(Topic ID: 57782)

Fish Tales - Casters Club!!

By shacklersrevenge

10 years ago


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You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider silverballkid.
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#1634 5 years ago

Picking up a Fish Tales on Saturday. Needless to say I am pretty excited. Hoping to clean it up (it is in pretty damn good shape) and then play it all summer. At the end of the summer I will likely sell it so I can buy something I really want badly. I just can't pass up this offer. Good condition Fish Tales and a working pinball dolly for $1500.00. Just seems insane to pass on this.

Rubber and some other things already ordered from Marco.

WHOA, YOU'RE NOT GONNA EAT THAT, ARE YA?

1 month later
#1709 5 years ago
Quoted from northerndude:

You won't sell it...

So...

Got the game home. FILTHY but it was obvious that there was a great game underneath. Started working right away on getting things fixed.

At this point, the boards (cpu and power driver) are about to go out for repair and I am in the process of tearing the entire thing down so I can get it cleaned up. I actually love this part of getting a "new" table from a seller - fixing it all up.

Here's the best part: This is my FOURTH table. My wife had politely tolerated my never ending descent into this hobby but not - until this point - showed much interest. One day early on, with the game still FILTHY, GI half out, burned out bulbs everywhere, no flashers working, neither slingshot working, useless pop bumper skirts that look like a ghoul chewed on them thereby reducing most action and a bright-lit line through the center of the DMD, she stepped up, played a couple games and smiled. I mean really smiled. Getting to multiball on her first game probably helped. Then she said:

"I like THIS one. THIS one is fun. It's really fast. I don't think you should sell it."

So now parts are being delivered from all over the place and I have 3 questions:

1. Does anyone know what color rubber set was shipped from the factory? I am assuming they were white but I see a lot of games with black rubber. Anyone have thoughts? Mine has black and I kind of like it.

2. All my stop nuts on my plastics (OF COURSE!) are a mess. Is there a source for the ones I have where the interior nylon is red or should I just order whatever? Marco has some really cool anodized ones that I can get in red, but I am a bit of a purist. Again, anyone know how this looked leaving the factory?

3. These legs - UGH. Very badly rusted down their lower halves. Again, anyone know what was factory? I am strongly considering switching them out!

LOVE this game. Not sure we're gonna sell it as I thought.

Thanks in advance for all input!

Tim in Motown

Ps. Hopefully these 2 pix will help illustrate what a great pf I have under all the muck and grime. Gotta love those games from storage...

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2 weeks later
#1737 5 years ago

What's up, fellow anglers?

So, the long process of tearing down the FT that I bought the first weekend in May and getting it ready for rebuild is almost done. Turns out my power driver board and cpu both had issues so they are out for repair, which gives me plenty of time to go nice and slow to get the table looking the way I want it to before I repopulate it and get it ready for play. This is my first experience with a modern table. My first three pins were either EM or early SS. As always, there is so much to learn. I have a few questions for you peeps who have been through this before, but first I wanted to share what I have been working on so far. Let's take a look...

So here is a good example of how dirty this thing was, along with a look at what a little Novus can do (just light pressure with Novus 2 on a microfiber cloth - I won't likely ever have to use it on here again). This second photo was taken right after my "first pass" of cleaning. After my second, more thorough cleaning of these trouble areas, they brightened up even more. Just trying to maximize my effectiveness without wearing away the Diamond Plate.

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In the past week I have finished depopulating the playfield and rebuilding the pops, which were a mess. The skirts were chewed away horribly and everything was old and filthy so I decided to replace them. I had a busted lamp socket in the middle pop so that got fixed as well. Also, rebuilding the pops gave me a chance to clean around and under them as much as I wanted. Like every other inch of this game, these areas needed it. Yokes, spoons, switches and such were fine and everything in the under-playfield mechs that needed it got a good soak in the ulatrsonic during the rebuild. I also rebuilt both of my slingshot kickers since the mechs were a mess. One side had a broken linkage and the other had a soon to break linkage and no spring. By the way, check out the FILTH on that mini boat ramp metal form in this picture of the pop bumper area. Thank goodness for the ulatrsonic.

