Pinbot
Williams, 1986Quoted from someotherguy:Go ahead and set it for 3 balls like a typical location game would have been. You'll really have to step up your game.
Richard
Family vote, and we've decided it is time to go 3 ball on all our machines... as that will mean the visits to the local arcade parlour will be in sync with what we play at home. Interesting how it immediately makes you value each ball staying in play just that little bit more. Those Pinbot drains are still looking a mile wide.
Quoted from mrWol64:Family vote, and we've decided it is time to go 3 ball on all our machines... as that will mean the visits to the local arcade parlour will be in sync with what we play at home. Interesting how it immediately makes you value each ball staying in play just that little bit more. Those Pinbot drains are still looking a mile wide.
Each ball is about 13.33333333333333333% more valuable! 
Quoted from chaskett:I manufactured a new ADV. "X" sticker using my wife's vinyl cutter!
How much?
It was just a one-off, but I suppose I could make some more if there is interest ...but first i need to get my Pinbot put back together!
Is the leg spacing on this game more narrow than others (#gorgar, #tom, #cv for comparison)? I can’t tell if the cabinet I have is the cause of the legs being so narrow, or this is by design.
Quoted from Aniraf:Is the leg spacing on this game more narrow than others (Gorgar, #tom, #cv for comparison)? I can’t tell if the cabinet I have is the cause of the legs being so narrow, or this is by design.
I've noticed this too on my Pinbot and Earthshaker. I think it's those Sys11 legs with the short rib, for some reason the bend angle is not as great as earlier no-rib legs.
Is it possible to reproduce a few plastics for pinbot? I’ve seen people make their own plastics by printing decals. Do they usually just apply those to a “plastic protector” set? Or do you have to cut your own plastics?
Quoted from jibmums:I've noticed this too on my Pinbot and Earthshaker. I think it's those Sys11 legs with the short rib, for some reason the bend angle is not as great as earlier no-rib legs.
Cool, that is good to know! Thanks.
Quoted from Leeb18509:You can do it. Plenty of freeze, and plastic razor blades. Freeze, wait and work the plastic razor blade underneath the mylar. When you freeze it enough it almost pops off on its own. Be patient and let it work for a bit, and never PULL. Sometimes it's hard to get a piece started but if you just work around until you find the weak edge that helps. I got all the mylar off my Pinbot with no paint loss.
I found a spray called Orange 909 turns the glue into jelly and works great. amazon.com link »
Do you working link for the Orange 909? Is it the same as this? Sprayway SW909 Industrial Heavy Duty Orange Power Plus Degreaser, 15 oz https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014I369BI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_n9EIAbVJZHRT6
Quoted from Impzilla:My only advice is to use a cold spray not canned air.
Why use this over the upside down canned air? Is it just colder?
Quoted from Aniraf:Do you working link for the Orange 909? Is it the same as this? Sprayway SW909 Industrial Heavy Duty Orange Power Plus Degreaser, 15 oz amazon.com link »
That's the same stuff. They just changed the look of the can.
Quoted from Aniraf:Why use this over the upside down canned air? Is it just colder?
Significantly colder and easier to use.
The upside down can of air would not get the Mylar to release from the playfield, the freeze can had it popping off easy.
I purchased the small can first and that was just not enough, get the big can.
Quoted from Impzilla:Significantly colder and easier to use.
The upside down can of air would not get the Mylar to release from the playfield, the freeze can had it popping off easy.
I purchased the small can first and that was just not enough, get the big can.
Cool, thanks for the advice.
I'm setting up my Pinbot after several years in storage, finally have the room for it in a new house with a basement. I noticed over the weekend that my MPU is running REV 2 roms, and I think the newest version Williams had installed was REV 5, right? I haven't played a game yet, still some work to do on the playfield first, but so far I notice a couple of things:
1. When it displays the rules in attract mode, the word DURING is substituted for SCORE twice. The text should state RAISE RAMP TO LITE SCORE ENERGY and instead says RAISE RAMP TO LITE DURING ENERGY. Also instead of the correct GO UP RAMP TO COLLECT SOLAR SCORE OF XXX,XXX (whatever the score is at the time), it says GO UP RAMP TO COLLECT SOLAR DURING OF XXX,XXX. Very strange.
