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Stern Electronics, 1980
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Stern Electronics, 1980
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Stern Electronics, 1981
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Quoted from Mitch:Also what does everyone have there transformer set to? My stargazer is jumpered for 115ac not 120ac and all the coil are really strong.
Tested my wall outlet and its 119ac.
Surprisingly even with all the wire hacks this thing still plays great [quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
My Lightning was also jumpered for 115VAC. Some of my voltages measured a little high. I changed it to 120VAC and the measured DC voltages are much closer to specs.
My only Classic Stern is Lightning. I bought it as a project. I put about 65 hours into it and about $800 in parts. I recently spent another $120 on a CPR plastic set that I have yet to install. I know this game doesn't get the love of some of the other Sterns, but it has a really unique rule set and I'm digging it. Nothing like ripping the spinner when lit for 1k plus 4x playfield. Hard to set it up but man, 350-400K per spinner rip! I also really like how the bonus maxes at 99k times 5x. That bonus meltdown is sweet!
Here are some before and after pics.
Before:
20180528_173808 (resized).jpg20180528_173829 (resized).jpg20180528_173853 (resized).jpg20180528_173900 (resized).jpg20180528_173908 (resized).jpgDSCF6903 (resized).JPGDSCF6910 (resized).JPGDSCF6922 (resized).JPG
Quoted from greatwichjohn:I sell hardly any glass. Lightning must of been a good production run.
I might decide to get one from you. Mine has two big scratches and a few bare spots from bulb heat.
20180528_174532 (resized).jpgDSCF6990 (resized).JPGI did every single insert on my Lightning. I used the two part epoxy that you mix together. I read that somewhere here on Pinside and it worked well.
I don't have a pic but I checked the schematic. Yes, J3 pin 11 is the GI bus, same electrically as J3 pin 10 and J1 pin 5.
When I rebuilt my Lightning I had 4 flippers to do. I already had new coil sleeves, so I saved some money by ordering the plunger and links, coil stops, springs, EOS, and bushings. I just re-used the cranks and set screws cause they were fine. I did have to order a couple base plates though because the holes to attach the coil stops were stripped out. In hindsight, I would probably just order the whole assy if I had to do it again. I've rebuilt tons of flippers on all types of games over the years and I found these to be a PITA.
For someone new to pinball repair to rebuild a power board or put new sockets on an MPU is not really possible. Chip, you are gonna need to learn how to repin connectors on these games. You might want to consider buying an Alltek MPU board. They also sell the trifecta(new MPU, Lamp driver bd, ultimate solenoid driver bd). These machines are very old and repairs of course can be made to the existing boards, but sometimes it's just better to get new stuff in there. Great Plains Electronics sells a replacement power board, and another company(Weebly, maybe?)
Also need to learn how to use a meter. Looking at fuses sometimes won't tell you a thing. Removing the fuse and testing ohms with a meter is the only reliable way to test. You can also use a meter set to DC volts to check your voltages on the power board, see if you have voltage at the coil, etc. You can use a meter set to AC volts to check your inputs to the power board coming from the transformer. Also, you will probably get more help in a technical thread rather than a "club" thread. Good luck with your Meteor. Such a great game!
How can you comfortably fix up a game without the manual? For me it's just a must have. Took me about 15 seconds to find this. You can download the manual and the schematics. These should help you tremendously.
https://www.ipdb.org/search.pl?any=catacomb&search=Search+Database&searchtype=quick
Wow, that is nasty looking. I have a related question for the group. Has anyone had problems/issues with the repro flipper bats from PBL? I find these classic Stern flipper mechs to be finicky anyway, but these PBL bats leave a lot to be desired. I've had to sand and scotchbright the hell out of the metal shafts just so they turn easily within the bushing. The old bats work perfectly. They are just discolored and faded so I wanted some nice white bats again.
Quoted from cottonm4:I have not had any trouble with the bats from PBL. But I have had a couple of tight flipper bushings.
