Oh wonderful, how much fun is it working on these things and bringing them back to decent shape and giving them some new life! Share some pics and stories of yours as well. Yes the lighting is a tricky deal, but the semi-gloss black (just Rustoleum I had left over when I built my own digital pinball cab about 10 years ago) turned out to give off some nice reflective light and makes it seem to "glow" a bit. Funny enough it came with LEDs but half of them were defective; I ordered a giant batch of white ones from Cointaker and they shipped the wrong ones (colored), but I decided to keep 'em and experimented with those and repositioned existing ones that worked well and came up with my own lighting scheme (my wife thinks I'm insane as I spent a week or so just repositioning and swapping out lights, I guess we pinball types tend to obsess over these details!).

So now I'm really curious, when you say EPCOT project, you are talking about the Disney park, the scene of my greatest 80s childhood memories!?!? Love to hear a little more, but I'm sure you have a stack of confidentiality agreements. I know they are always working on new attractions and that park in particular is really going through a transformation, so man that is really cool if you got to do some consulting in that arena, wow I closely follow the theme park industry and the Disney blogs / rumor mill in particular (one of my best friends was an Imagineer in the 90s and a show producer for Universal in more recent years, fascinating business). Anyway, appreciate your comments and glad you enjoyed my long-winded writeup.

Anyone have a picture of the coin door that is wired for free play? Looks like mine got snagged and pulled apart when opening the door. Just want to make sure I put it back together correctly.

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I will send you one when I get home this evening.

Awesome! Thanks!

Here you go.

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Free play can be turned on in the game settings. What are y'all doing rewiring the coin door?

Thanks,
Jason

Not sure I have an answer here haha. When I got it I thought I remembered them saying wired for free play. When this happened, free play stopped and I had to touch the green/black and yellow wires to add credits. I was trying to figure out how it was originally wired and if I need to tie in the white/blue.

Installed the Orange Xpins on my Space Shuttle this weekend. They work great!

Of course - I fix one thing and something else decided to break. Coin Mech switch next.

Decided to keep my Space Shuttle after pouring hours in it. Going restore cabinet very soon.

See p. 12 of the manual for the Pricing Table.

-Jason

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Did anyone have issues with the 50V flipper transformer with their game? I can measure 122V going in but exiting the transformer I get 21V, 10V exiting. Hasn't failed but having issues. Has anyone had them rebuilt?

If anyone needs any help setting Space Shuttle to Freeplay.. Let me know and I'll make a video. Took a minute to figure this out today as waiting on new switch for coin mech.

You won’t regret it. Space shuttle has been in my collection the longest. Maybe for historical purpose, but it’s just got that classic one more game feel. Even when neighbors come over, they play the sterns, the JJP, but they all are drawn back to the simplicity and difficulty of space shuttle. I’ve restored two cabinets so far for this game, (not mine), go for the cool blue and red colors to make it pop. You won’t regret it.

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Does anyone have a parts list for the sound board? I didn't see any schematic in the manual unless I missed it. Thanks.

The sound is on the system 9 CPU board, PN D-10534. The speech is on a separate board attached with a ribbon cable. That is PN C-8228, swemmer makes a replacement for the speech.

Thx Jetmechanic .The speech board information is what I was looking for...wanted to replace the cap and check the other components out is why I wanted the schematics.

Where do you get the paint codes for the colors?

What were the colors of the original game ( Anyone have that info )

I like the colors on the machine above.

1: there is a score switch on the bumper assembly. Check for disconnected wire. Could also be on the boards
2: yeah, make sure all balls register in the trough and the lock switches. Use switch test mode.

Thank you

Getting ready to work on a project game. How many star posts are on the Space Shuttle playfield? Also - I plan on getting a new ramp and plastics - what are the proper screws to mount the plastics to the ramp? Right now - there's a mix of slotted, phillips, machine and wood screws here. I'd like to do it up correctly.

Hello everybody,

My name is Christophe, from France. I have bought a Space Shuttle last month.
Ready to play but with a vintage look. Backglass is OK, Playfield is quite good and a Mylar has been put to stop the wear. Some inserts have go down a little bit. Full led (except Hot Dog) on the playfield. Ringing bell replace by a knocker (not connected), I don't know why.
This is a model with the big box, and the hot dog insert without 3 holes. I've not found the serial number of my machine. Where can I found it ?
This is my first pinball and I discover that pinball is a huge community of fan.
I'm surprised to found all parts available on Internet (playfield, backglass, plastics, stencil, ...) for a 1984 7000 units machine... so now, I think to an entire restoration
I've read 33 pages of this topics, and I expect to finish the 75 at the end of this week. Some restoration and mods are really impressive. Well done !

I try to understand all the rules of the game. I have 2 questions:
1) What means "Bonus Holdover +50000" ?
2) For "Lite Outlanes +100000", I understand that I can win the Shuttle value + the value of the Outlane + 100000. I'm right ? (In my case, It works but without the extra +100000)

Thank you in advance for your reply !

