Fish Tales - Casters Club!!

Non ghosting LEDs should not be necessary if you update your game to Rom L-6 (if you ever can find that one) or D-6 from ipdb.org, or use the LED ghosting patcher software and apply that to L-5.

Or if you buy the LED OCD from comet. And add the GI OCD. Might be overkill for fish tales but it makes a tiny difference.

I'm with northerndude on that, I color matched the inserts and they really stand out. I also used pure white LEDs everywhere for GI and backglass, because I don't think the orange glow of incandescent lamps would of been the first choice of lighting if they had options when designing the game.

Making a list of all the LEDs you need is long, matching the sockets, colors, brightness, preferred types (frosted, no dome, etc). And then you hope they have them all in stock, I had to buy different socket types and convert the few missing ones I needed. In the end it turned out great, even though 1 flasher was meant to be green I ordered white (fixed in the list), but you can't tell. I'll share my list, but it's a total mess and I bought a whole bunch of extras to test different things. It can be used as a starting ground to make your own. Don't blame me if any of these sockets are wrong. I don't remember any being wrong but who knows.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14Pu2fyVC1u6je6g3HQdQr3ykF-xItfJ1jBB7PEW2yyg/edit?usp=sharing

No lens LEDs might be better under inserts , because they focus their light in a single direction so they bleed less to adjacent inserts. I used a flasher that I can bend (flex) behind the stretch the truth pannel to hide the bulb and have just the panel flash. I did that in a few places, like the bait for the fish.

Can anyone kindly tell me where this plastic is installed?

https://www.ministryofpinball.com/en/pinballmachines/fish-tales-back-panel-plastic-31-1676a-3.html

Thank you

Mabey here?

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Here’s a few years old chicken scratch of the bulb colors

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Thank you kindly

+1 on making a list and ocd boards. You can just buy a bunch of white bulbs but without counting bulbs and socket types but you will end up spending a lot on extra bulbs you do not need. I make a list of all the inserts and then count bulbs in gi and backbox. Frosted 1smd in backbox and 2smd frosted in GI. I used sunlight white in my game. It's a more natural looking than natural white but not as yellow as warm. Make a list of all the inserts. Write down color, base type, lens type, and if flex. Flex bulbs are great for tight areas or where a traditional bulb would not be pointing directly at insert. I use 1smd clear lens for inserts but you might want to use 2smd for larger inserts. Frosted lens also might be better for some inserts than clear. Color match except for orange and yellow - warm white for those. Once I get a full list, I add up all the different kind of bulbs to make ordering easier. Throw in a few extras of gi bulbs since it's easy to miscount. Flashers are optional imo. Led flashers are very bright and get expensive. You can easily get away with leaving incandescent flashers in the game and save a little money.

I don't consider ocd boards overkill for any game. They fix all the negative issues with leds - ghosting, fading, and even brightness. Games look so much better with these boards I would never put leds in another game without them.

Are the frosted less harsh on the eyes or something? Or better light diffusion?
I have clear dome 2smd sunlights in all my games g.i.
I just looked at the bulbs in my met when I did my bulk commet order and thought the clear domes it has must be the standard way. I'm not gonna change them out or anything, just curious why frosted are better for next time

Real nice light diffusion, especially in the GI, big difference for me

So I disassembled the reel to give it a good cleaning.

I noticed a bulb inside, but the bulb holder doesn’t seem to attach to anything to make the button light up.

Is this normal?

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From the looks of those connections, it looks like someone did some creative soldering. Why would they put a bulb inside a metal casing? I don't get that at all?

FT prototypes had a lighted cast button. You can add a bulb to backlight your plastic button, etc.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/fish-tales-led-cast-button-wiring-help

Ash, so someone removed the lit button and put that switch in I guess, leaving the socket. At least that makes sense if they couldn't find a replacement plastic button.

Guys... I beg if someone can help as my tech guy is stuck..

The reel works properly in test mode...
When in game play the 3rd hole doesn't align...

We did optos, cleaning, the works...

A gentleman here said to reverse the motor to make it spin the other way... he checked that but said no one has messed with it before in case they put on reverse and he said to leave it...

Can someone help me..

I have had this game for almost a year .. I just wanna play the......thing..lol

Thank u very much

You put in a fresh reel belt? That's my bet.

In my machine ,just by the connector for the cast button, the connector for illuminating the switch is right there , with nothing connected to it. I'll post a picture later.

