Condition Green!

I love my Space Station.
Watch for Pbull who's in the process of making replacement stations. I know there's a lot of very poor looking ones out there.

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/vacuum-formed-my-own-space-station

I'd call the flashers yellow and red rather than orange and red, but mine works the same way.
If you put the wrong bulbs in there, they'll burn out instantly. That can cause you to think that there are other issues. Yeah, I did that.

There's a guy who's been trying to sell a (looks to be) complete populated playfield on Detroit CL for a while now. He has it listed with several other complete pins. That would be one solution to getting a bunch of parts and a playfield.

Hey! Where did you get a clear ramp?
Looks good BTW.................................

If the price was reasonable I'd be in for a new ramp.
I'd prefer clear or translucent to black. But shiny new black is better than damaged old black.

Hello Eric! Welcome aboard!
I think that I have the one pictured, since Bpull was super nice and sent it to me as a prototype test. (Still looks good!)
They are pretty rare. My understanding is that no one is making them.

I really like the one showing on the ramp entrance drop target.

Someone buy and use this populated playfield on Ann Arbor CL before he turns it into a coffee table...........

annarbor.craigslist.org link

Actually he's had this listed on and off for quite a long time now. Looks like pretty much everything is there.

Based on his older CL ads, the other Space Station was a complete game that is now sold. The playfield was separate from the complete game.

Yep. 28v 1251's. Blew up several 6v bulbs myself.

Yikes! Glad you fixed that.
Came out really nice. Congrats on your work!

The coin doors are either two slot for USA or three slot for export. You have to change the whole door, not change pieces. The two slot doors have the W cast into the door itself. Mine is actually a three slot re-import to the US.

Exactly. Make sure the diverter rotates correctly without hitting the ramp before you put the station toy back on. Should be an easy fix.

Came with decals showing a space shuttle:
http://bayareaamusements.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=BAA&Screen=PROD&Product_Code=DC-31-1437

I agree with mof though, the reflective orange looks great with the additional light on it. The original layout is very dark there. Nice work!

Congrats!
Target should drop quickly. Does the spring look OK?

That dot is an indication that there is an error.
Go into audits to find out what the error is. It may also display what the error is during the boot up sequence when you turn the game on.
It may be a switch that's not working, or simply one that hasn't been hit during game play in a long time. Game cannot tell the difference.
Need to see what the error is before you figure out how to fix it.

What Paul said. As with all System 11 games, look for burned GI connectors. The diverter under the station can get wonky, but that's usually an opto or motor issue. Both fixable. The ramp was once a big issue but not any more. Thanks Freeplay!

I paid $1,200 for mine in non-collector but playing fine condition.

The original factory translite is really thick. Almost like vinyl. There are small windows cut completely through where several of the lamps are located. You may have an aftermarket substitute if yours is more "normal".

Yes! Also interested in the details of a Space Station shaker!

Hard to judge degree without seeing it; but yes, Space Station is pretty dark. Only game I've seriously thought about adding lights to the playfield.

"Usually" - not sure.
Certainly not rare. The factory mylar covers much of the playfield but stops short of the outlanes. The left seems to wear more than the right, maybe because of the kicker.

Commonly missing. A nice guy on here sent me one. Good luck!

Yes, common with Williams games of the era.

Both would be cool if the price is fairly cheap. I got no specific ideas though. If the station toy itself is damaged, Bpull is making some outstanding replacements.

There was a match box wrapped in electrical tape jammed under the ramp on mine to provide support to the semi-broken ramp. Maybe they were trying to support the ramp a bit?

If those were not 28V leds they might be burnt out now.

89s operate at 12-13V and are not rated for the 28V that 1251s use. I know that 89 incandescents will light very brightly and briefly once, and be burnt out, if you install them there. Not sure what happens with 89 LEDs installed there.

Bay Area Amusements had a batch of actual NOS translites a couple years ago, but it looks like those are all gone now. The BAA ones are very nice. It's possible the Ebay seller is re-selling some of those. It would be great if BAA located another batch in some warehouse somewhere.

Seems like you are in the ballpark to me.

Think you mean T-nuts. They may have been installed with loc-tite on the post screws. Try heating them with a soldering iron on the bottom first to release the loc-tite. Or they could just be corroded and need to be broken loose and replaced.

Yeah, that's pretty weird. I had a somewhat similar issue with my Earthshaker where the attract music would not shut off once it started. Replacing the sound roms fixed that issue. So MustangPaul may be on to something. That's really pretty much a wild guess though.

Contact Pinsider Bpull. He was making some improved replacements since they are otherwise unavailable.

The high score initial select function is through the lane change switches, which are "piggybacked" onto the main flipper switches, not the flipper switches themselves.
Do the lane change switches work in game play? They should change the lit 1,2, and 3 roll through lanes on the upper mini playfield when the flipper buttons are pushed.

Just a guess, but maybe some screwed up way of powering/activating that play counter?
Or just a "burn down your house" circuit.

That shouldn't happen. Locked balls should stay locked until multi-ball starts with condition green.

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.

