some good info here:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/wire-bending-a-gate#post-7068436

I’ve finally got my Shaq running in location. What an awesome game!

The code is ridiculously deep for a late 90s Gottlieb! It’s a ton of fun.

Only issue is the game is a reimport, and the operator had left the ball lock “ball gate” plunger unhooked and removed the spring so it would always be down. When I was working on it a buddy was with me, we resoldered the coil and it immediately smoked that whole circuit. I replaced the transistor, the resistor, the coil, and fuse, yet it still doesn’t work at all. The transistor pads were pretty toasty, but it tests fine with my meter. Not sure what else could be the issue?
Maybe my brand new coil is bad?

Struggling with this one, any help appreciated.

That’s awesome. Definitely interested.

Have a link to the precision potentiometer?

Friend has a question on Freddy. Is ball save adjustable? He says ball save lasts a long time on his.

It is, but the min game time should be turned to zero.

Thanks!

I just picked up a Lights,Camera,Action. The only thing not working was the top right hole. I adjusted the switch and the game appears to be fully working except top left hole as stated below. It has three broken rubbers as shown and more rubbers on the verge of breaking. I have not tested the coils in the back box yet. Before I get to working on it, is there anyone in the Evansville/Newburgh, Indiana that wants a System 3 project? It did come with the manual. Otherwise, I’ll fix it up for my Gameroom and learn about it and enjoy it for a while.

I realized top left hole (sol 10) was covered. Coil fried (a-26451 which I don’t have). I’ll also replace the transistor. All other coils and switches work.

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Does anyone with a Lights, Camera, Action know if there is a limit or stop on the left gun hand? The coil correctly lifts up the right gun hand and it drops with the spring after the coil is engaged.

On the left side, the coil appears to hyper extend past horizontal and the plunger gets stuck with the gun in the air.

I can see the metal bracket on the right hand that limits movement. I do not have a clear view of the left hand (yet, I will take apart soon but looking for pointers) to see what is supposed to limit its movement.

Thanks!

I have the game. I assumed each hand mech was identical.

Thanks. I’ll take it apart tonight

I also noticed there was not a lot of talking in my game. I watched the Todd Tuckey video on the game and the top hole seems to start most modes. I’m waiting on a new coil (already fixed driver board) and hope this brings the game to life once I start using this hole (prior owner had it covered for the past 10 years).

Video I did on LCA.

The bracket is slightly bent allowing the plunger to move a little further down to hyperextend. I’ll try to bend it or buy some spare brackets. Thanks!
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Should be able to replace that coil stop. Ask PBR for one.

As I took off the artwork for the animated section of Lights…Camera…Action!, the brittle plastic started to break around the screws and posts. I took the artwork to our local PostNet shop. They scanned it, fixed up the edges where original artwork cracked, and reproduced copies that are the exact same size as the original. I’ll continue to use the original on the game but feel good that I have great reproductions if I ever need one in the future.

I’ll keep this off the game until I fix the left gun coil bracket and replace the LEDs.

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Sorry another silly question for LCA. The flashers are 67. Can I use the existing Comet 89 or 906 LEDs or will this mess up anything?

I know I can simply add a few LEDs to check in general, but game is apart and waiting for parts. I assume all my existing Comet LEDs (47, 555) I already recently bought from Comet should work in a system 3 with no wiring changes?

I put in all 5 smd tower flashers (#906 replacements) from comet, on my stargate, for my #67 bulbs and they work great!

I also put in all 2 smd frosted sunlight for all the other bulbs and they also look great with no ghosting.

Lights…Camera…Action! Cleaned up (but no where near perfect) with new rubbers and LEDs. Top left hole coil replaced as well as sol 10 transistor, left out lane plunger reinstalled correctly to work, switches adjusted in top left hole and drop targets, and left gun coil assembly adjusted so it lowers correctly. Game is more enjoyable when it works 100%!

The only question I have is there are 4 lights in the back behind the long plastic. I removed all 10 screws and the lights looked like they were in spotlight sockets and could not remove from the front. I was thinking like they were on a williams and I could reach them behind when playfield was lifted. Obviously they are stationary. Does anyone know how to change them?

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SS uses the A6 Sound Board MA-886-722 according to the manual. Thanks for the response though, I completely forgot about posting this!
I had a guy look at my boards at Pincinnati and he said they looked fine and may just be my sound roms that are the problem, so I'm trying to get a set of those burned and see if that gets the game rockin again.

