Hi everyone, just picked up my second pin on Sunday....Maverick! I found one in good shape for a pretty decent price, and wanted a multiball machine with a DMD. This fits the bill and super fun. Only issues I have are the on the Lauren Belle opticals. The entrance wasn't working at all and the two on the LB herself were acting funny. So I took all 3 (or I suppose 6) out and reflowed the solder. The 2 on the LB are working well, still an issue it's the entrance receiver. Shorting the pins causes the switch to register, so, it may be a bad LED. I have ordered new LEDs and transistors to rebuild the boards and will report back. The game is playable but will be perfect once that is fixed. Ordered a reed switch too just in case, but will only use as a last resort.

Thank you wayout it is a blast. I love the card game aspect...it really is making me a better player. It's crazy how one switch can totally mess up a game...but even crazier is how you figure that out and play around it. . My parts should be here Friday so, I have plans for the weekend.

Agree. There is really no reason I shouldn't be able to get it to work properly. The components I ordered are suitable replacements for the originals and they should arrive today or tomorrow. I bought enough to do 6 sets of boards and it was less than $20. Might be cool to get some PCBs made up and make these stronger and more powerful as a side service to the community. I can't imagine the transistors on the receiver being bad...I will test them once I take them out.

This one bad switch really causes some wacky things to happen in the game and seems to be a real issue for almost everyone. Thanks for the Service Bulletin, Wayout...really great info.

The optos are fixed and working flawlessly with the new parts....very happy about that. Unfortunately I am having other issues...the VUK is intermittent and I am getting multiple balls in play every so often when I am not supposed to. Not the happiest camper ATM. Hoping this is not a board issue, but another intermittent switch failure messing things up. I am not too happy because I bought this as a "no-issues" machine. Also see some minor battery damage to the battery tray, but not enough to get into the board. As I am typing...ball stuck in VUK and it will not eject or go into find mode...it puts another ball in play making me think I have a bad trough switch.

Any suggestions?

Thanks Wayout...good advice. So, as I was testing the switch it would work then not work then work again. Looking closely at it, I could see the solder connection on the diode looked cracked...reflowed the solder and it works fine now! I played about 10 games and no issues.

The rebuilt LED opto switch has been working perfect.

Now after I play it for a month or so, I'll do a complete shop on it, add an LED kit, DMD Saver, etc, etc. It's really fun and I don't want to take it out of service just yet.

Thanks for the help!!

switch2 (resized).png

I have to say...this machine is making me a MUCH better player. It is really difficult! Although it punishes for mistakes, it is also rewards for success. My aim is very much improved thanks to the drop targets. You are not going to get a "lucky" ramp shot in this game, nor spam anything for easy points...it makes you work non-stop. The right drain is harsh, but the left drain is awesome! I feel very fortunate to have come across this game...it makes me want more pins.

My very limited experience with Maverick...on a machine that clearly had very little use...was that the optos are very suspect, and cause a multitude of issues. I would like to say they are an easy rebuild, but it depends on prior repairs. I had to use jumper wires as the solder points had been fried on the connector. When I get some free time I am actually going to have a company make me a few dozen PCB's and make some better, stronger optos. It's so frustrating, but such an easy fix. Stick with it.

Damagio

Those opto's are a real bear, Methos. I've had issues with mine as well. I've found all the parts at Mouser and Digikey for very cheap. As I was rebuilding mine I noticed that the PCBs were damaged from a previous repair, so I had to make wire jumpers. I was planning on having new PCBs made up and make completely new optos ... just haven't gotten there yet. I can tell you in my experience that those things failing or intermittently failing wreak havoc with the game. Mine are working well now and it's worth the time and effort! Good work and good luck.

Couldn't agree more...it's like night and day.

Now if I can just figure out how to get that Lauren Belle wheel to spin a little faster we'll be cooking with gas.

I really enjoy this machine.

It does look awesome. I got a new machine so now I can take Maverick out of service. I am going to add this to mine while I have it apart for shopping. Plus I want to maybe put an LED strip around the inside of the Lauren Belle if I can find something that works.

I like these blades too...

https://www.tiltgraphicsinc.com/product-page/maverick-gameblades

All in all, my Maverick is working great now with the exception of the slow wheel. Really bizarre how this is an issue for some people. Mechanically, it's very smooth, but the RPM is clearly too slow and it will go into search mode. All of my opticals are rebuilt and working well, and I get 29 VAC at the motor. I think I will try the pulley fix if I can find one.

It really is a great machine. Lots of fun.

Damagio

Wondering...

