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Stern Electronics, 1980
Big Game
Stern Electronics, 1980
Catacomb
Stern Electronics, 1981
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Stern Electronics, 1980
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Stern Electronics, 1979
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Stern Electronics, 1979
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Stern Electronics, 1981
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Stern Electronics, 1980You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider rcbrown316.
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Quoted from NimblePin:You can make ANY classic Stern/Bally/Williams/Gottlieb/etc.. play this way (SS or EM) if you really take the time to shop everything properly, crank the levelers up, omit a few posts and wax it up to a mirror finish.
Even the supposed “pedestrian” Galaxy can become an unrollable tourney killer if the above is done.
This is why the classics are called “classics”, and why owners of said classics (in this case Stern) are reluctant to sell.
Pure Pinball bliss.
hell yes
Here's an alternative I will use again. When I restored Galaxy the spinner was hammered. Not a big fan of decals. I just stripped the paint, wet sanded and buffed it to a mirror finish. Still looks great.
Quoted from GorillaBiscuits:Ah man, my Cheetah has the blue border one. The horror... I'm throwing it off a bridge ASAP!
Does anybody have a recommended source for the clear one with the right justified type? My Stars coin door is bare and could use one, and I'll prob update Cheetah as well.
Can you tell me what bridge and your eta?
Quoted from lightingnut:I am replacing some of my cracked red plastic post on my sling shots on my F2K One will not come off. The nut will not come off the top and goes about halfway and then sticks then starts turned the steal post that holds the plastic most. So how do I get the nut off? The steel post has no slot for a screw driver. Do I break off the plastic post cover and use vise grips to hold the screw that goes into the playfield then hope I can get the nut back on?
You need to grip the nut thread right below the plastic with a pair of needle nose and hold it firm while you turn the nut driver. Take your time and try to use the very end of the pliers only. And be careful not to scratch the underside of the plastic where it's printed
Quoted from djblouw:Wow, someone is going to have a good time with pf swaps!
cant be that hard right? 
Quoted from msarac:I just tuned my QS spinners this afternoon.
1) I'm using the spinners from PBR as well as the longer rods, and rather than trying to find the perfect cut/bend point I just 3D printed a spacer to lift the switch to roughly the correct height, and adjusted the leaves from there. The key is to get the two contacts just touching at the top of the spinner's stroke, so that the leaf attached to the rod just barely bends the other leaf. Too much bending and you're robbing energy.
2) Zoom-Spout Turbine Oil. I apply just enough to wet the wire where it leaves the bracket, work the spinner back and forth horizontally, and of course rotate it a few times. Then blot any excess oil with a paper towel - you want to leave a film but no standing oil. Repeat for the other side, and where the rod meets the spinner arm.
3) It's not so much the relative tightness of the screws, its what tightening the screws does to the plumb of the bracket. Saw that myself today, where a spinner that was zipping while I holding the bracket would bind up after I installed it. Found that it had been pulled out of square by the screw, so I backed it off and held the bracket tight while locking the screw down. Also make sure there is no wobble on the ends of the wire - use pliers to straighten. I always take the spinner wire to the buffer to remove any paint and smooth it till it shines, figuring that would remove a tiny bit of friction as well.
Spot on. Everything.right down to wiping that zoom spout oil off the bottom of the pf glass about a week after you do all of this 
Quoted from msarac:I must be stingy with my oil as I've never had that happen. I'll try to do better!
I thought spinner tuning was an art, but here comes Cotton with some hard science! Sweet I'm reaching for my calipers now, but I've always read that the bottom of the spinner should be leaning slightly away from the flippers. Do you adjust yours to be exactly perpendicular to the playfield? Have you found that to improve performance at all?
I think we should have a spin-off. I take great pride in my spinners. I also think it's the primary reason I loves sterns. Gotta got dig out the camcorder at some point.
Quoted from cottonm4:Someday I may have one for sale. Someday.
But this is the brick wall you are running into. Until these play fields are put together, we are hoarding parts
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All reproduction playfields likely to be paired with all original aprons...because there are no aftermarket aprons?
