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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Anyone buy repro translite? Wondering what quality is like.

Don't think I want the 3D version. It would be cool to have one frame on the wall but just prefer the stock look for my game.

Could use some help with reel button. It currently has some non standard switch and various hardware. Where do the green and white wire attach to new switch?

Also, any tips to sourcing black plate that the button sits on? Manual says it is part 01-10508 but cannot find that anywhere.

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Thanks for the help, guys. Any diode?

Looks like I have to make a plate. Previous owner put a rusty round washer. That's got to go.

Don't all WPC pins have that prop bar thing you can use to prop up the playfield half way? It lays down flat on the right side of cab. My other pins have it but not FT. Probably just removed at some point. I don't really like using it because it doesn't seem that safe especially on heavy playfields.

Anyone know where I can find these decals? Pinball Center is the only place I can find them but they want 420 euros to ship them. That's just ridiculous. Guess that is their way of saying they don't ship to the US.

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Mine is same. There is no bolt holding the very end down but the guide should be held firmly in place by other fasteners. There should two nuts in the back under the pf and other screws on the left holding it in place.

Anyone ever use those RadCals decals and just stuck them on? I've never done decals. I was tempted to give it a try on my FT. I replaced the side trim so that would of been a good time to do it. Thought process was it wasn't worth the expense and all the added work. My cab is mostly straight so maybe I can just slap those decals on. Sure it would be better to strip everything down, do body work, get everything laser straight and all but I'm okay with getting like 90% there with fraction of the work.

Can someone tell me if my pop bumper lamp sockets are wired up properly? I have a gi short issue that I cannot figure out. Back half of gi and pop lamps are out and blowing f108 on boot. Don't think it was an issue until after I did a deep shop to it. I pulled the pop bumper off to replace parts including replacing one of the lamp sockets. I'm pretty sure I wired the pop bumper sockets exactly like it was before but maybe something was wrong to begin with. I'm not real good with these sort of issues so just trying to eliminate possibilities.

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Casters club - in front of the ball lock.

Finally figured out my gi short issue - spilled solder on a lamp socket. Got the game finally back together and working 100% this weekend. Well, more like 95%. There are a few more things to sort out but good enough for now. Did a deep shop job - full pf teardown, fixed a bunch of stuff, rebuilt flippers, knocked off a lot of funk, and more. Game was filthy and neglected. Lots of new parts, Titan rings, Comet leds, spotlights, and Monster Fish mod. New plastic quality was a bit disappointing so kept as much original as possible. Lit the plastic over the right pop and the indian in the canoe on the left. Two spotlights over the slings. I used translucent pop bodies and skirts with leds that shine up and down. Looks awesome! Still need to sort out weak launcher and ghosting leds. Never had a game ghost this bad. Debating getting a bunch of non-ghost leds or the ocd boards.

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Anyone able to burn me the latest rom with the non ghost led fix?

That is ghosting. The LIE inserts ghost bad on mine, too, but pretty much every inserts ghosts. Ghosting patch is supposed to help but never tried one. I never had ghosting problems with other games so not sure why that is. I'm running L4 rom and not sure if L5 is better with LEDs.

For what's it worth, my game has that gate.

No but I did replace my button earlier this year with the one in the link below. You can use other buttons but I prefer a more stock look. The handle very easy to take off. No need to separate the two halves.

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/20-9804-1

Looks and sounds a lot like mine when I first got it. Finding another mpu board shouldn't be hard. You can look for a used original or buy a new Rottendog replacement. When you do get another board, get nvram to avoid this problem again.

I'm not sure the "stand arm" is factory. Some games have them and some don't. They don't feel very secure to me so I never use them. Just rest the pf on the rails or lift all the way up.

If you are already digging into the game, I recommend replacing the reel drive belt, pulleys, and opto transmitters. Make sure the pops are working and not busted up. Two of them get burried under plastics and much easier to deal with when everything is off pf. Mine had busted parts, broken lamp socket, and some blown out screw holes.

Nice looking FT! Love seeing FT next to WH2O. Those games just go so great together.

Bought one for my Congo (WPC95) a few years ago when the mpu finally junked out from battery corrosion. Works fine for the most part. Only negative thing I can think of is that it goes through batteries fast. Heard other users say the same. I recently put in nvram so no longer an issue.

Colordmd says: "Simply download the desired "colordmd.rom" firmware file and save it to the USB flash drive. Then insert the flash drive in the USB port on the ColorDMD controller board, and press and hold the left button for five seconds. The file will be automatically updated and saved to the ColorDMD."

If that is not working, try a different usb flash drive. Make sure nothing else is on the memory stick except the colordmd file. If you are still having trouble, contact colordmd.