1) Appears I have original ROMs in Maverick. I believe it says 2.0 when I turn it on. I believe it's up to 4.xx. Probably cost me about $50 to upgrade CPU, display and sound ROMs. I can't find any documentation on what these updates do...possibly speed up the paddle wheel???? How cool would that be? Folks who have had slow wheel issues...would love to hear from you regarding CPU ROM version.

2) Methos....how is your project coming along?

3) On the fence about an LED light kit. I actually like the incandescent "lantern" look, but I know they make warm colored LEDs that may work. Thoughts? I've seem some color LED mods, and it just looks like it may be a little too much for my taste.

Accomplished/In Process...

1) Installed an NVRAM from LockWhenLit (works perfectly) and removed the battery tray completely.

2) Did the nylon washer trick on the sound board and I'll be darned, it really helped.

3) In process of cleaning playfield and replacing all rubber.

4) In process of installing Wayout's playing card spotlight mod. I found some pretty cool cards that look sort of "antique-like"....okay editing because it’s done!

Hope you're all doing well!

Damagio

80628B04-4ECE-4B3D-9FBA-13B6724D55F8 (resized).jpeg

curious....the thought just came to my mind if the upgrade to v4 would addess the slower paddle wheel issue...my last effort to speed mine up will be replacing the pulley on the motor with a larger one. I think Mac might have done this...

Bummer! It’s really the last thing holding me back from 100% perfect operation.

It looks fantastic! Thanks for the idea, Wayout. It REALLY keeps the beam out of your eyes...LOL.

Damagio

Really nice looking machine.

I need help, guys. This issue is driving me nuts. I have spent hours searching for this pulley online to no avail. The one sourced here is no longer available and I cannot find one anywhere...seemingly. Has anyone else sourced one from another supplier?

Thanks!

Wally, sounds like you checked the voltage and it was ok? I like reflowing solder to make sure the connection is good...but sounds like a bad coil.

As the search continues for a new larger pulley, my paddle wheel seems to be getting slower and slower. Think I will take it apart and try to clean it if possible and if that doesn't fix it, I will order a new one. I'd just hate for that not to be the problem, but I've replaced the belt, lightly lubed the gears and checked the voltage. It says on Marco's site it is a 6 RPM motor...I am pretty sure that is at the motor, not at the gears or pulley, so I'll test that tonight.

Any other suggestions? I plan on starting a full shop on it, which I should have done as soon as I got it, but you know it stinks not having it up and running for a while. Anyway, I want to take care of everything once and for all. Also going to go with LED's but I will get the warm frosted as I want to keep that Old West Lantern sorta look. I don't want to go crazy with the colors.

Ya...I agree...other than that...gorgeous.

I've had my Mav for over a year now and I really like it. I have done a lot of work on the optos and finally have them dialed in. The paddle wheel always has been my pet peeve issue. It's way too slow and the machine will go into ball search....annoying as heck.

So tonight I returned from CAX and fired Mav up. As usual...she played fine...paddle wheel was ok but gets slower the longer you play. Well I had all my pins (4) on for about an hour when I was making dinner...came back and Mav display was dead...total WTF moment. I know this machine has very low hours on it and it couldn't be dead! Well, I checked voltage...good. Reseated all connections....power down power up...nothing. Turned it off for a good hour....turned it on...all is well.

About 5 games and the wheel becomes slower than ever...unreasonably slow.

The reason I am bringing this up is that I am a real believer in power supplies and capacitors. If you are not getting proper power and if caps are failing...all bets are off. Crazy things happen. So...I am either going to rebuild or replace this PS and recap before I do another thing. I can't believe the paddle motor is bad because it slows down over time....classic cap/PS issue.

Thoughts?

That Mini LCD is really cool. Get rid of that blue out LED. Beautiful looking otherwise and enjoy!!!

That's right, wayout, thank you. I always forget the motors are AC. I've thought it was the motor for a long time now, but the fact that when I turn the machine on, the rotation of the motor is close to what it should be and then degrades over time. Yesterday it degraded to the point where it barely turned, so that makes me suspicious about the PS. At the very least' it is worth a thorough check, right?

wayout,

This Service Bulletin? http://arcarc.xmission.com/Pinball/Stern%20Service%20Bulletins/sb/sb106.pdf

Jim, last time I checked they were out of stock and not sure if/when they would be coming back.

My machine is having display issues I am working on tracking down...hopefully it's fixable because replacements are pricey for this one!

Mike

Will do, Jim.

OTRChief...that display might work for my Maverick....still diagnosing. See my next post....

OK...

Display issues...

My Maverick DMD went from running perfectly to blinking to out completely.

Initial check - SB #106 was already done to the game...that made me sad because I thought that would be the easy fix.