Quoted from sethbenjamin:Long time sys 11 guy here, more recently converted to classic Stern lover; picked up Galaxy this January, sold my Diner and purchased Stars and a project Lightning with the proceeds. So far I’m really enjoying Galaxy and Stars, Lightning hasn’t been started in on just yet (kinda hoping somebody makes a repro playfield, but otherwise will restore.)
My question to this group at the moment is, what is it about classic Stern flippers which makes dead flipper passes so iffy? Unless the ball is really moving, many times allowing it to bounce over just makes it kind of die and drain SDTM. This doesn’t happen on the system 9 and 11 Williams games I’m more familiar with, or on the 90s pins I have worked on. Is it the “extra weight” of having a metal plate in the flipper body, making it less “live”? I really love the games, have yet to play a classic stern O didn’t enjoy, but it does require an adjustment in the “feel” of playing. Anyone have any insights on this?
Could it be the somewhat more declined angle of the flipper bat when you align it with the alignment pin? When I first got my early sterns I thought it looked odd so I would adjust the bats to align with the inlane ball guide. I learned over time that it's critical to align with the pins to be able to make all the shots.
Do any of you guys have experience with the see-saw on Split Second? it's not settling back down all the way and de-actuating the switch which is also causing issues with the spinner not registering. I found the mech to be a little odd with the spoon switch and gravity appearing to be the only method of making sure it's in the right position. I am thinking I might just put a small magnet on the bottom since it's so close to working correctly. Any advice will be greeatly appreciated.
RB
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Quoted from GRUMPY:The spring plate is upside down (green line) when flipped over it will hold the stack to the play field better. Add more spacers (blue line) to lower the stack from the play field until the see-saw is down correctly, then readjust the contacts so it is open when down.
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Thanks grumpster. Seems pretty simple right? changing the spring plate around had the opposite effect I was looking for but i havent added a spacer to the bottom yet. Should i take one off the top of the stack and put it under the spoon closer to the PF or just find another and add it? the see saw is so well balanced that just the tiniest of presssure changes the switch state. I think some type off weight fell off the assembly. I did add a two little pieces of magnet which definitely helped it rock back up into the open position but i have to go monkey with it more.
20210507_130638 (resized).jpg20210507_130701 (resized).jpg20210507_131049 (resized).jpg20210507_131105 (resized).jpgQuoted from cottonm4:How is the switch spoon activated?
the theory of operation is when the see saw is in the up/resting position it depresses the spoon which keeps the contact open. when the ball rolls down it releases the spoon and the leaf switches make contact.
Quoted from GRUMPY:Ok so you need to adjust the switch opposite from my last post, shouldn't be a big deal.
With all yours games you have never replaced a stack switch? You are supposed to save the fiber spacers for just this instance. I you don't have any I can mail you some.
haha I have plenty of this stuff around. I also have a nice bin full of shit leftover from my shadow parts-shotgunning extravaganza you helped me out with years ago
Quoted from cottonm4:Can you add a couple of pieces of duct tape to the bottom of the see-saw to help push the actuator rod down?
Let me ask this: I am assuming the spring has something to do with holding the see-saw down. Can that spring be tweaked?
When I first took a look at it I thought the same thing and was gonna start wrenching on the spring but its function appears to be the opposite of what I (we) thought. Rather than being tensioned to lift the see saw back into place it is used to prevent the two rails from hitting the lower PF as the ball rolls down. There is also a peice of mylar where the ball hits the lower PF. That is the only mylar in the game. It all makes sense. I think I have it solved by addding the counter balance weight now. There enough weight to hold the spoon down and enough tension on the spoon to move up when the ball passes over the see saw and removes the weight. That little hook were I added the weight leads me to believe there was once a spring there. Here a link to the video of the action.