The flipper shaft measures .250” so I bought a reamer at a used tool store that measures .255” and reamed the bushings.
OK, thanks for the reply. I also took some sandpaper to the inside of the bushing and that seemed to help.
Quoted from getadam:Picked up Nine Ball from the awesome @warlock in Allentown this weekend. (Great seller!)
It was working great at the show but since we got it home having a crazy issue. The game is kicking a ball into the shooter lane every 9 seconds!
Check out this video. You'll see I'm not touching the game at all except to remove a ball to make room for the ball kicks.Here's the thing - we really don't think it's a switch issue. We've carefully gone over every switch. The switch test come back clean with the flashing zero. And after that I've tried banging on playfield to see if anything registers - but no, switches are good.
It doesn't eject during attract mode, only during game play. And yes, it's consistently every 9 seconds. It will even try to eject when there's no balls in trough. Like during the 3-ball multiball, I can still here the ball release solenoid firing.
Did you take the head off for transport? If so, you probably have either a connector in the wrong spot, or a connector in the right spot but off by 1 pin. You said switches test ok, but are you sure the switch in the shooter lane is registering properly with a ball(not a finger)?
Quoted from JoshPA:Hello and thanks for reading! I'm looking for advice on the next thing to check in my quest to get a flipper working on a Stingray.
Issue - Pressing the left flipper button yields a flash at the cube relay. Swapped out for a known good factory board, same issue. Swapped in a known good Alltek - blew a fuse. Pulled every pin on every connector in the backbox, re-pinned anything that looked bad. Based on everything I had read, meter readings are correct at the flipper solenoid. Resisters facing the right direction. Compared connections to my other Stingray (its a sickness), looks correct.
Any suggestions for next thing to test? Any specific readings to take, bypass XX, jump YY, ? Newbie when it comes to pin tech. Soldering skills obviously need some work. Pics attached.
Thanks in advance!
[quoted image][quoted image]
What readings did you take at the flipper coil? With power off, check the ohms across each of the two windings in the coil and compare to the other working flipper. Also, those are diodes and not resistors. They could also be shorted. To test them you need to clip one end so they are out of the circuit. Use the diode ck function on the meter. You're looking for .7 volts in one direction, open in the other direction.
Quoted from slochar:The PBL flipper kits seem to get magnetized really easily. At this point I recycle other copper coil stops from the pop bumpers and put the steel ones there; a long time ago Marco was selling a plunger that was correct (it was some gottlieb part for about $2) but they're sold out. PBR had some links on their specials page and I bought a pile of those.
Not sure what's up with the PBL kits but there's something off on them - slam tilt was talking about having to drill new holes in the plate as it was in the wrong spot.
Yep, I used the PBL kits to rebuild all 4 on Lightning. I kept having an intermittent problem where the lower left flipper would not always return. Drove me crazy for about a month. Finally realized the holes in the coil stop bracket were slightly off. I just installed the original coil stop back in and zero issues since. Thankful that I didn't throw the old ones away.
Found some competition video on Lightning, first I've seen. Too bad the spinner is borked but worth a watch.
Quoted from Mitch:Some parts for sale.
I have 2 populated lightning playfeilds I'd sell parts from.
4 bank drop target $120
Widebody lockbar $150
Some stingrays plastics $?
Pm me if interested
PM sent.
Quoted from spandol:Hello everyone. I got a Star Gazer, but it will only go through 3 beeps on startup and then nothing. What should I look at? It has an Alltek MPU and Solenoid board. The rectifier was hacked up, but I replaced with a new one and repined all wires with new housings. I changed out the MPU and solenoid board with the same result. What does only 3 beeps tell you?
Thanks
You might be missing voltages going to the MPU. Check all the test points with a meter and see if any are missing or significantly off from what is labeled on the board.
Quoted from cottonm4:What is a "finned" lockdown bar? I have not heard of this term. All of my Lock bars look the same.
Finned is the regular type. There is also a type that has pegs instead.
