If you haven't already, take a close look at the underside of your anti-flicker boards. I had a similar issue on a few Bally SS pins where some LEDs would continue to flicker but others were fine. The last three sets of these anti-flicker boards I've purchased (2 from one vendor, 1 from another) had at least 1 board out of the set where there was no solder on a pin. Good thing these companies have quality control....without quality control, the next thing you know we'd have quality all over the place.

I refreshed all of the connector pins with new solder (whether the solder was missing or not) and all my flicker issues went away.

IMG_7617 (resized).jpg

I just got my first rails from him - Mata Hari and Black Knight. I'll never do another resto without Reese Rails! Beautiful lacquered paint on oak, any color you want. All holes pre-drilled and, at least in my two examples, very accurate.

I would be in for a set at as well.

These should arrive soon - just bought them for my Meteor:

https://www.thepinballwizard.net/flipper-parts/flipper-shoe-and-shaft-assembly-classic-stern-02-1977-03-1980-type-1/

The project Meteor I picked up earlier this month had beat up Data East bats on it.

Yes! I need one as well. My project Meteor is missing this piece.

That's not a classic Stern one (Meteor's my first classic Stern and it's missing, so I've not seen one yet)? I had assumed since cottonm4 was working with Kerry for classic stern sling kickers and a classic stern shooter lane ball guide that the backglass lock strip he's talking about would also be classic Stern.

I thought so....sweet - thanx. So I'm down for a pair of sling kickers, a shooter lane ball guide, and a back glass lockdown strap. Good luck with Kerry! Take my money, please!

The top bg channel on my Meteor already has the lugs, so I'm definitely in for the strap WITHOUT the lugs.

And yes, my backglass is trashed. Working on the playfield swap now and will be ordering a CPR bg when I get to the point of the restore where I'm stripping down the cab for a repaint.

BG2 (resized).jpg

If you can't find a 3d print file or don't want to mess with making your own, Marco's has it in stock.

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/4A-146

I'll be in the same boat for my Meteor apron. I was thinking of stripping my apron down to bare metal, laying down primer and the base coat of black, and then find a local airbrush artist who will do the striping, logo, and text layers based on pictures I'd provide him/her of the original. It would be unique and, if done well, look really cool I think.

Pretty sure 4004 diodes are used on all early Stern DT bank coils and switches.

DT Bank (resized).jpg

From the Alltek manual (the small box at the bottom is Table 1):

Alltek Clear.jpg

I think 7 is correct. I don't see a coil for DT #8 in the Nine Ball schematic. I don't own the game (I wish!) else I'd check it.

I'd replace the diode on DT #1 (the burnt coil) and try again after making sure the tiny wires from the coil winding aren't broken off of the solder points (or better yet, replace the whole coil/diode assembly).
Nine Ball Sols (resized).jpg

I know Swinks did it.... https://www.shapeways.com/product/59LRBQ7L5/b-695-3-rod-ring-classic-stern?optionId=133483915&li=shops

I don't know of anyone selling them, but you can download it from the IPDB and burn it yourself if you have the equipment:

https://www.ipdb.org/search.pl?any=meteor&search=Search+Database&searchtype=quick#1580

Thanx, that's good to know. Do you (or anyone) happen to know if that bonus-fixed ROM image on IPDB is the one required to allow the Pinitech NVRAM board work or do I need to join Pinball_Nate and figure out where to source the "sound fix" ROMs? I'm still in the cabinet repair phase of my Meteor restoration but I want to add the NVRAM board when I put this pin back together next month / early November.

NVRAM and Bug Fix ROMs (resized).jpg

Many thanks for providing the link!

Agreed. Rocket 1 1K insert should be the Left Rocket, J3 Pin 12 on the lamp board. That would be transistor Q50. I'd start by changing that out.

Thanx for doing this, cottonm4 . Please let me know if (when!) you're ready to take orders. I'm good for one back glass locking strap WITHOUT the lugs (my top glass channel already has them).

Thanx!

I bought 3 of them for the #3 DT Bank on my Meteor restoration. I used an early CPR run of the Meteor playfield that has the shortened cutout for that bank making it impossible to use the "flat top" replacements since the lip at the top of the target catches the playfield edge and won't fully drop down. So, gotta use tombstones (I'm not brave enough to cut into the new playfield to widen the hole for accommodating the flat top style targets). CPR has this fixed in their current run, along with the missing METEOR drop target value text (which I also had to add manually to mine).

I should have this flipping in December....I'm repairing and repainting the cabinet now. If the Swinks targets behave nicely, I'll report back here and likely will spend the money to get six more so that the #1 and #2 DT Banks match style-wise.
Light 01a (resized).jpg

Forgot to mention - I bought one of Mantis' new backglass lockdown bars (no tabs) last month and I put it in the other day as I'm finishing up my Meteor restoration. Went in nicely and functions well. Thank you for the work you did in helping Kerry produce these!

Kris

Mantis (resized).jpg

What it's showing you with the "01" number is the switch number that is reporting as closed (stuck). Look at Switch 1, fix it, and then see what the next number to pop up in that test is. If there are multiple closed switches, it will display them in order low to high, one at a time. Keep fixing the closed/stuck switches until it reports "00" (no closed switches). Note: If you still have the ball in the game, Switch 33 will report as closed.