Quoted from rcbrown316:When I first took a look at it I thought the same thing and was gonna start wrenching on the spring but its function appears to be the opposite of what I (we) thought. Rather than being tensioned to lift the see saw back into place it is used to prevent the two rails from hitting the lower PF as the ball rolls down. There is also a peice of mylar where the ball hits the lower PF. That is the only mylar in the game. It all makes sense. I think I have it solved by addding the counter balance weight now. There enough weight to hold the spoon down and enough tension on the spoon to move up when the ball passes over the see saw and removes the weight. That little hook were I added the weight leads me to believe there was once a spring there. Here's a link to a video of the action:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/3gYMEDm8y4jvMY8E8
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Spinner time. I did a quick search but can't seem to locate the thread where you guys were talking about spinners. Must be in one of the game specific threads. I have plenty of classic sterns and the spinners are all balanced and tuned to perfection. What is up with this thing? I have removed all outside factors/influences and it still ends up upside down. Do I need to reverse the switch stack for this particular one or should i toss it in the garbage can? I can see getting the performance I am used to by reversing the stack.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/wkSVd8JcVftJxUdx6
Here's a new one I had laying around:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/CMohXMAa2oEESJKD8
Progress being made on Split Second. I can normally get a new pickup done and into the game room in about 15 work hours but while in very nice condition, this game is loaded with issues. Going to stop short of clearing PF & painting cabinet for now as they are both in nice condition. I also don't know if I will like this game enough to go that far. If I end up doing that i will refinish the mechs under the PF while I'm at it.
Complete:
-Factory legs stripped, primed, repainted
-See-saw problem solved
-Spinner issue solved: old spinner was weighted upside down. Had new white-painted spinner in stock. Stripped paint, wet sanded and buffed. I hate decals.
-Flippers rebuilt
-Slings disassembled cleaned (plungers degreased and polished), new sleeves, kicker arms polished
-Kick out assembly disassembled cleaned re-sleeved (more greased plungers)
-Pops disassembled cleaned (plungers degreased and polished)re-socketed with #555's
-1smd natural white leds in GI
-2smd color matching in feature lamps-
-Seigecraft led adapters installed
-New connectors on PS to solve feature light issues
-PF stripped, screws, lane guides ultrasonic cleaned and tumbled
-PF and star posts cleaned
Still left in the workflow:
-New remote battery holder
-Replace about 10-15 G.I & feature lamp sockets. Quite a few issues here. This game has a TON of lights compared to every other classic stern I have done. I have most working temporarily but we know that won't last.
-Recap SB 300
-Secure grounds between lower cabinet and back box electronics
-New line cord with ground-ordered
-New drop targets-ordered
-New pop caps-ordered
-new flipper bats-ordered
-new beehive-back ordered but the existing one isn't too bad
-cleaned, wet sanded and buffed shooter rod & barrel spring
-3 balls fresh out of the tumbler
-New rubbers
-Flatten a few plastics
-Polish/buff reinstall ramps and sheet metal ball guides. There a lot of metal here. This is going to look pretty good when complete.
-Remove/repaint coin door
-Wet sand & buff lock bar
-Wax PF
-Reinstall all plastics with tumbled acorn nuts & washers
-LED backbox lighting
-a few surprise accents...TBD
I think I needed to post this to get my mind straight and realize that I am indeed making progress. This will also be excellent preparation for the next project...seawitch PF swap and full restoration.
RB
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Quoted from bigguybbr:I'm running into the same snag with my Meteor refurb that I just picked up a couple of days ago. It doesn't appear that I can find a replacement for my chewed up apron that someone went at with a window scraper to get off a sticker, and decals don't appear to be available either. I'm really hoping I don't have to make my own water transfer, because the quality never seems to be good enough, especially for something that sits so close to the player.
On another note, are there any direct swap lockdown bars available? Mine has a deep enough gouge in the front that I don't think I can sand out.[quoted image]
I am interested in apron solutions too. The apron on the seawitch I am about to restore is shot.
Quoted from Quench:First suspect is the F4 solenoid fuse on the rectifier board.
I just had to replace the 8-pin connector on that board on split second and suspect I will need to redo the others as well.
RB
Quoted from Mad_Dog_Coin_Op:Hello all - I have been trying to find a solution for the old Stern apron decals since our only option died with Pinball Resescue going out of business. I called in a favor and I'll report back the results. Here is my newly powdercoated Seawitch apron. I just sent it off to a silkscreen contact I have to get the art silkscreened directly on the apron. Fingers crossed.
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whats wrong with that old one under the plastic? it looks way better than mine. I'd be interested possibly buying that or the new one if you are not happy with it.
