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:

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more pix.

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more:

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more (only letting me do one at a time)

IMG_1836.JPG IMG_1838.JPG

more

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more

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more

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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.

Thanks for the link. Funny thing is that I bought from them before but had forgotten. I just ordered them so hopefully that will fix my issue.

http://www.greatplainselectronics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=W711A-PEC-KIT

I only ended up using 3 of the caps so far but there is enough in there to replace them all. I hope that helps.

Darin

Here are some pix of the cabinet after cleaning and waxing. In person, this looks MUCH better. I'm not sure how much change can be appreciated in the first photos I posted.

High_Speed_cab_after_clean_and_wax_(7).jpg High_Speed_cab_after_clean_and_wax_(3).jpg High_Speed_cab_after_clean_and_wax_(4).jpg High_Speed_cab_after_clean_and_wax_(1).jpg

I'll post photos when I'm done with the insert LEDs but I have completed the full tear-down of the playfield, Novus 2 cleaning and waxing of the playfield. I've also put in LEDs in the backbox and the 44s accessible on the playfield. I finished putting it back together this morning.

I also used some glue to re-adhere the ramp flap to the ramp. I put a clamp on it over night and this morning when I reinstalled the ramp, the flap was nice and flush with the playfield. There is some cracking in the ramp itself but I think it will be usable for a while so I'm going to save the $100 on a new ramp for now.

I'm hoping to get the insert LEDs done tonight. Once that is done, I'll post some more photos.

Things I still lack:

the sound/callout issue (installed new ROMs but that did not help)
the beacon light (have not even looked into this yet)

Darin

Here are some post-shop and LED photos:

HS_after_shop_job_and_LEDs_(6).JPG HS_after_shop_job_and_LEDs_(2).JPG HS_after_shop_job_and_LEDs_(3).JPG

more:

HS_after_shop_job_and_LEDs_(5).JPG // Error: Image 121635 not found // HS_after_shop_job_and_LEDs_(7).JPG

more:

HS_after_shop_job_and_LEDs_(8).JPG HS_after_shop_job_and_LEDs_(9).JPG

I realized late last night that one of the lights on a pop bumper was not working, so it looks like I'll need to pull off a ramp and replace the light again or adjust it anyhow.

I did purchase a flipper repair kit for the right upper flipper so that is my next little project, as that flipper has some lag and is fairly weak. The main two flippers seem great. Kind of stinks when you know you need to hit the ramp shot but just can't get it up the ramp from the flipper.

Elbow grease and Novus 2. I did get the Blitz wax here: http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=2589

The $30 is going to last forever on that wax and I may go ahead and use some on my car. I loved the fact that there was no residue like the Millwax I've used in the past.

I have not kept track. I'm sure I've gone slower since I've been learning as I go. Basically I get the kids and my wife off to sleep and I'll grab a couple of beers and work out in my garage for a little while. It has actually been a really nice diversion to the daily stressors of life.

Remaining projects:

1. Fix one pop light that has gone out...it was a little loose when I put it in there and after playing a few games it stopped working. This hopefully will be a simple, quick bulb fix.
2. Troubleshoot the sound/voice issue. I've been told that is NOT a problem with the sound board but is an issue somewhere on the main board. We'll see.
3. Search out for a new beacon light or try to convert a police-style LED light bar. I may try a beacon light at HAPP as was suggested somewhere I think earlier in this thread
4. Rebuild the upper right flipper as there is a slight lag between hitting the flipper button and activating the flipper. Also, it seems somewhat weak as sometimes there is not enough force to get the ball up the ramp. Makes it hard to "GET AWAY".

UPDATE: after doing some research it seemed to me that replacing the 2x 1458 and the 1408 chips need to be changed out and that should (hopefully) fix the sound/voice issues.

I ordered the necessary chips and attempted to make the fix tonight. I do not have a desoldering iron and this was going to be my first attempt at removing the chips.

I first attempted to remove one of the 1458 chips and it seemed as if the desoldering was going pretty well but I could not get the whole chip freed up. So, I simply resoldered it down. While I was at it, it seemed like the solder of both testing switches were very brown. While I was at it I replaced the solder on those. I did the same on a couple of dull looking solder on a couple of the other solder joints of the other 1458 and 1408.

So, I went ahead and put the board back in place just figuring that I would just get someone over to my house to fix it or send the boards off to be fixed.

Sadly, after putting the board back in, I now have NO music either. CRAP! What makes this even worse is that I had a local guy agree to buy the pin for $825 (picking it up Sunday) but he asked me if I could help with the sound issue. I said yes, but obviously I was woefully wrong.

I have learned many things from this project and one of them is to not mess too seriously with board work! Maybe I would have been better off with a desoldering iron. I don't know what I did to make the music stop working. I guess I'll need to get some professional help. I suck at this kind of stuff.

Sound issues are fixed! I sent the boards off for repair and $60 later everything works perfectly.

My lesson learned on this is that I now have a good source for board repair who is reasonably priced and quick (turned around in less than a week). I'm thinking I will never again do board repair. Just too stinkin' easy and cheap to mess around with for me.

Other remaining things which could be done on this pin would be to upgrade the flipper strength (especially the upper right), strengthen the pop bumpers and install a new ramp.

Overall, though this pin has gone from ugly and unplayable to pretty decent.

Interesting...I can't edit the original post for the title of the thread. Oh, well.

Let me ask the guy if he minds me marketing for him. He was referred to me by a guy who was thinking about buying the HS and who flips a lot of cheaper titles on Ebay. Instead of purchasing, he gave me his board-work-guy's phone number. Honestly, I think that was WAY better than him buying my pin. What a great contact to have and at that price I doubt I do much or any board work again.

I'll PM you his name and number but ask him about posting it on the forum for everyone to see.

Yeah, baby, you beat me to the punch. Big time shout out for Andrew! Thanks, buddy!