When I restored my Lightning, I got a set of 9 drops from PBR. They play great on this game. They might brick shot like 5% of the time.
Of all the classic Sterns I have played, I enjoyed Hot Hand the least. I've played 3 different ones. Just didn't like it. Trident, Galaxy, and Dracula are sweet. Still haven't played Nugent.
Quoted from seshpilot:Curious if anyone knows the difference between the v1 and v2 classic Stern flipper brackets? While the layout of the screw holes is a bit different, I can't see why there would be any playing difference. The rebuild kits for both v1 and v2 are the same, but the brackets are indeed different. djblouw?
One version the bracket is totally flat. The other version, the tabs with the screw holes are offset from the main plate, so that the height is different. This means that the flipper bat shafts are longer for the offset version. Now, which one is V1 and V2 I cannot remember.
One trick I learned years ago when touching up a cabinet. As you know, a lot of paints look slightly different when wet vs. dry. I would mix up variations of a color and paint quarter size circles on a transparency and let them dry completely. Then hold that over the color I was trying to match and see which one was the closest.
I have a friend looking for the bonus/timer display driver board on Lightning. It is missing. From the manual, the part # is A-866 or also 34C-866-S. I know it's very unlikely that any after market boards are made. Did any other Classic Sterns use this driver board?
Also, after taking the photo, I see it could also be called BTI-100 (bonus timer interface).
20200508_163857 (resized).jpgQuoted from cottonm4:I just had flipper coil start fluttering. One minute it was playing fine and the next minute it started fluttering. All the external wires are intact. Everything looks in order. I am going to replace the coil because I don't know what else can be the cause.
Question: Can flipper coils just go bad? If so, what would cause this to happen? Am I experiencing a break in the wiring on the hold coil wiring? Or could a diode have gone bad?
Thanks.
I had this exact problem recently on a Gottlieb Hoops. In this case a screw used to hold the EOS to the bracket was too long. The tip of the screw was touching the coil wrapper. Vibration caused the screw to eat through the coil wrapper and eventually the hold coil winding. I was able to find the break, sand the wires and solder together to repair.
https://www.pinballlife.com/williamsbally-14-nylon-spacer-03-6047-1.html
Four of these should do the trick. Just move the ground braid above the spacer so you still have contact.
Quoted from cottonm4:how many is "a few"?
Trois.... lol for Germaine.
Quoted from Quench:Getting hard to find now.
You're looking for 25k ohm, 500mW logarithmic (audio taper) potentiometers.
None of the big electronic guys have them anymore.
You could try one of these - probably worth getting a suitable knob for it too:
ebay.com link » Alpha Potentiometer A25k Audio Taper Pot
Confirm with them that you're getting "A25k" pots which are logarithmic, and not "B25k" which are linear. You don't want linear because the volume wont adjust proportionately.
Thanks for the heads up! After checking several of my go to places and seeing nothing, I ordered a couple of these from the Ebay link.
Quoted from woody76:what would cause very low volume with pot turned all the way up?
Could be a bad pot but not likely. Check the voltages at the sound board. Could need caps replaced.
Quoted from cottonm4:Thank you all for responding. It is numbers game. I used to buy aircraft parts. I could buy you one bolt for $10,000.00 or I could buy you 10,000 bolts for a dollar each.
So far, I could around 15 pairs the might sell. So 30 units. That is not a big number of sales.
Obviously, I don't know what the magic breakeven number is for Kerry not do I know his appetite for risk is, but I will relay this information on to him. What I can say is that I feel from reading his emails that it is something he would like to do.
If he had them available on his website he might sell hundreds over several years. Something to consider over just the initial sales when they first get made.
Quoted from pinballlife:I have a Nugent and a Stars and I love them both.
Looks like I may have an opportunity to purchase a (Stern) Freefall.
Any good? Value?
Terry.
I played Freefall in the Stern Pro Circuit finals in Chicago a few years ago. Very cool game with quite a different layout. I would buy one if one came up local to me at a decent price. What is that price? I don't know. $1250? They only produced 1300 of them and they don't seem to come up for sale much.