Switch 01 is Left Coin Chute.
Switches 01 (resized).jpgSwitches 02 (resized).jpg

That's nice....I didn't know that. Another reason for me to get that code in my Meteor! Was planning on doing that after the holidays.

Your slam switch looks like it has an insulator strip between the door skin and the switch, so that should be ok.

The wires to your Coin Chute #1 (closest to the hinge and Switch 01 in the Self Test) look strange. According to the schematic, Chute #1 is supposed to be Red w/ Yellow and Blue wires. Kinda hard to tell from the photo, but it looks like you have Red w/ Yellow, Black, and also White??

It would be great if you could isolate the machine from the coin door for the switch test. You can disconnect the coin door wire harness from the lower cab wire harness, and then on that empty connector on the wire harness side, short the Red and the Yellow w/Red wires together to start the Self Test and again to advance through the tests. If you no longer see 01 in your switch test (or see a number >03), then you've confirmed there's an issue with your coin door wiring or a shorted switch on the coin door.

I keep forgetting he's got a weebly.

My Meteor (S/N 2062) also has just the 1 button. I believe the second button is to "clear" which is kinda handy so you can perform all of the clearing functions right there at the coin door (and not have to remove the backglass, open the backbox door, and access the memory clear button on the MPU itself).

Not sure when the 2nd button on the coin door was introduced, but I'm pretty sure my Meteor is considered "early" based on the S/N (and that they made just under 8,000 of these according to IPDB).

IMG_0778 (resized).JPG

My original playfield had that as well (I've since put in a CPR). Would be interesting to know if all 1-button Meteors also have that extra red screen printed layer and vice-versa.

cottonm4 & Pinball_Nate - FWIW, I appreciate and benefit from your open conversation.

So sorry to hear about your dad. Never let that Quicksilver go.

Here's a summary of my experience so far. Meteor is the only classic Stern I have, so this sampling is for just one machine:

Bricking
I would occasionally experience bricking with the 111/222/333 targets that were in the machine when I got it. They all looked beat up and were a mixture of tombstone (which I assume were original) and flattops. After replacing with Swinks/Shapeways, I RARELY have seen any bricking in those 111/222/333 banks....perhaps 3 or 4 times in 100 games.

The same can't be said for the METEOR bank. Even with Swinks in there, hard, head-on hits still brick fairly often. Glancing blows drop them fine. I have the lower power J-25-600 coil in that upper right flipper (J-25-500's in the lower left/right flipper) as specified in the Meteor manual. I'm thinking of going to an ever lesser powered coil for that upper right flipper to see if bricking is reduced....the flipper is so, so close to that drop target bank that it doesn't really need to be that powerful.

Targets Dropping on Reset
I'd get a few of these with the targets that were in the machine, but they were all really beat up and worn down. After replacing them temporarily with new flattops from Marco's, I didn't see this problem anymore (and I did put in new springs, too). Same since I've gone to Swinks. But.....I did have one annoying issue with the "M" target.

The "M" target would occasionally fall after reset...maybe once or twice every other game or two. I took out the target bank and tested (manually) on my bench by quickly lifting the reset bar. Out of 25 iterations, the "M" target fell 6 times (24% of the time). I spent about 4 hours going through the usual culprits:

- even tho the spring was new, I replaced it
- even tho the target was new, I replaced it with another new one AND when back to an original one that was still in decent shape
- looked really, really closely at the touch points of the target, finger, vibrations, etc to see if there were any differences between the "M" and the other working targets in the same bank.
- video taped the action and played it back in slow motion to see how the target was "losing its grip" on the finger and falling down. Nothing obvious.
- then I started checking the tension that the coil spring was providing the finger and noticed it had less "resistance" than the others. So I partially disassembled the target bank and had a closer look.

I noticed one thing different between the "M" target and the rest in that bank.....the memory coil spring's orientation looked different than the others. I swapped the spring around so that the spring was parallel to the bottom of the memory coil bracket. That seemed to provide more tension. I put everything back together and did another bench test. 25/25 iterations worked....target did not drop on the manual reset. I probably introduced this problem myself when I reassembled everything after cleaning it during the restoration.

This was last night - I put the target bank back in the pin and played a few games. The "M" no longer drops on reset! I plan on playing a dozen or so more games tonight and see if it holds up.

So, in summary:
- Swinks helped against bricking in most cases for me, but it's still an issue for the METEOR drop target bank. Will be trying a lower powered coil for that upper flipper.
- Put in new drop target springs whenever you can
- In the METEOR drop target bank, check the orientation of the memory coil spring and make sure it's parallel with the bottom of the coil bracket.
IMG_1072a (resized).jpgIMG_1073a (resized).jpg

cottonm4 - maybe this one is for you?

I'm at a loss and so beyond frustrated that this is starting to get comical for me. Just when I think I've got my drop target issues squared away on my Meteor restoration, another one pops up. I won't go into the details of all the drop target problems I've had to date and how I got around them - instead I'll just describe the current, and hopefully last, issue in front of me: The "M" target in the METEOR bank falls after an all-target-bank reset (all four drop target banks reset at once), the kind of reset that is done at the start of a new ball or new game.

The 111/222/333 banks work perfectly. No falling targets, no bricking. These banks are a slightly different design (non-memory, no coils, no bracket fingers for resting targets) than the METEOR bank.

