The stock image is weird but I've used TONS of those and they work great. They come in a strip but wiggle off very clean and easy. I actually like the crimp end better than more expensive ones I've used (taller and more squared, makes it easier to crimp!)

They're cut from a strip that was intended to be fed into an automated crimper that punches the ends off. They are a PITA to strip yourself.

Not a PITA, these are easy to peel off by hand. Rock it back and forth twice and it pops right off.

I did accidentally order a strip of .156" connector terminals from Mouser one time and THOSE were a bunch of bastards to use but I was too cheap to just throw them away.

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Or you can clip them off quickly with a pair of small diagonal pliers.

Awesome, thanks for the pic.

cottonm4 do you want me to order you a crimper, and/or some crimps? LMK, I can bring you some stuff when I come for QS.

Ignore their picture, those are old style reel crimps. The ones I got from Tayda a year ago are also reel type but are attached on the crimp end. Along the lines of these:

Crimp_2-54mm.png

Unless you have carpel tunnel. Nothing is quick or painless then.

In case anyone wants to convert a cheap stern em to a QS or SG.

Stern Disco em
$100
Texas
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1353565382169268/?mibextid=6ojiHh

I'd be on that like white on rice, but not in Texas lol

If it was closer to me I wouldn’t have posted it.

I'm not paying $170

Lexan, unbreakable.. and I think they look pretty cool.

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Huh?

Thanks for the offer, but I am happy with my Sargent 1026CT crimpers. I am loaded up with .100 and .156 trifucons.

Sorry you are dealing with carpel. How do you function? Let alone how do you play pinball?

cant seem to find the post, but looking for a replacement GI Relay for a Ali. the one in the game now has the green goo all inside and it works like 60% of the time.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/price-check-1980-sterns-quicksilver-stargazer-seawitch/page/175#post-7580238

For the record I have not installed or tested one to confirm.

I'll try it out, thanks

ebay.com link: itm

Relay Omron LY2 LY2N-J 48V DC 48VDC 10A 240VAC 10A 28VDC With Socket Base

I just popped this in on Galaxy, worked perfect. If Galaxy is the same as Ali you will be all set.

Before.

Only way to get lane guides is to but a complete set for $170 or used and most of them are chipped up..

Not spending $170 on this beater.

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https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/13C-114-EB

Galaxy inlane guides.

Too late.

It's never too late!

That said, I think the clear lexan looks fine also.

repetitive motion to be avoided I can do something for about 10 minutes.

It doesn't affect pinball unless you lean all your weight on your wrists I haven't played like that for years.

Now, regular arthritis, that sucks too.

Being unemployed also is a factor, I'd rather spend the $44 on provisions and since I already own the Lexan and had some "rest time..."

I'm in the process of shingling the house, no fun at all.

The game still isn't 100%, I think the ram is funky.

Every once in awhile it will lock up when a credit is added or starting a game, it's the only time it will do it. Going though audits after, the last audit (18) will have a garbage entry. Sometimes it will be fine for days on end without a problem.

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Pass on the unemployed, pass on the shingling of a house. I did that with my grandpa exactly one time. Never, ever, ever again.

Do yourself a favor and just slap the new code in that Galaxy when you can. The stock code is boooooooooooooooooring anyway. The new code turns that game into a real winner. Not going to lie, one of my more regrettable swaps was Galaxy with the new code for Stars. I'm selling Stars as soon as I finish getting it cleaned up. Just not a fan (given money considerations, etc -- you know how it goes)...

The Arduino should take care of any wonky issues you have with the MPU. I'm running a pretty messed up Bally MPU from a Playboy in my Meteor (with the Arduino hijacking the signal) and it's just fine. Basically, any half-working junker MPUs I have get slotted in games with the new code because then I don't even have to bother fixing them. Win-win.

I may tinker with it in regards to new code, I'd like to get the MPU 100% though.

Like the layout of the game and it plays very fast so new code maybe in the future, I can highjack the nano from Flash Gordon.

Unemployed by choice to some degree.. though I'm looking for something part time now. It is prudent to use my time wisely while available and settling any house issues is a very good use of time. Roof will be done by weekend and I'm in the process of stripping down the kitchen so I can do new flooring. Not much left to do after that.

I thought Galaxy was so boring with the OG code. Deciding I needed a donor for my Quicksilver, I made the best Galaxy I could from two cabs (one was....pretty hilariously bad) but figured it was an all-but-guaranteed quick resale. On the contrary, I fell in love with it, but I was seduced by all the Stars love and traded it to a friend (I knew it wasn't gone forever this way). Stars is..fine...just not my cup of tea. Probably doesn't help that it's stupid difficult and just makes me mad. I haven't really pinpointed my disconnect with it (I love 'simple' SEI Stern games) but I just can't get into it. The charms are definitely nice, but the gameplay doesn't do enough for me to justify keeping it around when I really need to talk myself into letting go of a game or two (Foo Premium put me in a bit of a bind).

Definitely try that new code on Galaxy if you're able to slide things over to do it with no/minimal cost. The new code and the sound package are a lot of fun IMO.

I've got tons of things I need to do around the house but I've been lazy. I'm so unmotiivated with that kind of thing...

I don't know your situation, but I had a friend with carpal in both wrists. He had that surgery done and no problems since.

Arthritis....I'm sorry.

The carpel is minor as I used to be in IT and has gone away mostly as long as I'm careful. Arthritis is just genetics and aging.

My Stars’ lane guides have suffered some abuse, especially the right one. It currently gets knocked loose just by flipping a few times.

