Guelph, ON
I've decided I want a couple of EMs in my collection. Would you consider Solar City to be one of the better EMs in terms of gameplay? I just bought a Strange World, and while it's nice to look at, the gameplay is so-so.
(Topic ID: 39878)
Linked Games
Solar City
Gottlieb, 1977
Topic Gallery
Fort Worth, TX
Solar City along with the others that share the same basic PF layout are always in demand
-good luck on the hunt 
3 is a good deal for that machine. Really with EMs its the condition of the backglass and playfield that are most important as anything else can be fixed easily
--Jeff
I picked up the machine a couple of nights ago, it's in pretty good shape, save for the nice wear patch in the middle of the playfield. The backglass is near mint. I played it a few times before taking it apart. Pretty fun for an EM. I'm happy to have it in my collection.
A couple of questions for you EM guys:
1. Should I touch up the playfield where it is worn or leave it as is? Does it affect value of it either way?
2. I've started to dig into Clay's guide, but perhaps someone could shine some light on the one problem it has. After 5 balls the game just keeps going forever...it never goes back to the game over state, it just keeps spitting out balls. There must be a specific relay/ score motor switch that needs attention?
3. The chimes are a little puny, they don't make that nice rich sound compared to my Strange World. Kinda like they're muted. There must be some way to make them sound better?
Now, knock down all the targets in one ball! After that do it more than once in one game!
After that...............................................
nice score dbeeson
after you go through it cleaning /adjusting etc
you can tune/ adjust the chime bars with a nut driver one at a time while hitting a sw,
start loose and tighten both nuts a little at a time till you go too far then back up and retighten.
also helps to disconnect the others and only work on one at a time so when the decade carries over you wont have a dual tone to distract you
Nice machine. Check the EOS switch on the ball unit for your 5th ball game keeps running issue.
Clays guides and Pinwiki are great references.
Quoted from o-din:Now, knock down all the targets in one ball!
The drop targets are hard as crap for me! love em tho
--Jeff
I cleaned and re rubbered the playfield and it plays great now. The chimes are chiming like they should. So that's 2 out of 3... not bad.
Still have the 5th ball problem, but it does something a little different now. After the 5th ball drains the game tries to add up the bonus points, but the step-up coil on the bonus stepper unit doesn't engage, and so the score motor in the bottom cabinet keeps running (along with the flashing pop bumpers that indicate the bonus adding up) until I shut the game off or push the start button for a new game. If I advance the bonus stepper by hand until it reaches the end, it will then go into game over. So, something is not allowing the step up coil on the bonus unit to engage, only on the 5th ball. Any thoughts?
This game probably has a "high tap" on the transformer. Hook up to that (after cleaning/adjusting, of course!) and it'll play pretty lively! I have owned a Gold Strike (same pf, AAB) for about 30 years, and just realized last year that it was on the high tap! Never bothered to check before... Great game, btw. Flipper gap and steep slings makes it tough. Also tougher when the pf slope isn't too steep.
Quoted from dbeeson:Still have the 5th ball problem, but it does something a little different now. After the 5th ball drains the game tries to add up the bonus points, but the step-up coil on the bonus stepper unit doesn't engage, and so the score motor in the bottom cabinet keeps running (along with the flashing pop bumpers that indicate the bonus adding up) until I shut the game off or push the start button for a new game. If I advance the bonus stepper by hand until it reaches the end, it will then go into game over. So, something is not allowing the step up coil on the bonus unit to engage, only on the 5th ball. Any thoughts?
Ya know, mine had issues like you mention, but the more it gets played the less it happens. When it does, I just turn the machine off and on and it usually goes away. I try to use 2 player as much as possible to keep all systems working.
Promoted items from Pinside Marketplace and Pinside Shops!
Reply
Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.
Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!
Donate to PinsideGreat to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!
