I purchased a Space Station pinball about 4 months ago or so and it is my first machine and has been working great till recently. A few weeks ago, whenever I dock the ball on the left dock, it will randomly shoot out (could be 5 seconds after docking or longer) and the other day, the station stopped rotating.
I am going to put it test and check motor functions when I have some time this weekend but wanted to see if anyone has any suggestions. I am still new to pinball maintenance and can fix easy/small issues (replacing bulbs and fixing connection issues) but have little experience outside of that though I am wanting to learn. I'm going to go through the manual as I have yet to put it in "test" and see how to check motor functions. Does anyone have any suggestions to help me tackle this issue before having to call in a professional?

Quick and kind of a stupid question. I was able to get my Space Station motor working again (roll pin broke off and had to be replaced) and now the only issues I have left with my machine are minor and I can probably figure out messing around with the machine but figured i might as well ask the experts.

First, does Space Station have a ball save feature? There is a "Relaunch when lit" above the paddles but I have never had a ball save when the ball goes straight down without being touched. Is this a feature that I need to turn on in set up or could there be another issue I would need to look into?

Also, I want to set up the machine to save high scores and show high scores when they are achieved. I have gone through and tried to get them to show following the steps in the manual but have not been able to get it to show and save. Any suggestions?

Relaunch When Lit (resized).JPG

Thanks for the reply. Wanted to make sure it didnt have that feature.

As for the high-score feature, I have batteries in it and have gone through the setup to try to figure out how to make the high scores be saved but with no luck. It shows the factory set high scores but even when i beat those scores, it does not let me put in my initials and save high score.

I have seen the Space Station mods out there (actual space station on the left side or an astronaut) and wondering where I could find these mods or other ideas out there. Was able to fix a few issues that I was having the other week and enjoyed figuring it out and want to try to learn some more stuff.

Any suggestions?

Morning Everyone,

Machine has been working great since i was able to fix the space station motor and the issue with the balls not staying dock. But a new issue has popped up which shouldnt be to difficult to fix but of course, want to ask any advice from the experts before I tackle this issue (as it will be my first time doing it).

The right flipper is lame and very weak. On Monday, when I looked at it, I was able to get it working by making the right flipper button "switch" make better contact (apologies that I do not know what everything is called yet and the correct terminology). That fixed it and gave the flipper more power but was not as strong as the left flipper and right flipper button had to be hit right in the middle for it to work (couldn't hit the side of the button and get it to make contact).

But last night, the flipper was barely working and does not have enough power to hit the ball anywhere. So my first step is to clean the switch that i looked at yesterday but wanted to check what is the best way to clean these switches? I want to make sure I do not do more damage when I am trying to fix it.

I am guessing it is more than just the switch causing issues and probably going to order a new flipper kit and go that route to make sure I fix the problem and also to learn how to do flipper replacement since i have yet to do that.

Does anyone have any guidance, suggestions, or ideas?

Unfortunately, I am not exactly sure what you are referring to when you say the "metal guide" but inside the cabinet, the switch the touches the flipper button is tight and makes contact. But i will keep looking at it and see if there is an easy fix before i really get into it. Thanks for the suggestion.

Ok, thanks for clarifying. I am pretty sure i know what you are talking about and will look at it when i get home to see if that will fix the issue.

Thanks for the advice and the link. I will watch this when I get home tonight and see what i can do.

I am about to tackle my first flipper rebuild for my Space Station. I am doing the rebuild because my right flipper is weak and after looking at it, whoever did the soldering did a horrible job (none of the soldering is smooth) as well as the capacitor wire broke.

I ordered the Flipper rebuild kit Williams 1988-1991 that fits this machine. If anyone has any tips or advice, please share. Thanks!

Question for the group. I just replaced the coil on my right flipper and when I turned it back on, it goes through its normal process but there is a consistent clicking and lights lighting up as if the flipper button was being pushed. Also, when you push "start", nothing happens and it keeps shuffling through high scores.

I am sure I did something wrong when I replaced the coil but any ideas of what it could be? Below is a picture.

Space Station Right Flipper Coil 2.17.18 (resized).jpg

I see one big error I made where I have the capacitor being connected to the center connection. I want to make sure i got the order of your "Connections" correct since all the wires match the colors you described. Can you please confirm and I will mess with it tonight to see if i can get it to work.

Flipper (resized).png

Thanks! I will look at it tonight and emulate the left flipper set up on the right along with the info above to make sure i get it right. This should be an easy fix but all this electronic stuff is over my head.

Great point. I took a picture before i replaced the coil and put it together just like the picture. This is something i will remember, once i get it right, i will make sure not to make the sames mistakes again.

Alright, got everything wired and when i close it up and push the start button, nothing happens. So this would be a new problem that I created fixing the flippers. Any suggestions?

Also, when powered on, it flashes lights every 3 seconds and does not do its normal start up and sounds.

That is what I am planning to do tonight but not sure how to determine which fuse is associated with the start button and from there, how to determine if it is blown.

Thanks for the info. I am very new to electronics and it doesnt make sense to me. But will check with my multi meter when i get home. Are these fuses located under the play field or behind the translite?

I will definitely purchase one of these when they are ready (and i am sure i am not the only one). Please let us know when you get it perfect and ready to get rid of some.

