Hi Guys -

Quick question. On my scared stiff, I noticed that the coffin front door remains open. I checked the manual, and not quite sure what the normal operation of this mechanism is. Should the front coffin door close after opening? If it remains open, any idea what I should check?

Hi there a couple of years back I picked up a very ropey Scared Stiff which looks like it has been on route for 20 years with a beaten up playfield and many connector and board hacks.... about 2 weeks ago I started to a playfield swap onto a CPR playfields (which I have been very impressed with thus far only had to drill 1 hole).

I am recording the swap and will post it on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/c/PinballEvangelist) in the coming weeks if any one is interested.

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One of the boards which needs work is the LED board on the crate where 3 of the LEDs dont work at all and the 5 which do are made up of 2 Red and 3 Blue LEDs....
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Question 1:

I am very interested. If you happen to have the time and inclination, is there a chance that you could sketch the contour of the plastic coffin trough on a piece of paper, scan it and share it? It's one piece that I can't seem to get measurements for, and they never seem to come up for sale.

Through Hole Red 700nm 15mcd T-3mm Water Clear
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/5671-09019-00

Red seems to go well with the theme(scary red eyes in the darkness) for me, but green might be interesting. Not sure about blue. I have thought about recreating the board with multicolor LEDs....

ThatOneDude Sure happy to help, I am not sure what you want traced/measured are you after... are you after the lif of the coffin??

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On the underside of the playfield is a clear plastic trough that runs between the coffin diverter under the boney beast ramp and connects it to the coffin mechanism. I can't find any dimensions for it.
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How are you going to make your own subway? Why just not buy one (havent checked if it is available).

If I found one for sale, I would. As it is, there are a few options:
1) Design and 3d print one. Doesn't have to be pretty.
2) 3d print a form and vacuum mold one. This is my likely option.
3) Cut down another ramp to fit. Several people have done this, and I have a few possible donor ramp parts.

I could mock something up that generally fits the profile, but I would prefer to get it as close as possible to the original.
Thanks!

No problem I will trace & measureup this subway plastic and post it here.... I had to repair mine as I could not find a replacment.

Here you go. This is a scan of A-21254 Under Playfield Trough / Subway let me know if this is enough detail...

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Hello everybody, joined the Scared Stiff club 4 days ago!

Very happy with the pin but a couple of issues have arisen (probably as a result of transporting the pin across town) and lockdown means neither the helpful guy who sold me the machine nor the pinball tech I use can come round. There is no credit dot, and the ROM version is 1.4 (I understand 1.5 is the latest).

Issue 1: From time to time the ball (or 2 balls) get stuck in the deadhead hole near the crate. When they get stuck and ball search occurs, the ball stays sitting in the hole. Sometimes I can only free the ball by tilting playfield and getting it out that way, other times turning it off and on means it will come out on a ball search. Not sure what's going on when the problem occurs perhaps one in 30 times the ball enters that hole either directly or via the crate.

Issue 2: After 3 days of play, an issue has developed where leaper mania just occurs of its own accord and the animation and the noise continues on through a multiball, stiff-o-meter, or whatever. It even once continued all through the end of the game and into attract mode. A very annoying issue that the previous owner says hasn't occurred before. Not sure what is going on but a search on Pinside at least hinted that a ROM upgrade to version 1.5 might help.

Any assistance greatly appreciated. I'm not very technical sadly!

Hi all, has anyone had an issue where the following message permanently appears on the dmd from start up - ' SLAM TILT SWITCH IS STUCK CLOSED' ?

My Scared Stiff has just started to do this. I was playing a game when it suddenly went into stiffometer mode when I only had 2 tales of terror completed, and also crate multiball at the same time.
I fired both balls into the crate and then everything stopped responding and the slam tilt stuck closed message appeared on the dmd.

Now every time I start the machine, the screen displays the usual diagnostic startup screen, followed by the SLAM TILT STUCK CLOSED message. This is also followed by the ball plunger firing 5 times.

I have looked at the slam tilt switch on the floor inside the cabinet, which appears to be fine, and if I push the switch down to connect, the message on the dmd changes to only ' SLAM TILT ' and then goes back to the full stuck closed message after a few seconds.

Can anyone give me any advice please?

Switch matrix issue. What are you getting in Switch Test?

Hi Coyote, thanks for the reply.

I can't do any kind of testing as the screen is just stuck on that message and I can get no response from the buttons inside of the door.

Oh, that was more detail than I was hoping for! Thanks!

I added art blades and the back panel needs something . I’d like to ad something to the back panel . Any ideas ?

Just added this beautiful full restoration SS, my second SS in the last year. Such a great pin!

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I jealous!!! Lmao I want all 3 ..newbie jus bought first ,WOZRR looking for 2nd between HOH,MM,IML,SS,orJP...I’m leaning toward HOHLE .How is that game ?

Responding to the folks that are getting errors. Please check all ROM’s are seated correctly. Press gently on the roms and check your cables too..

HoH is pretty great too! I love SS for the great ramps and crate shots, and fairly simple code. I like HoH for the rule depth and content. There is always new things to discover, and the code isn’t even finished yet. Both great pins, just very different.

check the slam tilt switch on the door too?

Thanks for the reply. Do you mean the white switches that are pressed down by the coin door when it shuts?
When I have a day off work I'm going to figure out which connector plugs just inside the door are directly for the coin door and try turning the machine on with them disconnected.
I'm guessing it's the door area that's the issue as pressing the buttons for test modes etc gets no response on the dmd screen.

Hi again, disregard my question about the white switches, I just had a quick look and found the other slam tilt switch on the door, I never even realised it was there, so thanks for teaching me about that one!