Quoted from cottonm4:He might. Or he might not. I do not know what his risk parameters are. And I am pretty sure he will look at all the angles before making a decision.
What about you? Are you a buyer for some?
Yes, I would buy a set for my Lightning. Only Classic Stern I own right now.
Quoted from woody76:Second ups package with destroyed product this week
[quoted image]
Bummer...
Quoted from Agent_Hero:Classic Stern aficionados: which is the better playing game, Hot Hand or Pinball ?
Quoted from livetowin:Just picked up a Lightning and am having an issue with the flippers. Left upper flipper won’t flip unless both left and right buttons are pushed. Both right flippers and left lower all work fine. Any suggestions are appreciated.
Weird. So if you hold in the left button and then press the right button, the upper left flipper flips?
Could it be some previous owner wired it incorrectly?
Quoted from Tsskinne:So I’ll work on Star Gazer more this week, but oddly discovered this weird bit of info about my Dragonfist the other night and forgot to share it.
So here is my Dragonfist cabinet to the human eye. [quoted image][quoted image]
And here is my Dragonfist cabinet when my new Wyze security camera looks at the cabinet under night vision mode.[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
So holy shit kinda made me jump when I just turned on the camera to check on the dogs late from work the other night. So weird that I can’t see it at all under normal lighting conditions. Obviously at some point it was a Catacomb cabinet, anyone able to explain the science behind why the night vision can see it?
That's the special Dragonfist "Toast Edition". LOL
Quoted from Flynnyfalcon:Hi all, given myself a project today of repairing a QS display. It appears to fire up, there’s an orange glow in the bottom corner, TP1 (180v) & TP2 (4.6v) appear to be within spec but no segments work. I thought it must be the decoder chip, so I replaced that with what I believe is an equivalent chip (CD4543BE) and no change. I’ve inspected the board, reflowed anything looking remotely suspect and nothing. Problem follows the display when I change it to a different position. Where can I check next? Everything I’ve searched for is for repairs when individual segments are out, not entire display.
That is the correct decoder chip. Could just be a bad glass.
From pinwiki:
5.12.2.2 A single display is blank
If you have one display that is blank, it could be the same problems as mentioned above (lack of 170VDC), something wrong on the circuit board, or something with the glass display itself. If you see any light glowing at all on the display, then the glass is most likely good and your problem is elsewhere.
The main cause of a single display being blank is a bad glass. If the glass is good, then your problem is most likely a bad 4543 decoder IC. The decoder on the display driver board is used to decode the digit data from the MPU into signals that light the proper displays. If the decoder is blown, then this could cause the display to be blank. A quick check with a logic probe will help you decide if the decoder is function properly.
Sometimes the solder joints on the display glass needs are cracked and need to be reflowed. Depending on which solder joints are bad, this could cause the display to be blank.
If you can verify there is 170VDc, and the decoder is working, then it may be just a bad display. If there is some light anywhere, then it's probably good. If not, it may or may not be good. A totally blank display is the hardest thing to fix. If everything looks good, but the display is completely blank, then you may just have to chalk it up as a bad display glass. Unfortunately they can not be repaired.
Quoted from hisokajp:Any chance someone has a spare/used Upper left corner plastic for Stern Lightning?
That's the only broken one and i'd rather bot buy a whole set...
Quoted from hisokajp:Any chance someone has a spare/used Upper left corner plastic for Stern Lightning?
That's the only broken one and i'd rather bot buy a whole set...
I also installed a CPR plastic set on Lightning. My old ones should be around here somewhere but so far I have been unable to find them. 
I had the same problem on my left flipper on Lightning. But I didn't use the assys, I just got all the parts from PBL to rebuild. It would work for days or weeks then go back to sticking. I finally went back to the original bats and haven't had a problem since.
Quoted from jj44114:The Stern and Bally flipper bats are slightly different.
