTM everytime almost. It was all in the level. Finally got it lined out right and it never happened again

Got it all working great with a new reel,belt from Marco Specialties. ROCK THE BOAT!

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