I can't see details, but yours looks well cared for, and I respect the color of powdercoat you have there. You have no worries about the value, but that point is moot - because this is one of the best games and you will never, ever consider selling it.

do the backboard flashers light during attract mode?

ok checked online and the flashers do not light in attract mode. can anyone please tell me if you can check the backboard flashers in the test menu. when i check i can only get one to light during the video mode flasher test. can anyone please confirm this is what their machine does as well?

If you go into test mode and test flasher there will be a corresponding flasher in the backbox to everyone that lights on the playfield. I notice backbox flashers during gameplay most when locking a ball. Seems like they go crazy at that point

Go to the test menu, Flasher test is the T5 sub menu. hit enter twice till your display says running. (will start on repeat, then stopped.) all flashers will fire in consecutive order till you stop the test.

That is a great choice for powered coating. Blue looks way better then green or red that I’ve seen..

ok i only have myvideo mode light in the back bock lighting on the flasher test, every single other one is not working. I have measured the voltage to the flashers in the backbock and am getting voltage, so it appears that the ground circuit is not working. Any help here on how i should trouble shoot this? Is this probably a transistor problem?

The bulbs are probably all burned out.

i was like " no way it couldnt be that, i just replaced all the bulbs with led's" then i was like " wait could 9 out of 10 bulbs not be seated correctly?"

then i was like " no way, that is statistically impossible"

then i was like "crap, i better go check"

then i checked and it was like, " I feel so stupid!"

thanks for the help

Hi guys! I am at the finishing stages of restoring a Fish Tales that has been sitting in storage for I don't know how many years. It has gone from being a rats nest of a sunfaded wreck to becoming a thing of beauty. Normally I would test it first, but it was in such a sorry state that I decided on addressing cabinet and playfield first before attempting to turn it on.

I was expecting problems, but this one I did not expect. No sound. I have confirmed that the sound pcb is working fine by swapping it into my BSD. I have vague speaker hum - but no bong and no sound. Volume adjustment does nothing. The game boots fine with no error messages. I have a new ribbon cable which runs from the PSU via the Fliptronics II. Any thoughts?

Something to do with the sound chips perhaps?? Try re-seating them if they are socketed (pretty sure they are) otherwise i got no ideas.

Replace all ribbon cables. The thin wires in them dry up and crack.

What are your voltages on the power supply? Are both the 12vdc and 5vdc present and strong(+/- 10%)? are there any blown fuses?

Anyone interested in this stuff? Make me an offer, just don't kick me in the nuts.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/fs-parted-out-ft-parts

pm sent

The gun and the fishing rod plastic ARE gold. Congrats to whoever got them IF they were missing off your pin. If you bought them to flip, then uggggh.

Nope. The guy was missing his handle. I've seen the pics. No idea what he's doing with the rest of the stuff.

That makes me feel better being that I missed the 1 hour sale of parts. Oh well, i only wanted the rod plastic.

Hi again and thanks for the input. Turned out that the wire inside the speaker in the bottom of the cab had been torn off. Problem solved!

Does anyone have reference pics of the pop bumper g.I. wiring? My ref pics are a bit shit in this area. I keep blowing the fuse that controls rear playfield g.I. (I think it's f108 without looking) I'm paranoid I've wired something wrong in the pops.
It was going fine, then would blow fuse mid game, now it blows on start up. I'm gonna pull the pops out again and check I havnt got any shorts, but some nice ref pics would be a huge help.
Thanks
Justin

Take all the caps off the pop bumpers, pull out the bulbs, and check down inside the lamp base with a flashlight and make sure that a wire from one of the bulbs didn't break off and is shorting between the two sides of the wedge base connectors. Had that happen to me once and kept blowing a fuse...took me hours to find!

Thanks man, I checked it out, but that's not the problem.
I had a similar thing with my scalextrix set a few years back, checking over 30 meters of track to find a tiny bit of wire shorting it.

Thanks for the pics northendude

New to the party on this one.

I added an octopus, eel and grouper to to the playfield. Also some water effect lights on the ceiling and floor to go with the theme. This is such a great title for those that want to have a bit of fun "personalizing" their game.

I still gotta fix that faded cabinet though...

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That water effect is awesome! Like the grouper too.

I love the water effect as well! Cool.

You may or may not have seen my refurb thread I had going, well, you must have, it took me 10 friggin months to compete (just about) this pin. Re-did it mostly stock looking but made a couple minor additions.
-monster fish
-upgraded speaker
-chromed handle (love it!!!)
-leg protectors

Stripped EVERYTHING, recleared PF. Repaired cabinet, new artwork. Etc, etc, etc

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Nicely Done! You got a Big one there!
Looks awesome, congrats!

BALL 4!?! What the hell?

I thought I would put this link in for my teardown pics for my Fish Tales. There is about 250+ I think. They won’t be in amazing order but there is a very good chance I have a nice detailed pic of something you need in there.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1WveNpWYZWCTHfp4MWjN0kh6UB77p4VVt

Can someone take a measurement of the top of topper dome to floor and the width of backbox?
Picking up a FT on Monday! Not sure if it will fit in the basement. May have my first upstairs pin. The wife will be stoked! Lol.

I can check later today - just got mine in the house last night (also my first pin ever)

Just bought and set up my FT last night! Anything I should know about it or any suggested mods/lighting I should consider (I prefer to keep the game as close to the original look/feel as possible)?

Congrats on a great first game!

Thanks - it was on my wife and my top 5 list and got a great one (very little playfield wear and sides are in great shape). Figure it was a great way to spend thanksgiving!

Wow, everyone will have a different opinion on that question. My two cents would be that if you are considering a lighting change but want to keep the original look of the game just put white LED's in the GI and behind the backglass, and colored below the inserts. Leave everything else alone for awhile and look at a lot of photos of other people's FT machines to see if anything else interests you.

Colordmd is the best mod for this game you can get.

If anyone is selling a FT I am looking for one for my brother, located in NC.

Good point. Completely agree

Picked up a Fish Tales yesterday, too! I've always wanted one so good day. Pins from the early 90s are the best. Needs some work and a full shop, though. This one is definitely not huo. Big thing is pf hinges are messed up. Hoping those won't be too hard to replace.

Translite has seen better days. Anyone buy a repro? Do they look as good as the originals? I've seen some on other games were they don't look that great. Might be better to look for a decent used one.

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Wow, Fish Tales buys for everyone!!!!

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I was thinking the same thing, then scroll down. Lol. Funny.
Is that 3 in 3 days?

So two other questions - I'm planning on giving the new machine a shop job and wax it. Are there any really good tutorials on this? Any Fish Tales specific ones?

Also, is it best to leave the machine on all the time, or turn it off at night/occasionally?

I leave all my machines off when not in use. Any of you other guys have height and width measurements on hand?

Thanks - and sorry I haven't been to my house yet today to measure it. I won't be until later today (I'm in the process of moving and the machine is at the new place). I'll post when I get there if someone doesn't answer first.

No biggie. Hopefully your move is going smoothly. Moving on Thanksgiving, sounds rough but I'm sure it's for the best!

Thanks - We're moving in slowly over the week. I'm from Canada and our Thanksgiving is in October, so it's more just a chilled time for my wife and I to relax... and play pinball