1) Checked voltages +5.03 v at the pin and +4.95v at the Display Controller Board.
2) Checked voltages on the Display Board +5.03v and ….can you believe...only +19.5v at the +24v pin. That seems very significant to me.

I've removed both boards and see no obvious signs of failed components...ie: burn marks or swollen or leaky caps.

This display was functioning very nicely up until a few weeks ago when it started blinking. I am hoping this may be a power supply issue. I'll have to take a look at the power supply...hopefully this weekend.

Any other suggestions?

Damagio

Yes, Mavantix. Unfortunately, that fix was done (5v loop fix to the controller) for as long as I have owned the machine.

I thought I read that the P3 was 24v...if it's only 18...I think I may be out of luck.

Super-Size 192x64 DMD, connector P3:
P3 pin 1: +5 volts
P3 pin 2: Ground
P3 pin 3: Ground
P3 pin 4: +24 volts

I checked the ground straps and they are good. I read that the bridge rectifier may be bad on the PS. There is also a resistor known to go bad, but that jumbles the display...mine if out completely.

The bad news is that ever since I started messing with it...it's been completely dead. I really don't think it's outgassed, I suspect the display control board may be bad.

Damagio

Thanks Wayout!!...this is where I am getting my repair info from as well. It's an outstanding source.

I am not sure if the .5v drop from pin on the PS to connector on the Display Control is just because of the probes on the multimeter or if it's just losing power along the line....if so, certainly indicative of weakness in the PS. I think I'll try to test it under load and see what I get.

Regardless, the PS repairs above are my next step. I'm going to pull it an order all new parts and rebuild it with the 18 gauge wire mod. I have an awesome Hakko desoldering gun, which is seriously one of the best tools I have ever bought. If that doesn't fix the DMD issue, at least I'll have piece of mind knowing my PS is good and we'll move on from there.

My really big concern is that it went from blinking to dead as soon as I unplugged everything to test the voltages and then plugged it back in.

Do you guys know of any Multimeter Leads that fit well over pins? Ideally something insulated that will push over a pin and clamp down. I see some on Amazon, but it looks like they are hooks and it's hard to tell how big they are.

Mike

Yes it does...and it is critical that they are replaced annually IMO. When I bough my Maverick, they had leaked and thank goodness it didn't get into the PCB too badly so I bathed the area in vinegar. I removed the battery tray and replaced it with an NVRAM from LockWhenLit. It's an incredible product and you will never need to worry about batteries again.

Please tell your friend to remove the batteries immediately and lets hope his PCB isn't damaged. 22 years is not good. :-/

Mike

I had major problems with my optos. I rebuilt all of them for less than $10. They have worked flawlessly for over a year now. Someone overheated the PCB on a past repair so I had to install a jumper wire, but they work fine.

Repair Update

DMD issue was solved with a new 14 Pin Ribbon cable. I did buy and install a new upgraded PS as well, but that probably not necessary based on my readings. Nevertheless, I wanted a new PS as my old one has some scorch marks on it. I now have a beautiful DMD with zero blinking.

Last issue is a no brainer at this point...replace the paddle wheel motor and it should be 100%.

I am very happy to report after all this time is that my Maverick is now running at 100%. I finally bit the bullet and bought the replacement motor for the Lauren Belle and couldn’t be more pleased. My blinking display turned out to be a bad wire so the smaller ribbon cable was replaced. Shopping it tonight and still on the fence about some soft warm LEDs. The incandescent look on this machine does it justice so I think I may just LED older the poker chips and arrows on the PF with color and go warm frosted LEDs for everything else....thoughts? I don’t like the kits with too much color for this game.

Glad to hear you got that fixed. I can take a picture of the LB for you when I get home tonight. Basically you should easily be able to see is the belt broke. Doubtful it would fall off unless you were working on it. If it’s broken or stretched, no worries they are cheap. I would order a replacement anyway if you don’t know when it was last changed.

Here it is...

Keep in mind that there is an optical switch at the entry and 2 in the LB that can be very problematic too. I rebuilt all 3 of them in mine.

image (resized).jpg

They are like $4 at Marco and pretty easy to replace, but you will need to take off the plastic and the mounting bracket to get it over and on to the pulley...not bad though.

Unfortunately, a little of both. I would start with the top. Take off what you need to get your fingers in there and then lift the playfield and take the motor bracket off so you can get the belt on.

Let us know how it goes Sirg

Take the motor mount off...the black bracket that screws into the underside of the playfield. Should allow you to get the belt over and on to the pulley.

Glad you got it, bud! Hope you are enjoying your game now!