With the METEOR bank on my bench, resetting the drop targets manually (as quickly as I can to mimic the coil reset) does not result in a fallen target 50 out of 50 times.

With the METEOR bank in the game, I can down all the targets 1 by 1 causing a reset to occur repeatedly over and over as depicted in the video - NO fallen targets.

However, after a ball drain (or start of game) where all four of the drop target banks get issued a reset at once, the "M" in the METEOR bank falls most of the time (and in the case of the video I recorded, the "R" also fell!). Since I'm running on the 2021 Meteor code, what you're seeing in the video at the start of a new ball are all the drop banks getting reset including the METEOR bank for the Skill Shot, the "M" target falling on its own to inadvertently complete the Skill Shot before the ball is launched, and the drop bank getting reset on its own with the "M" usually staying up after that and all subsquent downings until the start of the next ball.

Here's a video of what I'm talking about:

The sequence ("M" falls only when all of the target banks are reset at once but not when just the METEOR bank is reset) suggests that some sort of vibration is occurring when all the banks are reset at once causing the suspect "M" target to fall on its own. When the METEOR bank is reset on its own, the "M" rarely falls on its own. And on other rare occasions, the "R" target also falls down.

The METEOR bank has coils for memory so the hardware configuration is a bit different than the other three target banks (111/222/333) that never fail. One big difference is that in the METEOR bank, the drop targets rest on the coil bracket "finger" and not the playfield or target bank ledge.

Here's what I've done to try to find the culprit:
- I tried three different targets in the "M" spot (original tombstone, new Swinks tombstone, and new PBL flattop). All do the same.
- I tried two new springs and the original, older less-tensioned spring on the target.
- I swapped the memory coil bracket (which has the "finger" that the target rests on), bracket spring, target spring, and target itself from a "working" position (the first "E") with the "M". The falling target issue stayed with the "M" position and did not move with the target/spring/coil/bracket to the "E" position suggesting there is nothing wrong with the target, springs, coil or coil bracket.
- I tried putting a "riser" piece of metal on the reset bar that forces the drop targets to go higher on reset. With the drop target being forced to a higher position upon a bank reset, theoretically it gives more opportunity for the coil bracket finger to "spring" into position and catch the target on the way down from the reset.
- I moved the entire bank hardware back about an eighth of an inch on the playfield, filling in the old holes and drilling new ones, to provide more clearance between the target face and the edge of the playfield cutout. It wasn't until after I moved it that I realized the clearance/closeness of the target face to that playfield edge probably doesn't matter for this specific memory target bank because what's closest to the target face is the top, silver rod that is part of the bank assembly. In other words, the target can never come into contact with the front of that playfield cutout edge, but the target faces DO touch that silver rod. Pretty sure that's by design - targets that do not fall on their own also touch that silver rod. It's the same on my Eight Ball Deluxe - that 7 drop target bank (with memory and the same kind of target coil/bracket) also has that silver rod and the target faces are touching it in the up position

METEOR Bar - 2 (resized).jpg

I'm starting to run out of ideas - I've been working on this one problem for about a week, a couple of hours or so per night. Would appreciate any other ideas that folks may have!

METEOR Down - 2 (resized).jpg

METEOR Up - 2 (resized).jpg

I actually have the M going higher on purpose with an extra piece of metal attached to the reset bar thinking that if the target got more clearance on the way up, it would provide the memory coil bracket more of an opportunity to "spring" into place and hold the target. This theory is somewhat bore out but the fact of when that extra piece of metal is removed from the reset bar, the M falls more often (including when the METEOR bank is reset alone/by itself). I'm going to take a closer look at the reset bar but upon first look, there doesn't appear to be any slop or extra play.

It's a 16B-6. Original as far as I can tell.

That was an interesting video - thank you. One idea I got from it was to try perhaps a shorter target spring than what I'm using (the old original one that has very little tension and the new Marco replacements I put in during the resto). Also I'm going to take a closer look at the reset bar when it touches the bottom of the target arms to see if they're all making contact at the same time...perhaps there's an adjustment there that can be done.

Yes, it does it with the stock code too. I did the video with the 2021 Meteor code because it was easier to turn the sound down (I have an external amp driving a set of external speakers).

When I get some time later this afternoon, I'm going to try those few ideas above. If no improvements made, I'll take the bank out again and get multiple pictures from multiple angles while on the bench and then post.

Thank you all for your suggestions!

Damn...I thought maybe you were on to something here, Mad_Dog_Coin_Op - I checked my transformer and indeed it was wired for 115V. I moved the yellow wire from Lug 9 to Lug 5 for 120V, but the same drop target symptoms occur. Great idea, tho - thank you.

I've now made the problem worse by making the falling drops occur 100% of the time even when only the METEOR bank is getting reset by itself. Or perhaps this is better as with it failing every time now and randomly with every target in the METEOR bank, perhaps it'll be easier to isolate.

I made the problem worse by removing the hack I put in weeks ago....securing some metal strips on the reset bar where the bottom of the drop targets rest so that they're thrown higher during a reset allowing the memory coil bracket fingers better opportunity to engage and catch the target as it's coming down. With those metal strips in place, no falling targets except for the "M" on the all-banks reset (as depicted in the video). Without those metal strips in place on the reset bar, all METEOR targets randomly fall on reset whether it's the all-reset kind or just the METEOR bank.

