Anyone watching Stranger Things? Music from SS sounds exactly like the show. Might make a cool retheme. How hard is it to change the callouts?

I've put serious thought into a re-theme on this, (only because my machine is in such crummy shape) but from what I have read trying to do custom audio is the biggest hurdle for me. If I remember correctly, you'd need to get a ROM reader/burner and open up the audio files. Then make your own audio files to replace them, but they would need to match the length of the original audio, and all be saved as the same file names for them to sync properly with the code. so, 'possible' that way, but sounds intense/limiting for me.

The other option would be to scrap all the original audio, and put in a Raspberry Pi or Arduino with a WAV shield. Then you could run any music/sounds you like on the machine, but you would have to be clever in getting your new sound board to understand when to play the sounds. For instance, when the 1 drop target falls that triggers the optic switch under it. That switch needs to be hooked up to your arduino as an input so that the board knows to play (x) sound. so this way is not much easier, but it is more flexible to play the callbacks you want and not be so limited by the original tech.

I'm currently planning a modest re-theme on mine, but because the Audio challenges above are big hurdles for me, I'm sticking to visual mods only. Going to stick with a 'Space Station' theme, but focusing more on new artwork and modern lighting effects.

WOW that's gonna be interesting, you should start a thread about it, I'd follow for sure.

I wonder if you could use pin sound boards to help with retheming

So I sold my MPU board and my power supply board to someone who had an empty Whirlwind backbox. I just ordered brand new boards from Rottendog.

...still trying to figure out the scope of this project now... I had been prepping to re-paint the cabinet and preserve the original logo and 'world' image on the sides. But given that my backbox never had any art to preserve, I'm wondering now If I should just design some cabinet art decals and have them printed. I have a friend who works at a printer that can make side decals, she could probably give me a good rate.

The easiest thing I plan on doing is upgrading the lighting. Ive been playing with NeoPixels and I think I can pull of some really fun stuff and also cut down on the amount of wires in the machine by a LOT. Because addressable LEDs can be daisy chained, There would be no reason to have 2 sets of GI lights and all the insert lights can be on the same chain as well. Just need to call out code that specify them separately.

I'm getting a glowforge laser cutter in January. So I should be experimenting with cutting my own new plastics soon...

I guess biggest unknown right now is how intense do I change the artwork? Going to put together an ideation board for inspiration and see if anything grabs me.

Man your really diving into this, I'm excited to see what you come up with. With a laser cutter you counld come up with a nice clear plastic plastics protectors set and put the profits into the game, I know I'd buy a set. Keep us posted.

This project Sounds intense and I like it

pinsound is the answer to the sound

took a quick look at their website, looks interesting. I'll read more but Space Station isn't on their list of games and it looks like they only support System 11C? I also am not clear how it triggers custom sounds, I'll look more into it and tutorials when I get a chance.

as for the art re-theme I spent an hour or two yesterday on pintrest and gathered some inspiration for what I had in mind. This is a very 'serious' take on the theme. keeping color palettes muted and the style realistic. I want to do another pass on an inspiration board where I try going a little more colorful and stylized. Maybe like the artists Francisco Herrera, or Sean Murphy.

but this is the inspiration board I put together yesterday. My new boards are arriving next thursday, I'll probably fire up a new thread in the 'homebrew' forum or something so I don't clog this thread up with a re-theme.

Space_Redux_01 (resized).jpg

Juicy! At first I was not that excited, but if you have something done along the lines of those images, it will be a hit! Can’t wait to see what you do

Just let us know the name of the thread and we will follow.

Woot! new RottenDog Boards came in today!

going to try and get em plugged in before I go on vacation next week.

I put more thought into the re-theme. After weighing my free time, the number of other projects I have going on... and the cost involved with customizing the machine, I have decided to go forward in making subtle mods that fit in well with the original art. The one thing I really don't have time for is changing the playfield art. So everything will have to mesh well with it. Not going too drastic with art direction changes will also make it more likely I can sell some of the mods for other space station owners, and help offset the cost of me fixing this one up.

I'll definitely be making a new set of plastics.
definitely be making a new 'station' toy for the diverter.
definitely doing a bunch of lighting mods.
I'll probably make a new translight artwork...
maaaaybe new cabinet art....
and I would 'like' to make a new upper playfield... but that might be too big a project in the near future.

new boards (resized).jpg

Nice boards! Just going to ask...are you absolutely sure you don't want an original Williams Space Station? It's a pretty cool game...