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Last night I took the dome off and worked the fish topper over. Like everything else, it was FILTHY. Still, after some Mean Green love and patient cleaning, it looks great again. Can't wait to see it lit up properly once I am done with the rebuild and the boards are back!

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So, as I hit the homestretch, the three questions I have are...

1. My topper dome is a mess so I ordered a new one from Marco. It was scratched up badly and somewhat discolored with a few good cracks in the base where the screws go through. I found silver, adhesive backed mylar pretty easily online. I have that ordered as well so I can trim a sheet to size and get it stuck back up in the top of the new dome when it arrives. For those of you who have ordered these new domes in the past, are you happy with yours? Obviously I already ordered it so my mind was made up, but I am just curious if you folks have been satisfied with your new ones.

2. My playfield has very little in the way of major issues. There is some wear in the two spots where the wireform ramps drop the ball down into the inlanes, but I am ordering some Cliffys to go in there to keep that from getting worse. The one thing is that on the playfield, wherever there has been a lot of ball action, the Diamond Plate has "dulled" from wear and doesn't shine as much. Should I just apply the multiple coats of Blitz wax and stop obsessing, or is there something else I can try to do to restore the luster to the Diamond Plate? My buddy Matt who used to work for an amusement company back in the day is telling me to just wax it down with a couple coats of Blitz and be done with it, as it looks way better than it did when I got it. This is the first time I have dealt with a modern game with Diamond Plate on the pf so I am just looking for feedback. Here is a picture that I hope illustrates what I am talking about:
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And here is a picture of the entire playfield without me "obsessing" about that dull effect.
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3. I am thinking that this table is going to look pretty great when I am done and that has me thinking about a COLOR DMD! For those of you who have purchased them, are they really as easy to install as the website claims? Are they truly just "plug and play?"

Anyway, I welcome any and all input about my questions. I'm definitely getting excited to put everything back together and get my boards back from the guy who is working on them (Jerry Clause for anybody local who is reading this - GREAT guy!).

Cheers and Happy Fishing!

Tim in Motown

#1740 5 years ago
Quoted from Soulrider911:

silverballz color DMD for sure on fish tales! So many great animations. Yes the install is very straight forward and their website has videos as well. I went with the more expensive lcd... but that just my flavor the led is awesome too!

Great to know, thanks! I just watched a guy's install video on YouTube and it seemed really easy. I think I would go with the LCD as well. Gonna wait until I get everything back up and running and then make a decision!

#1751 5 years ago

Hi Guys,

Just decided something. The connections for my micro switch that is connected to the end of the wireform ramp that feeds the ball lock reel are a total hack job made up of poorly connected wires that are held together with badly placed electrical tape. Can somebody take a couple pictures of the molex connector setup for me so I can try to find one online and get it set back up correctly? It is the only real hack on my entire table and now that I am getting ready to rebuild I just don't want to leave it that way.

Thanks so much!

Tim in Motown

#1753 5 years ago
Quoted from Soulrider911:

silverballkid sorry I think I’m confused you want a pic of the molex end... or the switch end that is screwed into the wire form?

Definitely the molex end. Both sides of the connector if possible. I'm totally good about the place where the microswitch connects to the wireform guide. Got good pix of that while I was tearing it down. Thanks!

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1 month later
#1809 5 years ago

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!

2 months later
#1964 5 years ago

Hey guys, van anyone who is into all the specifics stuff tell me exactly what nuts/bolts you are using to hold the clear flat plastics onto the top of the boat ramp crossover?

3 weeks later
#1994 5 years ago

Hey guys!

I have a question because I have never sold a game before. Only purchased them. I am thinking I will be selling for the first time and would love to hear your thoughts.

So, I got my FT in May of this year. Spent over 3 months getting it to look and work as I wanted. This was a game with great bones purchased form a guy who worked for a vending company that had been in storage for years and just needed a very deep cleaning and some mechanical work. At this point, it works 100% and looks great!