Anyone have trouble with the reel after replacing both pulleys, optos, and the belt? Mine works great for the most part but acts up now and then. New pulleys and belt definitely helped but not 100%. It gets out of alignment and doesn't seem to be able to spin right. It spins a little then stops, spins a little and stops, without ever lining up with ramp. Turning the game off and back on forces the reel to spin all the way around and that usually fixes it but not always.

Thanks for the tips. I tried all that and everything works flawlessly. I replaced the opto transmitters earlier this year and they seem to be perfect. Next time it acts up I will have to dig in at that time. I usually just turn it off and look into it later but then it's always working.

Is the set screw tight? Pulley may be worn out. I replaced both pullies on mine. Still having issues, though. Looks like the belt is slipping on the lower pulley.

I'm referring to the bottom pulley that has a "D" shaped hole. I replaced mine thinking it was worn out. It doesn't fit very tight and has a lot of play. The new pulley is the same so maybe it's supposed to be like that. The new pulley is made out of white plastic and think that's my problem. The belt slips much more easily on the white pulley than the old black one. Going back with the original one and looking for something I can shove in the gap to take the slack out.

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Definitely need to fix that. Top pulley looks very similar but has three small holes around the middle to where the reel slides in. If you reel does not have those prongs to fit in those holes that's another issue.

Top pulley (need to check manual to verify but this looks like it):
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/03-8705

Bottom pulley:
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/03-8086

Love this mod! Well made and perfect fit. Even my daughter who generally couldn't care less about anything pinball thought it was epic.

In places like that, I use small button head machine screws. Got the idea from someone else here and perfect for plastics like this. They look almost exactly like rivets and far easier to use. Plus you can always remove them easily. I forget what length I got but you just want them long enough to hold the plastic and nylon nut.

ebay.com link: 5 40 Button Head Socket Cap Screws Allen Hex Drive Stainless Steel 18 8 Qty 100

If it just started doing that, I would check for something broken or loose back there. Also check manual to see if correct coil used.

It's just a coil so the usual stuff. High chance it was just disabled, though. The fish banging is pretty noisy in the home environment. I put a couple of rubber rings on the plunger to soften it up. Much better option than disabling one of the coolest features in the game.

Tooling molds exist for left side but right side were lost is what I heard. I guess it's too expensive to recreate and not enough demand.

That's way high without the topper unless rest of game is in fantastic shape imo. $3300 is about right for a nice complete stock game. I'm not even sure you could find all the parts for the topper unless you find one used. Just the topper and fish itself are around $170 before shipping. Game is just not the same without the topper imo.

Got mine here:
https://www.starship-fantasy.com/ramps/Fish-Tales-Topper-Dome

Backhanding the lock is near impossible on mine. My flippers are aligned to the pins and freshly rebuilt with correct coils. Maybe it has something to do with rubber used. I use stock red rubber. I've done it a few times on accident but never when I actually tried. Prefer it that way because game would be too easy if you could. It's much more satisfying to get dialed in to the shot using the left flipper. Love hitting that shot off a plunge and feel it thunk into the scoop.

I recently put in LED and GI OCD boards to fix the bad LED ghosting. I debated trying the D6 rom but with all the dimming effects I figured the boards were the better choice. I don't care about the extra ball display glitch. Ghosting is much more of an issue to me. Glad I made the plunge. Game looks incredible now and no more ghosting. All LEDs work exactly as the game was designed with all the dimming effects. Huge difference to say the least.

I recommend the GI OCD board as well to get the full fade effects. I've put the ocd board in three games and have not noticed any difference loading the game specific file. The software does allow you to customize things but I see no need for that. Things look great right out of the box.

FT fades after ball ends and during attract mode. Probably other times but cannot think of them off top of my head. Like the inserts, the gi fade effects are subtle and just have a better visual quality. Hard to notice in a bright room like they often use for videos. It's debatable if it's worth the cost but I figure if you are going to fix the fade effects for the inserts might as well do the gi. That way the game plays exactly as designed.

Everyone has their own tastes. I prefer 2smd frosted sunlight for gi. Everything else is custom but for the most part color matching inserts except warm white for yellow/orange. Backbox depends on the art. FT has a lot of bulbs in the backbox so I left some empty. I'm not a fan of the kits. It doesn't take much time to inventory all the inserts and count the gi/backbox bulbs. Get exactly what you need and exactly how you like it.

Went down the same road. My reel wasn't working great so replaced both pullies, belt, and optos. Worked better but still acted up. One of the problems was I could see the belt slipping on the pulley. The pulley plastic was very smooth so I hit it with some fine sandpaper so belt could get better traction. Second problem was same as yours. The "D" pulley had play in it even with a brand new one. I wedge in a small piece of paper into the flat part of the "D". That removed the slack and have pulley has worked flawlessly since.

I used a couple of clear plastic washers to protect boat ramp plastic. So far so good.

I know Titan has them in different sizes. They are not very thick but you could double up. I didn't know there was a plastic protector so used what I had. Who sales that?