EdisonArcade Yea, I understand the 'purist' mindset for machines. There's a couple machines on my wishlist that I would never dream of modding or re-theaming. There's something to be said for a super nice restoration to all original condition, to preserve a time and place.

but, I just don't see this as one of those titles. It's a fun game for it's time, but the art is a little cheezy and dated. Anything 'tech' themed usually is. On top of that, the original replacement parts for this machine are nearly impossible to find. I can't find a translight anywhere, I can't find the space station plastic toy anywhere (even the original didn't look great), and a new set of plastics is very hard to find, and when I do they are super expensive. So I'm left with the option of:

- spend several hundred dollars tracking down and buying original (almost impossible to find) art I don't even like that much...

- spend several hundred dollars producing my own replacement translight, plastics, and station toy, and sell a few on the side to people who need them, to hopefully break even on my efforts.

I think I can make some good art for this machine and offer it to people who need it. The station toy, and plastics I would sell myself, but the Translight and any printed format stuff I will offer up for free for others to print on their own if they want it. Ironically I could probably scan and restore the original plastic art for anyone that wanted it, but there's probably legal issues with doing so... Its a bummer that people are held back on having 'finished' machines because certain products just are not available any more. There was a post on this thread earlier about how no one had the '1, 2, 3' paper cutout that goes on the upper playfield.

although I will say if a pinball 'purist' wants to buy this machine away from me before I soil it with modded parts they are welcome to do so! I have a ton of other projects I could be doing.

LOL, I'm looking for one of those. PPS will probably never make it but they will also definitely never let anyone else make it. If anyone knows where they can be found please PM me.

well I'll definitely be making a replacement version but wont be the original art. I'll post the art here for others to print when its ready.

also, RottenDog board installation was super easy and the machine is up and running again! The sound on the real ROMs is SOOOO much better than the prototype boards. (or maybe my acid damaged board was just messing with stuff) in any event, super happy with the result.

007 (resized).jpg

Just be careful what you make and try to sell PPS may step on your efforts even if it's free for others. The leds in the tl station go round and round, what would you do about that? They are keyed to the station art.

Think I'll be safe as long as I don't put 'williams' or anything on there. I don't plan on selling the translight, but would be happy to offer people the file to find their own printers. I don't think plastics or station toy should be a problem. worst case they cease and desist me, which isn't that big a deal. I am not really looking to make mad profits, just cover my restoration efforts.

for the LEDs that are behind the translite, there's a few options:

1. Make the new artwork also a space station ring in the same place, just make it new artwork.
2. those lights can be re-positioned elseware on the backboard by drilling new holes.
3. Make an entirely new backboard with lights positioned wherever I want.

I'm most likely going with #1. less work.

I think PPS even has a problem with that. But I could be wrong.

I mean, if they do that's a bummer. I don't see how they can have a problem with someone making a completely new piece of art that says something generic like 'space station' on it. If nothing else I'll have the full resolution art up on my personal website as a 'portfolio' piece.

Yeah I know all that "what's legal and what's not legal" crap really gets to me. You can make stuff for yourself but you can't sell it OR even give it away.

New to Sys11s. Can anyone help me troubleshoot? The single drop target resets at each ball/game. I knock it down and the timer starts. When the target resets I get a tilt and it goes to the next ball.

I changed the diode on the solenoid and the transistor at Q22 has appropriate values. Any ideas on what to check next?

You need to be checking diodes in the switch matrix. Look for one or two shorted diodes.

Don't call a professional! YOU CAN DO IT!!!
You will find plenty of help here. Starting of by reading the manual is a great start!

Replaced the associated diodes on the Aux Driver board, reflowed/tested everything associated with it on the AuxDB/CPU, reset the flaky groundbraid to the coin door, cleaned off all of the oil (?) on the drop target/board, checked entire switch matrix under playfield. Now works perfect.

The only thing not working now are the 3 1251 bulbs behind the backboard. I changed the toasty associated transistor and dmm'd what I thought was the predriver. Changed the bulbs. Anyone know an easy way to get back there to check the wiring?

There are parts to be found

Space station translites are on eBay and klov forums once in a while

There’s a few guys here on pinside making the station toy, look back through the thread or do a site wide search and you will find them.

Plastics come up on eBay also..

Join some Facebook groups to find the things you need, it’s helped me as well.

I know you want to change things, there’s nothing wrong with that , but it will cost you a lot of time and money on trial and error, almost no companys know how to properly print translites, and printing plastics is the same, lots of trial and error. I wish you the best of luck and can’t wait to see what you do, but I feel you are in for more than you think.