I took the bank coil off and checked the coil stop....looks good. Thought maybe if it was mushroomed it might affect something, but it looks smooth, round, and solid. The plunger action is smooth, no resistance, tho the coil sleeve is the original metal kind (I tumbled it and ultrasonic cleaned it during the resto) but I could change it out to a modern plastic sleeve if anyone thinks that might help.

I took a bunch of pictures of the METEOR bank on my bench. Anyone see anything wrong? I did another 50 out of 50 resets successfully on the bench, no drops at all, pulling up the coil plunger to manually mimic what's going on in the pin. There is practically no play in the reset bar mechanism (no more than all my other SS pins).

I still have the bank on my bench if anyone wants to see a picture of something particular, like maybe the targets resting on the memory coil bracket fingers (I'll have to remove the top silver round bar to get a pic of that).

One thing I haven't tried yet is a shorter drop target spring for more tension....I don't have any. I'm toying with the idea of cutting down some new target springs to a smaller size, putting them on maybe 2 of the targets, and see how those 2 targets behave.

IMG_1089 (resized).JPG

IMG_1090 (resized).JPG

IMG_1091 (resized).JPG

IMG_1092 (resized).JPG

IMG_1093 (resized).JPG

IMG_1094 (resized).JPG

IMG_1095 (resized).JPG

IMG_1096 (resized).JPG

IMG_1097 (resized).JPG

IMG_1098 (resized).JPG

IMG_1099 (resized).JPG

IMG_1100 (resized).JPG

IMG_1101 (resized).JPG

IMG_1102 (resized).JPG

IMG_1103 (resized).JPG

IMG_1104 (resized).JPG

IMG_1105 (resized).JPG

IMG_1106 (resized).JPG

slochar - would you consider this excessive play? It's about the same as all the DT's in the pin (including the 111/222/333 banks that all work perfectly).

Where exactly does that bushing go on the link? Do you by chance have a picture of it installed on your F2K?
Target Link (resized).jpg

Do you put one just where the drop target meets the 1A-491 or also at the other end of the 1A-491 that meets the 2A-225-3 rod?

Not any more. In my original video above, only the M and occasionally the R would drop when all 4 drop target banks were reset but would consistently work when it was just the METEOR bank reset. Since then I've made things worse (by removing a hack on the bank's reset bar lifts the targets higher) and now all of targets in the METEOR bank drop randomly on a reset no matter of it's all the drop target banks being reset at once or just the METEOR bank.

Manual reset testing still works ok on my bench. Normally I'd think "move the drop target back backward on the playfield about an 1/8" so that the drop target face doesn't bounce off the playfield cutout on reset" but it looks back far enough now. Especially since the silver bar on the DT assembly prevents the drop target face from touching the playfield cut out anyway.
METEOR Up (resized).JPG

Even tho I got the same "dropping M" problem with three different targets (original tombstone, Swinks repro tombstone, and PBL repro flattop) I'm thinking of putting all of the PBL repros back in along with the reset bar height hack I did and re-baseline where I'm at now. With that configuration, I had over a 100 games played with no drops but a heck of a lot of bricking. But if I can get back to that level of operation, I can try this again one step at a time instead of making multiple changes at once and see where it goes off the rails.

I think my long drop target bank saga has come to an end today! If you're not familiar with the issues I posted in this thread about my Meteor five-drop-target bank over the last few weeks, here's a brief summary:

After swapping out the PBL flattop METEOR targets with Swinks tombstones (which look so much nicer....tombstone targets in all 111/222/333/METEOR banks!), I had a multitude of issues - bricking, randomly falling targets, and the M (and sometimes L) target ALWAYS falling on the first reset but never the second. It was baffling.

Along the way, I dissembled and reassembled the target bank two dozen times. I tried different size and tension springs. I tried the original drop targets, PBL repros, and Swink repros. I shimmed the reset bar so that the drop targets would get more height, clear the memory coil fingers, and grab them on the way down. In an experiment with a donor drop target, I shaved away and made more level the drop target lip that rests on the memory coil finger. I moved memory coil bracket/fingers around, seeing if problems followed the brackets or stay in the position. I tried different springs and orientations of the springs on the coil brackets. I filled in the playfield mounting holes and re-drilled new ones, moving the bank around, 3 times. I replaced the coil stop even tho the one in the target bank looked ok. I added a bushing to the plunger linkage to the reset bar even tho it looked circular/round, and not oval-like after years of use.

Here are the things that made a difference, and three of the four came from you guys in this thread:

Bricking
I was hoping that simply replacing the repro flattop targets with Swink tombstones would make the bricking go away on the METEOR bank. It did on the three 111/222/333 banks. But the METEOR bank continued to brick an awful lot...so much so, I was close to putting in a less powerful coil for the upper flipper to see if that would help. In the end, it was cottonm4 's advice to move the target bank forward, and not be so close to the rear rubbers, that seems to have done the trick. I've played only a small sample of games (10 so far), but not one brick. Normally, I'd get several bricks per ball. Nice.