Agreed! It is darn near impossible when you are trying to aim for it...very often the rebound gets it. I may try 2 thinner sleeves on the posts. I was going to take the one off but the ball rolls out...LOL.

Sirg, glad you are enjoying the game and it is working well for you. I've had a series of relatively minor issues with mine, and when it works 100% it is SO much more fun.

Rules: http://www.pinball.org/rules/maverick.html

Enjoy, my friend!

Is it just me or does the voice actor on Maverick sound exactly like Todd Tuckey from TNT? “We play till we drop.”

I believe that’s correct too. When I replaced the rings there was only a sleeve on the bottom post.

Sirgubster9 those optos are a pain in the ass there are actually 3 but when they go bad they usually fail to register. Exact opposite of what you are experiencing. They could just be out of adjustment. Hold an index card in front of all 3 and see if you can see the red beam and make sure it’s lining up with the sensor on the other one...when I say 3 it’s really 6 because there is a sender and receiver. Make sure you have no dust or anything else blocking them. One could be loose and when solenoids go off it might be shaking it enough where it thinks the ball went through. Easily and cheaply rebuilt if you can solder even minimally. Start there.

Well that’s too bad. I haven’t played much BW but Maverick is a Pin I can vouch for as an owner. I thought O would play it a few months and sell it, but I have had it about 2 years now and no interest in selling it at all.

All 3 sets of optos are the same Sirg. They each have a transmitter and a receiver which are different from each other but each set is the same.

Question: Is the Lauren Belle whistle going off randomly without a ball going up on to the wheel? If so that would seem to point to the entrance optos and not the ones in the Belle. Run a ball through a few times by hand and observe.

Sirgubster9 have you gone into the service menu and run the switch test? Try that and hit the side of the cabinet and see what switch is going off.

Sirg....awesome. Glad to hear it. Maverick has definitely been my most finicky game, but once you figure stuff out with it, it makes it all worthwhile. Wayout is in the forum a lot and he has a wealth of info on this game. He’s helped me tremendously.

wayout440 thank you for all the help you’ve given me!

I paid $1,800 for mine two years ago. I thought I got a pretty good deal despite a few issues. The most expensive being the motor for the paddle wheel. It seems lately that people are trying to price machines higher due to increased popularity of pinball. Those do seem to sit unless they get talked down behind the scenes.

I was concerned about this as well and I just put it in as it was and have had no problems. Hopefully I won’t in the future. I asked Marco and they were not sure.

Mine does. I had to replace the motor not long ago. I paid $1800 and had some issues at first but it’s running like a champ now. Love the game. You got a great deal.

I bought mine with the intention of selling it 6 months later...here we are 3 years later and I doubt I will ever sell it
It’s a great pin. I love the rule set. The only thing I would have liked is a better ramp setup.

Welcome and enjoy!

mad carl I had this problem and it drove me nuts. Best advice I can give you BEFORE you go spending a ton of money...

1) Check the voltages. They need to be VERY close if not exact to spec.
2) Do the Service Bulletin upgrade #106 to power the display controller board....I think you can even buy it pre-made.
3) Re-seat (I replaced) the ribbon cables on the display controller board.
4) Make sure all the pins on your connectors are straight and do not have bad solder joints. R-eflow if needed.

I hope one of these things solves your problem!

I hear you....it's a real pain in the neck. I think my trouble was I had multiple issues which makes it even harder. Here is what @wayout provided that really helped me, and it looks like you are on the right track.

From the DE repair guides:
The dot matrix display controller board (#520-5092-1) has its own 68000 micro processor, which runs at 12 mHz. It operates best with logic +5 volts right at 5.0 volts! Any drop in voltage (to even 4.9 volts) can cause the display CPU to shut down or reset. As these games get older, the connectors fatique, and small amounts of resistance appear. Or the grounding strap going to the display board can become loose. These problems can cause the +5 volts fed to the display to drop enough to cause problems.
If the Super Size DMD Still Doesn't Work...
Additionally, the +5/+12 volt bridge rectifier (DB1) on the power supply board may need to be replaced. If this bridge becomes "leaky" (less efficient), it may not be able to supply the robust +5 volts needed on the display board. So if the above modification does not work, replace bridge DB1 next. When replacing DB1 on the power supply board, also solder an 18 guage wire from the "+" lead of bridge DB1 to the "+" lead of capacitor C4. Solder another 18 gauge wire from the "-" lead of the bridge DB1 (the lead diagonal to the bridge's "+" lead) to the "-" lead of capacitor C1. Do this on the solder side of the power supply board. These added wires will help prevent future cracked solder joints on the power supply board.