(Topic ID: 298861)

Seawitch from scratch, Allentown edition (Bally/Stern multi-game platform)

By gdonovan

2 years ago


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  • 1,858 posts
  • 59 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 7 hours ago by gdonovan
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Topic index (key posts)

32 key posts have been marked in this topic, showing the first 10 items.

Display key post list sorted by: Post date | Keypost summary | User name

Post #142 Converting Bally drop target assemblies for use with Stern targets. Posted by gdonovan (2 years ago)

Post #213 Converting Data East LAH flippers to "classic Stern" use. Posted by gdonovan (2 years ago)

Post #618 Seawitch, first gameplay video. Posted by gdonovan (2 years ago)

Post #639 3d printed lamp shields Posted by gdonovan (2 years ago)

Post #690 Cabinet decal work starts. Posted by gdonovan (2 years ago)

Post #792 Seawitch, second gameplay video showing flasher operation. Posted by gdonovan (2 years ago)

Post #794 Centaur "module" section begins. Posted by gdonovan (2 years ago)

Post #796 Seawitch portion of project is complete. Posted by gdonovan (2 years ago)

Post #802 Seawitch at Pintastic 2021. 500+ games in less than 48 hours! Posted by gdonovan (2 years ago)


Topic indices are generated from key posts and maintained by Pinside Editors. For more information, or to become an editor yourself read this post!

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#1250 2 years ago
Quoted from gdonovan:

A "film" from Coos, the quality looks good. Backside shown with image flipped.

Very interested to see how the Coos version works out in terms of how it looks backlit in particular & the process of applying the film to the glass. I Had already decided to purchase a Coos QS glass as reviews I have read on other titles have all been excellent, but was considering a film also instead of a completed glass.

#1273 2 years ago

Brilliant! thanks for posting a detailed vid of the film application.

#1277 1 year ago
Quoted from gdonovan:

I'm not that happy with it at the moment, I suspect the film really doesn't adhere at all to the glass once the water evaporates so in reality no better than a translite.

I wonder if Coos offers a ready to install "printed directly on glass" version of QS as a option to a DIY film? or were all the finished QS glasses he supplies done the same way using a film?

#1283 1 year ago
Quoted from gdonovan:

Done.
[quoted image]

Apron look amazing! how did you do the correct apron graphics as per original? is that a decal created from a scan of an original apron?

#1295 1 year ago
Quoted from gdonovan:

Almost there...
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

Finished backglass looks great from this pic, what is your assessment on how the the Coos film turned out overall?

#1298 1 year ago
Quoted from gdonovan:

I'm very pleased with Coos product and customer service, so much so that I have ordered Olympic Hockey, Star Trek proto and Silverball and will be doing a more detailed installation video in the near future.

Good to hear! the colours & resolution backlit certainly looks very, very close to an original overall. I will be definitely be ordering a film to do a backglass myself when the time comes.

1 month later
#1345 1 year ago
Quoted from gdonovan:

New mischief! Had to be addressed sooner or later.
[quoted image]

Before a backglass gets broken! I have been meaning to make a backglass rack for ages.

2 weeks later
#1359 1 year ago
Quoted from gdonovan:

Might try swapping the SB300 with a new unit to see if it sounds the same, very "tinny" sounding compared to the other two cabinets. Maybe the speaker is just done.

If it's not your speaker at fault & it's an issue with the SB300, below is a couple of threads relating to a similar problem with a "tinny" SB300 board that might help.

I fixed my SB300 a while back, kinda the opposite in terms of sound output as it had very dull, muffled sound with no treble at all just like as described in the link below. As suggested by Barakandi in the thread I replaced a few of the ceramic capacitors (had replacing electrolytic caps first but did not fix it) associated with the 3340 ic.

By just replacing those capacitors completely fixed it & it sounded like a new board. The replaced capacitors are the disc type seen in the pic.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stern-sb-300-sound-board-oddities#post-5753279

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stern-sb-300-dull-sounds-no-treble

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2 weeks later
#1379 1 year ago

Sorry to hear that update Gary, hope things turn around soon for you & your wife.

