I just joined the Maverick fan club. Thanks to Pete, I picked one up at the York show. This is my first DMD machine and so different than my Solid State Stern Flight 2000.

Things seem to be working properly. I need to figure out how multi ball and locking balls is supposed to work inside the paddle wheel ship.

Looks like a Lauren Belle opto switch needs help! Haha.
Is there a best way to access it? Switch 46 is the bottom one closest to the flippers, right?

1697A0C3-BADA-4667-89E5-081C1DD1AE66 (resized).jpeg

I took off the #46 opto board on the right side. Man, those boards are small. I reflowed the solder on it and reseated the connector. It seems to be working fine for the moment.
Is there a consensus on different connectors that might work better to hold the pins?

Thanks,
This game is difficult.

Today the game seems to be having sound problems. The sound keeps cutting in and out and sometimes the background music disappears.

Looks like a challenging machine, once I get it working all the way.

Sorry for all the posts. I reseated the soundboard connectors and that seems to have corrected the sound problems. The sound board was also not fully tightened down in the backbox.

The display was cutting in and out so I put on a new connector for the 2 wire one that was loose. The connection is tight now and the display isn’t going off any more. Seems fixed for now. The game is definitely getting more fun the more I play it.

Thanks Gingerbloke. Between the two of us, my son and I probably played Maverick for 5 hours over the past two days. The machine seems to be playing perfectly as far as we can tell. Balls appear to be locking properly in the Lauren Belle, no switch errors, and the dot matrix display is working flawlessly. We really like the game. It is super challenging and we are slowly improving our skills. The rules are lots of fun and we are even enjoying the music and call outs.

My next project will be to remove the batteries from the board. Is there a consensus for the best approach on this particular Data East/Sega board?

I am really enjoying this machine so far. I haven’t figured out how to get a high score yet. I did notice a few of my higher scoring games involved getting that 20x during the Lauren Belle mode. Any tips? Is it better to focus on winning the poker hands and drop targets, or focus on the modes and getting an extra ball?

I had an amazing game for me last night. I somehow earned 2 extra balls and ended up at 1,208,245,110. I was on fire during the Lauren Belle mode and got 7 balls into the paddlewheel using the orbit shots. Super fun. I also had a 4 ball multi-ball and another multi-ball. I don't even think I was attempting to play the poker hands. For at least half of the game I was pretty successful hitting the ramp and orbits and was kinda experiencing flow. haha. Lots of fun. Really cool game.

Wow! I watched the last few minutes and it was really neat to see the Poker Championship. #goals

Sorry, I don’t know anything about a color DMD. That would be a great addition to the machine.

My Maverick has a problem. The VUK switch isn’t working. The ball sits in the VUK and eventually the game cycles all the solenoids and it pops out.

I guess I’ll resolder the switch connections as a first step.

Then check the diode?

Anything else I should look for?

Thanks!

Looks like one end of the diode came unsoldered.

This evening I removed the 4 opto sensors in the Lauren Belle and reflowed solder on them. I don’t think I messed anything up. Hopefully, they will work reliably now. Yesterday, it was not locking a second ball, but seems ok now.

Visually is there a way to look at the optos and tell they are working or aligned properly/improperly?

I didn’t really see any obvious cold solder cracks when I reflowed everything.

Can someone show me what that opto board would look like with .100 molex connectors?
I think my optos have the original connectors, but I would like to upgrade to molex if it's easy.

I'm having some sound issues on my Maverick and it happens intermittently during game play. We've also had the pop bumpers stop. It's kinda like the voltage drops during the game and the sound will re-set with the Lauren Belle steam whistle sounding and the DMD display resetting briefly.

I have the back box open and it looks like the the power supply board is having some low voltages measured at the test points.

5 volt test point = 5.03 volts.
+12 volt test point = +8.25 volts.
-12 volt test point = -12.3 volts.

Any tips for what to dig into first on the power supply board?

Thanks,

Tom

I removed the power supply circuit board and reflowed all of the solder connections on the pins and headers on the back. I put it back in the machine and the +12 volts is now reading 9.9 volts. The machine plays fine right now with no rebooting of the display and it is fully functional. So that's at least a temporary fix. I'd like to get the 12 volts up, so I'm guessing I need to replace some capacitors, or do I need to look at the bridge rectifiers next?

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Darkstar1234, that's kinda neat. I'm not familiar with Pinsound. Were you able to modify the game so that it plays different music, instead of that Clint Black song and Amazing grace?

What's all involved in the modification?

Rats! That's a major bummer. I think they might be out of stock at Marco.

Maverick is such a fun and difficult game. My space right now is limited to two pins. I'm torn with keeping it or moving on to something else. Maybe I'll take it to Pinfest this year in Allentown, PA and set it up in the free play area and see if anyone makes an offer.

You are probably right. It has a lot going on, lots of strategy, difficult shots, and is a great value for the money.

Whelp, mine keeps resetting the sound and losing sound. So I guess more is wrong with the power supply beyond the bridge rectifier.

My Maverick seems fully functional again. When the bridge rectifier on the power supply board blew a segment, it also took out Fuse #2 on the board. New bridge rectifier and new fuse have it working just fine now.

Hi Mattyk, I'm relatively new to my Maverick and have only owned it for about 4 months. I'm also new to pinball machine repairs. I have only been doing that for a year.

I would remove all of your pinballs from the machine and then get into the diagnostics menu. I would try and get into the switch test mode and start verifying if the trough switches and Lauren Belle switches are all working properly.

If I remember correctly, the trough switches have diodes on them. So look them over to make sure all of the diodes and wires are soldered up.

