I ordered the wireform referenced and it is curved. It looks straight in the pics linked above.

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Humm...I'm hoping you post some follow-up to fitting the wire form successfully. I'm wondering which way the curve should face? One photo of the Jack*Bot wire form shows it to be straight.

JackBot wire form (resized).jpg

It's quite possible that Marco just sent you the wrong wireform. Call and ask them to check the rest of the pieces in their stock, and be prepared to email a photo of the incorrect part when they ask for it (the photo of the correct part in the above post wouldn't hurt either). I've gotten one wrong item in each of my last few Marco orders, but customer service always takes care of it.

Hey wait a sec -- I thought that photo looked familiar -- that's my Jackbot!

Bent in shipping possibly?

I don't think so. It's pretty smooth. Also, it was in a small box that had no damage at all.

I'll contact Marco.

It may be correct:

https://www.planetarypinball.com/pinball-12-6469-4

My guess is it would bend around the posts/rubber with the outside of the bend closest to the right rail, but I'm a bit hesitant to drill holes in the playfield since these teardown pics show a straight rail!

I noticed the same thing, I ordered two just to have an extra. I have not installed yet as I was not sure it was correct.

It would be nice to have a template for the holes. Are there any measurements to locate the holes? Or do you just eyeball it and hope it's right?

Would definitely want to have the Vortex ramp in place, along with the 3 posts and rubber in order to mark the upper hole. Get the top of the guide rail in place at the edge of the Vortex base so that the ball can't hit it. Then maybe rotate the bottom leg as needed to find the best angle for a smooth guide path for the ball? I would imagine every machine would be a little different. That's why the skill shot is so inconsistent across different machines in the first place.

I would agree. The only thing you'd want the ball to contact would be the apex of the guide, I'm guessing. I just don't want to make it worse than it is.

Ok...I took the plunge and made a wireform using 0.08 inch diameter wire from the wire bending kit I had previously bought at Marco : https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/12-WS-KIT

After researching and endlessly adjusting the Pin*Bot skill shot mechanics and noting that every single game is slightly different, I feel there was nothing to lose, so I went ahead:

- The wire I made is 3 7/8 inches long from inside bend to bend and I gave it a slight curve that seems the same as above references. (4 and 3/4's inches seemed way too long for my game, if measuring inside bend to bend.)

- I pulled a few wireforms from my other games and they are all 1 inch long after the bend (half inch in playfield and half inch above playfield, slightly above any rubber.)

- Everything was moved but left the vortex installed and drilled the first hole nearest the bumper carefully drilling a 1/16 inch hole as shown in the Jack*Bot photo.

- The final hole was drilled as close to the vortex as possible and the wireform was gingerly pressed in so as to be adjacent to the rubber but slightly above it, with the outer bend to the right rail side.

Results are pending but after five games it seems things have improved. There is now zero chance of the ball hitting the rubber located above the upper bumper and I'm getting nearly every skill shot into the vortex, where as before it was like 60 % or so.

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Hey that looks great! Looks factory and not like a hack. Good job and thanks for posting the how-to and pic!

Pinbot issue.

MPU is good. Xpin power supply.

Issues are: no flashers and no visor motor movement. Ohms check at motor is 47, so motor good. Changed out snubber with aftermarket…still no change. I’ve hit a wall…any help appreciated. I know C side is the flashers but I’m not getting any C side functions. The visor motor is a special solenoid, ran off snubber. Snubber isn’t switching over so I’m stuck…

I’ve hit a wall……help?!?

Looking for help as well, my GI right side (red) does not come on, but comes on in certain time in attract mode (but seems more dim). Also weirdly the flippers actuate too (when buttons are pressed) in certain times in attract mode. Note I am running PEMBOT ROM.

I also have new power supply previous owner installed.

I've started to take a look at fuses...but:

Is there a particular fuse that I should test? when I test fuses, the ohms seems to fluctuate should I be getting stable readings?
what other trouble shooting steps should I use for this issue?

