I saw that kit at pinballmedics but doesn’t have the one main fuse that I am searching for. Thanks for the link though.

New question for all the space station / system 11 gurus.

Looks to be a blown capacitor next to U21?

Any idea what issues / problems this could cause? Or was this intentionally cut?

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From a little bit of googling I have figured out this is a bypass capacitor for chip U21.

What issues would this cause being blown? Could it cause static on the speakers?

And what other major issues / problems could arise if I don’t replace it?

Thanks in advance.

If anyone in the Northeast is looking to exit the SS club, please let me know. This is one game I truly regret selling.

Machine - Wanted

Wanted: Space Station Archived

Wanted! - “I would prefer a nice, shopped game but will consider any condition SS.”

2023-02-23

Woodbury, CT

dmieczko

Wanted

Archived after: 2 days

Viewed: 116 times

Status: Sold (amount undisclosed)

Have an oddball issue on my Space Station. When a ball is docked to the right and then the lower pop bumper is activated it kicks the locked ball out. In switch test all of the associated switches register fine separately so it doesn't seem to be an issue of the pop bumper activating a sensitive switch. It's very consistent and only the lower pop bumper that does it when a ball is locked to the right. Sounds to me like something on the board but having trouble tracing where to look. Any ideas?

timmmmyboy they are located in the special solenoid section, upper right, next to the orange relay. Lower pop is Q79 and right kickback is Q75. The manual shows everything you need to know. Could also be a wiring issue.

Could anyone please do a little test for me?

Confirm that solenoid 10 - green gi is not pulsing in coil test.
Please depress auto up/manuel down so it does not cycle through all coils.
go to sol 10 and notice if the relay (and green gi) is pulsing or are on until you go to sol 11.

Im restoring my Space Station that I recently aquired. It had a lot of errors in the sol section - have replaced a bad u17, u49 and several transistors.

The green GI does not pulse when in solenoid 10 test. Remains on constantly.

Thanks!

I recently picked this up after winning a local tournament:

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Sold my space station several years ago and regretted it ever since. If anyone near Ohio wants to sell or trade yours please keep me in mind. Love that game!

That’s super cool?

Yup, that happened to me. Jumped at the chance to get one back. Fixing it up as we speak! My latest problem is whenever a ball hits any pops or slings, it blows the fuse. might send my board to someone that knows them better than me since I already replaced the transistors - work had been done to them before I got to it, so there’s some crispy things going on there.

Individual fusing for the special solenoids can help track down issues in the pops, slighshots: https://nvram.weebly.com/wms-sss.html

Also means you're less likely to nuke things as instead of having a giant (relatively) fuse, you can fuse a lot lower.

I think so. I was very chuffed when I found it in the prize box.

Just brought this home to my father in law yesterday. Normally I like to find super dirty machines and fix them up, but the price was right for this restored Space Station so we couldn’t resist!

Black powder coat
Green displays
Very nice playfield
New ramps
New cabinet decals

He’s super happy with it!

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Very nice! Any idea where the cabinet decals came from? I generally don’t like decals, but those make it look really slick.

I don’t but I can ask the seller.

Chris

Who’s the seller?

I bought it from Sean in NJ. Pinsider Daly124 - He got the decals here:

https://pinballdecalseu.com/

Chris

Thanks!

Space Station was my first game. It was given to me by my best friends widow after I helped her out. It needed lots of work, but earned me a "best restore" prize at a pin-fest. I have to thank her for finding yet another hobby which cost me tens of thousands of dollars. RIP K-man.

Bummer, looks like they’re OOS. Also, does it work with sys11? Says sys3-7 on it?

Ha, my bad, that was supposed to end in an ! And not a ?

Right next to each other on the keyboard

I put it on my ss and it worked fine ,no issues, just make sure to plug it in correctly.

“DumbAss” aka Victor also makes special solenoid saver boards. Just got a couple from him actually. Hit him up. Also, see this topic:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/dumbass-test-and-reproduction-pcbs

Hello everyone,

Anyone know where to find this orange insert ?

Thanks in advance.

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It looks like 2 1/2 in stardust...

Maybe this one? https://www.pinball.center/en/shop/pinball-parts/playfield-parts/inserts/7146/insert-2-3/4-round-orange-transparent-starburst?c=2856

Thank, this is the model all already have. i think this one is the good -> https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/03-8032-12

Finally back in the club! I really missed this game.

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Welcome back to the club! Gotta send some pictures when you get it all set up.

You bet I will. Have to leave it wrapped for a few days then I’ll start the shop job.

Hello everyone,

I'm looking for a playfield to restore my Space Station, or failing that, an overlay. If any of you have a lead to share with me that would be great!

Thanks in advance.

I think this is a title that the Outside Edge people should seriously look into making.

A Hardtop for this game would be amazing.