On my Maverick I experienced the VUK solenoid not working. It ended up being that one leg of the diode had come unsoldered.

Hopefully, this will get you started and you can post some follow up questions to help trouble shoot.

I've found this trouble shooting website very helpful.
https://pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Data_East/Sega

Thanks RandyW, I’m considering that. I like the machine enough to spend some money on it. I don’t know anything about pinsound, so I’ll start watching some YouTube videos.

Dang, I struggle to get 300-500 million.

I need a new Lauren Belle. Has anyone ever printed one up?

I just experienced this bridge rectifier problem a few weeks ago. Good to hear that it is a common issue on Data East / Sega power supply boards.

I had an unexpected new high score on Maverick yesterday. Got home from work and wanted to play a quick game before dinner. Balls 1 and 2 were nothing special. I messed up on the Coops Cash mode and only made one of the orbit shots before draining. I had an amazing ball 3. I can't remember all the details, but I know I completed a few hands in a row while raising. During the full house I unintentionally hit the captive ball twice, which lit Extra Ball for the VUK. I made it to the Lauren Belle mode and did fairly well at that one. I think I collected the extra ball at the VUK and during Lauren Belle got the 20x and re-lit the Extra Ball for the VUK. I also must have gotten an extra ball when passing 9,000,000. I didn't pay attention to how close I was to going through all 5 modes. I've never gotten to the Poker Championship. The game sadly ended with a 4 ball multi-ball and all 4 balls drained super fast because my left outlane kicker wasn't lit.

Anyways, it's a fun machine when you have a good game. I have been contemplating bringing it to the Allentown Pinfest to sell, but I doubt I'll find another DMD machine as affordably as what I paid for when I bought this one. Really the only thing wrong with mine is my Lauren Belle is a little beat up.

OK guys. I’m giving serious thought to selling my Maverick. The main reason being that it’s such a difficult machine. I’m convinced it has improved my shooting, but it seems like I’m never going to make it through all 5 modes to get to the poker championship. Are there any compelling reasons why I should reconsider? Also, what do you think the going price is these days on fully working Mavericks?

Thanks crujones, switching to 5 ball is a great idea.

I just played a few 5 ball games. I still am terrible. haha.

So far it sounds like the only compelling argument to not sell Maverick is because I will regret selling it.
People seem to like it because it is difficult.
Unfortunately, I am getting to the point where I am not enjoying it because of the difficulty.
I'll give the 5 ball a go here for a while. I'll report back if I manage to make it to the Poker Championship.

I might get more enjoyment out of selling Maverick and buying a Flash.

What is everyone's favorite shot on Maverick?
How about your favorite sound effect or mode?
How about what you find most frustrating about the game play?

I would say that my favorite shot are the orbits.

My favorite mode is Coops Cash. I like hitting the 4 lit shots.

My favorite sound effect is the cash register noise when the captive ball gets hit. It hardly happens, so it is always a surprise when the cash register sound goes.

Lots of frustrating things with me on Maverick. The worst is probably when a ball does not make it up the ramp and drains right back straight down the middle. The second worst is when the ball dribbles out of the pop bumpers on the right side. It often will hit the top of the slingshot and then bounce down the right outlane.

I don't know what incline my Maverick is at. I would say the front leg levelers are screwed in all the way and the back leg levelers are about 3/4ths the way out.

The light shows are pretty neat too. My machine is mostly LEDs, so it's pretty fun when the multi-ball and jackpot stuff are all flashing around.

What is this VUK gate you guys are talking about? Could one of you kindly post a photo? I don't see any sort of gate at the VUK on my machine for the wireform.

I've got that metal bracket thing in the circle, but it doesn't move at all. Is the gate attached to that bracket? Nothing moves right there on mine.

Seems like my gate thingy is missing. I'll have to do some more investigation.

I'm trying to identify the part number for the VUK gate. Would it be possible for someone to show a more detailed photo of the VUK gate?

I'm looking in the manual and is this the part number?
Flat Rail to VUK Left with VUK Gate Riveted Part #51561730

Getting closer. I think I made it through 4 of the modes in a game over the weekend. Moving it to 5 ball has helped. I'm still getting frustrated, but looking forward to making it to the Poker Championship. I'm holding the ball during some of the modes and letting them time out. I can't resist playing Coops Cash and Lauren Belle. haha.

Tonight I replaced the 2 light bulbs that were out under the playfield. Maverick is playing great, I just need to see what that wire gate looks like at the entrance to the VUK. I see the holes in the bracket where the gate can go. Would one of you have a part number or be able to post a photo of what the gate looks like?

Thank you!

My son quotes the, "Extra ball is lit!" call out when we play High Speed. It's funny. I admit that I am missing my Maverick a little. Drop targets are a lot of fun. I would be open to owning this pin again in the future when I have more room. The machine has a lot of great features for the price.

Great to see activity in the Maverick thread.

It is a good one and can be difficult. It will make you a better shooter for sure. I sold mine and am keeping an eye out for another affordable one.

Good to see some new Maverick owners. It’s a fun and challenging game, especially if you like drop targets.

I remember reflowing the solder on those optos helped me when I owned my Maverick.

I miss my old Maverick. I need the prices of these to drop down a little though.

There’s a service billeting someplace that talks about how to change the connector to draw power from a better source on the board. I think rebuilding my display connector helped when I had a Maverick.

Didn’t Sega have an official service bulletin with instructions for moving the power feed for the display from a better/different pin? I did the modification after I had my display glitching.

Is it me, or does the color DMD on Maverick look great?

kevster did you buy a color display?

My Maverick has been gone a few years but I seem to remember it autolaunching balls for multi-ball.