Do the drive - you will be glad you did.

Nice looking machine. I think it was well worth the long trip. All parts, with maybe the exception of the red ramp, are obtainable. (If you find a source for a red ramp with the decals, let me know. Mine is broken at the same spot.)

Tomass - Thanks. Once I get over sticker shock, I'll probably get it. I always figured these were not available.

PapaRyan -

Did you replace the sleeve inside of the coil and clean the plunger? A good cleaning will usually take care of the problem.

Papa -
There's lots of good advice and help on this site. I suggest you read the Pinwiki manuals on system 11, and the general cleaning guides. If you have never tinkered with a pinball machine before, you can make things worse by doing something you shouldn't. (That's why there's lots of advice and guidance here - we learned from our mistakes and wanted to share them.)

Get some cheap parts - coil sleeves, 91% or higher alcohol, Q tips, Novus, rags (I use old t shirts - less lint, cheap, watch out for seams and iron on decals), a good light, decent screwdrivers and other tools, etc. There are lots of suppliers out there - we all have our favorites,review the site for opinions.

There's also a lot of parts information on line - Marco and others post the parts book pages so you can have a better idea of what you need.

Report back - we're always curious about how the repairs/fixes are going.

I just discovered that Pinbot has tones for coining up - I've always had it set for free play, so I never heard them. Granddaughter put a quarter in, and it made noise, so we kept pumping quarters in just hear the sounds. Cool!

Look inside of the cabinet and see if nuts were added.

Rygar

Don't know if you found an answer yet, so here you go.

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Just need some clarification - My Pinbot looks like it has had all of the goody extracted from it - mylar worn thru, bare spots on the playfield arch area, and lots of repairs that made it work so the quarters would keep flowing. I am starting to rebuild it, and I have a question about the pop bumpers - from what I see, they were originally using #44 bulbs, and body # 03-7443-5. However, currently, the pops have #555 bulb holders in them. Can the 555 bulbs and holders be used in the original body? If not, what body do I need? I have to replace all three, since they are all broken. Thanks

This question has been asked before, and I don't believe Chris got an answer. Does anyone have a ring chart/map for the game?

Rings for Pinbot:

Never got an answer on a map and the sizes of the rings, so here's what was on my machine. Note your mileage may vary, and that the sizes and numbers do not match the Wms. parts catalog. If I change rings again, I'll draw a map.

4 - Yellow Post Covers
2 - Flipper rubbers
5 - 5/16" rings
2 - 3" rings
1 - 3 1/2" ring
1 - 5" ring
1 - 1 1/4" ring
2 - 2 1/2" rings
1 - 2" ring
1 - 1 1/2" ring
2 - 1 1/4" rings
35 - 27/64" rings (30 on upper playfield, 5 on main playfield)
1 - Tapered bumper, Wms Part # 23-6579

If you spray the ground wire in the backbox, make sure any place where you can make/break an electrical connection is not painted. An example is where the ground braid is connected together by the wingnut in the center front of the backbox.

I’ve been bugging Planetary Pinball about this. Thru several communications, it sounds like they have all the parts, but for some reason, they don’t feel the urge to sell them. The last communication said they were like a fine wine. Problem is, I am a Boone’s Farm wine person, so I am getting impatient, too.

I will say you’re not the only one seeking this. Work around is to find a black ramp on EBay, and sniff around for a decal set. I think someone in Germany prints them. I would not be surprised if he starts making the ramps, too.

Read the post too quickly. I thought OP was referring to the ramp. My bad.

Sweet. Please PM me for the ramp source

Likely not a fuse. Go into switch test and activate each of those switches individually. Use a ball if possible to simulate real play conditions. Report back - what we're looking for is whether any other switches activate when a switch is closed, and whether the machine sees the switch in question closing.

Ok. Time to check the switch itself. With machine off, put your meter on ohms, and connect to the switch. Close the switch and see if the meter reads close to zero ohms. If yes, then the switch is working and you may have a wire issue.

If it does not read zero, take a crisp $20 bill and put between the contacts, push the contacts together and pull the bill through. Check again to see if the switch closure now reads zero ohms. If zero ohms, go back into switch test as mentioned above.

If it’s a wire issue, consult your manual, and put your meter from the connector pin in the head to one side of the switch. Do the same for the other side of the switch.

If both wires read good, go from a point on the circuit board to each side of the switch to see if the connector has a bad pin.

Report back

I'm trying to rivet a new steel ramp to the vortex and need to know what type of rivets to use. Pop rivets look really bad. What have other people done to attach the steel ramp? If you used rivets, what type were they, and where did you source them? Any special tools needed? What other methods have been used to attach the steel ramp? Pics?

Thanks

Bill C

Thanks - I didn't know this place existed. What length of rivet did you use, and did you use a backing washer on the bottom of the ramp?

Did you verify the switches that register the balls are actually closed when the ball is sitting on them?

Check your resistor for the flasher - it may have broken off of the circuit board.

Aniraf -

You're reading them in circuit, which often times will read differently than the component itself out of circuit. If I run into stuff like this and there are several circuits of the same configuration, I will compare my readings to the other circuits of the same type. There are times when the only way to truly test a component is to pull it out of the circuit. For me, if I end up doing that, I just replace it if I have one available. If it's an IC, I install a socket first.

Going by memory - the lift ramp is a real pain to get to. Take a close look at it, compare it to the parts catalog. There's a piece that may have fallen out - I ended up making a piece to get it to work.