Im having trouble adjusting the center trough switch on my Stargate.

It keeps getting false closures as balls bouncing around and over it.

This is a problem as muliballs end early and the flippers die with 2 balls still in play.

Im curious what other people have done to dial in the settings on this switch.

I have it bent pretty high and the front edge bent straight down, so that balls that bounce back hit it without triggering it.

Its not perfect and still some modes continuously end early.

The game is not very playable at this time.

Any help or pictures would be really helpful.

I started a thread about the extreme measures I have done to reolve this issue:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stargate-woes

COLORDMD ANNOUNCES WATERWORLD!

We're excited to announce Waterworld is the 121st supported title for the ColorDMD multicolor pinball display platform, and our fifth supported Gottlieb® title! Other supported Gottlieb® titles include Stargate, Wipe Out, Gladiators, and Cue Ball Wizard. Waterworld was colored by Dave Timmer, and the color ROM is targeted for release on Friday, January 6. Displays are available and shipping now!

Announcement: https://mailchi.mp/38047a91eb41/deacon-blues

I got my Operation Thunder back which I sold 4 years ago.

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Quick tech question, if you ground the tab on one of the transistors and the coil actually functions, does that mean that there could still be a break in the traces, or does that rule it out?

The coil functions when grounded, but in test mode and in game I cannot get it to fire. It is Solenoid 6 on Shaq Attaq. It uses an opto to activate it. The opto works just fine.

Some background, this is a German reimport, and the coil was fried. It seems to be a somewhat common issue on Shaq Attaq. The transistor was burnt to a crisp, really bad damage on the board. I fixed it, crudely. Trying to figure out if the traces were destroyed when it burnt up long ago, or if perhaps there is some disconnect between the switch matrix/MPU and the driver board? I’ve been staring at this problem on and off for months; maybe I’m missing the trees for the forest here.

Swapped in a known working board, and upon testing I found that what I believe is the emitter leg was measuring continuity with the ground tab. That must mean the new transistor is also bad, unless an install error can cause it to read continuity.

Either way, the traces and damage are so bad I’m worried if it can even be replaced without totally ruining it

From what pix I could find...
The gate wire on the right looks like part #17299

MA note:
Rollunder metal shield:
A-4705 - 2-3/4" center
A-4869 - 2-15/16" center
These are off center brackets..

Just picked up Cue Ball Wizard serial number 97007 and someone stamped it 3 times and corrected it with a sharpie as it was stamped 97006. All of this in the cash box area.

I’ve never cared to take note of SN but noticed on ipsndb that 97— is as low as it goes.

Anything I should look for in terms of it being an early game?

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I can imagine the stamper screaming “no 7.... seven!... SEVEN DAMMIT!!!”

If the first 2 were wrong, maybe try a 3rd? Lol

I still don't have a Stargate, but I picked up a super nice and under rated Barb Wire. I can easily make an argument for both Stargate and Barb Wire to be in the top 100. They both have a lot going on and are just fun to play.
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Working on a Vegas. It boots and plays just fine. If you let the game sit in attract mode it will freeze after a while. Toggling power brings it right back. Whats do you guys reccomend to resolve this? I plan on doing the ground mods from pinwiki soon. What else should I look at?

Thanks for the help.

Always start with the ground mods and work from there.

Gottlieb(s) ground via the wire harness. If the pins are good, your ground is likely good. No harm in doing the grounding mods, but your problem is likely a power supply problem. 5v power needs to be about 5.1v or things start getting funny. I bet your game is low on power. There is a pot that is adjustable on the 5v power supply. You might be able to adjust the power to where it needs to be from the pot. If not, replace the pot. They are known to fail. Heck, the power supply itself is cheap. They're lots of good options available.

I replaced my power supply board with the Boston Pinball one.

They are very inexpensive.

It works perfectly, and MUCH better than the original.

Thank you for the advice. I'll proceed and retort back soon!

Had this issue on my Hollywood Heat, sys80b but same thing, it would only lock up after 20 minutes, sometimes an hour!!! 5v was low. The pots get flakey too.

If you get the Boston Pinball one, It starts out about 4.92v.

You have to measure the voltage at the CPU board and get the voltage to about 5.2v by flipping the dip switches.

Too high a voltage will stress the logic chips and cause them to wear out.