Quoted from hisokajp:you bought part for the whole assembly and it ended up being the bats themselves that was making it sticks? I have used them on many assemblies but i assume it may varies just enough in some cases...
Yes, I tried everything I could think of, including what you mentioned of putting a washer between the bat and bushing. Right side worked fine, not the left. I finally just swapped both bats to the originals since having one new white bat and one older discolored bat would look stupid.
Quoted from cottonm4:does any body besides me get confused with hooking up diodes? I always think I have them figured out but then I wind up 2nd guessing myself.
Here is a diode test for everybody This blueprint is for a spinner on Star Gazer. The spinner is connected to a white/red wire and a white/green wire hi-lighted in red and green marker. And there is the triangle and cross line that represents the diode. Which way is the power coming from? w/r or w/g?
[quoted image]
Here is a training aid, mock up switch/wire assembly. The diode band is a little hard to see (cheap manufacturing perhaps?) but the non-banded side is soldered to the white/red wire.
[quoted image]
So, is this switch and diode wired correctly? Or does the diode need be flipped to the other direction?
I am going to say the power wire is the white/green and goes to the banded side of the diode. Correct?
Quoted from lightingnut:I have a stern Flight 2000 and I just rebuilt the right flipper with a kit and it is now much weaker then it was before the surgery on it. It had a J25 500 coil and I replaced it with what the manual called for a J25 475. Also the flipper travel seams shorter then the right side. No idea what is going on. Any ideas. The EOS switch is closed till about halfway of the flipper travel.
Any ideas?
You want the EOS to open during the last quarter to eighth of the travel. But if the flipper travel is shorter are you sure it was the right kit? Not sure where you purchased but I have had PBR send me the wrong kit more than once.
Quoted from lightingnut:I replaced the right new flipper coil with the old coil, seams a little better but still weak. The flipper has a hard time getting the ball to the top of the playfield. I have the EOS going open just before the flipper stopes. So I do not thing that is the issue. It almost seams the most weak right at the start of the flipper travel. When the ball is at the end of the flipper. Does it change the strength of the flip any if I were to flip the coil around? The left flipper is good.
Do you have the same voltage on both flippers? I once had a HSII Getaway that had one weak flipper. Turns out I had like 70volts on one coil but only like 38volts on the other. Someone had re-pinned a connector and got one of the pins in the wrong slot.
These two are close but not exact.
Quoted from cottonm4:Hopefully, this will be my last electronics with my Star Gazer build.
I am powering it with 3 Alltek boards.
[quoted image]
Last night as I was the pin through its paces, it started resetting in the mid-game. All 3 drop target assemblies reset, all my feature lights reset into off position. And where I had been the single player with 13 credits showing on the displays, I find myself in a 3 or 4 player game and 40 credits are showing up on the credit display.
I go into test mode and reset everything and reset the credits to zero.
And then I start playing a single player game, then the game resets while playing , and returns with a 3 or 4 player session with 40 credits on display.
[quoted image]
[quoted image]
I have only questions for this kind of action.
Well, that is some strange behavior. My first thought is the power supply. I do remember from my Lightning restore that there is more to the sound board than just sound. You might try unplugging the ribbons from the sound board to the MPU and play some games just to see if that has any effect on the issue.
Quoted from play_pinball:I wish I had. I don't even have the supplies to do so. I keep asking my brother for advice on what to order and haven't been able to get it done yet. Mouser & GPE are daunting to me.
Try Great Plains Electronics. Much smaller website and centered around the pinball and video game hobbies.
Another way around this is to use a slightly smaller diameter rubber ring. Like 1 1/2 instead of 1 3/4, etc. This will stretch the rubber tighter and make it thinner thereby giving just a tiny bit more space between the back of the DT and rubber.
Ha ha, it's printed right there on the board. 2N5060 I think. I did this a long time ago on a Harlem Globetrotters and it worked just fine.
Quoted from slochar:Coming soon..... lightning with spinner counter and no-ball relocking during multiball.
Is it possible to have it eject any locked balls at game over?
