Done!

I voted but that was a easy vote.
Tron rules.

Flank requesting permission to come back aboard, I got lost for a while but I came to my senses (TRON kicks ass on lamp)....... Tron LE in the house!
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sexy time pin

CF, while researching the best flowing and funnest pinball ever made, I was somewhat surprised to see your comments in this thread:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/tron-best-game-ever

Looks like you had the same opinion of Tron as I did until you got hooked (as did I). Funny how Tron will do that to you if given the chance...

Cool, thanks--didn't see that one yet. Tron really sneaks up on ya then grabs you by the nads--at least it did me!

did you hear about the Tron Prequel pin?

Who hasn't?

cat is out of the bag

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/tron-prequel-pinball

i'm in like flynn.... take my money stern!!

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notice anything odd about this ?!?

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It says two tigers but really there is two sharks on the marquee?

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sadly... bally did this to alot of old trons that were no longer making money. they were actual official conversion kits to get mo' life out of those old trons.

two tigers is suprisingly a pretty fun two player game. still sad what bally did to them

I once converted a TRON to a "Jungle King", sold it on eBay for $6,100 but it melted before I could ship it.

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Best I've done is complete two shots (left ramp and Quorra) in Portal. Nowhere near finishing and I've also been there probably ~20 times.

Have been a few gem shots off finishing before. = \

boo... bee-oches

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Holy Smurf !

Hah that sucks... may as well be 100 shots away then... amirite?

Lots of cosmetic work this week. I'll group them up into a couple of different posts.

#1: Put in the clear identity disc rubber pads from Pinball Center: http://www.pinballcenter.eu/catalog/disc-rubber-set-transparent-tron-legacy-p-6216.html?language=english

Holy Tronaroni, it was about 1 hour to remove the stock black rubbers & clean up the plastic disc--blah.

Why didn't anybody tell me that this would make the ball go ape? OK, like 15 of you installed this & said it's bonkers, but why didn't anybody say that you don't need to install a shaker motor if you have this installed because you can feel through your hands the ball rattling in identity disc compartment? Why didn't anybody say that it sounds like a hive of angry stainless steel hornets in a paint can being mixed up at the Home Depot paint counter? Why didn't anybody say that the ball will shoot out & smack the glass...the glass down by the flippers? Why didn't anybody say that, if you get to Portal for the first time ever, the disc might fling the ball through the rubbers in the identity disc region?

I waxed the disc after this happened. It toned down a little. A little. Not much.

It's pretty awesome, assuming that it doesn't destroy my machine from the inside out.

-Jason

PS--oh, in retrospect, I think that I might have actually used 1 band here that was 1 size too big, as I was short 1 band...that's probably the culprit...and the bonkers disc rubber, too..

[Edit: added 2 pics of spinny identity disc assembly w/ worn black rubber, before elbow grease black rubber removal]

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#2 Astute readers may have noticed my milky white rubbers. I got a set from Pinball Center, including flipper bands: http://www.pinballcenter.eu/catalog/120-premium-rubber-set-transparent-p-6445.html?language=english

I also cleaned & waxed the playfield.

It's a whole new game...had about 3 crummy crummy games & then got to Portal for the first time. I'm on an emotional roller coaster.

Also installed & love the blue metallic flipper bats: http://www.pinballcenter.eu/catalog/flipper-with-williams-logo-blue-metallic-p-2387.html?language=english

Ignore the "W".

Ordered, examined, but decided against using the chromes from Pinball Life: http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=2229

Hmm, the flippers don't look very blue in these artsy photos of mine.

[Edit: added well-lit pic of new vs. old flipper/rubber scheme]

-Jason

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#3: I finally got around to looking at this wiring this weekend. I wired my recognizer & light cycles "wrong" before, by tying them in to the 2 lamp matrix wires.

After looking more closely, I saw that the Stern factory insert socket has 3 tabs on its underside, an internal diode, & 2 of those 3 tabs are shorted to the 2 contacts on the factory insert bulb.

So, I undid the 2 wires & rewired them as shown in my PDF. Now, the bonus mod LEDs are perfectly synced w/ the insert LEDs. Thanks, Frax!

-Jason

The Correct Way To Add A Bonus LED, Rev 3.pdf

I need to save this pic! Did you just led your own recognizer?

I'm not electronics expert so found this interesting... I had wired an extra green flex LED to my FLYNNS ARCADE SCOOP previously just by jamming the wires into the light socket so that the scoop would be lit green when the SCOOP was available. For the longest time i couldn't figure out why I couldn't just split off the wires but that is of course because of the diode.
1) Could someone explain what the function of the diode on an insert bulb socket does/is is basic terms for someone who only had basic college physics
2) How could one tap into another socket as in Jason's post of the recognizer mod and add other lights/mods that would light according to a mode either being available or active? Does someone have a picture of how to wire this/attach this as I'm a little baffled how you can still keep the light socket intact yet split off an additional bulb from this.

Here are 2 pictures of the FLYNN ARCADE insert bulb, 1 is the socket itself, the other is a picture that another Pinsider did to add a light to the scoop.
Is there any easier way to add the wire more securely/soldered rather than just pushing the wires in?

LED 1.jpgLED 2.jpg

Sweet, glad you figured it out. i never saw anything in my email so wasn't sure if you had gotten it or my spam filter flagged whatever you sent. Good diagram.

The function of the diode is to only allow current to one bulb at a time in the lamp matrix, without having to have individual transistors and wire sets for every individual bulb. The diode prevents backflow of current to other bulbs on the matrix. If you were to cut a diode you'd see other lamps illuminate at the same time as the one the diode was cut on.

