(Topic ID: 84755)

Riding on that lucky Riverboat! Riverboat Gambler Club

By nsmith

10 years ago


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There are 397 posts in this topic. You are on page 3 of 8.
#101 8 years ago

The riverboat gambler is back together. No thanks to classic arcades of course. They never sent me the proper decals or even hadthe decency to respond to my emails. I guess when everyone bashes a company online for crappy service you should probably listen. Oh well. I painted the inserts and applied the decals. Not perfect but it came out ok

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#102 8 years ago
Quoted from jmountjoy111:

The riverboat gambler is back together. No thanks to classic arcades of course. They never sent me the proper decals or even hadthe decency to respond to my emails. I guess when everyone bashes a company online for crappy service you should probably listen. Oh well. I painted the inserts and applied the decals. Not perfect but it came out ok

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That's a shame they didn't do the right thing by providing the proper decals.

They'll never get my money again.

#103 8 years ago

Looking great! Now your riding that lucky Riverboat! Pick a color.

#104 8 years ago
Quoted from indypinhead:

That's a shame they didn't do the right thing by providing the proper decals.
They'll never get my money again.

I should have opened a claim. I'm pretty disappointed in the situation honestly. I will probably just spend the rest of my days making elaborate posts on pinside about their failure at conducting proper business. Lol.

#105 8 years ago

Just got mine together last weekend too.
I am still working to track down a backglass.
If anyone knows where to find one, let me know.

Bud

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#106 8 years ago

Love riverboat. Highly underrated as the roulette wheel makes the game unbalanced, score-wise to the tournament player. But for the casual person who just wants to play pinball, the game is fun as hell, like most system 11s are.

#107 8 years ago
Quoted from Budwin:

Just got mine together last weekend too.
I am still working to track down a backglass.
If anyone knows where to find one, let me know.

Do you have anything, broken glass?
Back glass repro might have it on file.

#108 8 years ago
Quoted from Ericpinballfan:

Do you have anything, broken glass?
Back glass repro might have it on file.

Mine is a translite. I didn't know they came with a screened glass. That's cool if you can find one

#109 8 years ago

I've got a nice Riverboat Gambler...diamondplate, LEDs, nice backglass... It's working great, except just sometimes, the wheel gets a little...off. It'll say RED, when it is clearly Black. Whenever I run the wheel test, it seems to work fine, but just sometimes it gets shifted. Works right probably about 85% of the time. Does anyone else have this problem?
I'm thinking about q-tipping the wheel optos for grins.

Thanks,
Jeff

#110 8 years ago
Quoted from Ericpinballfan:

Do you have anything, broken glass?
Back glass repro might have it on file.

I got it with no glass. (was kind of a mess)

I would take the film OR the film attached to glass.

I have not heard of 'back glass repro'. (any info would be welcomed)

I did have member of this group offer to scan his glass to make my own repro.

If there is an easier way please let know know of it.

Thanks for any ideas,
Bud

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#111 8 years ago

http://bgresto.com

This is the company he is speaking of that reproduces back glasses.

#112 8 years ago
Quoted from jmountjoy111:

http://bgresto.com
This is the company he is speaking of that reproduces back glasses.

Sorry, I work a lot and stop by pinside every other day or so. I would try giving them a quick email. Small chance they may have it on file. If not...the conundrum... you find one of us here in club that need a new one too,then just get 2 made. You need a master (something) for them to reproduce. Unless of course you get lucky and it's on file.
For the record on my machine it is a Translite plastic sheet, that is all white on the backside, the wholes for wheel and scores is clear translight in those areas, meaning one solid sheet.
Keep us updated. I have another idea and a phone call I can do this weekend.
Although mine is nice,it is still worn in a couple areas. I would easilly upgrade if these translights where made again by PPS or Spare Parts Austrailia Guy for under $200, $150 much better.
By the way, so sad of RBG, Glad you have it up and running again.

Quoted from Budwin:

Just got mine together last weekend too.
I am still working to track down a backglass.
If anyone knows where to find one, let me know.