2. When adding a credit, only the rearmost two flashers on the playfield and the center four in the topper light up. In the Visual Pinball version, which I use as a comparison and uses the REV 5 roms, all flashers on the playfield light but the topper is not shown so I don't know what happens up there. I don't know if they're all supposed to light but possibly I have a faulty resistor, would someone with REV 2 roms be able to confirm this.
Can anyone tell me or is there a database somewhere that shows what changes were made to later versions? I don't mind the text errors but if I'm going to be missing out on improved gameplay or a fun lightshow, I'll switch to REV 5.
Quoted from Sinistarrett:When Freeplay40 makes the new lift ramps those stickers could be a hot commodity!
I'm in the process of getting a Pinbot and it has a broken lift on the left ramp.... where can I sign up for these new ones? Thank you.
Quoted from dontfeed:Finally getting around to installing my new plastics. What is the best way to get the visor off so I can replace the hand painted p.o.s. face that's under it? Just remove the cotter pins and washers?
Yep, remove cotter pins and washers on both sides. Then unscrew the two hex screws holding down the metal plate on the playfield. Niw you should be able to lift off the mask and connected base plate.
Here's more explanation (and an excellent blog on a pinbot rehab):
http://www.enteryourinitials.com/2014/10/17/pinbot-restoration-visor/#more-1320
Quoted from chaskett:Yep, remove cotter pins and washers on both sides. Then unscrew the two hex screws holding down the metal plate on the playfield. Niw you should be able to lift off the mask and connected base plate.
Here's more explanation (and an excellent blog on a pinbot rehab):
http://www.enteryourinitials.com/2014/10/17/pinbot-restoration-visor/#more-1320
Sweet. Thanks.
Quoted from Aniraf:Is it possible to reproduce a few plastics for pinbot? I’ve seen people make their own plastics by printing decals. Do they usually just apply those to a “plastic protector” set? Or do you have to cut your own plastics?
For that matter, does anyone just have new plastics?
In what order are the left clear ramp, blue ramp, and left rear corner plastic under the blue ramp removed? I can't remove the blue ramp without first taking off the clear ramp because of the metal flap, can't get to one of the clear ramp's bracket screws without removing the corner plastic, and can't remove the corner plastic with the blue ramp still over it. Fiendish.
Edit: Aha, now I see, you just have to finagle the blue ramp around the metal flaps a bit.
Quoted from jibmums:In what order are the left clear ramp, blue ramp, and left rear corner plastic under the blue ramp removed? I can't remove the blue ramp without first taking off the clear ramp because of the metal flap, can't get to one of the clear ramp's bracket screws without removing the corner plastic, and can't remove the corner plastic with the blue ramp still over it. Fiendish.
Edit: Aha, now I see, you just have to finagle the blue ramp around the metal flaps a bit.
Yes. Just be careful that you don't finagle a wire off of one of the ramp switches...like I did.
I was super careful, first thing I did was disconnect the wires under the playfield. There really is a ton of stuff packed back in there.
Got her put back together, all nice and clean! Still have to finish putting LEDs under the playfield. When I got this at the begining of January, your finger would be black after swiping the playfield and only the player 3, credit, and ball displays were working. The lower half of the backbox GI didn't work and one pop bumper switch wasn't registering.
Quoted from Leeb18509:You can do it. Plenty of freeze, and plastic razor blades. Freeze, wait and work the plastic razor blade underneath the mylar. When you freeze it enough it almost pops off on its own. Be patient and let it work for a bit, and never PULL. Sometimes it's hard to get a piece started but if you just work around until you find the weak edge that helps. I got all the mylar off my Pinbot with no paint loss.
I found a spray called Orange 909 turns the glue into jelly and works great. amazon.com link »
Link is broken. Please help me locate this product? Is it called C-909 degreaser like this link??? Any other recommended sources for this product???
https://www.amazon.com/Claire-C-909-Industrial-Orange-Aerosol/dp/B005R4JTWO/ref=sr_1_3
Quoted from mrWol64:Well this happened tonight... never had the ball stuck here!! Our house rule on stuck ball is recover and drop it back down for a replunge. Anyone got alternatives to that? Lose your ball seems harsh.
You can put it on the flipper instead of awarding a skillshot attempt.... That's what we do at our league...