Quoted from cottonm4:Every village needs idiot. That would be me. I looked to make sure everything was clear of the copper when putting this together. The T-nuts were added at a later time and I walked right passed that one.
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If you were local, I would buy you, or you and your wife, dinner. I cannot thank you enough for hanging with me on this.
Now, I just have to figure out why I have 3 dead switches on the ST1 string.No. Idiot moves, like snakes, seem to travel in pairs. When I added the blue feature wires back into the connector at the rectifier board, I managed to plug one of the blue wire into the J-1- J2 position. It was supposed to be in the J1-J3 pin position.
Now, I think I will slink away for awhile and try to gather my fallen pride back up fromDing ding ding!
That T-Nut is electrically connected to the spinners leaf switch through the whole spinner assembly.
you are THE MAN!
Quoted from rcbrown316:
"so the top of the foil tape is non conductive I'm guessing? It seems like whether it is or isnt this method would provide lots of opportunity for shorts due to unwanted contact with other components, screws etc."
"The copper foil tape is highly conductive. It is copper. You need to be aware of where every part sits on the play field."
Sorry man...couldn't resist. Just know that as I was following along I sincerely felt bad about all the headaches you were suffering after doing all of this amazing work and taking the time to share with the group. As hoakypoaky mentioned you have taught us a valuable lesson. Don't worry. I am about to begin the process of swapping some playfields. My time is coming...
Quoted from DudeRegular:This thread is fantastic. Just wanted to put that out there.
the ebig game, quicksilver, catacomb and meteor threads are great too. I'm sure there's more I'm missing. tons of these die hard guys sharing seemingly unlimited information. Tractor Doc has a great seawitch thread too.
Quoted from rcbrown316:the ebig game, quicksilver, catacomb and meteor threads are great too. I'm sure there's more I'm missing. tons of these die hard guys sharing seemingly unlimited information. Tractor Doc has a great seawitch thread too.
oh yeah jsmooth who posted right above you has an amazing star gazer restoration thread.
Quoted from nogoodnames222:Absolutely love how these classic Sterns play so I'm sure this won't be my last post or question in this thread. I'm young so I never had a chance to play these until I really got into the hobby recently, but man, Stern made some kickass games back in the day.
Indeed. Although considered to be on the lower end in the quality dept when compared to bally for instance, they just play WAY better. I have 4 bally's and the only one that comes close to any of my sterns for gameplay is eight ball deluxe. I just sold metallica, star trek and black night sword of rage...to open up spots for more classic sterns.
I'm repainting a bunch of legs right now. What is the deal with the 30.5" legs? I have 8 of them. It's not a bad thing as I will use them all for the rear legs so I can remove the wooden blocks so i am just looking for what games used those. The split second came in with all 30.5" legs on it and it looked ridiculously big. I think most of the legs on my other sterns are all 28.5"
Quoted from cottonm4:Meteor or Galaxy has some sort of relay to do something with the lights while in attract mode.
galaxy has the relay flashing the GI in attract
Quoted from bigguybbr:Has anyone ever had issues with a brand new ultimate solenoid board not working out of the box?
I posted this as it’s own thread, but haven’t gotten any responses yet. I want to make sure it’s bad and not something dumb I’m doing wrong before I request a return from pinball life.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/ultimate-solenoid-board-issue
I just responded on your other thread
Split Second Update
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/split-second-pretty-cool-game
Question on Pinball Life Flipper Assemblies
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/pinball-life-complete-flipper-mechs-for-early-sterns#post-6315681
Quoted from cottonm4:This.
The ball shoots out and bounces back into the chute and gets stuck. It is like the coil is too strong. Funny thing for me is My Big Game never did this until I restored it a put it back together and then I was dealing with cannon shots; I'm still puzzled by that.
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Which leads me to something else that is related.
On your Big Game there is a 3" ball guide setting all the way down on the play field right in front of the outhole. I removed mine and two things started happening.
1) About 2% of the time the ball will head for the outhole and hit the ball guide under the apron and bounce back on the play field for a Lazereth ball.
and
2) Sometimes the ball will hit the outhole so fast that it gets kicked out without registering and if you drained on Ball 2 you get a free Ball 2 to play again.