#113 8 years ago
Quoted from Grangeomatic:

I've got a nice Riverboat Gambler...diamondplate, LEDs, nice backglass... It's working great, except just sometimes, the wheel gets a little...off. It'll say RED, when it is clearly Black. Whenever I run the wheel test, it seems to work fine, but just sometimes it gets shifted. Works right probably about 85% of the time. Does anyone else have this problem?
I'm thinking about q-tipping the wheel optos for grins.

Did you try the really long "burn in cycle" for the game yet? Sometimes it excersises and aligns. During the wheel section in burn in, it went through every color and position twice, reading it off as it went on screen 2 I beleive. So you knew the wheel was matching the results. Another thought is someone applied a new sticker to wheel and missed it by 1/4 inch, making it wrong at least 20% of the time. Once the game ends, it goes through it's attract mode, it will end on green at 12 oclock and 6 oclock. Something to always look for so you know it's doing good, ie motor or shaft.

#114 8 years ago

I'm new to owning a pinball machine and I'm currently doing a lot of reading on Pinside to learn about new things. One of those new things is Super Bands. Tonight I installed a set of Super Bands on my RBG. Prior to tonight I had no idea what Super Bands were, and I doubt the machines I have played on location over the years used Super Bands. I must say, they do in fact make a huge difference. So thanks to Pinside, I have a machine now that whips the damn balls around the playfield like Aerosmith did with it's Ragdoll. I'm really digging them!

1 week later
#115 8 years ago

I'm thinking about adding LED's to my RBG but I'm quite confused over what lights to order for specific locations on the pin. Is there a guide somewhere that says something like "replace the "slots bulb" with a <insert color here> LED? Or replace the bulbs under ""200 chips" with a non-ghosting white LED? Any help or direction is appreciated.

#116 8 years ago

Finally, a backglass for my RBG !

Special thanks to NSMITH for starting this forum and providing me with the scan for the Translite !

This was quite an experience, now just need to find another frog to turn into a princess !

Bud

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#117 8 years ago

Bud, Looks awesome! Great Job restoring this back to its former glory. Fun game, you will enjoy it.

1 month later
#118 7 years ago

Pick a color! .....how often do we pick green?. Actually passed a couple nights ago because I had over 3000 in chips and it had been red 4 times in a row.
Joe's great topper from Lasserific. These are from a while ago. But wanted to share this awesome topper, and bump a great game thread.

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#119 7 years ago

love that topper!

5 months later
#120 7 years ago

I am new to pinside and have found a wealth of knowledge already. I purchased a pinball machine the RiverBoat Gambler about nine years ago for my daughter and her friends and although in my younger days I spent a lot of time playing I never really had the time as a grown-up to play. I moved from Ohio to Florida about a year ago and stored the riverboat gambler in a garage that was not climate controlled. Now a year later I'm in a home that I have room to set it up which I did about three weeks ago only to find the batteries had corroded and I got an Adjust Failure when I started the machine up. Thanks to Pinside and YouTube I was able to relocate the battery holder and the machine is up and running. I needed to replace a few lightbulbs And other than that the only problem I see is

the letter C in CARD is not lighting. And the letter D is usually a solid light. How should these work ?

Should the CHIPS have decals on them ?

If I replace the decals on the drop targets should I replace the drop targets at the same time?

I've run the test lights function and the back glass does not have all the bulbs light however when you're playing and hit jackpot it appears they all light up. Does that make sense?

How available are the plastics and decals for the machine?

Sorry for the novice questions but I love having the RiverBoat Gambler back up and running and just want to make sure that sails for a long time to come.

Any other advice would be greatly appreciated.

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#121 7 years ago

Just a couple more pics

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#123 7 years ago
Quoted from Tropicalcats:

And other than that the only problem I see is
the letter C in CARD is not lighting. And the letter D is usually a solid light. How should these work ?
Should the CHIPS have decals on them ?
If I replace the decals on the drop targets should I replace the drop targets at the same time?
I've run the test lights function and the back glass does not have all the bulbs light however when you're playing and hit jackpot it appears they all light up. Does that make sense?
How available are the plastics and decals for the machine?
Sorry for the novice questions but I love having the RiverBoat Gambler back up and running and just want to make sure that sails for a long time to come.
Any other advice would be greatly appreciated.

