Hello everyone.

Getting close to finishing up my FT restore but ran into a little snag...
During game play (when locking the balls); ball 1 locks with no issues. However, when ball 2 locks, it kicks the other ball into the fishpole lane and immediately has two balls on the playfield. And then when ball 3 locks... it starts a multiball. So it's keeping track of progress, etc but I can't figure out how NOT to have ball two kick out onto the playfileld.

FYI: I cleaned the optos and rubber/pully seems nice and tight (although it is original).

Any suggestions and or help would greatly be appreciated!

Thank you in advance.
-David

Are you sure there is 3 balls in the game? Maybe one ball is stuck somewhere and the game try to play with 2…

This is exactly the reason I own eight 90s B/W games and zero pins from after 1999. The classic 90s are simply pure fun, easy to understand and even my non-pinball friends that visit want to try them out.

Yes, positive

Be sure that your 3 switches in the through are not binding with each other when pressed. I had this trouble one time.
Optos are the second thing but you already looked at it.
For sure you’ll laugh at the end. Always a human fault

Thank you… I’ll double check in the morning

There is a reel test in the diagnostics menu. Let that run for a bit and make sure it looks OK.

Similar reel issues.
I had a monster game going. Ball 2 102mil with extra ball already scored. Then locked it into the reel. It spun over and over. Finally the VUK kicked the ball up and the reel was misaligned and the ball got jammed!!! So glad they used the belt otherwise that woulda probably destroyed itself.

For some reason the reel spins and spins but can’t figure out where the freaking balls’ are nor where “home” is. I pulled the optos and cleaned them but it didn’t help. Sometimes it works good during the game and then suddenly it goes haywire. It’s a pretty aggravating problem ruining my awesome games!!

This Fishtales was routed to hell and now I’m routing it to hell, so I’d like it to work for others to enjoy! It’s extremely tempting to take it home. I immediately fell in love with this game. It’s outrageously good. So easy to understand but it really just slaps you around and kicks you to the curb.

Anyone thinking about buying one: you won’t regret it once you buy it.

If opto's are not the issue, suggest replacing the $5 dollar belt that may slip just a little bit .. but enough to cause reel multiball issues. This helped me solving the issue.

+1 for the belt. If this was the original belt then it's about 30 years old now.. If it was a NOS replacement after, I dunno 10-15 years.. It would still be 15 years old.. It's also possible someone used a rubber ring as a Band-Aid and it's not even the right belt after all.. In any case you're going to want a new belt for the years to come.. Changing the belt solved the issues a lot of users have had in the past.

Gone fishing! Leave a message.

I had issues with intermittent Reel operations that were tied to dying 12v power. It made just enough (but not 12v) to start a game but after things warmed up it dropped and the wonky started.

Belt was just replaced before I got it, less than a year ago, they bought it from Marco, and it seems to spin the reel just fine.

I’ll try the reel test option and see if it changes anything.

I had all kinds of problems with my reel and although there was multiple contributors the main culprit was the board underneath the playfield that powers the reel. https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/A-15340-1

I just ordered one. Thanks

Still no sign of these...

Fishing Reel Decals are now available - we had original WMS silkscreen films which were converted to digital files - 4 decals including the Fish Eye

http://www.planetarypinball.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=PPS-31-1682-REEL&Store_Code=PP

Team PPS

Got excited for a second when you said "fishing reel decal" as I could use that one. My reel decal has scrape marks on it. My fishing pole decal is unusually nice

Problem on mine was belt slipping. With the reel spinning, you could look down and see the belt moving at different speed than pullies. Pullies were new and very smooth. I scuffed the pullies a bit with sandpaper to help get some bite and that fixed it. Another issue was one pully has a 'D' shape hole but was a little too big. It caused the pully to have too much slack when moving. I had to stick some thick paper in the flat part of the 'D' to remove the slack.

they have that decal...
http://www.planetarypinball.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=PPS-31-1694-2&Category_Code=GS-861

So, are you ready to start selling and shipping these??

Cool! Thanks!

Any chance someone can take a close up pic of the IDC connector on the bottom of the playfield on the low light board. The light board that includes the stringer fish. Couple my wi4e got pulled out and I need to clean up. Thanks.

Finally finished up FT yesterday and is on the floor at ULEKstore’s Pinball and Classic Arcade for all to enjoy!
56C127BB-BA33-4303-8A3E-9EC9FB33A495 (resized).jpegA789B79E-1BB5-490B-9E74-29D0DBD58A1E (resized).jpegC4870FD2-3821-4F86-AC74-1DA71499EE29 (resized).jpegCE816250-E3DF-49E1-A97C-D6BAED08877B (resized).jpegF73ADAC7-B0FF-4CF4-A671-8DD6D00DD90B (resized).jpeg

Love the giant red cast button!!
Are you using an LEDOCD for that game? I’ve noticed ghosting issues for LEDs in mine even with the non-ghosting bulbs. Python loved those warming effects

PPS has the rod plastic decal sets in stock

3BA207FA-44E3-4254-AE69-68364998BF28 (resized).jpeg

Well, one less original Fish Tales now as of yesterday!