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mistake

I had exactly the same issue. Thank you for your message, problem solved !!!!!!!!
There is always a little constant noise (power supply?), but no more variation with the lights effects.

Welcome aboard new guy , you're in for a fun ride. The space shuttle was my first machine 25 years ago and I still have it. This title has so much to offer. Good to see you've already addressed the "shuttle buzz" just know that it's not uncommon to have to go in from time to time and tighten that board up to keep the buzz away. As for your serial number , there should be a tag on the back of the cabinet.
In regards to your questions about the + 50,000 bonus hold over. If you get that you get 50,000 points Plus your multipliers 2x 3x 4x etc. Will be held over for your next ball.
Your light out lane + 100,000 will give you 100 thousand points plus whatever bonus is lit when you drain down the side regardless of how many shuttle letters you have lit. Neat,huh.
Hope that helps and again welcome aboard fellow shuttle head. Be warned, this one's very addictive.

Wooow !
What a fast reply ! Thank you !

I have no tag on the back of the cabinet. The serial number is only here on a tag ?
Serial number is currently engraved (car, motorbike,...).

For the bonus holdover, it doesn't work. Not held over for the next ball.
For lite outlanes, bonus +100000 doesn't work.

All the rest seems to work perfectly. It's really strange.
Any idea for a trouble on scoring for those 2 bonus ?

All my family is completely in love with the Space Shuttle. This pinball is the new best friend of my 7 years old son. He won more than 1.700.000 points ! I think this pinball will stay with us for a very long time... but now, I'm looking for an other one more

I confirm that bonus holdover didn't work at all on my side.
No +50000 allowed, and no bonus (×2, x3,...) held for the next ball.

For lite Outlane, I win the shuttle value but not 100000pts.

An other bug just arrived few minuted ago:
2 balls locks, the last one came in the shuttle to launch multiball but not enough speed, so that the ball came down with the sound "3 2 1 abort" but immediately, during this speech, I put the ball in the shuttle and the entire ramp. But no detection of that second introduction (maybe because the speech before was not ended...), so no multiball. GRRRRR
Few seconds after, I lose the ball between the 2 flips.
At that time, game was blocked, with 2 balls locked, one lose but not prepared for next ball. The system was waiting something but what... => only one solution: switch off and restart.

I would go into the diagnostic mode and check all the switches. Make sure they are registering.

https://www.ipdb.org/files/2260/Williams_1984_Space_Shuttle_Instruction_Manual_dated_Nov_3_1984_with_schematics.pdf

start on page 12, and follow the instructions to test the switches

Particularly looking at:
the trough switches (10, 11, 12)
The long ramp switches (45, 32)
ball locks (16,24)

Thank you for your reply.

It works all the time except in this condition. It seems to be a bug, not a harware default.
I have remove the glass and tried to reproduce the problem:
Game on, ball1 locked, central target down, multiball green light flashing. With my hand, I push slowly a ball2 in the shuttle so that it came down and hear "3 2 1 abort / restart".
Shield up during 5seconds.
All is ok.

So I've introduce slowly the ball2 a second time so that the ball2 came down with "3 2 1 ab..." => here I introduce the ball2 with high speed so that it run all the ramp => Detection => Multiball => ball1 unlocked=> OK

I have repeat several time those manipulation and one time, no detection => locked ball1 not unlocked.
At that time, if I lock the ball2 in the other hole, it's unlocked immediately so that it seems to be in Multiball mode.
If I lose this ball2, game is waiting. The system think that the other ball1 is in play but, in reality, it's always locked.
At that time, if I remove manually the locked ball1 to lock it an other time => automatically unlocked like in Multiball.

The problem seems to be a bug which appear only if you respect a perfect timing between two introduction under the shuttle.

Our messages intersect.

I'll try your advice right away

I followed the instructions.
Everything you said works fine during testing.

This is not a real problem because the probability of producing this bug is quite low.

I'm curious to know if other people encountered this problem.

My only "big" problem at that time is for the bonus holdover and lite outlanes.

* "Bonus holdover +50000" give nothing. Not 50000 points and green bonus (x2, x3,...) are not held for the next ball

* lite outlane give the current shuttle value but not +100000

I'm currently searching. I will found. That's the only goal in my life now.

OK. If the game plays normal at all other times, then mostly the switch under the shuttle, or the other switch on the ramp is not always registering. The switch under the shuttle is notorious for not always registering

I'm not sure what the issue is with the scoring. I've never really checked my machine to see if the scoring is accurate. I just assumed it was.

Just curious about your board, the mpu that you tightend down the other night. Does it still have three double a batteries attached to the board? Check for any alkaline damage to the board. This can lead to some pretty sporadic behavior.
Also check your switch matrix table in the manual I don't have access to one currently. See if your bonus hold and outside Lane are in the same column or row. If that's the case check the other items in that column or row and make sure they are working properly. May simply be a bad connection where your connectors attached to the board. This should at least sterar you in the direction of which connector might be suspect. Good luck. And welcome to the world of owning a 40-year-old machine.