I made a product that does just that: http://www.dkpinball.com/DKWP/?page_id=457

It removes some of the headaches of having to convert power sources, it also allows you to use something on the game as a trigger and then the output gives a different effect. Like, roll over a switch and make a light blink 10 times. Or an insert light begins to blink so a servo motor makes a character move around.

A lot of guys use the PIG 2 with their Tron Mods.

I have a Pro. I pulled the recognizer. Into the back of its "head," I crammed the business end of a NiftyLED 555 Super Bright Flex Red: http://niftyled.com/555-Super-Bright-Flex-Red-p136.html

I removed the plastic housing (that usually snaps into a socket), soldered the internal leads to the new wires I added to the game, used a pair of 9V battery clips along the wires to allow for later recognizer removal if needed, & used a bit of hot glue & black Sharpie to hold stuff in place & cover up my handiwork. The back side of the recognizer is a little ugly, but it doesn't show unless you pull the glass & inspect it from behind.

-Jason

On the stock yellow matrix wire going to the stock insert bulb socket, I used nice wire strippers to peel back a little of the wire insulation a few inches away from where the wire met the socket.

I then wrapped my new bonus mod wire around the exposed conductor, soldered, & insulated. I think I got clever on this one & used heat shrink tubing, but electrical tape works well, provided it's not the cheap stuff that comes undone over time.

For the 2nd mod light wire that does *not* tie in to an existing factory lamp matrix wire, I stripped some insulation off the mod wire, tucked it in the socket cavity where the diode leg was, & soldered it in--it was quite easy to solder. See pic.

I'd be worried about tucking wires into a lamp socket & then cramming the bulb in for fear of shorting or damaging the socket or having the bulb pop out.

I'd be worried about jamming wires into the "slice-the-insulation" receptacles, as you need to be sure you're using the right gauge or you'll cut the conductors or you'll not slice the insulation.

I know me well enough to know that these are risky moves for me.

Thanks,
-Jason

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E-mailed you 10/16 & 10/24. Never heard back. Figured you were just too cool to respond! ;P

Thanks,
-Jason

Each time I come back to that thread I keep wondering where is my Tron.

Seriously guys is that VE really coming ? Anything solid on that ?

Tron is on top of my list. It's my next pin but should I buy an existing one or is the VE coming soon ?

Jason, could you by chance send an up close picture just for a visual? So in the picture I showed, the yellow wire (with orange stripe), you tapped in one wire but does it matter which side of the socket the wire attaches? (ie before the socket vs. after the socket).

Could a person just solder the first wire to an a corner of the gold socket insert in the middle? (that gold socket portion that crimps onto the wire on either side)?

For wire #2, you just soldered it to the diode but you mentioned only if it does *not* tie into an existing factory lamp matrix wire. I'm unsure what you meant by that.

I would like to rewire my FLYNNS ARCADE insert addition to be like this but want to make sure it will work be disassembling my previous method.
When the FLYNNS ARCADE insert is flashing green (scoop shot available), I have a green bulb that flashes the scoop green.

Tron VE.... nope.
But, there could be a Tron Prequel Pin if enough people vote on it's poll and show demand for it
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/tron-prequel-pinball

Dr.-

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This is my red square recognizer PF insert. Note the gray wire soldered in to the top (as shown) of the 3 socket leads. It is connected to the non-striped end of the diode & to 1 of the 2 lamp leads, but it does not directly connect to either of the lamp matrix wires. The other gray wire going to the recognizer is in the out-of-focus foreground--the gray mod wire is spliced in to the existing yellow/purple factory lamp matrix wire.

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I added some more lights last night (see next post). These are also LEDs that accept 6.3VAC. I got a little neater & cleverer with these wires. I simply soldered the 2 mod's white wires to 2 of the 3 leads on the socket (the 2 leads that short to the 2 factory insert lamp leads). No need to strip wire & use electrical tape & such. Soldering to these tabs is actually rather easy, it turns out.

Thanks,
-Jason

So, what was I doing adding extra LEDs last night? Mimicking the 4 T-R-O-N inserts with behind-the-stationary-target-LEDs from Pinball Center: http://www.pinballcenter.eu/catalog/noflix-target-light-blue-p-2967.html?language=english

I know, I know, they're intended for stationary targets that are transparent, so that the light can shine through them. I know, I know, they're intended to stick to target "spines" that aren't L-shaped like those in my Tron & I had to grind down part of the target spine to be able to attach these.

But, from my point of view when playing, I can actually kinda sorta see them. :]

Thanks,
-Jason

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Wrapped up the lit flipper buttons last night. Got transparent blue ones from Pinball Life.

Wired in 2 of Nifty LEDs 555 super bright flex blue & tucked them next to the buttons. I do get some light bleeding upward between the PF & the cabinet, but not enough to perturb me. I could easily fabricate a little awning shield above the LEDs to block that light if it ends up bugging me.

I simply wired these in parallel w/ the 2 leads on the start button--I removed the quick disconnects, soldered 2 pairs of wires to the male tabs on the start button lamp socket, & then re-installed the quick disconnects.

Thanks,
-Jason

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New mod, bitches.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/tron-illuminated-drop-target-bank-by-mezelmods#post-2026964

BUMPS.... for the best thread ever

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That is cool. ENDOFLINE, do you mind if I save that for a future avatar?

yeah, sure bro... i just grabbed it off of the interwebs.

i think there was a gem print too (both posters / prints are pretty rare)

Of course it is--best thread ever--keep it rockin'!

yes, yes it is.

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Great post for a great game. Here's one more modded LE for the show:

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In previous post I meant to say great thread...not post. I have watched this thread since it started and enjoyed it all the way. Still one thing I still have'nt figured out though? What the heck is Lamp?

The answer is in the tread - but to save reading - watch Brick in Anchorman. I have no idea why Centerflank used it as a reference though.