Space Shuttle crew members' club - prepare for liftoff!

I bought the F-14 because I thought it was "cheap" at $1400 (+$50 delivery from Iowa) and I'm basically getting back what I have in it. And that's after a TON of hours dialing it in and installing new target lollipops and other misc goodies..just to get rid of it -- assuming it actually goes as planned -- so I can get something else at some point.

Honestly I've struggled to rank Shuttle highly in my list vs. my other games for a while (again, not because of the game itself, but because I'm so damn agitated I can't come CLOSE to the factory leaderboard).. but I love it, and I think it's one of my 'prettiest' games, with the clear ramp and hardtop..it's not going anywhere. Someday I'll stop being terrible at it and it'll rocket (ha ha ha, that was a good one) way up the list. F-14 can go, again mainly because I don't want to pretty it up rather than anything else, I'm too heavy on Ritchie games, and kind of on Sys11 games as well...

Sounds like a bit of a shitshow. Simple quick answer to questions one two and three are no, no, and no.
As far as the way things are supposed to go, your pop bumpers shouldn't change any lights on the machine when triggered. Your USA rollovers should only affect your 2 * 3 * 4 *etc. Multiplier lights . They should Advance each time you complete USA . There should never be more than one of the shuttle value lights lit at any given time. Those will change randomly at the beginning of each ball, when all of the shuttle letter targets are hit, or it will reshuffle when you hit the target up the right ramp. Your bonus hold light and your hundred thousand light outside Lane lights should only come on when that goal has been achieved through the shuttle value bonus.( I would guess if yours are always on that its probably part of the broader issue, and not something like a diode.)
I had a very similar problem with mine after I had some board work done. I reconnected one of my board connectors off by one pin. The lights worked but we're totally random and f*****. If I Were Me , I would double check your connections on your board.
Hope that helps, now here's another picture of my 3D truss mod.

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Do you possibly have a lamp row/column that's screwed up? I had two rows that were jacked on my high speed and fixed one by checking diodes and bending them all slightly, a few must have been shorting against metal. I still have one more row to fix at some point, but I've been lazy. It's annoying but I'm living with it.

I didn't really read THOROUGHLY, sorry, super lazy right at 1AM, but if you check your problem lamps, see if you can find common row or column patterns and go from there. I would say that unless the SCORING specifically is doing something stupid then no, you don't care about the switch matrix right now. You're chasing lighting woes, so.. lamp matrix. That said, I'm a noob and it's late, so.. Get some better opinions

Definitely agree, probably in the lamp Matrix more than the switch Matrix.

I'm still leaning towards one of these connectors, would definitely double check and make sure they're seated properly. I j7 can take a lot of heat, and get brittle over time.

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This is awesome and should be in the confessional thread.

God help me.

It's okay blind squirrel. You're amongst friends here, we all suffer from the same addiction.

I've genuinely hit the point where I'm scared I MIGHT find some deal I can't pass up and then I'll find myself dragging another poor neglected child home to nurse back to life.. Just a lost shepherd tending to his flock...

I'm not quite sure what to tell you, but that won't stop me from talking. It sounds like everything's making a good connection but from the symptoms you described it's possible something is not wired correctly. I would check the lamp Matrix chart, find the row or column with the corresponding problem and double-check that the wiring sequence is correct in those connectors.

Based on this photo you provided in a previous post you may want to question the work that was done by the previous owner. It looks like he installed a new header pin at I j7, the old one probably cooked by those resistors ,which look like they've scene there better days. Could be he screwed the pooch when he attached that new header pin. Hate to say it, but if the simpler solution doesn't present itself you might be looking at that boardwork you didn't want to tackle previously.

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If you don't find a solution for yourself and end up having board work done, I highly suggest sending the boards--all of them--to Eugene Marsh for complete servicing, updating, and bulletproofing. He gets all of my boards (including Shuttle, which had a lovely 'fixed' transistor for one of the pops when I bought it) and they always come back good as new. I don't think he's giving me any sort of bro price on things and it ends up costing me around $180-200 per board set, with all shipping included both ways. Worth it in the long run, IMO, to never have to worry about 95% of this crap.

He'll also verify that you don't have a board issue with your lighting problem, at which point you'll know it's under your playfield, like mine is with my High Speed. Then you get the fun of tracking it down..like I still need to do. Aint pinball fun?!

Also make sure you fuse your bridges with the 8A blocks on your game. Every single machine should have this done. Period. No questions.

If you need fuses and blocks LMK, I have extras and would send you a pair (or however many you need) at cost + free shipping.

Yes the space shuttle can be an evil mistress. Worth pursuing though. When this game is dialed in and fully functioning, it is definitely a sweet ride. Maybe try reaching out to one of the technical help forms.

Replied. Did you do the 8A bridge fireproofing? It's super easy, takes about 10 minutes.

I have the opportunity to purchase a space shuttle that will need hard topped for 1000. Mechanically all the switches and rollovers look good. And also the motherboard has batteries moved off main board and no signs of corrosion. Does this sound like a good deal? Cabinet is in decent condition no major scuffs or abuse. Back glass does have some peeling or lifting of the areas.