The #1 situation I like. The #2 situation I don't like. ( Yeah, I know. Teacher #2 #2 )
This Star Gazer I am working on is a fast pin. And many times I was getting the fast bounce into the outhole and out to the shooter lane without registering the ball. I found a fix for this. It is hokey but it works to slow the ball down before entering the outhole.
A small strip to terrycloth wash cloth placed under some Gorilla tape kills that action. I first tried the terry cloth and then thought it would look cleaner if I cut a small strip of Styrofoam from a take-home food container. What happened was opposite of what I thought would happen. That styrofoam acted like a kickback spring. So I went back to terry cloth.
Terry cloth stops the ball cold. As noted, it looks hokey, but it shuts the ball down and asa player you never see it.
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Quoted from cottonm4:I read your link. I have bought several of these PL flipper assemblies. I have never had any problems with them. Not one. I have used #14 brass washers with all of them ( yes. you do have to be aware of how far your flippers are from the play field ).
I have supply of bushings that I bought, but somehow I wound up with a pair of bushings that had bushing towers that stuck about the play field about 1/2". Those were nice as I was able to cut them down to the height I wanted and allow plenty of clearance between the flipper bottom and play field surface. I think I bought those bushings for my Robocop.
Thanks for the feedback. I ordered two complete 475 assemblies, one rebuild kit, two 600 coils and two bushings.
Quoted from JLay:Got my Stars CPR PF swap done and getting things dialed in. Overall working well, just regretting using the knock off connectors for the mechs, they suck and I’ll be switching to molex.
I’m realizing now that it’s pretty shitty to have that exposed metal rail above the pop bumper, the ball gets smashed into that thing so much. A new ball is already looking pretty dinged up...[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
man that sucks about the pop bumper ball guide. if that is stock that is a strange design. can you adjust the spoon so it only kicks on the sides and bottom. lame solution but what are you scoring or gaining when the ball kicks up there besides damage?
Quoted from bigguybbr:I’m having an issue where my GI lights flicker, and occasional feature lights flash when using my flippers. Does anyone happen to know what it might be?
I made a quick video where you can see the tilt light flash for no apparent reason as I mash the flippers.
What have you done on the power supply board/connectors in the lower cabinet so far. I had issues with both GI and feature lights on split second and galaxy. Right in a row. Both the result of a bad connection on the top left connector on the board. Any signs of burn marks on that connector?
Quoted from Mad_Dog_Coin_Op:The playfield swap is complete but I have issues. I lost about 6 switches and a coil locks on if I wiggle the harness. Looks like I have a short in the main harness. Those are the worst.
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Wish i had some advice but I do want to say that looks damn good though. Is that greatwich's stock clear? If so what part of the run. I have #8 and my finish looks a bit "mattey" compared to that. I'm considering clearing it again myself but if that is an early run I may skip it. . also where'd you get the score cards?
Quoted from Mad_Dog_Coin_Op:Ok - it's coming off. Here is a shot of the bottom of the playfield post swap.[quoted image]
Why are there resistors on some feature lights and not on others?
Quoted from Mad_Dog_Coin_Op:I'm running a Stern lamp driver board with the anti-flicker boards installed. Sadly some lights still flickered. The resistors put a stop to that.
That's interesting. I have had this happen twice very recently. I can probably get the ohms off the board but off the top of your head do you remember?
Quoted from Mathazar: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.[quoted image]
That's even more interesting. I need to go back and look at the quicksilver I just did. All the sets I have ordered came from Hans. He freely admits when there's issues and does get them corrected based on feedback.
Quoted from play_pinball:Upgraded my Galaxy to 7-digit roms and LISY displays today. Certainly gonna be a hot day when I roll this game again haha.
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Pretty cool. How much cost/labor is involved with this? I've seen these but i don't think they will work on galaxy or meteor:
https://xpinpinball.com/product-category/xpin-displays/bly_stern_7volution/
Quoted from HHaase:With Stern MPU200 games the issues with LED adapters are far more prevalent than on MPU100 or Bally games, and they typically fall under two categories....
