Fremont, WI
Sorry, you are correct - Jackbot, not Bride... shouldn’t post before the morning coffee.
(Topic ID: 70838)
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Pinbot
Williams, 1986
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Quoted from cshelden:Is this a DPO hack aka I only have wood screws so I’ll use them instead of machine? Or is it what Williams used with metal standoff posts in Pin*Bot? May have to stick with it.[quoted image]
HACK 
Cleaning up and trying to make a Pin Bit right. There are posts her they don’t belong. That part I know. What I don’t know is what does the proper post look like? The one with a ? Is it supposed to be there?
Plan is to fill that crater. Drill and back w T nut and washers.
Can anyone post up what posts are needed. No pun intended.
788F10C4-6AD8-4697-98EF-11BDB8F942A3 (resized).jpegQuoted from cshelden:Cleaning up and trying to make a Pin Bit right. There are posts her they don’t belong. That part I know. What I don’t know is what does the proper post look like? The one with a ? Is it supposed to be there?
Plan is to fill that crater. Drill and back w T nut and washers.
Can anyone post up what posts are needed. No pun intended.[quoted image]
At the top of this page is "topic image gallery" It shows all the pics in this thread. Here's a link from post 91 by BadBrad97 https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/pinbot-fans-and-owners-club/page/2#post-1530688 and the pic is below
1 (resized).JPG 1 week later
They look to be the stock ones to me. Very toasty EOS switches there. Definitely time for a rebuild.
Quoted from Muskie82:Starting to gather parts for my restore. Does anyone know if these are the correct flipper assemblies? They currently work but I'm assuming someone changed then at some point.[quoted image]
Looks like the Plunger and Crank were changed at least on the left at one point before. But clearly new switches are in order. At minimum it needs to be cleaned up with new sleeves and coil stops.
///Rich
I spent the last few days rebuilding my Target Bank. I have known for a long time that the target guide frame was broken causing the bank to lower and rise unevenly. I assembled the parts I thought I would need. The guide frame, target carrier, new motor, two micro switches, target pads and the retainer and guides. The guide frame is impossible to source either original or from the original mold so I got one 3D printed from Shapeways.
It all came apart nicely and cleaned up easily. I changed the motor just because I had a new one and both microswitches even though one was perfect and the other was "modified". Clearly this was taken apart from someone before me as the angle retainer brackets had holes drilled into them with screws into the playfield. Frankly I doing understand why these are angle brackets are there at all in that they don't move and neither side of mine even touched the bottom of the playfield.
Putting it back together the first thing I noticed was that although the carrier worked smoothly, impressive fit into the frame, the top of the targets was not centered in the playfield slot. There was no way to adjust it to the center as the guide frame bottomed out in the slot. I did not measure the new guide against the old on to see if the lip was thicker and if I can ever find a NOS guide I'll swap it out and see. And since the balls are not getting stuck in the slot, it seems more cosmetic now.
The next thing I noticed was that the adjusting screws to be sure the carried doesn't drop below the playfield did not hit the carrier on one side. Strange as I would have thought it was square. The fix for this is documented in another thread but I took that bracket and moved it to the bottom of the motor bracket with two small washers and that worked nicely and made it hit the carrier solidly after I adjusted the cam for clearance.
I spent a bunch of time getting it all right except the carrier is still not centered in the slot but it all works smooth and nice. I still am not sure I have the right retainer brackets as I can't figure out why they are heavy L brackets, but that is what shows in a lot of images on the board and it works.
Thanks everyone for giving me the courage to do these things. Next rebuild for me will be the Pops and then the Slingshots. But for now I think I'll go collect the Solar Value.
///Rich
Weighing heavy on this. Might be able to secure a Working pinbot for $1300. If I do it I have to drive 10 hours and it would mean missing out on a working Diner for the same price or less only 1 hour from me. What do you pinbot owners think. 10 hours for a pinbot or 1 for a Diner. Price similar on both machines and both will need cleaned up and LEDs.
Quoted from Jmckune:Weighing heavy on this. Might be able to secure a Working pinbot for $1300. If I do it I have to drive 10 hours and it would mean missing out on a working Diner for the same price or less only 1 hour from me. What do you pinbot owners think. 10 hours for a pinbot or 1 for a Diner. Price similar on both machines and both will need cleaned up and LEDs.
Diner holds more value than pinbot, so getting it at the same price means you should just get the diner. Those are really cheap prices though...you should really get both.