What would you do?

Buy the hell out of that. $1000 is a great entry point.

Hello fellow Kansasn!

Jump On It , that's what I would do if I were me.

Thanks guys. I thought it likely looked like a good deal. Just finished my Firepower hardtop so hoping this one will be quicker. One less pop bumper to deal with thankfully!

Now just to read through this post to see how everyone has modded theirs out.

I'm sure I'll have more questions here as I get into this teardown and restore! Consider me a new member!

Welcome aboard! Good to hear you're jumping right in with the hardtop, it's a great way to familiarize yourself with a lot of aspects of this machine.

No star rollovers to deal with either. I've done both and Space Shuttle is a little easier.

Can someone help confirm this is the hot dog version? Assuming the non hot dog is where it has the 3 inch circles vs hot dog insert? Would like to order the hard too here soon!

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Yes ,those are the hot dogs.

Hot dog hot dog hot diggity dog, that's a nice enough looking $1000 shuttle all day, every day!

Here's something I thought about AFTER I put down my hardtop. Remove the 3 green USA inserts above the rollover lanes and replace them with clear regular or starburst inserts. I've always thought the green didn't make the most sense for those. If you put clear ones in there you have a lot more options. You can just put in green bulbs for the "traditional" look or perhaps red/white/blue or other colours.

I replaced all my posts and lane guides with clear and I did my pops red/white/blue along with the spinner arrows. I will leave the GI white for now.

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I'm not a traditionalist so I don't mind making changes as long as they are tasteful. Well, tasteful to me at least!

Been wanting to join the club for years and finally found a very fair deal local and jumped on it. I added led's,took off all the plastics and ramps to clean,polish,adjust and rerubber. Cabinet is pretty nice as well as the backglass the playfield is meh but for a SS it's not that bad and the inserts are all pretty much level.The sound wasnt working and my tech found one of the sockets had a broken leg not connecting with one of the pins of the chip and swapped in a new one and now we have liftoff. I noticed I have 3 insert and not the hotdog insert does that just mean ones an early production machine?

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Really nice looking Rendition. Those blue side rails are superb and those pops are absolutely otherworldly. I couldn't agree more about the green inserts, just look out of place on this machine, replacing with clear would open up a lot of lighting options. I ended up swapping out with blue inserts and have no regrets.

Welcome , fellow space Traveler. That's a decent looking machine and that play field is in remarkably good shape considering it's 35 years old. As far as those hot dog versus Circle inserts go, I'm not sure if they were done earlier or later in the run but I do know that there were less of the circle inserts made then the more traditional hot dog insert.

I forget who said it to me but they said "my goal is to make every machine a little nicer than when I got it" and it stuck with me and that is my goal. If everyone did this these machines can outlive all of us.

Not saying you heard it from me, but that's one of my commonly-said phrases.

There are fixers and there are restorers. I fix what's broken, and play. Occasionally I'll try improving things past the point of just properly working, but my main goal is proper function and maintenance. I don't typically have the chops for restoration, both in budget and in patience....oh, and in skill.

What color blue did you do for the rails? They look great! I did the same thing to my Firepower and will plan to do this here as well. I'm debating on removing the old "opaque" white inserts in lieu of clear as well. Just personal preference to me. Removed them on Firepower and the machine just looks more "modern" now.

Had to share this, and start with a special thank you to Tony goingincirclez , who really went above and beyond to make this happen. Here's a couple shots with the new speaker panel, not installed proper, just held in place with gravity for now. I had to know. I know I've said this before when I put something new on the machine but, "BOING "(space wood)

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Man that's sharp!

I'm really digging it. Although it makes me miss my original back glass.

Okay,I think I'm done playing in the sandbox for a little while. Proper installation only took 10 minutes. Here's a quick video of the way the lights play off that speaker panel from a player's perspective. I couldn't be happier!

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Every game I do any type of restore on gets new oak rails. I just get some hobby oak from Home Depot, cut it size with my table saw, a bit of sanding a few coats of paint and it's good to go. This blue matched the game really nicely.

I also bought a set of blue LED displays from Wolfpac Tech (www.wolffpactech.com) and I have to say they look amazing! As long as you can do some basic soldering you can put them together. It's an easy upgrade plus you don't have to use the high voltage section of your power supply as these run off 5v.

Wow apinjunkie, that reflection looks amazing! Looks like your custom overlay lends a lot to the effect. I'm glad the panel finally concluded its long delayed journey safe and sound, and that you're happy with it. A nice added touch for a finely customized machine

Thanks for the praise Tony, but this upgrade is all on you. Appreciate you working with me to make this happen. Keep Flippin.

Sounds like you need to tighten down the screws on the MPU -- better grounding there will reduce that hum that's in sync with the lights.

Yeah, definitely time to retighten those screws on the board. Doesn't really sound that bad in person, but when you point the camera directly at the machine it sure does pick up the," shuttle buzz".