Hey everyone-
Thank you for adding me to the forum. I have a Skateball machine that I have had since it was brand new in 1980. It was played regularly for about 8-10 years at our house growing up. But since then, it been very sporadically played and left dormant for years at a time. My wife and I cleaned out our basement recently and she suggested we get it working again.

So given that she has given me permission, I have been obsessing over the maintenance and repair of my old buddy! I thoroughly cleaned it from top to bottom including the playing surface. I have replaced all the rubber, bumper lights, tightened all the posts, put new acorn nut post caps on the plastics, replaced the plunger springs, end, and clip and finally a new shiny ball. I fired it up and it worked, with a few issues I wanted to ask about here.

Now, I am a novice in the world of pinball and electronic repair in fact this is the only machine I have “worked” and the extent of my “work” is outlined to the above and the occasional replacement of a bulb back in the day.

Here is a list of the items I want to address…

• The upper left flipper skips. It will operate and then jump/jitter while extended.
• The back box does not light up. (See photo) The LED score displays work and a few of the lights work. (The ones that display messages like Game Over, Match and Same Player Shoots Again). However, the Same Player Shoots Again message stays on all the time, even during game play?
• Then there are the light bulbs under the playing surface. I have several that are out, and I want to replace them, but they are darn near impossible get to and access to replace. Is there a tool or an easy way to do this?
• There is some corrosion on the battery on the MPU. (See photo) Do you recommend replacing the MPU? I saw an Alltek Bally/Stern Ultimate MPU online. Thoughts?
• And finally, and this is going to show my novice when it comes to all things electrical… do the fuses need to be replaced as they get old even if things seem to be working?

Thank you all in advance!

Backbox (resized).jpg

MPU (resized).jpg

PinballManiac40 - Thank you the detail is very helpful! I will check out these items tomorrow and report back! On the playfield lights, I am talking about the one you access from underneath the playfield. Sorry for the lack of detail! For example, the 2X, 3X, 4X and 5X lights (See photo), etc. Is it okay to bend the bases they sit in, in order to remove the old bulb? I don't want to damage them. Thanks again! You've been a great help!

2X3X4X5X (resized).jpg

With power off, inspect the square rectifier board, at the bottom right corner of the backbox. There are 3 connectors to remove to see if there are any burnt connectors.
https://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Bally/Stern#General_Illumination_.28GI.29_Problems

PinballManiac40 - You nailed it! Fried connector!!! I've got a new MPU and Rectifier Board Assembly with new connectors on the way!

In the meantime, I am going to replace all the light bulbs beneath the playfield and test the for the defective SCR, buffer amplifier or integrated circuit on the lamp driver module.

After that it should be up and running like new.

Thanks again!

Rectifier Board Assembly 1 (resized).jpg

Rectifier Board Assembly 3 (resized).jpg

Rectifier Board Assembly 2 (resized).jpg

PinballManiac40 BrianBannon greatwichjohn BigAl56

Is this transformer okay? It looks like it should be replaced to me, but like I said earlier. I have no electrical background. Can these be replaced? It still works... at least it did before I took it out when was I working on replacing the rectifier board.

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PinballManiac40 BrianBannon greatwichjohn BigAl56

Great news everyone! It's up and running great!!! Thank you for all your help and knowledge!

I have three minor things to address...

* I have two lights ("same shooter shoots again" on the back box, and the "2" bonus on the playing field stay on all the time... which I believe is a defective SCR, buffer amplifier or integrated circuit on the lamp driver module. Still need to figure out how to check that.

* The upper left flipper skips. It will operate and then jump/jitter while extended. Not sure where to begin here?

* And I have two lights on under the playing field that do not light. I need to replace bulbs again, clean the sockets and then replace if needed.

Glad to be workin' the flippers again! Thanks again!

Trooper-140

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Dent00 Thanks for the advice! I spent enough for now. If the bulbs begin to go out, I might be able to convince the wife to let me spend a little more on it.

BrianBannon Ordered the coil yesterday... should be here by Friday. Thanks.