I know it’s really cheap prices so it’s irking me I can’t get both. I’m only 23 and just bought/remodeled a house so pinball money is a bit tight at the moment so I have to pick 1.
I would drive an hour or two for a killer deal on a Diner.
I’d drive 10 hours for a killer deal on a Pinbot.
Quoted from Jmckune:Weighing heavy on this. Might be able to secure a Working pinbot for $1300. If I do it I have to drive 10 hours and it would mean missing out on a working Diner for the same price or less only 1 hour from me. What do you pinbot owners think. 10 hours for a pinbot or 1 for a Diner. Price similar on both machines and both will need cleaned up and LEDs.
Both are good deals, but for me it's always about which game you prefer and condition.
Quoted from RichWolfson:I spent the last few days rebuilding my Target Bank. I have known for a long time that the target guide frame was broken causing the bank to lower and rise unevenly. I assembled the parts I thought I would need. The guide frame, target carrier, new motor, two micro switches, target pads and the retainer and guides. The guide frame is impossible to source either original or from the original mold so I got one 3D printed from Shapeways.
.
///Rich
Is this what you are needing?
Pinball Inc has them, he has the original molds. Just got one yesterday. There is some indication that spiral ramps are soon.
66006A25-3E62-4F65-ACEE-18E705FE0D6B (resized).jpegQuoted from cshelden:richwolfson
Is this what you are needing? Pinball Inc has them, ...
Nope. Hopefully they'll be back in stock soon.
///Rich
Image (resized).pngI'd reach out to them, I just ordered last week, maybe just not updated the site.
RichWolfson
Quoted from cshelden:So Outside Edge says Pin Bot hardtop should be available in 3-5 weeks. Who's pulling the trigger.
I’d be very tempted.
Brisbane City
Quoted from charliex:Alan,
I have 3 brand new toppers left. I made 50 and sold them to pinside members this year. PM me if you need one.
Joe
[quoted image]
Hi Joe,
Do you have any of these Pinbot Toppers left available for sale or would you consider doing another run?
cheers
Trevor
Quoted from cshelden:So Outside Edge says Pin Bot hardtop should be available in 3-5 weeks. Who's pulling the trigger.
Looking for opinions. Is this playfield too clean for a hardtop? Only a couple of bare wood trouble spots. Would it be better to buy a ruined playfield and sell this one to someone who would like to restore it?
01702618-3E2F-47B6-B66C-A4CBB09CB202.jpegQuoted from spblat:Looking for opinions. Is this playfield too clean for a hardtop? Only a couple of bare wood trouble spots. Would it be better to buy a ruined playfield and sell this one to someone who would like to restore it?[quoted image]
It looks like that could be touched up easily and would clean up.
Quoted from spblat:Would it be better to buy a ruined playfield and sell this one to someone who would like to restore it?
Yes. Once the playfield's originality is destroyed, it's gone forever. Don't kill the patient just so you can say you revived it.
Quoted from spblat:Is this playfield too clean for a hardtop?
Yes. I have installed two Hardtops and would not do one on your game. That's still pretty nice.
Quoted from spblat:Is this playfield too clean for a hardtop?
Quick touch up and maybe put a playfield protector on it.
picked up a very nice machine today. cosmetically great, undiagnosed electrical issue (U45 blown off the board) HUO. *except* claimed to be the actual machine used in the movie "BIG". seller knew someone at the studio at the time the film was made and negotiated for it 30+ years ago. no idea if it's true but it's a great story. looking forward to playing this one!
pinbot big (resized).jpgI never noticed before that the backbox corner was chipped on the "Big" machine. Does yours have the same chipped corner?
Quoted from jibmums:I never noticed before that the backbox corner was chipped on the "Big" machine. Does yours have the same chipped corner?
There's hardly a Pinbot that doesn't have chipped corners on the head. Damn wide box, and a pain to get through narrow doorways...not as easily removable as earlier designs. However, neat (potential) history on that particular unit, though the chip appears much longer in the movie clip.
Richard
Quoted from emubird:ha! good eye![quoted image]
Your chip looks a little different, the movie one looks almost twice as tall. Compare each to the thickness of the plywood at the top of the backbox, yours looks about the same 3/4", while the movie machine's looks to be about 1 1/4" - 1 3/8" tall.
Quoted from jibmums:Your chip looks a little different, the movie one looks almost twice as tall. Compare each to the thickness of the plywood at the top of the backbox, yours looks about the same 3/4", while the movie machine's looks to be about 1 1/4" - 1 3/8" tall.
agreed, i will have it unloaded today and take a closer look. 
new to williams system 11A... anyone have tips on whether there is anything beyond the drive transistors that i should be looking for that might cause u45 to rapidly disassemble?
my conclusion: this one looks like just another pinbot with a chipped corner.
now to get those pop-bumpers and slingshots working...