This is my first time playing with the test functions. It's funny !
I think I have tested everything (display, lamp, sounds and solenoids).
I found a potential error while testing the solenoids. Nothing happened with # 14.
What is # 14 supposed to do during the test?

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Messages intersect an other time
No problem with the battery leakage, battery are deported (show picture)

In regards to number 14 I believe that's referring to the three lights that are behind the shuttle exhaust behind the back glass. If memory serves me right they don't fire during the test sequence. Same with the flashers under the hot dog inserts.

Fortunate that the batteries have already been removed. Looking at the board, towards the top left, that connector gets pretty hot over time because of the components directly underneath it. It's not uncommon for those to need to be replaced or repined at the very least. Check your switch matrix table and see if it leads to that connector. Just a hunch.

Thanks to you, I just discovered a VERY suspicious area.
Thanks again.

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You're right, it's the shuttle exhaust behind the rear window. I was looking for something on the playing field. I just had to look up.
For information, this is flashing during the test #14. Hot dogs also during the test #09 and #10. (incandescent lamps in my case for backglass and hot dogs)

You're still right, the 1J7 connector seems to have been hot. Below, the resistances and the welds are not good either. There is even brown deposit.

That area - IJ7 is for the control lights

That area gets really hot.

If you have issues with the lights, there is a fix, replacing all the transistors with Mosfets, and replacing the resistors with 0 ohm resistors.
I did it on my game and it runs much cooler now

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/vids-guide-to-bulletproofing-williams-system-6

start at post #19 for the fix

This thread is for earlier system games. But a good read.

So as stated by dr_spidey in the post above that area 1J7 is for the control lights. As sketchy as it looks, this may not be what is causing your issues, but still worth addressing.
Just to the right of 1J7 you will find 1J8. I believe this one is tied into the switches on the shuttle ramp that may be causing your symptoms. Try unplugging that and visually inspect the connectors inside and pins and reconnect. Again I'm just running off hunches as I don't have access to the manual.luck.

Apinjunkie and dr_spidey : Thanks for the time spent helping me.

I think the problem of scoring is solved ... because there is no problem in fact...

I thought the Bonus Holdover + 50,000 was won after losing the ball. In fact, you immediately win the 50,000. It works. And for the bonus, it is won when you lose the ball but it is not the green light (which is the multiplier and not the bonus) which is retained for the next ball but the 15 small white lights. It works... I do not fully understand the meaning of all these lamps and what they indicate. Somebody knows ?
It is therefore not "Bonus Holdover +50000" but "+50000 and, later, bonus Holdover"

For Lite Outlanes + 100,000 it is exactly the same.
The 100,000 are won immediately, during the game.
So it's "+100.000 and maybe, later, Lite Outlanes"

A very big THANK YOU for your help. In less than 24 hours, I learned a mountain and dared to enter into the System9 tests functions. I have also undertand the meaning of the matrix, the connectors and wires.

I wanted to post this message 10 hours ago but I was blocked by Pinside! There is a limit of 12 post per day. If I pay, I could post 24 post per day. Unbelievable. First time I see that. It is a forum. You help me, maybe I will help you later. We help us all together without limit. We were in the middle of a technical discussion and got cut right in the middle because of incredible restrictions. In other cases, it could have serious consequences.

As we said in France:
"c'est la douche froide"

Hello everybody !
I try to rebuild my Space Shuttle as precise as possible.
The ringing bell has been replaced by a knocker. Not as fun.
Somebody knows where I can found this used part ?
Tank you in advance for your help !

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Hello everybody,

Here some things to begin with Space Shuttle. Not sure it is the best way to post that here, on the 75th page of this thread. If you have a better idea, please let me know.

Wiki about the System9:

And now, the Williams Space Shuttle rules in .pdf format. This file is based on this webpage:
http://pinball.flippers.info/spaceshuttlerules.asp

Please let me know if you found any mistake.

I hope it will help some people like beginners with Space Shuttle.

WIILIAMS Space Shuttle - rules.pdf

Having issues with the switch matrix in my Space Shuttle and looking for help of where to start. Just had my main board serviced and tested so ruling that out as an issue. In test mode it is showing switches 14, 12, 11, 10, 06, and 04 being active without touching them. I am assuming I may have an issue with a shorted diode somewhere. Any help will be appreciated!

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Hello,

Here an extract of the Space Shuttle manual.
Did you try to physically disconnect the 2 coin switchs just to look if they are always activated during the test ?
Are the others switchs of the column 2 OK when you touch them during test ?

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Hello everybody,

I try to found the serial number of my Space Shuttle, without success.
The tag on the rear of the cabinet is missing.

I have some serial number on the electronic cards, starting with 535xxxxxx

In your case, do the serial number of your tag match with the serial number of your electronic cards ?

Thank in advance !

Reconnect IJ8 an IJ10

Check all the diodes associated with the switches not working. most likely one is loose or bad

check the transistors associated with IJ8 (Q7-Q14)

If the board serial numbers all match then its highly possible that they match the SN of the cabinet.

Check for a stamped number by the coin door.