More Power!
Mad_Dog_Coin_Op suggested that my pin might be set up for 115v instead of 120v and perhaps the extra 5v would help reset the target bank better/higher/faster/etc. His guess that the transformer might be wired for 115v was right! And I never noticed! I rewired it for 120v. While that didn't resolve the drop target issue, there was an unexpected benefit from doing that...the slings and pop bumper seem a bit more "peppy" now.

Randomly Falling Targets
I must've fiddled with adjusting the reset bar a couple dozen times, shimming it, not shimming it, making sure it's not bent, etc. etc. In the end, it was sethbenjamin 's advice to clamp the plunger in the pulled in / up position and adjust the reset bar from there with the targets at a tiny height above the memory coil fingers (instead of adjusting the bar will everything is at rest) that did it. No more randomly falling targets on a reset, but I STILL had one target that would occasionally fall on the first reset, but not subsequent ones.

Single Drop Target Falling
This one really vexed me, especially since it seemed like it could be software related given it's consistency (and with the targets resetting and staying up 100% of the time during bench tests and every reset in the game after the first one). Knowing the answer now, it totally makes sense. And I didn't stumble across this until a few hours ago.

When I finished the restoration in early December, I replaced the leaf switches for the three rollover inserts with MRS (magnetic reed switches). They worked great for >100 games. With the old leaf switches, no matter how I adjusted the tension, the ball would always change direction rolling over the star insert...it was just too stiff. I xacto'd out a lot of clearcoat from the playfield star cuts of the CPR repro, but it's still pretty stiff. Anyway....I got rid of the leaf switches, put in three MRS's, and the ball rolls over the star insert like butter and registers for score every time without the ball changing trajectory.

Well...I was going thru the pin's self-test today to ID some lamps that needed to be changed and I went too far and got into the switch test, and "38" was listed as closed. "38" is the top right rollover. Then it dawned on me - that rollover can also, when lit, DROP A SINGLE TARGET IN THE METEOR BANK. I cut one of the wires for that MRS and the "38" went to "0". That MRS was shorted and the switch was constantly registering as engaged/closed.

So....at the start of game and start of ball (with the new METEOR 2021 code), the METEOR target bank resets and starts Skill Shot mode. Then the broken rollover MRS switch signal is sent....if that rollover was lit (and it usually is at start of game or ball), a drop target falls. That marks the end of the Skill Shot mode and the METEOR bank is reset again, and they all stay up because that rollover light is no longer lit and the fact that it's closed does nothing!

New MRS switch is on the way and in the meantime I put the original leaf switch back in temporarily. What a relief to have this issue dealt with....it's been plaguing me for weeks!

Thank you to everyone for their input and suggestions....

BTW - with this drop target business behind me now, here's the next mod I'm considering doing on my Meteor:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/meteor-2021-new-code-for-stern-meteor-1979/page/6#post-6742784

Thanx for the clarification, @cottonm4, regarding the moving of the posts vs. the entire bank assembly - you're absolutely right. I should've been more clear in my solution as well but I was just too damn excited that I got it working.

In one of the overhead videos I took, I noticed that the back of the target would indeed occasionally make contact with the thicker-than-OEM-rubber on hard hits and likely contribute to the bricking. I could have moved the post(s) back slightly like your example, but I had another issue - I had removed and reinstalled the drop target bank so many times, that 3 of the 4 mounting holes were getting rather bore out and I was no longer able to tighten them as securely as I'd like. So I was going to have to fill in the holes and re-drill new ones anyway, so why not move the target bank forward slightly and leave the posts alone. In my case, this drop target bank has memory coils and there's a little bar across the top the assembly that barely touches the face of the targets, and that bar prevents the drop target faces from coming into contact with the playfield cutout. I had a little room to move forward, and it worked. Thanks again for the assist and getting me to think about the rubber-bounce-back as a contributing factor to bricking!

I'm a few hours into this problem and I'm at my wit's end. Hoping someone can point out or suggest something I've missed.

The right flipper is chattering/machine-gunning on my Stern Meteor when holding in the flipper button. I finished restoring this machine a few months ago and it's been playing great. Part of the restore was of course rebuilding all of the flippers, so I've got new parts in there for everything. Here's what I've tried to eliminate the chattering:

1 - First thing to think of is gap issues in the flipper switch, including EOS. But they seem fine to me (see pix).

2 - Second usually-obvious thing is the coil hold winding not energizing because of a busted/disconnected thin red wire. I tried two more new coils and it didn't eliminate the chatter. And they ohm out ok.

3 - I would also suspect a busted diode on the coil, but I think #2 above eliminates that - three different coils tried and the flipper still chatters.

4 - I swapped coils and coil stops with the working left flipper assembly. The chatter stayed with the right flipper, so it's not the coil stop or the coil.

5 - Even tho the flipper assembly leaf switches are brand new (4 months old, maybe 150 games), I cleaned them with the business card trick. Still chatters.

6 - I reverted the flipper assembly leaf switches back to the older ones I had removed during the restore, cleaned them up, but it still chatters.

7 - I swapped out the OEM SDB with my spare Alltek SDB thinking maybe, albeit remote, that the relay on the SDB was flaking out and causing the chatter. Flipper chatter remains.

8 - I disconnected the upper right flipper from the pin to isolate the lower right chattering flipper and make the circuit simpler.....flipper chatter remains.

