New chip in and it works like a champ again.

It’s great, fun game to play. We are still enjoying it. Don’t think it’s going anywhere anytime soon.

is there a way to get kick target plastic cover repro (b20210)? the ones on my Genesis aren't very fresh...

Anyone have a spare, working sys 80 sound board kicking around?

Where can I get a set of legs for my black hole. Looks like pb resource is out. Mine have been altered in an interesting fashion. Can't wait to get thru these connectors and get her fully working.

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https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/20210P ?

Probably Pinball resource has them too.

sweet, thanks, not sure why the part had the "b" in front of it

Are they all like that or just a few?

My BH came with the wrong legs (a set of 28-1/2" legs), so I took a full set of 27" legs from my Counterforce, put the 27"ers on the front of both CF and BH, and put the set of 28-1/2" legs on the rear of each game and adjusted the levelers almost all the way down to get the correct pitch.

And, in my opinion, there is a "correct" pitch for Black Hole. You want equal feeling slopes on both playfields, and that makes it play the meanest.

All of them are like that.

Working on a Cleopatra right now. Does not have a 1/2 amp fuse on the outhole coil that's present on subsequent games so I'm going to add that after smoking a coil. Do not see that on the list of System 1 upgrades.

RatShack we will have to compare notes on our Cleopatra's. I won't be working on mine for a bit.
On the to-do list:
Install an X-PIN power supply It has the extra two fuses on it on the downstream side of the small transformer.
I already installed the fuse on the upstream side of the small transformer
More bulbs to replace. There must be about a 100 bulbs on this pin. Gheesh...
I removed the old onboard battery and need to install the double AA remote batteries.
Install the Diodes on the CPU to driver board harness to protect from CR1-7 malfunctions.
Do the ground mods.
Check the driver board for blown transistors.

Then finally plug it in and see what happens.
So far I have only been messing with general illumination.

I did try the original power supply and it appears to be putting out the correct voltage.
I ended up going with the Xpin as I didn't want to deal with rebuilding the original power supply.

Does anyone have a thought on how one might adapt the System 1 edge connector plugs coming from the playfield to something else? Without repinning them all to a different style connector. The adaptor would be pinned to standard plug like what is on the power supply. Or say a fastpinball controller..... I have thought about finding a blown driver board and CPU board and cutting off the bottom inch or two of the boards and then soldering a bunch of wires to the traces. Not even sure if it is possible to cut a circuit board successfully. Guessing there is some toxic crap in the dust of a circuit board.

Really random thought I know.

Jamma adapter finger board.

Sweet. Something like this but with the correct width. Thank you for the "correct" search words.

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Anyone has a nice Count-Down playfield for sale?

On my Volcano, I just ran a wire from the play button over to the credit wire on the nearest coin mech. Every time you hit play, another credit is added just before one is deducted. I put a small toggle switch in my new wire which lets me disable free play anytime I wish. No holes, automatic free-play, completely reversible. (this is the same modification as per PinWiki, except they show it being done on the other end of the same wires as a jumper on the diode bank.)

EDIT: Just make sure the coin mech where you run your wire is a slot that is configured (MPU dip switches) to accept ONE coin. When you have this free-play mod in place, one play button push simulates one coin being inserted.

Wade is considering reproducing them. More people that express interest, the more likely he will move forward with production.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/any-interest-in-a-wade-repro-pf-for-count-down#post-7047424

I'm re-pinning some .156 female pins on an '80 Stern. Will these pins also fit and work in a Gottlieb sys 80 MPU-to-driver board connector? I have some without the 'wings' on the contacts and I was thinking of adding those extra 5v and ground wires. Thanks!

Most connectors yes but not the interconnect it's bifurcated

I couldn't find those, does anybody still sell them?

Hey I just joined the club for the first time. I got myself a Spring Break, Gottlieb System B. I've located only 1 issue so far. All 3 pop bumpers are acting a little different.
Top R- works
Top L- doesn't work and doesn't blow a fuse
Bottom- doesn't work and blows fuse on game start.

I've read that some of these games have ground issues and that Spring Break isn't that bad. I did remove the ground connectors a couple of times and put them back on without change. Has anybody had a similar pop bumper problem that could help?

Additionally, I don't have any schematics for the game and couldn't find any for free on the internet. If someone could PM or email me the file, it would be greatly appreciated.

https://www.arcadepartsandrepair.com/store/pinball-kits-parts/pinball-parts/bifurcated-edge-connector-split-pins-18-24-awg-100-pack-me1004/

Oh good, thanks! All I could find so far was 'they don't make 'em anymore'.

Hey guys,
I'm still trying to work on my pop bumpers without schematics:
Top R- works
Top L- doesn't work and doesn't blow a fuse
Bottom- doesn't work and blows fuse on game start.

Since I'm new to Gottlieb Sys80B, I've been trying to figure out if all 3 of these boards pictured below go to the pop bumpers or does 1 activate all? The top board seems to have a burnt diode. The next one down has a missing screw on the 2N6057. The 3rd board down seems to have a missing capacitor, but I think it goes to the working pop bumper. I've tried to plug one molex into the other boards with no change. The diode boards on the top and bottom all test good. Also, does this one board on the backside with all the transistors go to the pop bumpers. I have one transistor that's testing funny and may be burnt. This seems like a lot of crap for just 3 pop bumpers. Can someone tell me if I'm on the right track?

Thank you

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Do you ever get down to the Lodi area? I have a pop bumper tester to test them.

Only for the Golden State Pinball Festival, haha. I do have a friend trying to purchase a King of Steel today in Lodi. Is that yours?