2 months later
#1441 1 year ago
Quoted from gdonovan:

Recap went well and works good!

I really like S&T boards when they are working solidly with new caps & pots fitted.

I have a spare S&T board which I use for troubleshooting games if their is a sound/speech problem. I added a dip switch set up to the "EE" jumpers so I could move between games like with Fathom that requires the EE jumpers installed & Flash Gordon which requires the jumpers to be removed to enable the U12 sound chip. This way it's just easier & I am not risking any damage to the traces by removing & installing the jumpers.

The 61B revision Vector board you have is the nicest as that can be used in Centaur & most/all others where the 61 & 61A revision boards won't work in Centaur as they cannot enable the Say it again board.
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3 weeks later
#1460 1 year ago

Good vid on the apron Gary. I like how the Stern aprons look with the full correct text present & how the text/graphics are individual pieces just like the screen print is but with decals, to an otherwise fully painted apron.

Your other application tip was good by adding small pieces of tape to act as a "hinge" to each piece prior to peeling the back off so you can check alignment if you didn't want to apply by eye.

Quoted from BorgDog:

have you tried doing stencil and painting instead of decal

I wondered about how well it might work doing a painted stencil.

1 week later
#1476 1 year ago

Wow, That’s a massive score, well done!

1 month later
#1521 1 year ago

I made a basic wood box which I store under a machine. Box has internal rails so the playfield can rest correctly like in the game. Not all that elegant or compact, but keeps the playfield dry & protected while stored - I swap between two Firepower playfields, the standard pf in the box & another pf (in the game atm) which I have converted to drop targets.

At least the cat was impressed, I think.
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#1524 1 year ago
Quoted from gdonovan:

Speaking of nice job.. and I think I can make it better still

That’s a pretty decent reduction already, also must be very satisfying having done that system install job yourself too.

2 weeks later
#1547 1 year ago
Quoted from gdonovan:

At this point the biggest hindrance is the under playfield ball handling assembly which I was considering 3D printing in ABS.

That would be a challenge! Quite a few dedicated parts their to replicate that would have to be 3D printed in metal, some are converted parts like with the two different flipper assemblies repurposed although the linear assembly has a different custom baseplate. Most of the trough guide parts above the playfield are dedicated parts too with small differences.

Taking a closer look at the ball handling components, you probably could print most of the assembles in ABS if thick/strong enough or fabricate out of sheet metal for some components.

#1550 1 year ago
Quoted from gdonovan:

There is no reason for example why the under playfied ball shooter (which looks like an axe) can't be replaced with a DE/Stern style VUK shooter. The internal rail to the trap door can be replaced with clear tubing (like Xenon)

Ah Ok, I should have realised that you would be adapting & modifying another type of under playfield ball delivery setup to work - I haven't ever looked at any other types.

Would be great to see the end result & their would be a lot of interest for sure if you did a harness & trough package.

6 months later
#1591 10 months ago
Quoted from gdonovan:

LW3, Checkpoint, Supersonic, High Speed, Time Zone, Knockout, one Black Hole, my job, my FWD racecar and my wife of 16 years out...

Shit Gary, all that sounds absolutely horrendous, sorry to hear.

8 months later
#1718 60 days ago
Quoted from Quench:

I think we spoke long ago that you're better off installing DIP switches at the EE jumpers for your multi-game cabinet to make it easy to enable/disable.

Yep, was discussed here a while ago.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/seawitch-from-scratch-allentown-edition/page/29#post-7088225

#1719 60 days ago
Quoted from gdonovan:

Picked up a Fireball II S&T this week for $50 shipped!

By the way, what a bargain that S&T was!

1 week later
#1762 51 days ago

You probably already know this, but ensure you check you have two diodes installed where the schematic calls for on the specific memory coils & also on 3 of the 4 drop reset target coils & check the wiring to the respective diodes is configured accordingly as the extra blocking diodes are needed for the solenoid expander to function correctly, without the additional diode it may work but will get some weird behaviour.

Here is pics of my Fathom inlines from a few years ago I had handy.