9 - I alligator-clipped the flipper button wires on the cabinet to bypass and eliminate the leaf switch assembly for the cabinet flipper button. Touching and holding those alligator clips together still causes the flipper chatter.

What am I missing here?

IMG_1181 (resized).jpg

IMG_1183 (resized).jpg

IMG_1184 (resized).jpg

IMG_1185 (resized).jpg

IMG_1186 (resized).jpg

After looking at the picture after I took it, I thought the same thing. I bent it upward so it's touching in the rest position, but there was still chatter.

I decided to remove the whole flipper assembly, take everything apart, and put it back together again with the original bottom leaf switch (basically a flipper rebuild using the same parts). File this one under "I just don't know"....after doing that, the chatter is gone. Only thing I could think of is maybe a cold solder joint on the upper leaf switch? Up to the disassembly, that was the only thing I hadn't unsoldered and resoldered yet.

Back up and running, but I'm not exactly sure why. I hate that.

IMG_1187 (resized).jpg

The shaft/rods are just that...rods. You can make your own if you need to as the only thing special about them is the groove on either end to hold the e-clips and those e-clips are redundant - the reset bar secures itself to the rod with the set screws.

I had to do this for the METEOR drop target bank in my machine (6 targets....I could find repro rods only up to 5 targets). The original rod for my METEOR bank was slightly bent on the ends after years of abuse and would occasionally cause the end targets to intermittently fall on reset. Found the same 1/4" diameter rod at Home Depot for $3 (4 feet), cut it down to the right length, and put it in the bank without the e-clips. Works like a champ.....thanks to slochar for that idea.

The X-Pin is the only power supply board I've used that isn't OEM so I can't offer an opinion on the Alltek, BD, or PBL but I will say I do like the X-Pin. In particular:

1 - the LEDs behind the fuses let you know if your fuse is blown without having to take it out and put it on a meter.
2 - the "no soldering needed" push button terminal insertion connectors for the transformer wires. Some people don't like them, but I think they're great (and convenient). I don't mind doing the solder work, but being able to remove and reinstall wires easily makes any future maintenance a breeze. And after hundreds of games, I've to yet experience a wire "falling out" of the connector.

The only negative thing I'll say is that those push button terminal insertions connectors do prevent you from putting on the OEM plastic shield, but that was no big deal for me.

3 - After (resized).jpg

That's from a Bally Parts Catalog. Lots of parts listed are similar and/or suitable for early Sterns. That PDF, and a lot of other useful tidbits, can be found on the Bally/Stern Pinwiki: https://pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Bally/Stern

I've done x5 backboxes like this....no issues for me. Conducts just fine with my DMM / bench supply tests.

YMMV. When installing the mounting brackets in the backbox, I put a washer between the bracket and the shielding.

IMG_1546 (resized).jpg

Here's mine. When I got my Meteor project, the standup target would register only on soft hits/glancing blows, never a hard direct hit. I added the cap during my restoration and 2021 update, and it registers all hits 100% of the time now.

Looks like your cap is not in the correct position so it's acting like it's not there. Move it to correct leg and it'll probably work.
Stand Up Target (resized).jpg

Non-banded side to lug White w/ Red wire, banded side to middle lug w/ no wire.

Maybe this'll help? From the 1981 Stern Parts Catalog....

Early Stern Pop Bumper Assembly (1981 Parts Catalog) (resized).jpg

A problem started occurring on my Meteor last night that I've not encountered before and I'm looking for some guidance.

I restored this machine 6 months / ~200 games ago and I haven't had the glass off or the backbox open since March till last night when I noticed this behavior.

Meteor has 6 switches that will spot (drop) a drop target in the METEOR bank if the corresponding switch lamp is lit:

Upper Rollover
Middle Rollover
Lower Rollover
Stand-Up Target
Left Return Lane
Right Return Lane

The problem is with the Left Return Lane. When the SPOT TARGET light is off, the switch registers correctly and awards 500 points. When the SPOT TARGET light is on, the switch still registers 500 points and does NOT drop one of the METEOR drop targets. The Right Return Lane, along with all of the others besides the Left Return Lane, operate normally with the correct points (500 with the SPOT TARGET lamp off) and dropping a METEOR target if the lamp is lit (and awarding 2000 points).

Here's the kicker: If the Right Return Lane SPOT TARGET lamp is lit, and the Left Return Lane SPOT TARGET lamp is NOT lit, and you roll over the Left Return Lane switch, a METEOR target will drop and the score achieved is 2000. As if the Left Return Lane SPOT TARGET lamp was lit.

So mechanically, everything seems to work so I'm not suspecting any wiring or connector issues. Which leaves some sort of logic problem. Not sure where to start? Note: the MPU is a one-year old Alltek.

Thanks in advance for any advice....

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:
Return Lane Truth Table (resized).jpg

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.

Ya, it was worth a try, but no change in behavior after clearing. I still have the original MPU for this Meteor but it has some reset issues that I haven't fixed yet. It does come up sometimes - maybe I'll try swapping it in and in one of the times it actually boots to attract mode, I'll see if I still have the LRT Spot Target issue.

Got it. Wires for both the LRL and RRL route back to the top left 3 drop target bank (middle and lower targets). I found a small screw lodged in that switch bank shorting the W-G I4 wire. I haven't found where the screw came from yet, but vibrations from the last 6 months of playing must've shook it loose from somewhere. I'll look more closely in the morning.