No, but I know that guy. The machine will work as described he's a good guy

Does anyone know where I could find a display mounting bracket (part #26103) for a Bad Girls? Any idea of what I could use if the part isn't available? I've scoured through various pictures of Bad Girls pinball machines and see that this part in particular isn't closely photographed, but it looks like just a piece of metal with mounting tabs on it that has a lip that is secured to the bottom of the backbox.

The MA-789 board runs the tracer lights.

Good info, thank you!

A fellow Pinsider sent me some schematics. Thanks for the help everyone.

Are System 80B games particularly sensitive to switch cleanliness? I have a stubborn standup that doesn’t register well at all. I’ve cleaned it a million times with paper, then windex, then finally in a last ditch effort—metal polish (as to not damage whatever gold flashing that may or may not actually be there). Every time I clean it, the switch works flawlessly for a few hours, but then it stops again.

The switch contacts don’t really look any worse than any other switches I’ve seen. I’ll likely just replace with a new standup, but it’s curious that all the cleaning I do to it doesn’t really help.

How are the edge connectors on the MPU? Also what game is it? Some machines like Monte Carlo with the motor for the wheel tend to blow some of the switch matrix IC. A while back I designed a small daughter board with clamping diodes to help prevent that from happening. Been running one in my Genesis and have them in Monte Carlo and even older System 80 games like Volcano.

Yes I worked on a TX that seemingly had a dead switch matrix but worked great with a tester. Started cleaning switches and the machine came back to like. This was especially the case with kicking targets

TX Sector is the game. The target in question is the single standup behind the pops. No other issues with switches, and it springs to life every time I clean it, but I’m guessing it corrodes again, and stops working?

I’m partly thinking that the gold plating may have worn away, and cleaning it cleans the corrosion off yielding a temporary fix until it corrodes again. I’ve never had an issue like this with any other game. It’s definitely not a switch matrix or connector problem.

i am missing something on this? or is there something wrong? That Genesis was a project that came with original battery, i took it out and put a 4xAA holder wit h3 batteries and a diode, similar to what i do on Bally/Stern (and what seems to be on Pinwiki).

Scores and credit held for a few days then today, they all reset... the voltage on the wire to the board still read 4.8v so the batteries look fine. Something else going on?
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You should have voltage at pin 8 or 22 of the 5101 with the machine off. If you don't and the batteries do then the it's not getting to the ram. To be clear I'm not sure which one but it's one of those 2

I truly went through the same shit on my Genesis. I went the NVRAM route and haven't had a lost score on my high score table in over a year since I installed it.

https://pinballelectronics.com/index.php/product/5101-nvram-battery-eliminator-module-for-gottlieb-pinball-machines/

I also burnt the custom "free play" ROM for a double whammy of "go screw yourself, volatile RAM" action.

I usually go NVRAM but the 5101 modules haven't been as available as before. On the Gottlieb System 1 and System 80 a memory capacitor works well. Lately I have been installing larger 4F capacitors where the battery used to go. That and if any of the IC's for the switch matrix have failed in the past I install one of the diode clamping daughter boards to help protect those chips. This is what I am running in my Genesis.

You may want to check your DIP switch settings too. There is one on whether is should keep high scores or not. If it is set not to keep them you may not be expecting that and think there is an issue.

Of course the 5101 RAM chip may be going bad. I've run across a large number of failed 5101 chips over the years.

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great info, thank you, sounds like it maybe a failing 5101 since the current from the battery looks good. i'll try the NVRAM route, never really played with those

i really wish there was a Pascal all in one replacement for 80B system-

Are new production Gottlieb drop targets known for inconsistent manufacturing?

This Cleopatra set has issues with 2 of 5. One is so bad it won't drop by hand because it's too thick. Used sandpaper to cut it down and remove all the flash but apparently it wasn't enough.

I had the same issue with a new target in Genesis. I had to file the catch down to an angle to get it to drop.

Are these diode clamping boards available commercially (as completed unit or kit). If so who sells them?

Phil

Hello Phil,

This is a board I designed a while ago. Originally made it for a Monte Carlo and some other games that would blow the switch matrix IC's for no obvious reasons. Seems to occur more frequently in games that have motors like Monte Carlo, Genesis, Volcano, etc. I've been selling assembled boards (include a couple extra DIP sockets) for $20 plus shipping. Getting ready to setup the website for those and a few other niche updates for old games. I have these in several of my own games. If you'd like one just send a PM.

Robert

I'm wondering if you could draw a simple schematic of the concept in action. Thank you.

I have a Volcano and the only motor is the one that engages temporarily just for aiming the shooting lane. I play it frequently and never saw the problem you describe, but I am still interested in seeing what may be happening here.

The game where I have seen it most often is with Monte Carlo. Others can happen and on a lot of these machines the switch matrix IC's are often in sockets already. From boards I've had to repair it just seemed more common on games with the extra motor on the playfield. If you've never had the issue on your game no need to install one now but if those go then this can help prevent it from happening again.

Anyone ever had problems with their displays only sometimes turning on at power up? Switch off and on again and the displays will then work.

Yes. Many intermittent problems with the MPU, including the one you describe.

I needed to replace the entire reset section due to battery corrosion damage. Even though the board looked clean, the alkaline damage went deep where it traveled up the legs of the components. Mostly cracked resistors and transistor legs that fell off.

I had a similar problem with Charlie's Angels and was advised the reset section of the CPU was failing. However, I swapped power supplies and the problem is gone.

Now that's a really good point. I also had flaky connections at the power supply, so I replaced all the male pin headers and rebuilt the female connectors.