I'm with yzfguy on that one, you should definitely replace the reel belt first thing. It is known to cause all sorts of reel issues when you have the wrong belt.

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/03-8614

They ship you a clear belt , not white like the original. Don't waste time looking for other issues until this belt as been replaced. Most likely it slips when you have 2 balls in there already.

If it's not spinning the correct way, then that needs to be rectified if someone has messed with it or not.

My tech guy checked it and said no one messed with it cuz its clean, no excess solder etc...
So he didnt want to reverse it ...he left it alone..
I'm ordering the new belt..
I sincerely appreciate your help guys

Have you tried marking the belt to see if you can watch it slipping?

It should spin like it would roll UP the playfield if it could.

If its not working correctly, a new belt is guessing and just throwing darts at a board, it'll be needed to be spinning correctly to work correctly.

Yeah mine spins towards the headbox.

New belt fixed this problem for me.

Yep - as quite a few of us said 8 days ago when you asked about this ........ new belt

I agree, the belt should absolutely be replaced if it hasn't been already. This is a known issue. However, turn the game on, look at the reel when the game boots, verify its spinning the correct way. Takes 5 seconds, costs nothing. If its spinning the wrong way, no amount of parts will fix the issue.

The slipping can be so slight you won't notice it. Things will seem to operate just fine.

I had the same issue and a tech friend of mine explained that if the reel doesn't spin fast enough, the software will time out and you end up with the third ball not lining up.

I also thought my belt was fine until I replaced it with a new one.

Is there a video or instructions on how to replace the belt ?

Not needed, once you start taking it apart, it's obvious.

I had the same problem. I replaced the belt but still had an alignment issue. I then replaced the upper “cog” on the belt with a new one, but noticed even the new
Cog had a bit of play on the shaft. I wedged and broke off the tip of a toothpick inside
The small gap between the cog and the shaft...has worked perfect ever since

Same here. I replaced both pullies and the belt and still had issues. Everything looked like it was working ok but reel would get out of alignment. Both the new and old pully with the "D" shaped hole had a bit of play. I wedged some paper on the flat side to remove the play. I also scuffed up the pullies with scotchbrite pad. They plastic was very slick and I noticed the belt would slip. Worked flawlessly ever since.

Found this in the coin box of my FT, anybody know where it goes? Bolt holes line up with the casting handle. Wondering if this was a light up mod that didn't get installed from the PO. Nothing else but this plastic.

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I had every single screw, bolt, plastic, etc torn right down to the wood on my FT, I never saw a part like that

Can someone please verify if this rubber is installed correctly near the tip of the boat?

Are there supposed to be any star posts here?

Thanks

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Can someone please verify how to install the top leftmost plastic with the reel and man in the canoe?

I see 2 screw holes, but nothing to screw them into.

Thanks

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Your missing your metal rails for the plastic to affix to

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Double rubbers get installed there. It's hard to see once assembled. Here a few pics.

Of coarse, that clear plastic should not be laying on the rubber. Maybe install a washer so it stays up in place.

IMG_8796 (resized).jpg
IMG_8797 (resized).jpg
IMG_8798 (resized).jpg

A MOST critical item

Was a long day. Thank you.

Thanks. I had wondered where that remaining rubber from the kit went to.

I’m trying to reconnect the cables for the top left boat (#3) and the rail going to the reel (#4)

I see (2) connections (#1) Top & (#2) Bottom.

Can someone please confirm which cable goes to the boat and which one goes to the reel rail?

Many thanks in advance
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wire colors and plugs/

3-2 1-4?

Also looks like 4 cant physically reach 3 at all....

thats what I was thinking

Selling my fish tales topper..

ebay.com link » Original Williams Fish Tales Pinball Machine Topper Tested Working Tails

video of it in action...

Thank you

Anyone know the part number for the diode that’s on the pushbutton switch and what it’s function is?

Thank you

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The diode is to isolate switches in the switch matrix. It is needed and has to be installed in the correct direction. Any diode will work for this but I only buy 1n4007 diodes. This way I can used these diodes for switches, lamps and coils.

Holy wow.

1. Why would you sell your topper?

https://www.pinballlife.com/diode-1n4004.html

Ceiling height sadly

I considered wiring it up with super long wires and having it sit on a shelf nearby which would be cool but the clacking would likely ultimately drive the wife crazy. So it just goes from one FT to another!

Or take it off and hang on to it. In case you ever sell the machine, or move the pins somewhere with a higher ceiling.