I'm working on resurrecting a Big Hurt that was... well, in really bad shape. Finally putting it back together one step at a time. The scoreboard area is impossibly stupid for servicing bulbs so I'm planning an LED conversion so that never has to be dealt with again.

When it comes to the #67 flasher bulbs, how do LED conversions work on System 3? On all my B/W stuff there's usually this resistor or that circuit or something else to modify, so I usually leave well enough alone and stick with incandescent flashers since they're not on all the time anyway. But on Big Hurt, yeah... some of these bulbs just suck for access. So what's required to convert to LED?

That's great news, thanks! Will add some LED 89's to my Comet order. Might see what color options they have since I've seen led flashers wash out dome colors before.

GI effects are usually controlled by one or more relay(s), in turn controlled by transistor or mosfet circuits on the driver board.

Usually this can be tested as part of a game's solenoid or coil test. Stepping through the various coils and flashers, you'll come to one marked "relay" and you should hear it click (and flash associated lighting, if it's a lighting relay) if it works.

The game manual will list these circuits, but System 3 is pretty awesome about labeling them on screen as you step through, too.

If the relay does not work in the test, it could mean the relay is bad, or its associated driver (transistor / mosfet) is bad.

Alright, need some Sys3 driver board help.

I got Big Hurt back together, and all is mostly OK except for the #2 Drop Target Trip locking on. This is transistor (mosfet) Q10, a 2N10L.

I replaced Q10 with a new 2N10L a while back and tested in a working game, but still had the same problem.

Now that Big Hurt is mostly working I replaced Q10 for a second time, still have the issue. But its DMM "diode check" is consistent with other good Qs on the board. So I tested the associated resistor and cap. The resistor is fine, but the capacitor at C21, a .01uf, was giving funny readings... so I replaced it.

Still have the solenoid problem.

Looking further upsteam on the board goes to U2, the 74HCT273. Not entirely sure how to test this chip, but using a DMM with red lead on pin 10 (ground) and the black lead on the output pins... they all read the same.

But I keep going back to that weird C21 capacitor reading. It's completely out of whack to all the others. Why? What would cause this? All the other components in the circuit seem to be OK. So I must be missing something...

What size legs are supposed to be on Sys3 games? I can't be 100% certain my Big Hurt came with the right ones. The legs it came with are the same length as my B/W and DE games... but this GTB sits a good 1-2" higher and just looks dumb.

Thing is, I've seen this with other Sys3 games too. But maybe over the years it's easy to mix up legs in transport and storage and such and folks don't realize they might have been different?

Or did GTB want their games to sit higher to stand out more? But this seems dumb from a playability and comfort aspect...

Ah, that would explain it... the ones it came with are 28.5" - the same seeimgly "universal" length on all my other games, so I didn't question it at first.

Curses! Now I have to find shorter legs for too! <firstworldproblems>

Now that it's finally running about 100%, I guess I can rejoin the club:

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In some ways I can see why this game (and other Sys3's) aren't quite the pro-caliber games most folks claim to covet... but I have to say this one is fun without having to think about it too much. Love the crowd and announcer energy. There's lots to shoot for but the objectives change dynamically so it's easy to lose track, but that feature - and the damn glove LOL - seem to keep it interesting.

I think if Premier had put more effort into their dots, a lot of these games would compare better to the B/W games of the era. The layouts are intriguing, the gameplay is mostly there... it's the callouts and dots that fare the worst IMO.

But before you guys call me a hater, you should know this particular game probably should have been burned and parted out, but I said no... and am happy to have these bats swinging again!

Anyone know where I can get parts for a Sys3 coind door? Or have any spares?

The Big Hurt I saved from death is missing the lower internal part, where the coins fall into when rejected and returned. I presume it also has the brackets for securing the lower lugs on coin mechs. I'm not sure since I don't have another Sys3 to compare. But if you see my photo of my Big Hurt door, you'll note "something" is missing, whatever that is. As such I can't install coin mechs for possible route duty, without this coin door part.

Can anyone here help? Thanks!

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