Picked up a HS last weekend for $650. Supposedly this pin was sitting in a basement or garage for the last 10+ years. The guy I got it from knew nothing about pins and was even amazed when I pulled the glass out.

The pin powers on no problem. Here are my current known issues:

1. "Adjustment Failure" upon power up. I researched this and it is an easy fix to put new batteries in. Going into service mode and scrolling through all the options then allows the game to play. (There were no batteries installed when I got the pin and no acid seen on the board). When I went to put in new batteries, the right most AA was too short for the opening. Upon closer inspection it looks like the connectors are missing a little insulator and some metal which would close the gap. The left and center battery positions look normal. I can see signs of a little acid wear in the area where that little insulator thing would have been.

- Possible fixes I've considered include simply bending the prongs in so the battery fits (in short term) or just buying a remote battery holder now.

2. LED displays flicker constantly. I had a pinball repair guy over the other day to replace flipper transistors on my LOTR LE. I had him take a quick look at the HS and he suggested replacing the entire power control board with a new Rottendog
- planned fix is to get the new Rottendog board. I've found one new for $85 plus shipping.

3. Music seems to work but no sound effects or voice. I have not trouble shot that at all yet. As I don't know much about board work or even how/what to test I'm tempted to find a new board I can simply just plug in. I don't see where Rottendog makes a sound board for Sys 11 but maybe I'm missing something.
- possible fix: find new sound board or listen (hopefully) to some easy solutions you may have

4. Numerous light bulbs out.
- plan to replace all lights with LEDs

5. LED scoring displays not centered in the backglass window
- plan to adjust the height of the displays by raising the entire panel (there are a bunch of washers on the hinge which look like they can be moved lower thereby raising the entire panel up a little which should work hopefully

6. Playfield wear
- short-term fix is to simply wax what I can without doing an entire 'shop' job of the playfield
- long-term fix is to install a new playfield. Sadly, the CPR HS playfields look to be already spoken for. If I cannot find a new playfield I may go ahead and perform my first full shop job

7. Ramp entrance: the little thin metal thing which connects between the playfield surface and the ramp itself seems to be pulled up a little.
- not sure what to do there. It seems like there is an adhesive that has come loose. Alternatively there may be an issue with the little set screw. I'm not sure exactly how that is supposed to be constructed so I'm not exactly sure what to do. Thus far the ramp shot can be made but there have been times that the ball does get interfered with due to this issue.

8. Beacon light missing
- possible fix: either find a replacement (if you know where, let me know) or put more of an LED police flicking light bar on top. I think that would be very cool but I would need to learn more about how I would go about wiring such a mod.

Sorry for the wall of text. I am VERY open to suggestions and help. This is my very first restoration project and, like I mentioned, I have not even done a full playfield strip and shop before. Ideally before everything is done I hope to have not spent much more than another $1000 (if I get a new playfield) and have a very nice pin to boot. I think the cabinet is in surprisingly pretty good shape except for the front. I may consider new decals but that is lower on my list of priorities.

Here are some photos:

IMG_1832.JPG

more pix.

IMG_1833.JPG

more:

IMG_1834.JPG

more (only letting me do one at a time)

IMG_1836.JPG IMG_1838.JPG

more

IMG_1840.JPG IMG_1841.JPG

more

IMG_1842.JPG IMG_1843.JPG IMG_1844.JPG

more

IMG_1843.JPG IMG_1844.JPG

more

IMG_1845.JPG IMG_1846.JPG

more

IMG_1848.JPG IMG_1849.JPG

Thanks for the correction on the plasma display. I need to get with the lingo. Do you have a photo of where I would check the voltage? The guy who looked at the pin thought that replacing the PCB would fix the problem with the display. He also thought that replacing the PCB was generally a good idea as apparently the System 11 power is a fairly poor design and the newer board can fix and prevent a lot of issues.

Also, I thought that hand written "55" was pretty funny too and I am not even familiar with what it is supposed to look like.

Interesting idea. Is there a thread with photos and/or video to show how to do that? I did recently subscribe to pinballninja as well. I wish there was a way to search that database for certain fixes as opposed to just by game.

I see you are in Knoxville. Me too! I've come across a couple of others as well. I'll PM you my email and phone number if you want to meet up some time.

Darin

My main concern besides the technical aspects of the repair is the amount of time involved. Time, to me, is more precious than money. That is why I think I'd rather just buy a new playfield as I would guess I would potentially avoid a lot of hassle. The downside is that I've been to the CPR site and it says "closed" on the HS playfield. Realistically, how many man hours would I be looking at for a full playfield restore. I'm guessing I is a lot. I'm sure in the end it is a great feeling of accomplishment, however.

Issue number 5 mostly resolved. I moved 3 washers which were on top of the left lower hinge to below it thereby effectively raising the door which contains the plasma displays. The Speeder 2 one is still slightly low but it looks 10x better than it did.

I also looked at my battery holder a little more closely. I don't think it is salvageable. I'm going to pick up a AA battery holder tomorrow at Radio Shack hopefully and desolder the broken battery holder and install a remote one.