1: With a number of Stern owners, they report a very low voltage on the lamp power bus on the backbox lamp board, with voltage a bit under 3 volts instead of the normal approximately 5 volts. In cases like these, tapping into a playfield controlled lamp tends to fix it. I rarely get a chance to work on MPU200 games, and haven't encountered this in person yet to try and figure out what's causing that in the machines. (My game budget is consumed for quite a while now too, but I'll be on the hunt again later this year.)
2: Meteor has a HUGE problem with the rocket inserts, nearly universal on Meteor machines from what I can tell. I'm told it has to do with the drastically different software timing that Stern uses in the MPU200 games, and how it interacts with the zero cross voltage on the lamp drivers. Adding an additional resistor on the affected lamp sockets helps quite a lot in that regard.
There are a couple other machines/locations that have a similar trend, but not enough that I can remember off the top of my head. Production numbers were so small for MPU-200 in total that it's hard to catch what the trends are. But basically, everything has to be working perfectly for the adapters to be 100% effective on all locations, where a Bally or MPU-100 game will often get by with a marginal solder joint..... an MPU-200 game needs me to NOT give you guys bad solder joints. And even then..... your rocket inserts in Meteor will likely need an additional resistor on a couple lamps.
-Hans
Thanks for the insightful response Hans. Yes it was indeed meteor that was the other game. There were only about 3 lamps I noticed it on and they were all rocket oriented. I'll check the connections and simply add resistors where needed. Thanks Mad Dog also. Here's some Galaxy eye candy. Just finished it up tonight. I actually did all the restoration work about 5 or 6 years ago but I wasnt as familiar with the mechanics of everything at the time so after I was done with the cosmetics i just got it to a working state and wheeled it into the game room I just rebuilt all the pops, flippers and futzed around with the poorly performing drop bank to get it to an acceptable level of "brickness" It plays WAY better. rather than mess with the 7 digits I will jsu tjack up the back and make it difficult to roll.
20210613_215818 (resized).jpg20210613_215759 (resized).jpg20210613_220314 (resized).jpg20210613_222830 (resized).jpg20210613_215201 (resized).jpg20210613_215415 (resized).jpg20210613_215429 (resized).jpg20210613_215633 (resized).jpgQuoted from Clytor:Looks fantastic!
I paid 150 bucks for it lol. Those days are long gone.
Quoted from cottonm4:Actually, your max was 99,999 and now it is 999,999. But you can talk up that zero if it makes you feel better
Evidently the manufacturer disagrees with you:
https://www.ipdb.org/files/980/Stern_1980_Galaxy_Manual.pdf
Quoted from GoldenOreos:was working on these turds today. always fun
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Sacrilege!
Quoted from GoldenOreos:definitely possible bc I had to paint/touch it up and clear it a few years ago. it plays fine but I see now what you're talking about. good eye!
Damn good eye! This is going to co.e into play for me in the next few weeks. I'm glad he noticed. I always just pull those out and do my thing and never really thought they would fit in backwards but it looks like he is right.
Quoted from Mad_Dog_Coin_Op:Just a FYI. This week I did something that I hate doing but felt was nessasary in this case. I installed a playfield protector on my Seawitch. My newly installed John Greatwich playfield was begining to get some dimples. The new playfields are a little on the soft side so I decided to install a protector from Beehive Pinball. The protector was ok but needed considerable trimming to fit nicely. If the cut needed is straight I used a razor blade. For everything else I use a dremel and sandpaper. A few hours later I was done.
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wow that sucks. i am about to put one in my seawitch. Now I should reconsider re-clearing it.
Quoted from bigguybbr:Any chance someone knows what these spacers are called or better even know the part number and where I can buy one. I’m missing one of these from my Trident pop bumper assemblies.[quoted image]
Ask Jimmy at pinball resource for "4A-123-16 (or suitable replacement)". I just got 6 of them to have around. there is no flared out base but the are the right size and dwork properly. have fun lining them up lol.
RB
Quoted from cottonm4:A small amount of Elmer's glue will hold them in place long enough for you to put then back together.
good idea. wish i knew that when doing galaxy as I had to reassemble it while on the PF. seawitch was better becasue the whole assembly pulled right through the hole so i could do it on the bench. On a different note are you the one who modded the shooter lane orbit flap thingy on seawitch? thayt thing is bugging the hell out of me so I want a good solution ready when I actually do the PF swap. that's why i am in here today. I saw some type of spring actuated diverter somewhere.