However, it also doesn't look like its closed, and just like the other slam tilt switch that I mentioned in my first message, if I push the switch to connect, the message on the DMD becomes ' SLAM TILT ' and then when released, after a few seconds the DMD shows the 'TESTING....' screen again, followed by the 'SLAM TILT IS STUCK CLOSED' message again.

I don't know if this might mean anything obvious to anyone, but as everyone will know, usually when you switch on the machine and it goes into its initial diagnostic test, if it finds an issue you will hear the loud BONG - BONG - BONG - BONG sound and a message to press the enter button inside the coin door to see what the issue is.

This is not happening here. On start up it shows the diagnostic testing screen, but then just immediately shows the 'SLAM TILT IS STUCK CLOSED' message, no BONGS, and no use of the enter button. None of the coin door buttons respond, and the only thing that changes the message on the DMD screen is pressing closed either of the slam tilt switches.

Does this sound familiar to anyone?

The door switches (NOT slam tilt) are DIRECT SWITCHES. The fact that you're having issues with a Switch Matrix AND direct switches makes me think that either you have a nasty short somewhere, OR, you have some damage on your MPU.

Try disconnecting all your switch harnesses, and power the game on, see what happens.

Thanks Coyote, I'll have to look into it when I get a day off work.
Do you mean figuring out which power board plug leads to the slam tilts and coin door and removing just those, or removing more plugs than that?

I'm looking at the manual, am I correct in thinking that J206 is the plug that does all the switches throughout the game, and the only one I need to remove?

Had to pull up the manual, but J205 is dedicated switches (Up, Down, Esc, Enter, Coin 1-4), and J208 is switch matrix Rows (White/xx) and J206 is Switch Matrix columns. (Green/xx)

Thanks for that. So when I try this out, am I correct in saying if I remove all 3 connectors mentioned, start up, and the problem persists, its a problem with the CPU board in the backbox?

Where as if the problem is gone, replace one of the connectors at a time and start up until the problem returns, and that connector will be the one that has the problem somewhere along its line?

Thanks again.

I am doing a SS playfield swap working on what to do with the LED's...

I created two lamp "maps".... one for the GI and the other for the controlled lamps & flashers which I thought I would share. I am happy to to take suggestions on colours (it looks a little like someone vomited Skittles on the playfield but then looks fine in reality).

GI Lamp Map
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Flasher & Controlled Lamp Map
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In case someone wanted to know what a freshly cut set of Scared Stiff guides looks like...

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Yup, exactly! You got this!

Just tried it quickly, removed all 3 connectors, switched on, problem remains. Is this likely to be a problem where I'd be better of just buying a whole new CPU board? I know they cost around £200 here, but is it as simple as just buying a new one, or do CPU boards need things added to them once you've bought them for a particular game?

So the issue is on the MPU board. Whether you buy new or repair is up to you. Without seeing and inspecting the board, no way to be sure.

For your question - if you buy a replacement board, it's plug-and play, though you WILL have to swap over 1, 2 or 3 chips from your old board to the new one. (Number varies on the seller and what they include with the new board.)

I bought and fixed a SS half a year ago or so. At first I also had green LEDs in both the slings and outlanes as you are planning to, but it turned out to be a bad idea. With all those green LEDs the bottom playfield were bathing in green and we don't want our games to end up featured in the "puke thread" . Also, I got slightly blinded by the bright LEDs below the slingshots so I had to change from 2SMD to less bright, sunlight ones.

I'll have to look into what those chips are and how it would be done. It's all a good learning curve of how to find the cause of a problem though.
I may see about buying a new board and seeing if everything can be supplied already on it, as mucking about with circuit boards is way too advanced for me.

Thanks for all the help, always learning new things ( including there being a second slam tilt switch on the door! )

Hey everyone, I don't quite understand why this model truck is being made, but I thought of this thread when I saw it. Even has the boney beast ribs integrated.

Thought maybe someone in here would be interested.

https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Product/VariationDetails/124822

Stay safe and healthy every one!

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Hmmm... If I didn't already have a topper...

Lawyers...politicians...truckers!!! How sweet would that be to see that full size rig with huge boney ribs rumbling down the hwy! Could be a fun topper too. Put some LEDs in the cab and headlights.

Found one

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Hiho,
i need a good Scan of the Middle Apron Decal. Please help!

Hi again, I recieved a brand new MPU board with all chips except for the security chip already included.
I switched the old security chip over and installed the new MPU and the SLAM TILT STUCK ON issue is gone.

The game is now fully working and I have the use of the inner door buttons for tests, etc, again.

The only thing now is that the sound has become very low. It seems that i can only get a much lower sound than usual from the back box speakers, and no sound from the cabinet speaker. The speaker system is an aftermarket upgrade that was put in by the previous owner, with a volume switch up in the back box, just next the the sound board, if that matters.

Any advice on how to figure this one out? I've checked the obvious cables and connectors and can't see any blatant issues. I saw a youtube video where a guy changes the C38 and C39 CAPACITORS on the sound board for a reasonably similar sound issue, could this be worth a try?

Hi All -

I am trying to replace my coffin spring and am having a hard time understanding how to remove the 'hinge pin.' It seems each side of the hinge pin is wide at the ends, making it impossible to pull it up or down. I'm sure there's an easy way, but I can't figure it out. Any help would be appreciated

As far as I know you have to use a cutter and cut one of the broad ends off. When I fixed my spring I simply put the pin back and bent the cut end to keep it from getting loose.

well that’s a bummer. Mind snapping a picture of your setup? I assumed the spring had to wrap around the hinge pin, but open to any other offer besides cutting it off

No, you have to cut it off I'm afraid...

I have an NOS original SS eyeball shooter rod. Curious what it's worth?

Did Bally actually make one? I thought they were all aftermarket.

At least a hundred dollar bill... Especially if it is in the sealed bag. Then maybe more.