I can only answer a few of these questions.

The CHIPS targets do not have stickers.

No need to replace the drop targets themselves unless they aren't functioning properly.

Plastics are like finding a needle in a haystack. No repro's made(to my knowledge) and very hard to find used/extras.

Target decals can be found on Ebay.

I've started to put LED's in my Riverboat and it sure does look nice. Something that might interest you.

3 weeks later
#124 7 years ago

Thinking about doing a sound upgrade and wonder if anybody has and if so what kind of results did you get. I have looked at Flipper Fidelity and wonder if they will make a noticeable change in the sound. I would suppose changing the original almost 30 year old speakers to any thing would make a difference but is it worth it? Will the sound quality change that much for the buck?

#125 7 years ago

I've done many speaker upgrades. Not hard work. But, I have not done any system 11's.
I don't feel the sound track and audio warrants it for this game.
However, new speakers sound nice if your cones are cracked and old.

#126 7 years ago

Joined the club on Sunday at York and now have djreddog's Riverboat Gambler and he has my No Fear.

Holy crap is that music and song catchy! I added green slingshot rubber and some yellow and green post rings, replaced the star posts with new ones and added 4 spotlights. The game is pretty dark and that was the first thing my wife said when playing it. I'll post pics later, but I added a spotlight aimed at the slot machine ramp; one above each sling and one at the base of the roulette ramp with a green bulb in it.

#127 7 years ago
Quoted from PoMC:

Joined the club on Sunday.

Welcome Aboard !

I am looking at removing the PF to give the inside of the cabinet a good cleaning and maybe paint. How difficult is it to remove? Anybody got a video or step by step on how to remove the PF from the Riverboat ? I have more time than money right now so I'm thinking this would be a great project to tackle.

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#128 7 years ago

I ended up using white LEDs for the GI because the game really needed brightening up even with the 4 spotlights I added.

The plastic on the center drop targets was broken at each corner, so I drilled a hole in two red poker chips and replaced the nuts with the chips to hide the broken ends. The ramp at the left return also has a broken end so I hid that with poker chips as well.

I also have a new set of drop target decals, but found I still had left over decals from when I owned Maverick. I used the Jack-Ace of Spade decals on the center bank and think it looks much better and matches those targets perfectly.

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#129 7 years ago

Rick (PoMC),

Fantastic job with all the add-ons you already applied to this game. The game was definitely in need of more light, that's why the "CASINO" was done in LED's and a few more added as I was slowly going to LED the entire game. I love the addition of the spotlights, all stuff above my head currently. How do you implement those into a pin? I noticed you added them to No Fear as well.

How does the game play overall for you? In my opinion I had it really dialed in, but I'm still new to this hobby (10 months in) so what I think is "dialed in" might not actually be accurate. Hope you are enjoying it!

I have only played about 5-6 games on No Fear since Saturday. I haven't even had a chance to work on that flipper, hell on a side note I setup the game Saturday night and sometime between 11:30pm and 7am the next morning I lost the damn key to the game so I can't open it until I drill out the lock! The past 3 days have been crazy for me and I haven't had time to play. Tonight for example, I threw out a facebook post to my neighbors who live on my street to come over for Taco Tuesday. Low and behold we have 53 people show up tonight and a lot of them really enjoyed No Fear. Thanks again and let me know if you have any questions or issues with RBG.

-Chad

#130 7 years ago

Hi Chad,

I think it it plays very well, I only raised the back leg levelers slightly to make the angle of the playfield 5.5 degrees to get it a little faster.