Quoted from cottonm4:A insider in Australia is the one who made the spring loaded flap assembly. For mine, I got the parts numbers for The Beatles launch ramp and installed the ramp in mine. Neither way is going to improve game play very much--if at all. I was hoping I could get better shots with the upper right hand flipper and get more revolutions around the orbit. That's a pipe dream. If you want to have many many many orbit shots around the loop, go buy a Beatles; The geometry of Seawitch is just not conducive to making multiple loop shots. I have managed to get 5 or 6 loops on my friend's Beatles but on Seawitch, 2 1/2 loops is the most I have done----one time only.
I'll say it this way: I am not sorry that I made the ramp mod on my Seawitch, but I would not do it again. The flap that Stern provided and the flap that Cliffy now provides does as good of job as you are going to get for play action, IMO.
Thanks for that advice. You just saved me time once again.. I was making a few loops in succession with the stock flap but he is right (I found the thread). It's frustrating not being able to rip that spinner on a more regular basis. I might still open up the right orbit entry like he did so I can make that shot from the lower flipper. Gotta gain something! What's your actual name by the way?
Quoted from rcbrown316:Thanks for that advice. You just saved me time once again.. I was making a few loops in succession with the stock flap but he is right (I found the thread). It's frustrating not being able to rip that spinner on a more regular basis. I might still open up the right orbit entry like he did so I can make that shot from the lower flipper. Gotta gain something! What's your actual name by the way?
I meant left orbit entry oops
Quoted from slochar:Not having the slings egged out makes a HUGE difference in the slings. I was lucky enough to get 8-9 NOS ones years ago and used them on my flight 2k and it was night and day.
What is "egged"? The rounded face? Reason I ask is I used a pair of Williams Kicker arms from pbl on my qs and they seem to work nicely. That said I'm not sure they produce the same ball velocity as some of my other ones. The upper slings on f2k really get the ball moving. Haven't done any in-game comparison though.
Quoted from slochar:Not having the slings egged out makes a HUGE difference in the slings. I was lucky enough to get 8-9 NOS ones years ago and used them on my flight 2k and it was night and day.
What is "egged"? The rounded face? Reason I ask is I used a pair of Williams Kicker arms from pbl on my qs and they seem to work nicely. That said I'm not sure they produce the same ball velocity as some of my other ones. The upper slings on f2k really get the ball moving. Haven't done any in-game comparison though.
Quoted from Mad_Dog_Coin_Op:Well it was time to paint that Witch blue. Dark blue tomorrow if the paint sets up nice and hard.
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Beat me to it. I had to pause ny sw due to a life changing tragedy. I had to return to the office after 16 months of wfh.
Quoted from Mad_Dog_Coin_Op:Reassembly on my Seawitch is coming along. Got the cabinet sorted out for the most part. Still need to do a few labels and polish a couple more parts. I was off work this past week so I was able to get a lot done. Now I have to go back to work. Progress will be slower now. I'm pleased with the results thus far.
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Looks great!
Quoted from Mad_Dog_Coin_Op:Seawitch is done. I put the playfield back in and fired her up. The only issue I had was reversed polarity on the power. I assumed the last guy that worked on it knew how to install a power cord. Obviously he didn't. I swapped the wires and everything checked out. I also reinstalled the 1 ohm resistors on the upper flippers. Actually doing that changed how the game plays. It isn't bad, just different. With less power going to the upper flippers you have more control hitting stuff in the upper playfield. At full power it felt more uncontrolled and super fast. The way I have it now is the way it was when it rolled off the faxtoy line.
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Looks fantastic man. I ran into a bunch of shit that took me off my seawitch. Hoping to get back to it soon.
Quoted from cottonm4:Has anybody seen rcbrown316? I don't recall seeing him for the last year or so.
Hey man. I'm still alive. I had some major projects come up and then the company I work for got acquired by a massive corporation so I have been focused on that.