Here's what I did:
Cleaned out cabinet interior. Dust, grime etc.
Cleaned translite.
Replaced plastic playfield glass plastic trim where cracked/broken. All looks brand new.
Depopulated playfield. Cleaned and buffed out playfield with Meguiar's Ultimate Compound (looks amazing!).
Waxed with Blitz Wax (3 coats).
Rebuilt all pops.
Rebuilt kickers.
Rebuilt flippers.
Replaced catapault microswitch and optos on fishing reel as these didn't work properly.
Replaced ball kicker mech on Fish Finder hole at top of pf.
Reflowed solder everywhere necessary to ensure proper lighting, both GI and feature.
Replaced spinner decal.
Replaced clear center boat ramp (Little Shop of Games remake).
Replaced boat ramp decal at front.
Replaced topper dome with a new one. Decal installed.
Replaced IDCs in head where necessary (J-120, J-121).
Power driver board completely reconditioned and repaired by amazing local tech (YAY JERRY CLAUSE!).
New Rottendog MPU with NvRAM installed. Code version updated as well.
Color DMD installed.
New legs installed.
All broken and chipped plastics replaced. Rest of replacement set will be sold with game.
All lights replaced with new incandescent. Not a fan of LEDs.

All I have left to do before I sell is to replace the cabinet decals and touch up paint on corners, which I will do. The cabinet is in great shape, but 1 side is faded. I am also going to buy a brand new glass, even though mine isn't that bad. Game just looks and plays too good to not replace it.

The only negative things about this table are small wear spots where ball drops out of ramps into return lanes (minor wear and Cliffys installed now) and the coin door is not the best (all mechs and switches work fine but hinge is a little messed up).

I do not consider this a "player's condition" table. It is much nicer in my opinion.

If I decide to sell this to get a game I like more (after playing it for at least a few more months - I am thinking a spring sale at the earliest as I am loving playing it now after all this work), what should I ask for this table? I just have no idea what I would ask. I have never sold a table before. No, I am not worried about getting back all my labor or the money spent on everything. I had an absolute BLAST taking a game that didn't even work correctly and resurrecting it. First time I have done so. I learned a ton and it was just awesome. It was totally worth it and I am not worried about "getting everything back."

What do you guys think? I can post pictures if need be!

Thanks!

Tim In Motown

#1996 5 years ago
Quoted from fiberdude120:

Yes the need is there.

As a person who can't stand pinball pics (just LOVE all those grainy, unfocused Craigslist pics that do absolutely no good in ads), let's do this however you want. Tell me exactly what you want to see and I will take CLOSE UP, clear pics of what you request. I'm heading off to vote and then to work so I will take these tonight and post them. Seriously, just tell me everything that you think is relevant and I will make sure I upload them.

EDITED TO ADD: I dropped in a few photos I just took really quick before heading off to vote and work.

Thanks again, so much,

Tim
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2 years later
#3539 3 years ago

OK so…

I have had my FT for almost 3 years now. I really like the table. Always have, since the days of playing it in bars on route. I got mine from a guy that worked for an operator. He took it when the place closed down in the early 2000s and it was just sitting in the garage. He sold it to me for 1,200. Pretty great deal, I think.

I have always had this game set on 3 ball. I am a purist, after all. The majority of my pinball friends DO NOT like the table. They find it hard to master and too quick to drain. I have been thinking of moving it to 5 ball for the sake of others. Yes, I know I can change it whenever I want. Yes, I know that I don’t need anyone’s permission. I just love hearing people’s opinions about this stuff.

For me, Fish Tales is a ton of fun BECAUSE it is challenging. At the same time, it is really hard to play it casually and put up good scores if you are not a really good player. Even the multiball is brutal and often ends with very little to show for all the chaos. I usually play for the mini modes (captive ball)/multiball when I play and I have very good success this way. Boat Ramps are fun and Monster Fish is always a nice grab. I’m just wondering if anyone else tends to try to set this easier for guests.

Cheers,

Tim in Motown

PS – Hey Bob, look – Water Skiers!

1 month later
#3573 3 years ago
Quoted from Stebel:

What flippers do you have installed, lightning or regular?

Lightning flippers. Wouldn't have it any other way!

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