I am going to print out some custom instruction cards for Space Station but I left the exact measurements that I took last night at home. Can anyone send me the measurements of the instruction cards that they can send me?

Last time I did this, I got quality card stock and used the measurements that I found online but it was a little to big. Thanks!

Last night, I was playing my Space Station and in the middle of Green Mode, my game restarted. Then a little while later, it happened again. Any suggestions on what I should look at that could be causing the game to restart while pinball is in play?

Well, my Space Station is resetting during game play the other day. Not sure what the issue is as it happens during normal game play and not when both flipper buttons are pushed or any certain time during game play. I am assuming it is a voltage issue but I am still learning and hoping it is an easy fix. Any ideas or suggestions where I should start looking/replace?

Thanks! Will look through it this weekend to see if I can find and fix the issue

Well, my machine is having voltage issues again. During game play, the game will restart and it used to happen when green mode would start or if you hit both flippers at once. The issue went away on its own for a while but started happening again the other day but now it happens randomly during game play and doesn't seem to be triggered by anything specific. Any ideas of what I can do to try and diagnose the issue?

These little guys are awesome! I searched for lego space guys and have found similar guys but where did you get the arm that hold the figurines? I think that is what makes it stick out more.

Morning Everyone,
My Space Station has been playing great for a while now but the other night, had people over and we were all playing pinball and the right flipper on Space Station got weak. I opened it up and it appears a wire came off but could not tell where it was supposed to go. Honestly, whoever did the wiring/soldering did a messy job and probably should go ahead and redo it just because.

Can anyone send a few pics of their right flipper so I can compare to mine and be sure I connect the wires correctly when i redo the work. One of the wires that is still connected is charred and frayed so going to redo it as well. The coil is newer and everything else looks great but there are a few wires that dont and it is time to do some work on it. Thanks!

Thanks for posting that, will definitely help as I can do some work but by no means an expert. If it wasnt for the internet and the great people of pinside, I would be lost. I will compare when I get home but it looks much different than mine does. I do not see the capacitor (or whatever the piece is called that is ziptied)

Awesome. I did some research and it looks like the mechanical arms came from the Marvel Super Heroes Doc. Once I get my right flipper fixed, going to look into adding this mod to my Space Station to give it a little personality

Has anyone got the replacement ROMs for their Space Station? I am getting ROMs for my Roadshow and thinking about getting one for my Space Station but hoping someone can provide feedback if its worth it and how it effects gameplay and enjoyment of the machine.

Game Version L-5

U26 : Checksum: 5194

U27 : Checksum: 983E

Sound Version L-1

U4 : Checksum: 07B0

Speech Version L-1

U19 : Checksum: DCAF

U21 : Checksum: A754

U22 : Checksum: FB4C

That used to happen all the time on my Space Station, and sometimes, the drop target would have to drop to release the ball from being stuck. I actually shaved my post sleeve a little sot it would not get stuck there.

My right flipper capacitor got loose and I have reconnected it but the right flipper still does not work, the left flipper works fine. What other areas should I look at in order to find and fix the issue?

Thats also what i figured. I tested all fuses (believe it was F5 taht was to the right flipper but could be wrong as i am not looking at it now) and they all work.

I have pictures of the right flipper for space station that i found in this thread. But my right flipper was done different from the pics as there are a total of (5) wires going to the coil and capacitor. The left flipper only has 4 but the right flipper has an extra red wire that connected to the capacitor to somewhere else. Unfortunately, when the flipper stopped working and I looked under the playfield, the capacitor and this "red wire" were not connected anywhere and do not have a picture of where it was connected before it broke.

But I did find a picture from a post that I did from two years ago when i replaced the coil on the right flipper but had issues when i turned the game on and nothing would happen when I would hit the start button.

SS Right Flipper Pic 2018 (resized).JPG

Thanks for the help Grumpy, always appreciated. I followed the picture you sent me a few years ago as well as your guidance:

1. There should only be 4 wires on the coil.
2. Connection #3 should have a blue/yellow wire. Nothing else.
3. Connection #2 should have blue wire which also connects to the EOS switch.
4. Connection #1 should have a pair of wires, a blue/violet and a blue wire which also goes to the EOS switch.
5. Now the cap wires do not go to the coil, they connect to the EOS switch with the blue wires. Direction does not matter.

After I did the above, the F4 fuse would blow when the game was turned on. So I did something wrong as well as the display is now out.

I also got a new capacitor from Marcos (Capacitor 2.2 uF 250v axial NP yellow, C2.2M250VA-NP)

Space Station Right Flipper (resized).png

Recently, I fixed the right flipper and the game worked fine without any issues for several days and many plays. When I went to turn it on the other day, the issue appeared and the machine wouldnt boot.

Space Station turns on but the display never comes up and there is a loud buzzing sound coming out of the speakers now.

I looked at the CPU board and it looks like it is burned (on Q79) and this was not there last time I remember so I assume this is the culprit that is preventing the game from tuning on.

Can anyone confirm that this would be the issue from preventing the machine from not booting? And if so, is this board fried or can it be repaired? If this is not the issue, where should I start looking to determine why the game will not boot?

Space Station CPU Board Issue (resized).PNG

I have not done anything yet since the machine failed to boot.