If this just started, look in the wire loom or bottom of the cabinet for a broken piece of metal. Mine was missing from the day I got the machine. I'll search later today for pics of my repair.

OK - I'm working on a bad onion - every time I fix something, I find something else broken.

This time, the machine does not sense the ball draining until it does a ball search - once it kicks the ball over toward the right, then it scores the bonus, etc. I've checked the switch several times using the ball - The switch closes fine, and was checked with a meter. I'm not sure where to go next. I've checked the relays on the little circuit boards under the playfield, no cold/cracked solder joints, and the wires to the board are solid and look good.

Ideas? Thanks for looking.

(Up next will be the flashers - all the sand resistors are good, ohm out fine, and are solidly connected to the circuit boards.)

I checked the diode, (one end lifted) and it checks good. However, the switch is not consistently reading open and closed when actuated by hand, so I think I have a bad switch. Does anyone have the part number? The actuating mechanism is internal to the switch, so I have to order it with the correct actuator. I can't find the part in my parts book, so does anyone have a part number I can use? Thanks

Weir - that’s the one.

DQ - I didn’t look in the manual with the machine(duh), but was looking in the blue parts catalog for Wms games.

I’m getting an order together for PBR. Hopefully, Steve has this in stock.

Thanks all - I appreciate the guidance.

I'm still waiting for a package from PBR - my drain switch (#16) was acting flakey - sometimes it would read near zero ohms when closed, other times it was nearly 400 ohms. I had tried to "flash" the contacts, it really didn't help.

I'll check the switches for the visor just in case a new switch doesn't work. The machine seems to be working fine in that area. I'll report the results when I finally get time to replace the switch.

Grumpy -

What I mean by flashing the contacts is to use a higher voltage than what the switch usually sees. For example, many of those switches are rated for 115VAC. If I put a 115VAC night light (7w) bulb in series with the NO contacts, then close the switch (lighting the bulb), then the 115 VAC will "burn thru" any dirt on the contacts. Of course, you have to remove the switch from the machine, or at least the wiring before doing this. If they are gold plated, then your just kicking the can down the road.

We would use something like this if the hydrogen seals on a generator were showing a path to the casing. In this situation, though, it was usually a metal filing that was on the gasket material causing the short. Using 115VAC and a light bulb, we burned the metal filing, clearing the short. Definitely not for the faint of heart. I'll also add that this was during overhauls, and there was no hydrogen in the generator. Doing this saved many manhours of work.

I learned the method and it was called flashing. There’s probably another name, but I don’t know what it is.

We called it flashing, because usually the light bulb just flashed very quickly.

If it didn’t flash, then you knew you had a really big problem.

Tmendo - Check the EOS and the fuses for correct values.

Ref post 5278

My trough switch was flakey, I put it on the bench and sometimes it would not make closed when it was supposed to, so replacing the switch was a good move.

However, I started noticing other intermittent problems - right visor target would not score, ramp would not register, etc. I noticed that all the issues were with Row 8.

What I found was a broken daisy chain that affected about half the the row’s switches. I never could exactly locate the break, other than somewhere in the wire bundle between the left ramp and the left pop. Instead of opening up the wire bundle (they are really crammed into a small space), I ran a jumper wire. I noted it for future techs (and my forgetful self!) with a note taped next to the power transformer.

This was an exasperating problem due to the intermittent nature. Anyhow, the problem can be called resolved, and I can once again enjoy the machine.

Thanks to all who chimed in with advice - that what makes this forum great.

Going by memory, the switches have plugs under the playfield. Unplug them and remove the ramps with the switches attached, and once clear, you will have better access

Did you try just screwing out the screws after you removed the nuts? Give them a little push out when starting to unscrew.

Yikes - all I can think of is they riveted the base to the ramp after installing the screws in the base, then built the switch stack.

Are the screws tack welded to the plate? Otherwise, I don’t see any way to tighten the nuts on the switch stack.

Since it was working before, I would try to reseat all the connectors with power off. Maybe you have cold joints that showed up when removing the board.

For the angle of the ball exiting the eyes - there are two pieces of metal protruding up. To make the ball go left, slightly bend the right piece toward center. To make to ball go right, slightly bend the left piece toward center. A little bit of adjustment goes a VERY long way, so do this in very small increments, almost unnoticeable to the eye. Test after each iteration.

Is the end of the shooter rod mushroomed? With the e clip off, it should just pull right out from the front.

Your rod is mushroomed it should be a continuous smooth rod. Take a file and knock off the edges and it should pull right out.

Take a look at any vendor page showing shooter rods for an example of what one looks like

It may help a bit, but likely not much. What it will do insure a smoother action.

After replacing everything, you may need to adjust the mechanism to hit the ball squarely. In your pic are some phillips head screws. Loosen them to adjust the rod, then tighten them down once you have the rod set. This will require lifting the playfield up and down. Don't forget to pull the rod back before lifting and before putting it back down.

Flipper bat exits off the top. You are correct. You may need to help spread the clap just a bit and a slight tap up with a hammer.

tronguy -

How does it shoot up the circular ramp? Can you make it all the way to the top without "helping" it?

I think there's a pinsider (Wirebot?) that sells wire and harnesses. At a minimum, he has the color wire that you would need to make new harnesses. Do a search for wire harness sellers.