First two pics - Green Inlines

Last pic - Blue inlines

Something else I wonder. Bally used the 29-1500 memory coils for Fathom & used 31-2000 coils for Centaur. Their must be a reason for the difference even though they have essentially have the same function.

I wonder if it is because the memory coil plungers are different lengths between Fathom & Centaur or for some other reason? earlier games like Xenon also used the 31-2000 memory coils as well as later games.

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#1763 51 days ago

The 3 target reset coils that have 2 diodes, only the green inline bank (the last pic) has the standard single diode set up.

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#1787 45 days ago
Quoted from gdonovan:

Not yet, related?

It’s time for the dip switch!

#1796 44 days ago

Yeah, agree as well, that far right leaf switch that is tied into the 3rd ball switch which are both "03" is a fail safe. If a ball fails to make it to the shooter lane & will stack up on the lowest trough ball, without it the game would just get stuck.

Like Slochar said, a quick closure on that switch with the ball on it's way to the shooter lane won't trigger a response until the switch is staying closed.

Incidentally, if a ball does fail to launch to the shooter lane & two balls are stacked in the trough, both balls get ejected to the shooter lane together & you start a two ball multiball - this has never happened in 27 years of owning one! nor any trough switch issues whatsoever for that matter.

#1806 43 days ago

What about removing the connector wires from pin 5 & 7 on the expander board plug to isolate the 43v busses? Maybe something like a coil lug has been miswired or a diode reversed on the connected bus? the pin 5 (75) bus is not connected to any coils yet but still could be an issue in the wiring.

#1808 43 days ago
Quoted from gdonovan:

It was doing it before any coils were hooked up

I was wondering if it was happening before any coils were connected.

#1810 43 days ago

You can now finally get a good nights sleep!

1 week later
#1828 30 days ago
Quoted from gdonovan:

Still slow going finding the optimum method of making various openings though.

I used a punch set like this, worked great for most of the holes, made clean cut holes, placed the PETG sheet on a sheet of MDF for punching. Just marked the centre of the hole positions with a black marker while on the playfield & lined up the pin point shaft in the centre of the punch to the black mark, perfect. Punched holes at each end for the cut out slots & then ran the exacto along with a metal ruler.

https://www.amazon.com.au/Weddecor-Hollow-Punch-14pcs-Cutter/dp/B08WZ9FWQF/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1XX7520S2ADCM&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.8DoGvyoRCDp2CiaXOH8BVHWPZRP9Uu-b-dqg8GQmq5C1BECfJ9ymdlu9DOir88xUePCynwME0dEsjeQbuM9YtwIynHBks_CGCqpjPqEzEj0dDrtmQ01N9w8HSR918izqeQUz5AhnxjBiQO-xJnWiEJAJpJh-2vvhuQL6L9LOY8u61wl_xEilQ8XyFFaNUJQi9fKRNgYmGMpFUaYfz8FPCRyxGbopmgTY3Mk7iZCDtX7q-N08mt1VdBEPw4ZrjZQm-jD10zHWzQVfOrSRKMB7TJAoQU_i6iFBHBueyOhC-eg.UheeJ-ePZXVDqkEW07GJu9niXAroL9IRv1yoNbOM4vY&dib_tag=se&keywords=14pcs+Hollow+Punch+Kit%2C&qid=1709029865&sprefix=14pcs+hollow+punch+kit+%2Caps%2C362&sr=8-5

One thing to check is that the PETG is dead flat everywhere buy pressing down all over, I found on the thin .020 (0.5mm) material was wavy with quite high spots you could press down on.

I thought it may be due to tension between the protective layers, but the PETG was still wavy after removal making it unplayable/unusable. May have just have been bad/damaged stock but I have had this before to a lesser degree with a proper German Playfield protector I bought for my Firepower.

I ended up redoing it & others using the thicker .030 (.75mm) which worked great.

Just thinking about a protector, you may have ball hang up problems on the star rollovers even with the .020 PETG. I put a spacer made of the same PETG material between the star rollover & the playfield to raise to the same level which can’t be done with a cleared playfield.

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