I've started documenting my Pin Bot refresh, not up to calling it a restoration so much as just a deep shop job and correcting things as I go the best I can. If anyone is interested it's here:
Quoted from emubird:i should be looking for that might cause u45 to rapidly disassemble?
Miss adjusted pop/sling activation switch. Shorted zener diode on a activation switch circuit.
1 week later
Quoted from spblat:Looking for opinions. Is this playfield too clean for a hardtop? Only a couple of bare wood trouble spots. Would it be better to buy a ruined playfield and sell this one to someone who would like to restore it?[quoted image]
I am currently restoring a PinBot playfield which is rougher than that. Keep it cleaned and waxed and enjoy. If you wanna restore it someday it will be easy; the mylar is protecting the artwork for now.
Quoted from dmieczko:Finally joining this club![quoted image]
Get it set up so we can get some pics!
Quoted from Daditude:Get it set up so we can get some pics!
It's a bit of a project - it's all torn down and cleaned. Will start putting it all back together soon!
Finally finished the top side refresh. It took about a month. Between parts orders, life etc. In the end, I put the pf on the rotisserie. So much easier! Full topside strip down. Every piece was cleaned and polished. All SS was wheel polished to mirror finish. Screw
Heads polished.
Used the Treasure Cove products to clean up the factory Mylar. Installed new flipper assemblies. Modified them to use the WPC style return springs. Installed a full set of Cliffy’s including ball guides. Mine were smashed bad. The game had partially led. I finished it. Took it back to nearly all white. Followed the guide on Pinside mostly. We still need to install the back box lightboxes for the face and color bar.
Overall it came out better than I had hoped.
If interested I have a thread under restorations. Called Pin Bot refresh.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/pinbot-refresh-
Thanks for all the help everyone.
First up is a after and before pic.
0ED9FA97-68E6-4284-9361-99940E16C223 (resized).jpeg
552A23A5-634A-4ECC-A701-88000110D244 (resized).jpeg100C10F3-B001-485A-AF80-665A93DC0DBE (resized).jpegAB27E87F-D220-4286-B890-B940AB0B8174 (resized).jpeg084410A4-547B-4FAA-9074-A7CC2BF5B09C (resized).jpegDB14D835-E214-4B7E-BDAA-BD24DC7235D1 (resized).jpeg
Quoted from PM_Jeremy:Great job
Thanks! New flippers are the bomb!
Quoted from Plumonium:Found some!
Where did you find some?
Quoted from Croppie1Kenobi:Where did you find some?
Here are some:
Having an issue with my PinBot 
. In test, everything works. I can go around the horn and fire every coil, and trigger every switch. In play, it won’t fire the trough eject to even start the game. During the game, most of the other coils seem fine except for the ones in the eye holes.
When I take a reading on the 34v line I am getting 28.6 which seems wrong, but I don’t know what would be stepping that down.
I would appreciate any tips.
Quoted from Aniraf:In play, it won’t fire the trough eject to even start the game.
Does the game try to eject the ball and fail, or does the coil not fire at all?
Are you starting a game by ejecting the ball by hand?
Quoted from RCA1:Does the game try to eject the ball and fail, or does the coil not fire at all?
Are you starting a game by ejecting the ball by hand?
Doesn’t fire at all unless it is in the coil test mode.
Quoted from Aniraf:Doesn’t fire at all unless it is in the coil test mode.
Have you checked to be sure that both ball trough switches are working correctly? If the game doesn't see two balls in the trough, it will not try to kick one out to start a game.
Quoted from RCA1:Have you checked to be sure that both ball trough switches are working correctly? If the game doesn't see two balls in the trough, it will not try to kick one out to start a game.
All of the switches are registering in switch test.
Quoted from Aniraf:All of the switches are registering in switch test.
When the game is turned on does the visor do its test?
For sale in the
market placeare two reproduction Pinbot Plastic#9s from
Pinball.Center.
image_64582_1_600x600 (resized).jpg
I have ordered a few of these during our various
group buys; so I figured I'd order a couple of extras for North America customers. These are the only two I have in stock for immediate shipment. $35USD plus shipping
Quoted from GRUMPY:When the game is turned on does the visor do its test?
Interesting. It makes the sound but does not seem to run the motor.
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