System is behaving correctly now. Thank you for switch test suggestion, @slochar!

When I restored my Meteor, I put the coin slot credit switch (normally at the bottom of the coin mech) at the top of the coin mech and aligned it with the coin reject button. All you have to do is press the coin reject button on the front of the coin door and rack up credits at will. And it looks "factory".

Coin Reject Credit Button (resized).jpg

t (resized).jpg

x (resized).JPG

I'm all for DYI, but when it comes to striped wire I'd prefer not to do that myself.

.25/foot (18 AWG) and .22/foot (22 AWG) with volume discounts for 10', 25', 50', 100', and higher. Pretty much every color combo you need (and solids of course).

https://wirebot.xyz/collections/18-awg-wire

Give this video a watch - it set me on the right path when I first got into re-pinning Molex connectors.

Magadovski - hands down the best affordable crimper tool out there IMO: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OMM4YUY

Looks great, nice job! The biggest complaint on have on the CPR Meteor is the post between the flippers.....dead center with the artwork and flippers on the OEM, and off-center with the flippers on the CPR. I have an early run of the CPR Meteor (the one where they "forgot" the score value artwork in front of the METEOR drop target bank) and my post is so far off center with the flippers that the ball would get trapped between it and the right flipper at rest. I had to fill in the hole CPR put for the post and then drill my own equidistant between the flippers ends. I used a black washer between the post and the playfield to cover up the filled-in original hole.

Can't complain too much - I bought my unused first-run CPR Meteor playfield for $100 (and local, so no shipping either!). Despite the extra work that went into fixing some things on that playfield, I'm very happy - plays as or better than new.
0 - Ball Stuck Right (resized).jpg02 (resized).jpg04 (resized).jpg11 (resized).JPG

Congrats! Here's another Stingray I recently saw on TV (the custom fish tank build show "Tanked!" on Animal Planet). This guy took the aquatic theme a little too far....

Tanked Stingray 06 (resized).jpg

I put one of these in the Meteor I restored - very pleased with it:

DS18 PRO-GM6.4 Loudspeaker - 6.5", Midrange, Black Steel Basket, 480W Max, 140W RMS, 4 Ohms

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082WHZPQN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title

Swinks - info on availability and ordering if you don't already have this link:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stern-tombstone-drop-targets-13a-11-any-interest

What method did you use to strip the paint? I've had a couple of aprons powder coated and the guy media blasted them beforehand, but for my next apron I think I'm just going to paint it myself. Did you chemically strip the old paint off, sand it off, media blast, or other?

Take a closer look at the pop bumper switch stack and compare the one in question to the other ones that have the skirts sitting at the desired height....see if they have the same amount of spacers (and if the spacers are the same size). If you remove some spacers in the stack, or replace thicker ones with thinner ones, it'll make the spoon closer to the bottom of the playfield and more snug contact with the skirt.

If all of your pop bumper switch stacks are exactly the same in terms of spacers and size and where the spoon is, something else is going on.

pop bumper switch stack (resized).jpg

Just bought a can from Amazon - thanks for the lead!

I picked up some G-31-2000's recently from Marco's.

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/G-31-2000
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/G-31-1800

Where did you find this? I haven't found any classic SS (reasonably priced players or even projects) within a 60 mile radius for months. Congrats on the score!

The three times I've seen this on my SS pins in the past, it's been a blown transistor on the lamp board each time.

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

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.
IMG_0337 (resized).JPG

I second that.

Wave Trigger Board
IMG_0956 (resized).jpg

Output runs to small amp attached to the back of the head unit
IMG_0957 (resized).jpg

And the amp drives the "rock" speakers on top of the head unit
IMG_4380 (resized).jpg

Easily switch back to OEM code and a single speaker in the cab
IMG_0962 (resized).jpg

With the 2021 Code and a wave trigger board, you get "left to right" and "right to left" stereo sound effects which is pretty cool on top of the everything else. I haven't added a sub yet, but will.

Yes - when you're in the OEM mode (the pair of jumper stakes labeled "Switch" empty/no jumper on the Arduino), sound goes thru the original sound board and to the cabinet speaker. When that set of Switch jumper stakes is "on" (jumper installed), sound goes thru the wave trigger and out to your amp/speakers. Instead of a jumper, I wired up a single-throw switch to the front of the cabinet. The twisted Blue and Yellow wires is tucked into the cabinet wire harness, runs back to the Arduino in head box, and plugs into the "Switch" jumper stakes.
4 - After (resized).jpg
1 - Arduino (resized).jpg

Parts & Tools used:
0 - Tools (resized).jpg

Not pictured above - the actual switch. Here's what I used: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QGDDTWJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title

I'd never heard of FreeFall until your post. Just watched some gameplay of Yopp's restore on YouTube....now I want a project one! Added to my wish list...

Another thing I've come across in the past, and this is akin to @dothedoo's wiring comment above, is pay attention to the bands on the two diodes on the coil. Are they in the same direction on the new coil vs. the old coil? I've seen coils where operators put diodes in themselves backwards, wired it as such, and it works. If the diodes were backwards on your old coil and you soldered the wires to the same lug locations by following your old coil, blammo.