I'm hoping that rebuilding the flippers will reduce their travel, because I strongly dislike droopy flippers, but with them currently set parallel to the lane guides, they reach such a steep angle that all the shots are in the last third of the flipper! So, I'm also hoping for reduced travel so that the right flipper won't be beating on the lane guide, and that I won't have to droop the flippers to accomplish that. I guess we'll see after the flipper rebuild, but regardless of how that turns out, I still need to get the lane guide re-attached well, and I might even need to repair the hole itself.
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Can anyone link to a good description of how to fix a problem like this? My immediate thought is to apply some epoxy inside the hole with a toothpick, and glue the guide in, but I want to check on best practices before I do something permanent.

I had to make a similar repair to both lane guides and even some posts on my Meteor playfield before I dropped in a CPR replacement. What I did was drop in some JB Weld Wood Epoxy (roll a tiny bit of it between your palms to get a skinny "snake" and stuff it in the existing hole), let it set for a few hours, then drill a new smaller hole right over it for the lane guide or post.

Here's a sort-of example that I actually had to do on my CPR Meteor playfield - the hole for the post between the flippers was not centered correctly and the ball would trap between the post and the right flipper! Nice quality control....I filled in CPR's hole and drilled my own a few mm next to it to get the post equidistant between the two flippers. Fortunately the base of the post covered the evidence of the epoxy so I didn't have to paint/clear anything.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/1979-stern-meteor-project/page/4#post-6616434

Use wood glue. Go to hardware store and get a 3' length og 1/8" dowel rod. If the 1/8 rod does not fit in the hole you have 2 options.

1) Drill the hole to 1/8" to allow the dowel to fit.

or

2) sand or scrape some of the dowel away so it will fit in the hole.

Cut a small piece of dowel 1/2" long. Apply some glue and push the dowel into the hole. Have another piece of dowel handy to push the dowel to just a little bit below the surface of the play field---a punch or a nail will also work to push your repair dowel into the hole; This will give to a good way to locate your drill bit to redrill the hole without the drill bit "walking" on you.

To drill the hole, you need a 3/32" bit with equals .093 which is the diameter of most ball guides.

Or you can do the toothpick thing.

This is what I would do too. The only difference is I would focus on filling the existing hole and not make it bigger. What I do is cut off about 4" of dowel and insert it into my drill like it was a drill bit. I then run it over sandpaper to get it to the correct thickness. Glue it in place and then redrill it. Good as new after that.

Finished yesterday morning.

Oh I think I got a handle on the MPU issue, ram chip.

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Brilliant

By now the hole is usually uneven and I generally prefer to drill so the new dowel plug fills the hole with more surface contact.

got the relay in and installed for Ali. Works great! thanks again for the replacement

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I have a question for stern group here. I delivered a scratch build star gazer a couple weeks ago. The new owner sent me a message tonight about a hole potentially missing a post near the drain. I looked at my Dracula and it does have the post. I looked at my Stars and it doesn't. The Meteor that we used as a donor did not have the post. My Dragonfist did not have the post. I did not install one in my first scratch build Star Gazer two years ago, and looking through the Star Gazer thread it does seem that some games have it and some don't. So anyway my question is what is the purpose of this post and is it necessary? If so I want to make sure to get him the correct post to place in there although it just seems to be a 6-32 machine screw with a metal sleeve essentially. Anyway help us out and solve the mystery of the purpose of this post! Thank you. -Tommy

Hole in question.
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Random Star Gazer
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My first scratch build.
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Donor Meteor
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Dracula with post
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Stars with no post
IMG_6401 (resized).jpeg

Post sleeve was for anti-ball jam. Mostly for multi-ball type games.

I use an 8/32 screw since the 6/32s are rather soft and can bend. And a short piece of brass or aluminum tube from the hardware store will work well.

I assumed they were to reduce the ball speed in instances of the ball from flying through the trough and into the shooter lane again. I’ve noticed these on pfs well before multiball was a norm.

FWIW, my original Meteor playfield had the post before I swapped in a CPR, tho it looks likes an operator hodge-podged in a plastic post with washers....doesn't look factory.
IMG_0031 (resized).JPG

Since the hole was there, I put it in a metal post when I did the CPR swap.
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My early run Meteor has this same post configuration.

That first photo is factory. I have seen it with both a plastic sleeve and metal one. It does seem like an after thought but that is how it was done back n the day.

This happened often on my Seawitch which had the post missing and a ball from the upper left area coming down at speed draining between the flippers would fly back to the shooter lane through the trough. After I installed a post, the problem hasn't happened since.

Mine are hodge-podge. I use elastic stop nuts and put some shrink wrap on the brass tube I use.

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Can someone take a photo of their tilt bob area in Hot Hand? Someone removed the entire mech from one I just acquired and I'd like to know if the wires are still in place. Thanks.

Interesting, my Stars machine occasionally “gifts” the player with a grace ball after the drain, never put it together that that post was there to mitigate that tendency.

On my other machines that have the post, I like to use a standard post with rubber sleeve, just to have one less metal-to-metal contact point in the game. This has the odd “advantage” of occasionally facilitating an accidental bang back if the ball is going fast and you keep the flipper up. To me it’s a bug that I’m calling a feature, makes the game a little wilder and more unpredictable.

The guy you sold the game to should be cool with not having the post, it isn’t essential for the game to work, and if they want it there, it’s super easy to install - but of course I never trust people with those sort of operations, so maybe it would behoove you to go install it for him if that’s an option. It isn’t like you were choosing to cut a corner but if it makes them happier I’d just do it, it’s an understandable oversight and an easy enough thing to address.

I have two Meteor PF's and both have the post with a white plastic sleeve.

My Quicksilver has one as does my Meteor & Seawitch.