Hi all, first pin, and first forum post after lurking here for years. I finally managed to convince DW to let a pin into the house, and my Silverball Mania arrived last week. Just in time for a long weekend of lots of playing, and finding out some of the good and the bad about it. The good news is it seems to play and score properly, with only some minor flipper issues and possibly a bit more slingshot strength than I think is normal (though it has been a long time since I’ve played this game). The bad is there is a sound issue with the background effects, which I didn’t identify at time of purchase as the seller had the background sound settings off on the MPU (Alltek - about 2 years old). I believe the other boards in the game are all original or at least of that era, though I am told some re-pin work has been done over the years.

The background sounds on this game are supposed to increase in frequency/intensity during a long run of play, then crash back with loss of ball, or after you achieve some major success in the game (I forget what it was, perhaps hitting the special). Instead I’m getting one of two odd occurrences - either:

1. The intensity builds and remains even after loss of the ball, then continues at the same pitch for the next ball (and also occasionally continues to play even when the game is over), or

2. The “tilt” tone sounds, even though the game has not been tilted, and the background sound stops completely, though all other sounds continue to work as normal. This second occurrence seems to happen after a wicked hit on one or both of the slingshots. Often, but not always, the background sounds start as normal with the following ball.

Any suggestions on where to start?

Thanks pinmike, I will try the connectors tomorrow and reply. On the tilt switches, I had wondered if those were an issue so I taped them all off with electrical tape so none could make any contact. Still get the random tilt tone (as above, usually after slingshots) and background noise behaviour. Game does not tilt in this situation.

Hi Chippe01 and thanks, I had not tried a reset on the sound board but will do that tonight before reseating everything in case that solves things.

On shooting the tube, I assume you mean on the horseshoe loop - my memory is the sound intensity increases each loop until you reach a point, either the 5x loop or the next loop thereafter - is that what you experience?

I'll get some video later when home, thanks for your suggestions.

Thank-you both for your tips. I disconnected and re-connected everything, and did a reset on the sound board, and all is a-ok now. I’m glad that solved the problem as I was not looking forward to getting into the thick of things on my first week with the game.

Thanks again - much appreciated!
DougT

Never too old for pinball! In fact, I think this makes us young again. It was pretty cool playing my teenage favourite pinball game with my now teenage son. Truly inter-generational fun!

I was very glad that the sound wasn't a major issue. I wasn't looking forward to having to fight my way through a major process this early in owning my first pin. As is, I have a few lights that need some work (as in not just dead bulbs) and one flipper that is a little on the weak side. Thank goodness for the guidance on this site and plenty of youtube videos on how to fix stuff, though I'm not sure yet how brave I'm going to be as a do-it-yourself project, versus finding someone local who really knows what they are doing. Thanks again for your guidance on where to go with the sound issues.

Thanks Atari_Daze, I agree there are lots of good findings in your restore topic. I’ve been lurking there for a while watching your progress (traded PMs once) and was working on a way to get down to Texas to check yours out when done, then this one came up for sale in Toronto, which was both closer to home and on the same side of the border. You’ve done an amazing job on your SBM. It is a gorgeous machine. Not sure if you’ve sold it yet or not, but wherever it goes they are going to get a real beaut.

I think I’m going to enjoy the game in “as is” state for a few weeks before trying to tackle the lights issues. I also think I have an EOS issue but that will be easy enough to diagnose at least I hope.

One thing for sure, I will have to hone up my soldering skills!