Quoted from BrotherSir:Sounds like I had the right general idea. Is there anything i need to know about the transistors? Is there a specific type I need to use?
MCR 106-1 should be the one. That is what was used on Lightning and I assume Meteor is the same.
https://www.greatplainselectronics.com/search.asp
Quoted from TomT:Lightning playfield display problem the third digit is not working I reflowed the connector and installed a new LED display and it's still out game is running an Alltek mpu I guess it's a problem with the bonus/timer interface board has anyone run into this before?
[quoted image]
I had issues similar when I refurbed my Lightning. I don't have the game anymore, but this thread might help.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stern-lightning-bonus-display-missing-digits-need-expert#post-4525057
Quoted from sethbenjamin:I'm finishing up a Lightning restoration (photos soon!) and am dialing things in, but the maddening thing is that I have no speech.
I checked the primary sound board and the jumper mod has been done, so that isn't the issue.
I replaced all the wiring harness pins. And I had the boards tested by my tech, and they were declared OK. Primary sound works, just no speech. Which is kind of a bummer! Ideas??
The machine is running a Weebly MPU, FWIW.
I hope you get it sorted. The speech is one of the best features on Lightning. Tons of speech in that game.
Quoted from rockwell:Quick question for any Big Game owners or knowledgable parties...is there any way to smooth out what is happening on my machine when a ball is trapped up on the lower flippers? I will link a video below of what I mean...but the top flipper smashes into the ball immediately, causing it to bounce and act wild coming down the flipper. I'd love for the top flipper to stay clear of the ball in this instance so it runs down the bottom flipper smoothly.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/vC2dtoDLTX9dAE8d6
Not sure what might be the best approach...perhaps sliding the little ball guide towards the middle might give it enough clearance? Let me know if you've experienced or solved this issue in the past. Thanks!
You can learn to overcome this design issue. From a trap make a micro flip so the ball rolls backwards and then partially out onto the flipper. Now drop the flippers to make your shot and the upper flipper won't contact the ball and screw up your shot.
Quoted from Mathazar:Yes, the METEOR DT bank works correctly in self test.
The really odd thing here is that the Left Return Lane will spot a target in the METEOR bank (and award the expected 2000 points) but only when the opposite Right Return Lane has the SPOT TARGET light lit.
Here's a kind of Truth Table of what my machine is currently doing with the red being incorrect behavior:
[quoted image]
And all other switches the can spot a drop target in that bank (the yellow Stand-Up target and the three rollovers) all work correctly.
Don't know if this will help but it's worth trying.
Screenshot_20220610-205258_Chrome (resized).jpgQuoted from Pinzzz:What’s different vs a modern day stern flipper?
Totally different. More similar to a Bally solid state flipper from the 70's.
Quoted from frenchmarky:Over the decades I've owned this Lightning all the inserts had both risen at the edges and were now badly cupped to where the game played horribly. All those large inserts down by the flippers, it was like the ball was rolling around on craters.
Then a few months ago I found out about filling them with UV windshield resin (look up 'resin' on Pinside), and then placing a square of mylar over it and curing, so they come out flat and shiny. So I removed all of them (they would need to be reset/releveled anyway) and the process worked great. Ball rolls true again like when I first got the game.
When I restored my Lightning I did basically the same thing but I used 2 part Auto Clear and a glass eyedropper to fill in the inserts after removing, sanding, and re-gluing. Lots of work but the results were worth it!
20180528_173829 (resized).jpgDSCF6997 (resized).JPGWhenever I have a problem like this, and it could be any mfg, Classic Stern, Modern Stern, Bally/Williams etc. First thing I want to do is measure WITH A Meter, do I have voltage at the coil. Measure from the ground braid to the power lug on the coil. You should see significant DC voltage. That's a good starting point.