I would use metal washers if broken plastics are that much of a problem. Be nice if Cliffy or someone made nice metal protector that fit in there nice. I would buy one.

Can't say I have tried it but seriously doubt you are going to hurt anything running without the sound board. Game will probably throw some errors but don't see why it would not play as long as the other boards work.

Same here. I was used Titan rubbers which are a little stiff. If I remember right, the size the manual states was too tight. Tried a size bigger but had the problem you guys are talking about. Put single rubbers on each post and that worked best.

I bought that button. It is red. I also had to fab a plate for it. I would prefer a stock looking white one but oh well. Can you take the button apart? I'm guessing it is gunked up or internal spring broke. If you hold it upside down does the button drop?

I would put 1smd in backbox. There are a ton of bulbs there and it gets way bright. I actually removed some bulbs in mine because it was so bright.

1smd color match is good choice for inserts imo. Use warm white for yellow and orange inserts, though. I sometimes use 2smd for large inserts and flex head bulbs for sockets mounted sideways or at angle.

I use 2smd frosted for gi. It's a personal preference but I like sunlight. Looks more natural than cool white and not as yellow as warm.

I also highly recommend ocd boards. It fixed the bad ghosting on my game and allows you to run fade effects.

+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.

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.

+1 on above two comments. No way I would of bought my FT without a topper. I would wager money lost on selling without topper than with would be larger than what you would get for the topper.

It's not just color. Colordmd does not use the problematic high voltage circuits that dmd requires. Some dmd's have a loud humming/buzzing sound which I find annoying. Colordmd fixes all those issues and I like to think more reliable in the long term. Cost is high but reasonable if you consider having to get board work done and cost of new dmd. Plus, colordmd retains it's value pretty well and can be moved to another game. I'm kind of a purist myself but some things are just worth upgrading.

Putting things in plastic bags with labels best way to keep things straight imo. Notes should describe where parts go, where longer screws go, what gets a washer, or whatever. Taking pictures of disassembly along the way helps know how parts go together. I could see some things falling out of cardboard and then you would have no idea where it goes. Nothing gets lost in bags and you can thrown all of them in a box. I also label connectors in some way to know which two go together. Most of the time it's obvious but FT does have a lot of similar connectors.

Plus if you can quickly get ball in casters club you might get a lucky bounce into the jackpot hole on plunge.

Not much strategy in FT imo. You either go for Monster fish or mb. Super jackpots pay off big but good luck getting there. One thing I like to do is go for long casts to light the boat inserts. You can get two extra balls there (one from video mode) and decent points from video mode/rock the boat. Final award is instant mb and then the capture ball shot is worth decent points.

Painted wireforms look terrible imo. Hurt resale value, too.

I would look into getting them rechromed. If that is just too expensive, I would paint them silver to look stockish. Fish Tales has gone up in value quite a bit so think it would be worth doing right. I can't speak for others but I have no interest in buying a game that is all painted up unless it was cheap. Paint colors are very subjective and difficult/expensive to fix. If the paint starts chipping away it looks even worse. Buy hey, it's your game do what you want.

Heat gun will get it flexible in very short time. I have not tried to bend that piece but have flatten warped plastics using heat gun. Works very well.

Absolutely. I have them next to each other on the left of my line up just like you. Also have MET bookending the collection on the right. Awesome room! What is that coffee table game?

You can also get someone in another country to deliver to and then they ship to you. Basically you end up paying a whole lot for shipping.

Finally!

If the reel is taking the ball from the ramp, spinning, and ejecting okay then there is no issue with the reel itself. That said, there are tabs on the reel that trigger optos as it spins. That's how the game keeps track of the reel movement and keeps things in sync. You should get awarded the lock before the ball even gets inside the reel. I would check the ramp switches first.

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.

Airballs happen a lot on mine. Balls seem to get airborne off boat post rubbers. Ball moves so fast it's hard to tell sometimes. Don't think it's a flipper thing. No airballs shooting anywhere else. Maybe it's has something to do with pitch of pf.

I did the same and believe it was shown earlier here. Nothing complicated - just put one or more rubber rings on the plunger to soften the throw. Think I used two on mine. You can still hear it banging but nothing obnoxious. Definitely recommend trying that than just unplugging it. It's a must have feature imo.

When I replaced both pullies and belt I had same issue. I eventually noticed the belt was slipping on the pully. I scuffed the inside part of the pully with some sandpaper to give belt something to bite. One of the new pullies also had a lot of slack. It had a "D" shape hole that was a little too large. I shoved some thick paper in there to take up slack. Those two fixes took care of all my issues and has worked 100% since then.

You can also check your reel tabs. The tabs break the optos which is how the game detects the reel position.

Drop target is down at beginning of the game. It stays down until you collect a jackpot in mb. Then it pops up and requires a hit to activate locks.

Honestly you don't need all the screws to hold the dome down especially in a home environment.