Pull the playfield forward off it’s hinge. Prop the pf up with a 2x4 or long level, Use a mirror

Thanks. I was thinking about using 4 clamps on the edges as a holder.

Or he could do this. Worked great with my Jackbot and the game connectors didn't even have to be disconnected.

IMGA0347 (resized).JPG

I ordered these drop targets from pinball life:

http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=2094

The part number matched the manual 03-8036 and they were a bit cheaper then marcos. Turns out they don't have the wider top. My single drop target broke and I currently have 1 narrow target in the group of 3 drops. Now I have 3 narrow targets... could put them all at the top and move one of the wide ones down to the single drop, but I'd rather have them all correct. I am worried a ball will get stuck with the narrow ones and the wide holes.

Does anyone know if these from marcos are the same as the originals, without a profile shot I can't tell:

http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/03-8749

If not has anyone found the correct targets? PBR maybe?

threeBank (resized).jpg

Slim (resized).jpg

go back just a few pages on this thread, I posted detailed images on how to test the voltage on the space station lane diverter. (the rotating thing) Its common for it to loose power because it shares power with the 3-drop target assembly, and the connector that connects there often goes bad and needs to be replaced/fixed.

All you need is a multi-meter to check it. Do you have a multimeter? If you check the voltage and all is good then we can walk you through checking the motor and other problems it could be.

As for the ball being kicked out of the left dock, it is likely that you have a short on the entrance switch to that dock. Or, that the resistor (diode?) on that switch needs to be replaced. When a ball comes down that left ramp into the dock, it hits that switches arm, and the switch 'goes high' with a 5V connection. If the machine registers that there is already a ball in the dock (there's a switch down there too) then it kicks out the docked ball, before the second one can dock as well.

It is likely, that the switch on the ramp is randomly giving a 5V signal (like a ball has triggered it) even though nothing is there, because of a short or sometimes, if the resistor isnt working, random static electricity can cause a false positive. The easiest way to check this in my opinion, is to follow the ramp switches wires, and unplug them. then get a game started, and dock a ball in the left dock. if the ball does not get ejected after 5+ seconds, then the switch is your problem. If it is STILL being ejected, then we'll need to try something else.

P.S. do you own a soldering iron? Multi Meter and Soldering Iron are the 'sword and shield' of Pinball knights repairmen. standard equipment.

New arrival over the weekend.
20171125_173102 (resized).jpg

Welcome to the club. Hope it's in good shape.

There's a few issues, but nothing unfixable so far. It's obviously had a bit of a life though.

Playfield is decent except that every triangular insert needs to be reseated and reglued. Most of the plastics are ok. The entrance on the right ramp is a bit iffy and might need to be replaced at some stage. There's some very small gaps at the 1, 2, 3 lights in the upper PF which line up with my eye line when playing but my wife can't see them.

Electronically, I need to sort out an issue with special #5 (left jet doesn't fire), the top left flasher's wire has come unseated from the molex plug, the back panel orange flashers aren't working (I haven't looked yet so that could just be the #1251 bulbs are blown), the right ramp switch has a loose wire (currently under the pf) but the switch doesn't click either so it might need to be swapped out. [edit: nope, it's a leaf switch. Resoldered the detached wire and it should be all good. ]

I have the original displays as well as the replacement. Trying to determine what the actual fault was that motivated the previous owner to swap them out. He said it just stopped working one day and his repair guy said to go with the replacement displays. The HV side of the PS had a blown 3/8amp fuse at F1. I don't have the correct replacement on hand so I'm waiting on that before I go any further.

I did look at the PS input voltages from the transformer seem high. The white wires from the transformer are 100vac, not 88vac. The test points on the PS board give +13v and -15v to the centre so +28v across the outside.

I can see the game is in good hands, you know what your doing. Is your ramp good, Freeplay40 makes new ones, I have a blue clear one.

+1 on the blue ramp... those shoulda been factory, so cool

At first glance things looked ok, but I'd seen the ramp rattle when the ball hit it 20171127_142605 (resized).jpg
It came off without removing the lower screws :-/ 20171127_143154 (resized).jpg
Switch was easy to fix at least:20171127_143257 (resized).jpg
The top exit is a little beat too? 20171127_143410 (resized).jpg

The blue freeplay40 ramps are great! It would be nice to come up with its a sticker or something on the bottom of them though similar to the bride of pinbot ramps or something

Hi everyone. I've been fixing up a spacestation for a few months now and wondering as I look through this thread where people go to get a new mini play field and right side ramp. Assuming someone is still forming them? Seems a shame to do a clear coated play field, new plastics, full leds etc and leave the cruddy old cracked ramp and mini in place. Any assistance to point me in the right direction would be appreciated

Welcome to the Space Station Mitch -
Pinsider Freeplay40 (Mark) has been making the blue ramps. He's had some health issues recently and he might still be taking some time off to recover.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/freeplay40-ramps
No reproduction mini-playfields are available as far as I know. Hopefully someone will make it.