Too high a voltage is 5.5 to 6v.

You definitely want to stay below 5.3v for safety and longevity.

The Boston Pinball board is super accurate and I never saw it waver from the voltage I selected.

The dip switches are GENIOUS! Perfect voltage ALWAYS.

I finally installed my security strap:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/data-east-security-strap

Cross posting here as well.

As an avid fan of Gottlieb, I have finally acquired a System 3 pinball to add to my collection, and am now the proud owner of a Cactus Jack’s. I am in the process of performing a good thorough cleaning / shop out / overhaul and converting over to LED bulbs. Could someone take a high quality picture of the small plastic that is shown in the picture attached? I just found mine is severally broke with only a couple small pieces remaining. I know these are no longer available, so I am going to fabricate and manufacture a replacement. Any help or assistance with a high quality photo would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

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I believe there is some sort of gate that attaches to this post on LCA, but I can’t find a picture or a part number.

I see some possibilities online, but wasn’t sure if any of them were the correct part.

Does anyone have a lead for a replacement? Thanks

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Here are pics of mine. Found a link to essentially what you need. Not the exact setup though.

https://images.app.goo.gl/aCMpTQP4SmfppBPz6

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The manual lists it as part 26898, pbresource has it under SF2 parts. If the post it mounts to isn't springing back that assembly is 23410.

https://www.pbresource.com/plastic/gtb-26898.jpg
https://www.pbresource.com/plastic/gtb-23410.jpg

Alright Sys3 Geeks, I'm having what I suspect is a trough issue.

What, on a Sys3 (Silver Slugger specifically) would make the trough kick out two balls?

Here is the situation, most balls, the game will kick out the first ball, and then the relays will fire again and it will kick out another ball. In my mind there are three switches to suspect.
1.) the trough switch
2.) the 3rd position trough switch
3.) the shooter lane switch

All switches have been adjusted to work properly (in theory). I cannot recreate this issue by holding down any of the suspect switches (so we can, in theory, rule out stuck switches). I cannot for the life of me, figure out what would make something like this happen, so frequently but also inconsistently. Maybe the microswitches themselves need to be replaced but that doesn't seem like the right path to go down.

Thoughts?

On the Stargate thread we have seen shooter and outlane leaf switches go bad and cause really weird issues. pinballinreno has an incredible thread detailing his troubleshooting what eventually was found to be a bad smart switch. I would try a new shooter lane switch first assuming it is a leaf switch like in Stargate.

Are these switches soldered or terminal connectors. If they are connectors, clean up the terminals and tighten them a little. The terminal type get oxidized and flaky after awhile.

I would just replace the shooter lane switch and any of the leaf switches if they are 30 years old.
It may be the problem.

Or it could be a bad smart switch.

Bad smart switches cause logic errors, confuse the CPU board and lead to HAVOC.

They can mimic bad switches, driver boards, grounding problems and pretty much everything.

I have a whole write up on why this happens. Its pretty interesting (at leat to me, lol).

They can really drive you crazy!

Before now they were really hard to dignose without an o-scope.

I have devised a simple way to test them and find the bad ones:

Unplug all of them. Run through all the modes in the game manually.

If the problem persists, its one of the trough switches (or the shooter lane switch), likely the center one that keeps track of the balls, if you have already replaced the lane leaf swiches.
Sometimes the trough switch actuators just need to be bent upwards as an adjustment.

If the problem goes away:

Plug the smart switches in 2 at a time, manually run thru the modes again and again, until the bad behavior comes back.

Resolve which of the 2 are causing the trouble.

You would think that I would recommend plugging them in one at a time!

But no, its really time consuming to run through the modes for every single smart switch.

Doing them 2 at a time cuts the process in half.

That’s it! Could not find it for the life of me. Thank you.

Side note, my alpha numeric display was having issues and I was basically told they are not usually repairable. Has anyone had any luck repairing one?

I was able to find a used one on eBay from The Boston Pinball Company. They sell LED replacements. Has anyone tried one?

I have one from them and it's great. The display is much sharper than the originals. Only minor annoyance is that it needs an AC plug so it uses the service outlet.

Hey guys,
I have a Freddy that I’ve had for more than 10yrs and it’s always had a crazy loud audio hummm/buzzz.
I have done the ground mod with no audible change. Any one else have this issue with Sys3’s?

Sorry folks, no smart switches on this game.