FYI: I've had some fairly infrequent issues where the game needs to be reset as well, and it actually lost high scores stored, and I do get flickering to 28 v LED flashers when I press the right flipper.
I did change the diode on the flipper a while back, but just yesterday realized that there are two diodes, one on the switches and contacts and one off the coil it self (where as I did only the switch one), so I'll likely do the coil ones too now.
SO there may be something inherently wrong that may have caused the GI to get like this?

Thanks in advance

The visor is not a special solenoid. It is a controlled solenoid. If all of this happened at the same time then I would check all of the 24 volt fuses and test there outputs from the power supply.

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Find the GI relay under the play field and check the connector for overheating. Turn the relay board over and look for cracked solder joints.

If the flippers work all the time in attract mode you have a cpu issue, if they work randomly this maybe a PEMBOT issue.

No, not for this issue. But when you do test fuses they must be removed from circuit and there should not be any fluctuations. ZERO OMHS!

You replaced the wrong diode, it's the diode on the coil that might be the issue.

This is normally a low 5 volt signal on the CPU board. You should measure the voltage on the CPU board test points while someone else is playing a multiball, you should read 4.86 volts DC or higher.

Thank you very much for this...

quick question, the diode off the flipper coil has thin gauge coil winding wiring connected to/soldered to the contacts with the wires etc too - do you know if this small gauge coil wiring can take the heating etc to remove the diode, as the diode terminals seemed wrapped around the points and soldered well - may need some serious work to de-solder and remove diode - I am almost tempted to just cut the diode off (leave terminal ends soldered on) and solder new one on (instead of trying to remove the whole diode as risk damaging these coil wires.

You just cut off the old diode, don't try to unsolder it. Hold the new one in place with a dot of hot glue so that the leads are parallel to the old leads. Solder the new lead to the old lead on each side. Drink a beer! Done.

Yes ok that's what I thought, thanks again.

I'll take a look at the relay for the GI issue as you suggested and report back.

cheers.

IF there is a low voltage value/issue on the CPU board - what is the cause and fix?

90% bad power supply, 5% cracked header pins/bad connector 1J-17, 5% bad chip on the CPU drawing too much power.

Ok thank you.
P.S. when you say bad chip on CPU, any chip or a certain one is likely the usual cause?

Any chip that uses 5 volts.

Actually, this is a feature of the original Pin Bot code. In attract mode, the two eye flashers inside the visor are activated during the game-rules display. One of the eyes (the right one, I think) is on a circuit that is only active when the flipper solenoid is energized. Therefore, the flippers are energized toward the end of the game-rules display. This feature is disabled when you run the game jumpered for Germany, in which case only one of the eyes flashes during the rules display.

Has anyone ever ordered the mirrored backglass for Pin Bot from CPR? My translite is not perfect so considering the mirror or a new translite from eBay.

I was going to but we have had so so many issues here with the cpr glasses peeling it turned me off. Ended up doing my own, but non mirror, on plexiglass. Few custom tweaks too.

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Looks great!

KJS , are you in the print biz?
Always looking to find out who’s around and doing what kind of work…

I'm in the "waste money on all my crazy ideas to have something special" biz !
Custom cab incoming next week I'll post up pics when assembled.
I don't mind making my stuff for others but it's not a full time job or anything, always a hobby.

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Pretty cool!

Who made the cabinet? VirtualPin?

I just noticed that the black/yellow and gray/yellow wires circled in my photo are clipped. This is a very original and otherwise unmolested game, so I'm wondering if it was like this from the factory. Would any other owners mind checking their games and seeing if they have the clipped wires, or if they're not clipped, where they lead to? Thanks!

wires (resized).jpg

To optos that never happened.

Excellent! I love things that I don't have to fix.

