If you need another Bally/Stern owner as a beta tester, I'd be happy to participate.
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I'm a little late to the party, but I finally got around to installing a 6-digit blue kit! The displays are for a Stern Stars that had been sitting for years, and needed/needs LOTS of work. I managed to put together a set of matching Stern DA100s for this project from a box of dead displays I picked up at the end of the summer: all five DA100s were in various states of operation, mostly of the not working variety. Giant learning curve with these kits: the first display took what seemed to be forever to get done, but the next four took between 40-50 minutes per display, via the full replacement method and using a Hakko de-solder gun (invaluable tool) and the leads from the original glass. I'm far from an expert at board work, but I found the job pretty straight forward (I found my Zen by the third board). PDF Instructions provided were awesome--intricate yet entertaining with jokes dispersed throughout to keep things light.
Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the displays up and running in the Stars--the playfield is out for clearcoating now and I'm just now reassembling the cabinet pieces into a donor cab. I was able to test my displays in my Six Million Dollar Man (my only Bally/Stern in the gameroom at the moment). I ran into one display that needed two new 2N5401s, and was pleasantly surprised to see they were included in the kit for just this reason. I'm thinking blue displays would look killer in the SMDM, and would love to keep them in, but the game requires SEVEN displays, not the five that I have now. Maybe sometime in the future.
I still have a 7-digit kit I need to install for a Star Gazer, but that too is a project in pieces and I have no seven digit game to test the displays in. Hopefully I'll get to it over the winter.
You can't go wrong with these kits--value, aesthetics and eco-consciousness all in one.
Quoted from vid1900:I found the most time used on the "first board" was scouting for what parts had to be removed.
Spot on. Its an odd layout.
FINALLY got the Stars put together and fired up. These displays are the cherry on top of a six month restore that deserves its own thread. Next up is a Star Gazer that is just a tad less and rough around the edges as this Stars was...and I've got a blue 7-digit kit for that too!
Quoted from acebathound:Got it added to the Gallery! Thanks for the picture! And if you get a picture with lights dimmed or off in the room I'll swap it hehe.
I will....once I get the game on legs and into its final resting place.
Starting the process on a set of blue 7-digit displays for my Star Gazer project. Couldn't wait, and tested the first one out in my Catacomb. I love the look of these--the numbers are nice and beefy compared to the anemic outputs of Rottendog's product.
I'll update as the process moves forward.
I had the chance to review the Retrofit kit, and perform an interview with acebathound about the creation and proliferation of the DIY display kit. If you've already performed a conversion, I'm sure much of this is old hat...but worth a look anyhow.
REVIEW: Pinitech’s Retrofit Conversion LED Display Kit
https://creditdotpinball.com/2017/08/04/review-pinitechs-retrofit-conversion-led-display-kit/
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