Since we're on the subject of wood cabinets, I just did this today as I started a new project (1979 Williams Flash, but this technique can apply to any cabinet). The rear of the lower cabinet has seen better days with the bottom edge of the MDF panel worn and chipped away along with the supporting wood edge for the floor. I don't have the skills or tools to replace whole panels, so for me it's Bondo to the rescue. I've tried resin the past but I don't have the technique down yet and my results have been middling. I'm trying to get this cabinet fixed and painted before the Colorado winter rolls in, and then I can spend the holiday season doing the playfield swap. So for now, I'm going with what I know....Bondo.

Here's what I started with:
IMG_4939 (resized).JPG

Added a strip of wood with Titebond wood glue to support the floor and to serve as something for the Bondo filler to grab onto.
IMG_4945 (resized).JPG

Slapped on some Bondo and filled in the cavities.
IMG_4950 (resized).JPG

Got off the excess Bondo and shaped the edges with a sanding block.
IMG_4954 (resized).JPG

Still need to feather in some edges when I get the cabinet ready for primer and paint, but the repair job is pretty smooth now after shaping. And it's strong as hell. Got other damage on the cabinet to address before sanding it down and prepping for primer/paint, but they're all minor compared to this.

Total time for this repair, including glue and Bondo curing time plus sanding: about 4hrs this afternoon. Cost: about $3

That might be interesting if I encounter a totally blown out classic Stern. Do you know how much those are? The website has only pricing info for light panels ($250/ea). I can only imagine what they're getting for an entire cab.

Anyway, my current project is Flash so those cabs are a no-go anyway. I took care of the last of the major cab damage today - a waterlogged MDF panel on the back of the backbox (and it really bulged out at the bottom....about 1/4"). $85 for the plywood and about 3hrs of work. Need to fill in some edge gaps with wood epoxy - will probably do that tonight. Unfortunately when drilling out the vent holes a bit of the upper layer ply peeled off under a couple of holes. I may or may not fill that in with wood epoxy....the interior shielding will cover that just fine.

IMG_4780 (resized).JPG

IMG_4989 (resized).jpg

IMG_4988 (resized).jpg

It was 4 x 6 at Lowes. I'm using the leftover plywood for something else.

Thanks, @gdonovan. Your classic Stern apron decal set is just the finishing touch my powder-coated-custom-Meteor-apron-with-a-video-screen needed to complete the job.

IMG_4681 (resized).jpg

IMG_5038 (resized).jpg

IMG_5042 (resized).jpg

Thanks! I use the screen to loop a video showing the extended rule set in the fantastic Meteor 2021 Code Update by @DickHamill. I've got my Meteor set up with a switch to go back and forth between the original 1979 OEM code and the 2021 code running on the Arduino board mod. The 2021 Code Update has a much more complex and deeper rule set vs. the OEM code and it just won't fit on a standard rules card, so I thought "why not video?". In addition, the new sound effects (which are in stereo coming through the rock/meteor speaks on top of the cab) are much more engaging. I switch back to the 1979 code once in a while for nostalgia (which puts the original OEM sounds thru the speaker mounted in the bottom of the cab interior), but the family keeps the Meteor on the 2021 code about 95% of the time. It's just so much more fun.

3 - After (resized).jpg

DickHamill expressed an interest to me after seeing my video mod a while back of writing some code for his Arduino mod that would interact with the screen (like putting up stats). For example, the 2021 Code Update awards a bonus when you achieve 100 spins on the spinner. When the spinner spins, the current spin count is briefly displayed in the credit window display. That stat could be displayed on the apron screen. Stuff like that.

I played around with injecting different clips from the movie into the looping video, but it really is just a bad film and having it randomly play a clip pulled away from the original intent of displaying the new code rules. Plus which, I haven't hooked up any sound capabilities for getting to the speakers from the video screen / RasPi as a source so silent film clips wouldn't be that interesting.

Here's the video currently playing on the apron. I'll be taking this pin to the Rocky Mountain Pinball Showdown in the Denver area next week.

Hey! That red looks familiar!

IMG_5038 (resized).jpg

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/12A-283
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/12A-144
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/12A-143

Also if you're not a fan of Marco's:
https://www.phoenixarcade.com/products/stern/stern-coin-door-decal

My Meteor restore used all Alltek boards (MPU, Lamp, etc) and while most of the control LEDs performed well with no flicker, I still had to add resistors to a few.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/1979-stern-meteor-project/page/4#post-6612948

OEM Meteors are orange. I had you do mine in red to match the red powder coating I did on the legs, side rails, and lockdown bar of my custom restoration.

Mantis makes one: https://mantispinball.com/pinball-parts/stern/stern-ball-guide/

I'm not familiar with the barakandl MPU....is there a "clear NVRAM" or similar function? When I've come across similar behavior on Allteks, clearing the Alltek memory (setting a dipswitch to the "Clear" value, powering on then off, then returning the dipswitch to the previous setting) usually works for me.

Resetting the MPU and clearing the memory are two different things. I looked up the board - see the switch settings below to clear the memory. Here's a link to the full PDF:

https://nvram.weebly.com/uploads/5/4/2/5/54255141/bally.combo.2023.12.03.pdf

b-mpu (resized).jpg