No idea, but a used one with free shipping from Austria sold 'buy it now' for $100 in May.

ebay.com link: Fish Rod Reel Cover Assembly A 15405 for pinball Fish Tales Williams

Good question, this piece when it sold reproduced 5-6 years ago was $89 without decals. Was a run of about 100. They were gone in a year and made in Australia.

Ive done 3 and they all needed this piece replaced to match the rest of rebuild.

I've got a minor flipper issue I was hoping to get some input on.

My left flipper is "sticky". Every few flipper toggles, it stays up, but it's very weak. Smacking the side of the cabinet or having the ball touching it pushes the flipper down. It does not appear to be electrical as far as I can tell. I've already taken the coil sleeve out and cleaned the inside with no luck.

Any ideas? Should I just go ahead and buy a new coil sleeve and return spring?

Replace coil stop, plunger, check the gap on the bushing. I bet it’s either mushroomed or magnetized. Might be a good idea to rebuild both sides and be done.

Thanks. When I tested it with the playfield up, it does almost feel like a magnet force at the very end of the stroke. I'll order some parts.

Edit: BTW, I'm a huge fan of Josh Allen and can't wait to see him play for the Bills!

I am currently working through a CPR playfield swap, and was thinking about new plastics. Has anyone recently replaced theirs? My question is how does one bend the upper right plastic that fits over the pop bumper?

Looking for a set of wire ramps that come off the boat ramp. I missing both of mine on my PF. I pick up a project game. its the last pieces to the puzzle besides the reel. PM if you have a set to sell, in any condition

Quick comment because I have seen a lot of comments and questions recently about Color LED vs Color LCD.

Yes, I was in agony. No I could not decide. Yes I scoured Pinside and elsewhere for information, advice and suggestions. I waited and waited without making that final decision.

In the end, I ordered the LCD version. It is amazing. It looks great. The colors seem very "normal" with this game because Fish Tales is a very bright, color-rich table.

Is LCD better than LED? Can't say I have an answer, but I sure am glad I finally stopped anguishing over what the "right" decision was and just bought one. It certainly beats the hell out of my somewhat faulty original screen.

WHOA, WHAT A BEAUTY!

Heat gun.

Yup heat gun for sure. Just give it a little heat and then place it in the location and bend it a wee bit.

Quick question:
Did the original cast button on the Fish Tales gun light up? While there are 4 wires running to it, my cast button (which I purchased NOS) has no place for a bulb, and the two wires for the light are clipped. The barrel of the button has a microswitch attached to it, but no place for a light.

No.

LTG : )

It's wired, put one in. the Stern tournament button looks right and fits.

Man I miss this game.

Hi! I am very happy to have joined the Casters Club! I picked up a pretty beat up Fish Tales last week, and I started to work on it yesterday.

I have a stupid, yet big problem, and that is that the mechanism for raising the playfield is messed up somehow. I have no reference as to how it is supposed to work. First I couldn't raise the playfield at all, but after unscrewing the brackets and screwing them back on in the position that I thought they were supposed to be in, I can't get the playfield to go down! And now the ground braid is chewed off as well... damn.

A photo for comparison would really be appreciated!

IMG-5900 (1) (resized).JPG

Archieball I restored a FT and my playfield slide and hinge was a mess. From looking st your photo it appears that the metal slide rail that attaches to the backboard of the playfield is hooked on one of the carriage bolt supporrts. In the up position that particular support should be in the hinge.

Also looks like your missing the hinge spring which can cause problems as well
https://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=4249

See image

9BE1AAC0-5D21-41FF-9933-08CA7BDB5E47 (resized).png

It might not be in the software, unless the wires are GI.

Go into Tests - Single Lamp - and scroll through them and see if there is one in there. If so hit the "+" or "-" diagnostic buttons to step through wire colors and connector info, because you'll need a diode on it if it's a feature lamp.

If the wires are GI, then no diode.

LTG : )

Thanks a lot, Soulrider911! Exactly the kind of info I was hoping for. This gives me hope and a good point of departure. It also appears that my slide rails are bent inwards. The ones in your picture are much more straight.

I joined the club Saturday and picked up a very used FT from a good friend and a good price. I spent most the weekend stripping the playfield, inspecting and cleaning. I have a few questions....

1. Where can I find a new mini playfield, the boat in the middle? Are these obtainable?
2. I need to replace the sticker on the transition ramp from the main playield to the mini playfield. Suggestions? Just replace the sticker or the entire metal piece and sticker?
3. The area between slingshots (the fish on the stringer "tackle box") has wear around the light inserts. I know they make an overlay. Anyone use one of the overlays? ebay.com link: FISH TALES Pinball Machine Tackle Box Overlay Decal
4. I want to remove the factory mylar. Has anyone done it sucessfully? Advice?

Thanks for your help.

I've done the tournament button on at least 3 FT's. it's coded, maybe some aren't wired...
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/fish-tales-casters-club/page/33#post-4349416

You can play mine when you need a fix.

I've seen both the boat and ramp sticker on EBay. Almost bought the sticker myself, but mine is just a little worn on the edges, not enough for me to pay the price.
Research the removing mylar threads here, regardless of what method you use, take it slow and careful. I use a heat gun, and the plastic comes off nicely. Its getting the glue residue off that is a PITA.

chuckcasey I think I have a space ramp decal for ya pm me

Also here ya go new cpr boat ramp.
http://www.starship-fantasy.com/playfields/Fish-Tales-Mini-

Pinsiders often report that cabinet decals and PF decals from eBay are not as high a quality as those available from the directly from big name pinball parts suppliers.