Adding spotlights is actually very easy, the trickiest part is usually finding a hole in the playfield to feed the wire through. Just take a length of thin double wire, like speaker wire has two wires. Solder each wire to the terminal on the spotlight and then the other end of the wire you solder to the nearest GI bulb socket. Doesn't matter which wire to each terminal since it doesn't matter (not like + or - to worry about). Then the spotlight will turn off and on with the GI lighting.

You can buy spotlights with a length of wire already attached and usually that wire is long enough. You could also solder alligator clips to the end of the wire and then just clip to each terminal of the GI light socket. That works fine and then you don't even have to solder under the playfield at all.

For 12v LED strips, like red one under the backbox of No Fear, I'll connect the positive to a 12v test point on a board if available usually an alligator clip (like No Fear) and the negative wire connects to the ground wire. If you open the backbox of No Fear, you'll see the yellow wire with a clip attached to a 12v test point on a board.

If there's not a 12v test point, then I'll tap into a 12v source somewhere else, usually up by the coin door there's a 12v source.

Glad to hear your neighbors enjoyed No Fear, it really is a friend favorite because it's fast, fun, in your face pinball and you don't need to explain the game to people.

Rick

#131 7 years ago
Quoted from Ericpinballfan:

Pick a color! .....how often do we pick green?. Actually passed a couple nights ago because I had over 3000 in chips and it had been red 4 times in a row.
Joe's great topper from Lasserific. These are from a while ago. But wanted to share this awesome topper, and bump a great game thread.

I remember when I hit Joe up to design this topper. Helped with the R&D to figure out how and where to connect power. RBG is my first pin and I wanted to make it pop. I think it turned out great. Still a machine I love and won't be leaving the collection anytime soon.

#132 7 years ago
Quoted from ChrisS:

I remember when I hit Joe up to design this topper. Helped with the R&D to figure out how and where to connect power. RBG is my first pin and I wanted to make it pop. I think it turned out great. Still a machine I love and won't be leaving the collection anytime soon.

Love mine...maybe my 5th pin, I forget. Not going anywhere anytime soon.
I've now made a stained wooden diverter for the roulette ramp. I need to get it installed and replace the black plastic one.

2 weeks later
#133 7 years ago

I think it's time for new decals on the RiverBoat, they came in the mail today and advice on getting the old off and the new on?

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#134 7 years ago

Use a small vacume and start the gentle scraping. Clean an polish with novus 2, then apply new decal. In front of cards I used a Mylar strip over them about 1/4 inch below and above the length of CARD. Also added protector to the plastic above targets.

#135 7 years ago
Quoted from Tropicalcats:

advice on getting the old off and the new on?

Also,now's a good time to add Titan red bands and replace the target decals too.

#136 7 years ago

Should I remove the drop-down target mechanism to replace the target decal? How hard is it to remove the drop-down targets?

#137 7 years ago
Quoted from Tropicalcats:

Should I remove the drop-down target mechanism to replace the target decal? How hard is it to remove the drop-down targets?

That's what I would do. You will want to desolder the coil so you can remove the mech and take it to a table or work bench. Honestly, if you haven't done it yet it would be worth taking the entire mech apart to clean it. If your targets drop slowly they could need new springs and or the targets could use a good cleaning. you might find that some of the drop targets are cracked and need to be replaced all together. Pinball life has them and they are cheap.

#138 7 years ago

Anf....if you do take mechanism out....it's good soldering practice, nice big globs on that coil, easy to heat up, pull wire, some screws and it's out. Also replace the coil sleeve. You won't ever have to do it again.
EBay and Marcos have those card decals,don't think pinball life does. Look or call them, you never know.
I've always wanted to replace those red backs with an actual playing card decal. Think it would look neat instead of red plain backs. But, the red looks good and blends in.
Don't forget new balls and shooter tip.
Welcome to pinball maintenance and never ending list of upgrades and parts.

#139 7 years ago

NOVICE ALERT*******NOVICE ALERT********
What's a coil sleeve?

#140 7 years ago
Quoted from Tropicalcats:

What's a coil sleeve?

It's the plastic sleeve inside the coil the plunger rides in, or slides back and forth in. Only way to most always replace is when your disassembled after desoldering.