Quoted from splattii:Hi everyone,
I'm working on a Meteor that's been sitting in a garage for many years. I've got a handle on most of it, but the rectifier board has two wires I'm not sure of. I'm still learning pinball tech so take it easy on me, but it looks like someome has hacked the hell out of this board. They soldered the wires directly to the board in some cases, which I can fix by re-pinning, but I'm confused as to what the 2 (orange and red) wires are doing since I don't think they even connect to anything on the board itself!? Is this some type of ground!? Any ideas? I'm going to have to buy another board but I wanted to understand this part first. Thank you
[quoted image]
That is one very sad looking board. From the looks of those power resistors, it was probably over-fused like a mofo.
Quoted from Ollulanus:Just picked up a Lightning; inserts need fixed/replaced, but the playfield is in better shape than I've seen otherwise. Got a couple lighter projects in front of it but will probably do a full work over on it, fix the inserts and clear it. It's a game that's begging to have an even more brutaly fast playfield
In the meantime, it showed up with some lighting wonkiness. About half the controlled lighting is out (all the standup targets, all but one of the bonus lights, couple of the lane lights), couple seem to be fixed on, and there's some things I don't * think* are behaving right (not that familiar with this game). EB arrows come on right off the bat and alternate (figure they need to be activated first, but maybe that's normal?), Playfield multiplier lights come on when I'm pretty sure they shouldn't. Switches all seem to activate and score properly as best I can tell though...was supposed to be working normally pre-ship.
Had an extra lamp board, swapped that in and no improvement. Pulled the alltek mpu out of my seawitch to try; voltage on the driver board tested normal test points came up normal but as soon as I flipped it on the over voltage light on the mpu board came on and game did not boot. Turned it off, put it back in SW, fortunately still seemed fine. Had to head to work, but interested in any thoughts where to head next.
I would start with re-pinning connectors.
Quoted from Quench:Lightning doesn't release the balls on power-up though.
Oh yeah, I forgot that. I don't own the game anymore.
I had a Lightning for a while. Not a great game but I definitely enjoyed it. Split level PF, 4 flippers, three sets of drops. It's got some really weird artwork. One thing almost nobody mentions is the massive amount of speech the game has. I bet it has 15-20 different call outs in that fantastic 80's robot-like voice. It's also one of those games where you try to do "the thing". The thing being get the spinner lit, then get 4X PF going, then rip the spinner. It's so rewarding to pull that off since it's not easy to do and you only get one lit spinner rip before needing to light it again. I've seen 300-400K from a single rip.
Quoted from dothedoo:Yes, the wood just rounds out with the factory carriage bolts and they just spin when you try to take the nuts off. It's not fun having to break posts to get things apart.
If you run into this with the factory bolts try this. Use a Dremmel to cut a slot in the carriage bolt head. Then you can use a flat blade blade screwdriver to keep the bolt from turning.
Connect a jumper wire to the red/yellow lug and briefly touch the other end to ground. Coil should activate. If it does then it's a board/wiring issue. If it doesn't then suspect the coil or diode, etc.
Quoted from bluespin:I’m looking for feedback on pricing on a Stingray project I’m looking at. He wants $400.
Complete except missing:
Apron
Playfield plastics
Chime unit
Displays
Boards
Nice cabinet, coin door and lockdown bar. Has the smaller transformer, lower cabinet and display harnesses. Playfield is in really bad condition. Has the spinner assembly.
$400 sounded pretty good until I read what all was missing. Plus PF in bad condition? No thanks. I would not buy that.
Quoted from izzy:What are the solutions to replacing the carriage bolt that is used to hold the plastic post? Doing a PF swap and these seem to be unreliable, can't remove nut, bolt spins while trying to remove, etc. I plan to convert to the more common way to attach a plastic post, a T-nut with the appropriate threaded metal post. It seems that the previously mentioned metal post isn't long enough for the tall plastic posts. Same for the wood screw post. I'm sure this has been mentioned, but didn't find anything via the search engine.
For removal, you can use a Dremmel to cut a slot in the bottom of the carriage bolt. Then use a flat blade screwdriver in the slot while you turn the nut. You may even have to pry upwards on the nut while you turn it.
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