Chris

I totally agree with that! The problem is that you find almost nothing while this game is just fabulous!

we must let it be known!

Need to https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/official-hardtops-thread/page/62#post-7445784

I keep thinking I need to start moving some things around to make room for new blood. I always think SS will be on the chopping block, but then I play it, and get condition green and that changes. I'm not sure what the actual draw is, it's not my favorite game by any means, but of my older games it gets the most play.

There's a few things that pull me back to space station over and over again. The lack of inlanes means it plays different to the other machines I have in my collection. The music and light show is amazing, especially for getting a high score. There's just enough things to do and doing the things is just hard enough to keep it challenging. I won't say it's 100% bolted down, but I can't see it going any time soon.

Yeah, it's a weird game like that. I'm at that "out of room" threshold and every time I think "hmm, out of them all, maybe Space Station is the lesser-keeper" but then I play it and it's just so damn unique I want to keep it, even for not being an high lister or one of my sentimental reworks. I think if the shots were more obvious and aim-able (the lack of inlanes works against this) it would probably get more love. But to be honest, a lot of them seem more prescribed to luck. Then you have today's fan-trained flow players already hating waiting for things like VUKs and diverters and an upper pf which is essentially a long wait just to do a lane change (but I personally love how two of them are stacked; it almost reminds me of Star Light).

So I get why it's a mid-tier game: the shots, pace, and flow are never going to be universally acclaimed. But of its time, I think it's fantastic: it was different, the lights and sounds easily rank among the best Sys11, and it does have a lot of shots and fun rewards to offer IF you can adopt your strategy to a lack of inlanes.

Perhaps some new rules would help it out.

You can aim for most things, you just have to learn to catch.... Little things like hte extra sound effect for sweeping the drops make it special for me too.

I couldn't have said it better!

I am getting rejects from the rear saucer constantly.

I’ll finally make that satisfying shot in the Nick of time, and boom! Rejected!!

Anyone have a fix?

Space station for me was what caused me to begin my love of pinball, those unique sound effects, music and mysterious call outs and that oh so crazy effects Williams did with the displays! Ss taught me how to handle the pinball better than any other machine because of those crazy positioned slings.

1.) Check the alignment of the playfield, side to side is level and then incline is good.
2.) Check the freedom of movement of the plunger from underneath and that it isn't getting caught up on the little pitch fork shaped ball sensor. Sometimes that ball switch will keep the plunger pushed up and the ball won't have sufficent room to sit down into the suacer and get caught.
3.) If neither of those help, remove the upper playfield, and with the playfield down in it's normal position, roll a ball with your hand in there and see what is going on. Might be a bit of rubber ring or something else loose blocking the way. I also put a small piece of rubber pad on the back angled bracket to soften the blow as I got a bunch of rejects when I first got my game and this helped.

My current line-up is Getaway, Funhouse, Diner, Party Zone, Theatre of Magic, World Cup Soccer and Space Satation... and I play Space Station consistently more than any of the others. Why? In a word... satisfying. Just so many things that are different and tough, yet once you get the hang of them, it feels great. The right ramp shot just before the timer runs out... the back saucer lock... swiping all three drop targets at once... the condition green lighting effect... the sounds, music... heck, I just love watching the ball go over the wireform to the left lock! And you can't expect to have a brilliant game every time even when you know the game well and play it often... sometimes it is just going to kick your a$$ and make you come back later.

The game is very, very different than all my other WPC games, DMD era or otherwise. I just love it though.

I hear you on this. SS was my first game ever, and as the collection grew over 6 years I got on and off the fence about it. Finally decided to sell it a little over a year ago. Big mistake, totally missed it! Luckily found another one a few months ago. A bit of a project, but looking forward to having it back!

Thank you
I’ll dive in and report back

Yeah, I've had my Space Station since 2001 and "ran out of room", but just couldn't bring myself to get rid of it. Luckily, I was able to create some space at my work and brought it and a Capcom Bowling game there and they have been there for the last year or so and that also lets others enjoy them!

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Oh, I forgot tap pass too... Backhand the drop, catch, tap, catch, then time that stop and go perfecting in the 9s...

*chef kiss*

That’s when I got my Space Station! I scored an NOS playfield on eBay for $150, and it was the most grueling playfield swap I’ve ever done, due to the double GI and no dimples on the back. I made a huge mistake in pulling the factory mylar. I didn’t lose any art, but lost lettering on most inserts. I fixed that with decals from Jeff McAfee.

Another crazy thing I did was to buy another Space Station, combine the best parts into one game, and sell the spare. It was worth it since the new one had a better cab, and an unbroken ramp.

I got mine in...97 or 98 I think? Was my third game, and basically just bought it cause it didn't suck and went really cheap. (less than $200 I think). At that time I didn't have much space. I had a Xenon in the living room, a Funhouse in my father in laws garage, and the Space Station in the kitchen.