Once I have the batteries working, I will check on the sounds.

Also, I read on the pinballninja site about checking the +100V and -100V to the displays. Ninja referred to checking that but did not show how it was actually done. Can someone explain how to check that (with photos if possible).

I looked at my playfield a little more closely. I don't think there is much of the worn areas covered by mylar. My goal right now is to get all the electrical stuff working completely before thinking about the more cosmetic issues.

I just picked up my needed stuff to make my remote battery holder. I will do that and post photos later.

In the meantime, is there anyone who can comment on the flickering plasma displays? I am tempted to just buy a new PCB for $85 and hopefully fix that issue and stave off others possible with that PCB. However, if there is a pretty easy fix I may just do that.

Also, I'd like to hear someone's thoughts about having music but no voice or sounds.

Thanks for your input.

Well, it is baby steps for me, but I just made my first remote battery holder.

I am very stoked. I think I know how I can improve some next time and make the process a little neater and quicker but I'm very happy. Now when I turn on HS all of my settings are saved. This is the first time I've ever increased the length of a wire or soldered anything to a board. As you can see from photos I actually removed the board to do this. (Also a first). I found a couple of board hacks on the back side. I'll make another thread to show those hacks and get some input.

I've played a few games and most things that I know about seem to be at least functioning okay except for the flickering display and the no sounds other than music. I'm still open to suggestions on those.

Here are some pix from my remote battery holder project:

My_first_remote_battery_holder_(3).JPG My_first_remote_battery_holder_(1).JPG

Update:

I have new capacitors on order for my PCB which should fix my strobing/flickering of the display and hopefully my lack of sound/voices. I will also be ordering new rubbers and a ramp flap. There is a small crack (maybe 1.5 inches right at the start of the ramp which I did not notice until I took it off...this has not seemed to hamper game play) so I may just save myself the $100 on a new ramp for now.

I just did a tear down of all the playfield so I can clean her up and wax it.

A few questions:

1. I have some Novus 2 that I'm going to use to clean the plastics and stop light targets. I have Millwax cleaner/waxer which I'm planning on using on the playfield. The PF is totally nasty and turns your finger dark grey with a short swipe of the surface. Can I use some organic non-ammonia glass/surface cleaner to get a bulk of the grime off before I use the Millwax?

2. Any suggestions for colors for the non-insert bulbs? There are 6 #89 bulbs and a bunch of #44's. I kind of figured on just using some whites but if someone has experience with putting LEDs in a HS I'm certainly open to suggestions. Similar question for the backbox lighting.

3. Any thoughts on what color of Cliffy post sleeves looks good on HS? I need to replace those also.

Thanks,
Darin

Yeah, already have your thing pulled up. Maybe I missed the part on the backbox. Awesome thread, btw, and thanks for your hard work to put it together.

Interesting. I think Pinball life sold me the Millwax when I first got into the hobby and I was asking what I need. I've used the Millwax to clean and wax my other pins and it seems to work great. Sounds like I'll use my Novus 2 to clean the pf and then try a coat of the Millwax to wax it up. If that doesn't do great, I may consider the Treasure Cove stuff on the main part of the PF which is completely covered by mylar. At this point I'm not going for a full restoration. I just want it to work well and be a nice player's pin.

Also, do you have any ghosting issues the Ablaze? I'm getting my order ready this afternoon. Thanks again.

Wow. Good info. I think I may change up my plan a little and incorporate the Novus 2 on the playfield and maybe pick up that wax from Pinballlife.

So, do you use standard incandescents #63 in the flashers? The 89 led bulbs will fail if I put them in the flashers?

UPDATE: Display fixed...still needing sound and voice.

I replaced the 2 160V/100uf capacitors (the ones I think responsible) and the 25V/18000uf capacitor (which I was told does the 5V stuff so I was hoping this would help the sound.) This was my first time desoldering a cap and replacing it, so I'm very stoked it worked.

From my reading, I thought this would probably fix the display flickering/strobe effect: and it did. I was hoping it would also fix my missing sound but no such luck.

I purchased a kit which has all the caps for this board so I can replace others if needed. I'm still looking for advice on how to fix the sound/voice missing (music is fine).

Thanks, and please let me know a fix for the sound if you know it. Also, I have thought about simply buying new sound and voice chips here: http://www.actionpinball.com/cgi-bin/romorder.cgi?name=HighSpeed but would like to get some input before I pull the trigger.

Darin

Another small update on the cabinet. This morning I spent a little over an hour cleaning it up. I used a natural/general all purpose cleaner to get some of the significant grime off. I then put a couple of coats of Millwax on it (after reading the posts about not using it on the pf, I decided to give it a try on my cab since I already own it).

The result? I got a stupid amount of dirt and grime off. I also got off a number of scuffs which I thought were going to be permanent. Though the cab doesn't look 'restored' it really looks a lot better.

I'll try to post some photos in the next day or two. I'm at the finals for the city swim meet with my kids all day long today but will try to get some posted later tonight.