20220313_120148 (resized).jpg

20220313_120210 (resized).jpg

actually looks like a very well done retheme.............

Totally digging this! Looks good. Are there code changes?

No code changes, I've made the rule set and goals fit the original movie. Works like a treat!

I was ready to not like this because you changed one of my favorite games...but it looks so well done. I like the display graphics and the big hook by the sling! Very creative. I give it two fins up!

No, however I need to get one. I'm only noticing some flickering going on in the back of the cabinet panel (back on the L.I.E. light ups) other than that.. the non-ghosting bulbs seem to be doing the trick.

Wow, color me hella impressed!! I have a pretty strong understanding of what it took to pull this off... Absolutely Brilliant!

Fantastic work. Great job. Dots are really well done.

Brilliant. Really well done.

This should've been its own thread.

Does anyone have an extra left in lane plastic? Mine is chipped. Thanks!!!

Yes I do But in Australia .....can post

Thanks for letting me know. Probably cheaper to grab one on eBay than ship it from Australia.

Your Jaws is incredible! I’ve been showing it off to all of my friends. Congrats on pulling that off.

Wow, that’s hard to hate!!!
Excellent job. The sounds are awesome. The sound design reminds me a lot of Stern Star Wars. It’s mixed nicely, it has the orchestral setup with movie quotes done well. And it springs in and out of fast-paced action hurry-ups in an enjoyable manner.
Fish Tales was a perfect candidate for this retheme and one of the few done well enough to justify its original donor game!

So you were able to change just the dots and music for the existing modes to be Jaws related modes? Thats awesome! How long did it take to make those changes? Also that harpoon gun is bad ass.

There is approx 400 hours work in the animations and music alone, about 200 in design and build on top......was huge.
Employed help from others for some aspects of the build and they are all noted in the credits and art.

Just as a follow up with my reel not locking the balls properly... it was 100% my original rubber/belt that was on the reel. I didn't bother replacing it at first because it felt nice and tight. However, as others suggested, I purchased a new belt from Marco Specialties and everything is working perfect.

So I just wanted to thank everyone and this community for chiming in and helping me fix my "ball locking" issue.

Thanks for the follow-up. Amazing how such a cheap and simple solution makes all the difference in a critical feature of a game. Enjoy reelin' 'em in!

I like how you changed lie to die.
Top job all round.

Just reading your post here. I am in total agreement with you guys on this. Every time I deviate from this philosophy and buy a modern machine, I move on from it within a year and go back to just buying more 90s pins. The 90s charm/the greatest design movement to save a dieing company has permanently cemented itself into pinball history. I will die surrounded by my pins!

Hey guys

Just got back my FT a couple days ago from a full resto.

I have an hard time keeping the ball in caster club for ball lock. Quite often, i shoot it and it goes back.
Could it be that my game is too inclined and the ball goes in too quickly? Game is super fast.

Also, while playing, the sound will completely shut down. I can still play but no sounds.

I then have to restart the machine and sound is back. I reset chips and ribbon cables. Any thought?

Thx

There is a black drop target kinda tucked up in front of it that sends it back if the settings allow.

Drop target is always down i think?

If so, I'd make sure it is retracted all the way and not sticking up a little interfering with the ball. (And re think my setting choices )

its sticking up a little but i looked under the pf and dont have any clue on how to lower it? Do you have a picture you can show me?

Are you saying from factory the drop target should always be up? If so, how do i do that?
Thx again

Does the caster club have that metal "W" shaped wire preventing the ball from kicking out of the casters club? If it's missing then it's needed . If it's there, it needs adjusting so that after the ball bounces off the back of the casters club, the wire forces the ball to fall back in the vuk.

The drop target will only block the entrance when you've locked 2 balls for a double jackpot, making sure you won't lock the 3rd one. And then once you've collected the jackpot, it will close then and force you to hit it once (if difficulty is set to normal) or twice (if set to hard) before it drops down and allows you to lock more balls.

So, if it doesn't stay in the casters club it's most likely the W shaped wire. Before I restored my machine I had a lot of balls kicking out. Ever since I adjusted the wire just right I've never had an issue (well over a year now). In my case there was a hack that had been done adding a "L" bracket to stop the ball.. I patched and sanded all that nonsense, fixed the wire and it working top notch. I don't think the speed of your table has to do with it because I tested by hand, rolling the ball in the casters club much faster than the flipper could.