Speaking of decals - I am sure you have noticed that a slow rolling ball may change direction when moving past the edge of the mylar. A PF decal would create the same issue, an in a very busy area. I prefer to touch up areas with gloss craft paint using a fine brush. The touch up may not last forever, but with some wax, it is a good enough fix for my game room. Also, - touching up the PF is one project the family can help with if they have some basic art skills.

I just got my handle rechromed it came up so well looks awesome I know it's not a big deal but I just got excited and had to tell someone and no better place than here

IMG20180816100309 (resized).jpg

I had mine done a year a ago, just love it.
Thanks for sharing.

I can't believe I've only now found this thread ! I've had my fish tails for 18 years and just love it it's my favourite pin. I'll have to get some pictures up of a few mods I put in. I've got decals ready to go but just have to save up a bit to get them done professionally

Need some help with my Fishtales My dmd display has stopped working . I am getting very low voltage (almost none) to J604 pin 8 brown wire (should be +62V) I am having trouble figuring out what is causing the low voltage

DMD driver board wants the high voltage section rebuilt.

Or get on of these :

https://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=2828

https://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=5328

LTG : )

Thank you! So these boards basically replace the the High voltage section on the dmd controller board ? Plug them in and go , no soldering? Seems pretty easy , is this a pretty solid fix ? Or is rebuilding the high voltage section preferred?

Im no LTG, but hes a good guy and its late.
Yes, this replaces several old and tired DMD power driver board parts, plug and play. In the old days we would just buy a new DMD board. They range in price among dealers, about 70 plus shipping. At 25 years those boards are getting pretty tired.

My TZ one had multiple repairs in the past. ( not me ) and I picked up this one from Terry at Pinball Life.

https://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=2828

5 minutes to put in. Plug and play. Done deal. Been working fine for about a year now in commercial use.

LTG : )

Oh, your up! Goodnight Lloyd.

I've read the new ones are okay for ColorDMD because power comes from elsewhere. Ed at Great Plains posted they aren't adequate for regular DMD's. Don't know if it's true or not.

My DMD driver board in the TZ would have needed a lot of work, rebuilding traces and what not. New board was $95, high power board from Terry $52, so I went the cheap route. Glad I did.

Ed at Great Plains has ( or had ) kits to rebuild the high voltage section. If my board wasn't hacked up I would have done that.

LTG : )

Sleep tight Eric.

LTG : )

https://www.greatplainselectronics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=WPC-HVP-KIT

https://www.greatplainselectronics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=WPC95-HVP-KIT

Don't know which one you need. There is a note on there to be notified when back in stock.

LTG : )

I will get one of these . Thank you !

Just a heads up for everyone, pinball life has 2 boards on their site to fix the high voltage on the dmd controller board . (Lloyd posted links to both))They both do the same thing One is the old version and they are getting rid of the old stock of those so they are around $20 cheaper than the new version .I ordered the new version.

I recently rebuilt the flipper assemblies and did not record where the flippers were originally positioned.

Can someone tell me if I positioned them correctly in the photo, or if the flippers need to be re-positioned elsewhere relative to the marker holes? They are currently positioned in line with the in/outlane guides using a straight edge.

IMG_1433 (resized).jpg

Your game - put them where you like for game play.

Some line them up with the lane guide. Some put a tooth pick between the rubber ring and flipper body and stick the end of the tooth pick into the hole where the roll pin is in the playfield.

LTG : )

I'm just about finished with my playfield swap, and am doing some final tests before I reinstall into cabinet. I am noticing the following:

1) Every time I enter diagnostic mode, and every time I exit diagnostic mode, the catapult coil fires. The catapult switch triggers open and closed correctly in the switch matrix. I do not recall this happening before the playfield swap. Can anyone verify if this is correct/incorrect behavior?

2) The ball shooter automatically fires right before the ball is pushed into the shooter lane (does not affect game play). This has happened since I've owned the machine. Considering that ball shooter and catapult switches are on the same matrix row, I am wondering if it is related-

Thoughts?

Thanks!

WannaTheater I had a similar issue and ended up being a bad diode on the catapult.

So I tested all related switch diodes, and they are OK. I then disconnected the switch matrix from the MPU- The problem still happens. My thinking is now that this may be an MPU or Driver board issue.

Suggestions?

No previous corrosion or repairs otherwise to this game that may be suspicious? Still could be originating from the switch matrix logic section on the board (you disconnected the playfield, but the switch matrix logic is still active on the board itself) I'd probably start by checking rows and columns directly at the board, and if nothing found there, check the logic at the 74LS374 in the coil drive circuit and look for stray pulses coming downstream, possibly from a wonky PIA.

http://techniek.flipperwinkel.nl/wpc/index2.htm#switch

Will be swapping with a known working MPU later today.

But before I do that, can anyone verify that what I am seeing is NOT normal, I.e. does your catapult fire upon entering/exiting test mode?

Thanks!

No that is not normal.
Before you swap MPU. Go to switch test, and determine wires by hitting start button with that catapult switch cued. It will tell you connector and wire color at MPU and driver board. Verify that they are correct and seated properly. Also verify you did swap correctly at the playfield switch.

I just found a thread on Pinside in which another owner had my exact two issues-

Summary:
1) It IS normal for the catapult to fire when entering test mode
2) I have the wrong switch wire in the shooter lane. So while the switch works properly, when the ball is getting popped into the lane it is not registering fast enough on the switch, so the plunger auto-fires.

Well, good thing you found that out before doing all the crap I suggested...sorry.

Thanks-
I did have some minor acid damage on the MPU when I got it- But I spent a great deal of time replacing some discrete components/headers and ringing out traces- I was HOPING I didn't need to go back there again!