Quoted from wizard_mode:Link is broken. Please help me locate this product? Is it called C-909 degreaser like this link??? Any other recommended sources for this product???
amazon.com link »
https://www.amazon.com/Sprayway-SW909-Industrial-Orange-Degreaser/dp/B014I369BI/ref=sr_1_1
Quoted from Leeb18509:amazon.com link »
AWESOME THANK YOU. Advising a friend who is in a bit of a "nutty" situation on an Austin Powers!!!
Quoted from wizard_mode:You can put it on the flipper instead of awarding a skillshot attempt.... That's what we do at our league...
I’d probably do that, except when playing on your own it would a bit like a game of twister with the glass 
hence the plunge..
Quoted from Strummy:Did I read correctly that the blue shooter spring is
reccomended for pinbot? I put one in and the ball barley makes it to 5k.
Yes blue spring is correct, did you replace the sleeve? With a stronger spring you risk breaking the vortex.
Nothing beats replacing an old part with a new part and it all works. My left ramp "Adv X" ramp had a bad split in the top ramp flap, the plastic was very cloudy, and the rivets on the raise mech had lots of cracks. I was getting a lot of air balls due to the split poking up. Replaced the part, applied my own Adv X decal, and all is now well. The ramp raises and lowers nicely, and the balls shoots around the ramp with ease. The plastic is so clear,.. I never knew what I was missing.
Pic is of the new ramp, and then with lights on,.. last one is the old ramp, with a piece of paper to highlight the flap split.
rampold (resized).jpg
ramp2 (resized).jpg
ramp1 (resized).jpg
Quoted from henrydwh:Yes blue spring is correct, did you replace the sleeve? With a stronger spring you risk breaking the vortex.
Thanks. I did not replace the sleeve. I'll do that.Should that give the spring a bit more power? The Vortex is already broken but I have a new one for when I swap the playfield. I don't want to bust that one.
Quoted from dontfeed:Just finished repopulating the mini playfield. What a pain in the ass!
I was concerned about this as well. I haven’t gotten to cleaning mine yet :/.
Quoted from mrWol64:Nothing beats replacing an old part with a new part and it all works. My left ramp "Adv X" ramp had a bad split in the top ramp flap, the plastic was very cloudy, and the rivets on the raise mech had lots of cracks. I was getting a lot of air balls due to the split poking up. Replaced the part, applied my own Adv X decal, and all is now well. The ramp raises and lowers nicely, and the balls shoots around the ramp with ease. The plastic is so clear,.. I never knew what I was missing.
Pic is of the new ramp, and then with lights on,.. last one is the old ramp, with a piece of paper to highlight the flap split.
That looks amazing!! Where did you get the parts for that? I’d like to replace that ramp too!
Question for anyone who has restored a machine, @vid1900s guide suggests clear coating the playfield before repairing, which makes a lot of sense, but also seems like a bit of a pain if I take it to a professional paint booth. Is there any type of low budget clear I could do at home, then restore paint and decals, then take it to a professional for a perfect final clear?
Quoted from Aniraf:I was concerned about this as well. I haven’t gotten to cleaning mine yet :/.
I just wiped it down with some Windex. It's nicked here and there, but pretty solid overall. Attaching the new posts wasn't fun. Tried not to be aggressive with them. I used a tiny, tiny dab of Vaseline to get the rubbers to slide on, which worked out nicely.
Quoted from Aniraf:Question for anyone who has restored a machine, @vid1900s guide suggests clear coating the playfield before repairing, which makes a lot of sense, but also seems like a bit of a pain if I take it to a professional paint booth. Is there any type of low budget clear I could do at home, then restore paint and decals, then take it to a professional for a perfect final clear?
There's bunch of threads on that topic laying around. Search for "Spraymax" or "clearcoat" and you should find some good info.
Quoted from dontfeed:Just finished repopulating the mini playfield. What a pain in the ass!
Ha, if you think that's a pain try making one. 
Quoted from MustangPaul:Ha, if you think that's a pain try making one.
I'll take a pass on that challenge.
Quoted from dontfeed:I'll take a pass on that challenge.
Actually it's not that hard, took me about 3 hours and was really fun to make.
Quoted from MustangPaul:Actually it's not that hard, took me about 3 hours and was really fun to make.
I can see the fun in it, but cutting lexan isn't a skill I've learned.
Quoted from dontfeed:There's bunch of threads on that topic laying around. Search for "Spraymax" or "clearcoat" and you should find some good info.
Ok, I’ll research a little more…but you recommend clearing before detail work?
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Pontiac, MI
Prague