So here's a question.... What does that gate switch in the upper left orbit do? Mine has never been hooked up to anything. Now that I'm running out of things to fix I might as well get to that.

No clue. Mine throws an error all the time

Hey All,

I picked up my Space Station on Thursday. I'm excited to be part of this exclusive club! This is my first major restore (I'm a newbie). I plan on doing a lot of research on pinside and via the manual, but wanted to put this out to the group in case anyone can help point me more quickly to solutions:

1. Cabinet was painted black. I didn't see stencils/decals in stock anywhere. Does anyone have stencils they are willing to sell or borrow me?
2. All three bumpers are not working - Haven't started researching yet.
3. The contact in the metal ball trail to the left lock position doesn't work
4. The kick out under the space station doesn't work - Multi-ball doesn't work as a result
5. Very faint hum from speakers when machine is on - I know I saw a thread on this
6. Playfield - Some of the inserts have pushed the mylar up very slightly in several spots. Questions: Can I fix this and leave the mylar on?

There is only slight wear on the playfield behind the flippers.

Stupid question. What does NOS stand for? Does it mean the same thing as OEM?

Thanks for reading!
Chris K

NOS stands for new old stock.

Yep, as in the plastics set you can buy on e-bay for this pin. I got a set of them when I did my shop out last year. Definitely get them! great deal.

On mine, contrary to page 69 of the manual, that's on the same fuse as the jet bumpers. Red/white power wire.

Could be the fuse, could be the drivers in the top right corner of the CPU board. From memory F3 on the Aux Driver Board. Is the fuse blown?

Before replacing the fuse I'd at least visually check all the transistors around Q77, Q79 and Q73.

Does the switch click? Is is still attached under the playfield?

I'm in the same boat:
20171202_192824 (resized).jpg
From memory, Hairdryer, block, clamp and then reglue the insert from behind. I think it's covered in detail in vid's ultimate playfield restoration thread which I intend to reread before I have a go.

I recently completed a speaker upgrade in my Congo game (wpc95). While shopping for speakers the Pyramid woofer I found was sold as a pair. So I decided to upgrade the space station speakers as well. For backbox speakers I couldn’t resist these Dual illuminites,which glow blue with a 12 volt hookup, add to that a simple sound activated controller and I have a cool mod. The Dual speakers are discounted and only $15 they are heavy and large and probabally overkill. With all parts I am at around$36 certainly worth trying out

So my question is where am I best to tap into a 12v source? WPC95 games have several options.

Here is a picture of the setup in the bench

CC0571CE-8B95-4B54-8167-D522C40300D2 (resized).jpeg

image (resized).jpg

Did you ever get this working? What did you do? I recently acquired a Space Station and have the same issue. I can't move the drop target any further to the left and my playfield angle is 6 degrees. I am considering filing down the back right corner of the drop target to create a little more clearance.

1: I've never seen stencils available for this machine.
2: do the pops have power? if yes, then its a switch problem, if no follow the power lines until you do find the problem. (fuse, shorts, cut wire, melted connector, etc...)
3: that switch is notorious for 'moving' on my machine. With the glass off, lock a ball, then manually press the switch to make sure it doesnt work. If it 'does' work then you need to bend the armature so that the ball pushes it harder. If it does not work, check to see if its getting 5V of power. If its not, follow the wires same way you did with the pops until you find the problem.
4: (repeat #2)
5: I've been lucky to not have to fix any audio problems yet. But looks like others already have advice.
6: no. To fix the inserts you need to remove the Mylar. I recommend the 'can of air' freezing technique. It worked great on my machine. Then you have to remove the 'glue' from the playfield with alcohol and powder. (not gonna lie, this took forever and was NOT fun)

Most your problems just require a Multi-meter and methodical process of elimination to find the problems. Start at the source of the problem, and work your way back to the PCB's (printed circuit boards) until you discover whats causing the issue.

Out of curiosity, does your 'green mode' work? That's almost always a problem on unrestored Space Stations and it can be a real hassle to diagnose whats wrong.