2 weeks later
#141 7 years ago

So I am ready to attempt my first major maintanence to my RiverBoat Gambler. I am replacing the GI molex connector and pins from the transformer with new. I am sure I have a bad connection at that point cause if I wiggle it my GI lights come on. I am looking for a picture of the other end, at the board and the J 6 connection. Any body have a good picture of what it should look like? I am thinking I should be sure that the connection at J 6 is up to the task of keeping the lights on. How difficult is it to replace the j 6 connector?
Pictures and advice always appreciated.

#142 7 years ago

Joined the club. Picked up this beauty at Expo this year. Got her all done up right. Wish I could get my hands on a center drop target plastic.

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1 week later
#143 7 years ago

Now that I have fixed my GI light and they are on big and bright I am turning my attention to my flippers. Right flipper is a little weak but the left flipper is really weak, does not always return to its full resting position and has a previous hack at the flipper button. The plan is to replace/rebuild both flippers and install new leaf switches and buttons. Thanks to this board and Vids post I have excellent instructions and pictures to do the task.
Here's my questions.
This is the kit I need for my RiverBoat Gambler. http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=980
I will also replace the bushings but what else should I replace?
Should I replace the coil?
Should I upgrade to flippertronics or keep it original?
Does the flipper mechanism come as whole? Kind of plug and play? Pull out the old and in with the new.
I just think as long as I'm doing this I should replace what I can as long as it's already apart, what say you?

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#144 7 years ago

Just started work on my RG. What is the trick to getting my roulette wheel working? Nothing happens in wheel test. I reflowed the headers and cleaned the wheel opto. Wheel turns freely when machine is off and shaft looks fine. Motor tightens up when machine is turned on as it should.

#145 7 years ago
Quoted from Tropicalcats:

Here's my questions.
This is the kit I need for my RiverBoat Gambler.

Yes, that is the kit you need. Yes replace the bushings too. The correct flipper coils are FL-11630's but mine flippers were brutal after I rebuilt them so I used FL-11722's and they are perfect for the game. You can buy the whole assembly if you want but there is really no need unless something is cracked/broken. http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=717

Note* this is my job, refurbishing and high ending pins @ The Pinball Company. So all our games have flipper rebuilds that look like this. Thats why they are so pretty, after doing it hundreds of times its like clockwork.

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#146 7 years ago
Quoted from Tropicalcats:

Here's my questions.
This is the kit I need for my RiverBoat Gambler. http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=980

I can't believe no one didn't catch this. Your flippers are week because your coils are backwards. The solder end goes towards the link and plunger. Cool stop is by it self at rear.

#147 7 years ago
Quoted from Ericpinballfan:

I can't believe no one didn't catch this. Your flippers are week because your coils are backwards. The solder end goes towards the link and plunger. Cool stop is by it self at rear.

Coils will work in either direction, doesn't matter which way that they face.

#148 7 years ago
Quoted from 0geist0:

Coils will work in either direction, doesn't matter which way that they face.

Yes ,the coils will work, doesn't mean that's Right. Actually it does matter. Maybe you've gotten lucky all these years,but lugs are always opposite the coil stop. Just confirmed with Vid. Please check out Vids guide to rebuilding flippers. I also checked manual before chiming in. Picture included. Page 54 and 55 of Riverboat Gambler manual.

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#149 7 years ago
Quoted from Ericpinballfan:

Yes ,the coils will work, doesn't mean that's Right. Actually it does matter. Maybe you've gotten lucky all these years,but lugs are always opposite the coil stop. Just confirmed with Vid. Please check out Vids guide to rebuilding flippers. I also checked manual before chiming in. Picture included. Page 54 and 55 of Riverboat Gambler manual.

A magnetic field is the same up, down or sideways. As long as the coil stop doesn't touch any solder connections or diode, it will work the same both ways.

#150 7 years ago
Quoted from 0geist0:

A magnetic field is the same up, down

Thank you. In this case I recommend what is printed in the manual.

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