Sup dudes? A couple questions. Looking for opinions on yoppsicles and yoppsicles vs the ones pinball life has:
https://www.pinballlife.com/classic-bally-stern-insert-led-pcb.html
Also looking for some new pop caps for star gazer and seawitch. They dont have to look like the originals and I would prefer something diffuse vs translucent as I am using the 4smd lens-less comets.
Thanks!
RB
Quoted from cottonm4:There are these from PBL. But with 4smds I think you will not like the glare.
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I have moved to these EVOs PBL sells.
https://www.pinballlife.com/britecaps-evo-pop-bumper-lighting.html?Category_Code=
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Pinball Resourse sells the mushroom caps and the EVOs look great under these.
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My camera is not good enough to get good pics, but the EVOS on Seawitch look great.
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On Star Gazer, the EVOs under the white Star Gazer pop caps ruled.
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EVOS: Cool white looks great. Warm white looks good. Blue looks good on Robocop. Yellow EVOs are fugly. They make Quicksilver yellow mushroom caps like like a crappy shade of orange.
Thanks a bunch man. Much appreciated. I ordered the caps for SG and SW from PBR. I just switched the lamp sockets in both to the wedge type with the centering screw down deal from PBL but those evo ones do look cool. I will definitely try them down the road.
Aside from hammering out dents, bondo-ing and repainting....are there any new solutions for beat up SEI coin doors? Cant seem to locate one anywhere.
Quoted from cottonm4:Good fortune stopped in my driveway yesterday.
In my best The Price is Right voice. AN EMPTY CAB !! Come on down !
I love Stadium Lights. I like the way they light up the play field. Some will tell you that Stadium Lights will work with the 40 year old low-sidewall cabinets. Yeah, they work---sort of.
This cab is my next project. I am going to either build a Seawitch or a Star Gazer using this high sidewall cabinet and light it up with Stadium Lights.
What should I make it to be? Star Gazer with Stadium Lights? Or Seawitch with Stadium Lights?
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I got the back box as well, but looking at it closer, it will take too much to make work for a Stern so I am just going to scratch build the back box in classic Stern style.
This is pretty cool. Has this been done before?
Quoted from bluespin:Pinball Rescue in Australia and K’s Arcade in the US both made the credit button sticker, that is correct size and foil. Both companies closed.
Wow. When did k's arcade close?
Quoted from KSUWildcatFan:Yeah, hard to argue the two when you compare prices. My next purchases will be weebly.
I just got a weebly mpu from andrew and put it in my flash gordon. Instantly solved problems with boot up, no memory (credits, sound setting memory), random in-ball switching between feature sounds/chimes, background sounds etc. Funny thing is I tried an alltek board in FG and it introduced a whole new set of problems. I have used LOTS of Alltek MPU's, LDB's and SDB's too. I am also proficient at troubleshooting connector issues. It simply didn't work in this game. Works fine in my sterns. Plus the weebly has many more setup options. It's a no brainer even if it was the same price. Andrew is THE MAN.
Quoted from Mad_Dog_Coin_Op:Just picked up some parts from my local chrome shop.
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Ooooooohhhh. Did you chrome the whole door?
Quoted from Mad_Dog_Coin_Op:No, but I was thinking about trying that. Is a chrome door too much bling for a classic Stern? I guess there is only one way to find out.
No way. Never too much shiny reflective surface for this guy. Go check out my split second post or my centaur post.
Quoted from koji:Ouch.
The top three saucers are fairly uncommon to get to except on ball launch.
Getting the letters above the pops is fun, same with the great code which alternates the letter on the middle star rollover, and feels like there are a few things to do.
Been a while since I played, but fond memories. My complaint would be the lower difficulty / higher ball times I had.. ALTHOUGH, I never really tried to dial that in.
Looking at the PF again, I want to put a vari-target on that uppercut shot.. how about it?
It would be really cool to mount a physical bell thingy that went off at the end of the ball or something wouldn't it?
Quoted from slochar:koji requested it first here at pinside
then HoakyPoaky added onto it with other rules ideas
Yeah I have the one Koji had still sitting unboxed in my storage. He told me slochar did the mod before I bought it. That was a wink wink post by me. I will look into that thread too. thanks!
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Webster, NY
Vaudreuil-dorion, QC