I've been a fan of Pinbot ever since I was a kid...thanks to the ultra weird port to the NES. In weird ways, I'm getting the arcade Pinbot as a house warming gift for my new house but it's in rough condition as it hasn't been repaired by the previous owner. So, I'm going to be on a repair journey of replacing rubber rings, balls, replacing a missing post near the visor, and making sure that the ramp lifter can lower the ramp. But, for now, my focus is going to be making it playable (but that includes the battery and Bridge rectifier mods) more than making it pretty. Granted, the previous owner never got the key for the coin door (hopefully JUST the coin door and the backbox key isn't missing too), so that will be my first step in the journey. I do have some 'general' know how from being a floor op in an arcade during the "Token and physical ticket" era of arcades, but my biggest lack of expertise that would help is in soldering in general.

My biggest question mark is what post is used to the left of the visor as the manual online doesn't show what it uses and I've seen 2 different posts there in the pictures of Pinbot I've seen online: A post with a yellow rubber sleeve and a post similar to the center post between the flippers. Would like to figure it out before I put in my first parts order online, but I also have to move into the new house first before I can work on the machine.

The first picture is a detail photo of the missing post, ball guide damage, and open visor (and I just saw that something broke in the hole) while the second picture shows an overview of the problems that technically don't fall in the "Rubber Ring replacement" field (except that the visor staying open is because a broken rubber ring is obstructing it)

Blue - Visor and post (resized).jpg

Blue - Visor, Ramp and post overview (resized).jpg

I had a cool shot today - ball hit the remaining drop target to get another planet then on to lock itself in the visor - one of the joys of pinball, those random unexpected shots.

Congratulations, Pinbot is an excellent, highly rated game and for a reason. You won't regret fixing it up!

- Ok, that post to the left of the visor.
If I squint enough at a magnified picture of the Pinbot flyer, it shows a small metal post with an equally small white rubber (see pic 1). It sits there to protect the ball guide. My restored Pinbot shows the same and there is a similar one right behind it (see pic 2 and 3).

- As for the whole area and fit of the various parts under the visor, this can be a frustratingly subtle problem area. To get my Pinbot (even though fully restored) visor lid, plastics, posts, rubbers etc. to function and play smoothly (lid fully down and flush, balls where they are supposed to lock etc.), I spent many hours getting it just right. The problem is that every game is slightly different (where holes were drilled etc.).

- If your game is like mine, save yourself numerous hours of fastening - unfastening and 'perhaps' try a visor set up like mine (pic 3). I canned the factory set up of posts and placed different posts that work for my game, partly because of the playfield protector and clear protective washers I installed required tweaking of the set up. I went with blue left side and red right side theme throughout the game. No it's not factory but everything on my game plays smooth as silk now!

Let's not even talk about the two visor motor switches under the hood...just yet!)

Hope this helps.

1 - Pinbot flyer (resized).jpg

2 - Small post (resized).JPG

3 - Visor area (resized).JPG

Hey Many Quarters, why is there a bride of Pinbot head/acrylic piece it seems above the visor?

Can anyone post a few pics/angles of the switches under the back ramp, particularly the first one (enter ramp switch) ..want to compare mine (and diode wiring etc) to another one. Thanks.

Just for fun, that's a BOP keychain fixed on top of the visor!
I thought the factory visor needed coloration improvement, so I painted it with darker colors.

Thanks for the pics.

Well getting the ball stuck in the visor as it's closing is a first for me.

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Those little visor LEDS are pretty cool. Can you go into what ya did there and acouple more pictures?

I'll try to get some pics and a video this weekend. It's an 8 segment rgb led strip that uses an Arduino to control the lighting sequence. Normally it's just the pinbot colors as seen in the photo but occasionally in attract mode the lights will periodically flicker and when the ramp is completed it does a knight rider 'scanning' animation.

Very cool...don't u have it replicate the bb voice lights as well?

I dig it. Little custom touches like that are awesome.

I forgot to take a pic before I put everything back together but used a 3” wire guide and bent it a bit, works good, not 100% but a lot better than it was as far as hitting the vortex. I think I would use a 3.5” but all in all it’s much better. Still some tweaking to do but getting closer that that almost perfect plunge.

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Looks great! I want to do this too, but I'm afraid, haha.
I agree the specified part I bought from Marco is too long. That's the biggest reason I'm hesitant.