They seem to produce decals rather than stencils. I'd much rather have decals than stencils anyway, since I'm lazy and don't want all the work of stenciling.

That's the fuse blower.

Mark seems to have hit on the key. Different color, or other variation, and it's not a licensed repro part. It's an unlicensed modification. At least that seems to be the case.

Sound like the switch in the right dock might need to be cleaned and or adjusted.
Maybe normally taking a few seconds to register and now not registering at all, and going into ball search.
I would start by checking that switch.

Yikes!
Nice pickup once you get the nasty bugs out.
And the aluminum foil fuses!

Wow. I never knew that. Gotta try it now.

Bay Area Amusements.
http://bayareaamusements.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=DC-31-1437

Your flippers are definitely a problem. Did you check voltages? Maybe EOS or cabinet switches are dirty/tarnished? Plungers moving freely?

That looks sweet. They probably want more for it than I would pay, but very cool.

(Charge your phone! )

Are these going to be black? Opaque or transparent?
Glad to hear these will be available.

Welcome!

Should be this:
https://www.pinballlife.com/playfield-glass-rear-plastic-channel.html

Acorn nuts? They do get discolored and grungy with age.
https://www.pinballlife.com/6-32-acorn-nut-natural-nylon.html
https://www.pinballlife.com/6-32-acorn-nut-natural-nylon-colored.html

Lots of opinions here. Get a sample variety pack of LEDs from Comet or Cointaker to play around with and see what you like. Then order what works for you.

The clear ramp is by Freeplay40 who posted a few posts above here. It is really sweet. Various people have talked about making the mini-playfield but no one seems to have succeeded yet. Yours doesn't look bad. That should clean up pretty well. Novus 1-2-3 is your friend.

Star posts? Common and should be very available. Maybe try a different search. Linking Pinballlife here, but Marco (and others) should have these.
https://www.pinballlife.com/plastic-translucent-star-posts-1-116-tall.html

Have fun!

Yeah, cut the old one off.
Use some liquid soap and a lot of force to get the new one on. I ended up (carefully!) using a bench vice.

That foam is not original. Not sure why someone would put that on there.

Nuts, bolts, screws, etc. is hard to keep track of over time. No, there isn't a full list of what goes where as far as I know.

I lucked out and picked up a NOS set of plastics last year that was advertised on here. Maybe CPR will make them in the future, as they seem to be making more and more different games. Otherwise keep your eyes open, since they do show up once in a while.

Progress looks good!

Hang on. That spring is there to allow adjustment of height to match the divrter to the ramp and mini-playfield. If it feels firmly tight, it might be overtight and binding the station/diverter against the ramp. Try loosening it a bit. Not definite, but a thought.

Full manual is available for PDF download on IPDB.org.

The larger bulbs are flashlamps. Simple suggestion, leave those as incandescent. The LED flashlamps are REALLY bright. If you really want to change those out, you need to be careful, since the ones behind the station toy are not regular flashlamps. They are 1251s, which are 28 volt (I think). The others are all 89 or 906, 13 volts. Also, if you change the flashlamps to LED, you will need to remove or cut the warming resistors on the lamp boards.

I think Space Station is one of the games that Retro Refurbs quit providing when PPS threatened him over lack of Wms license. Which is too bad since PPS does not offer official ones.

Not saying it's a good strategy, but it's what I do.
I love "Condition Green" too much.

I think Transporter has a higher value because it is more rare. Gameplay on Space Station is fun. Both good games. Either way is a good choice. I would probably keep TTR, because it might be hard to find another.

I have regular sleeves at the ramp entrance, and a tapered one near the lock exit. All the sleeves near the pops and targets are regular ones.

20200717_185746 (resized).jpg20200717_185758 (resized).jpg

Yes, green should switch on periodically in attract. There are also points during attract where the GI turns off, and the green does not come on. The green is actually infrequent.

Station? You can adjust the height of the diverter with the mounting screw under the station.

Well, it is NOW.

I'm not normally big on extra lighting in the trough area, but this seems like a cool idea.

It's a PITA.
I found the easiest way was with the playfield sort of half way up.
You still have to reach behind and work by feel.
Be careful, since some of the bulbs are 1251 28V bulbs in there.

Chrome. Williams was not using painted legs in the 80's.

Try contacting Pinsider Freeplay40. He's the guy making those and several other ramps.

Looks like the seller is Classic Arcades. His quality is very inconsistent, so hopefulluy someone who bought it will chime in.
PPS sold some a while back, but I think those were a warehouse find.

That should not be possible. Once you lock a ball on a side, the diverter should send the next ball to the other side.
Only one ball will lock on each side.

I have had that exact issue randomly once in a while since I picked up my Space Station several years ago. It has not yet been a real problem. Switch back off and on has cleared the issue every time.

I just had to look up your hometown. What a great looking place.
Welcome to the Space Station Club!

Yeah, it's a cool semi-hidden touch.

The seller is Troxel, who is on here.
He has that in his Pinside Shop.
https://pinside.com/pinball/market/shops/1285-troxel-repair/04251-williams-service-buttons-game-adjustment-diagnostic-switches

How did I not know this?
Learn something new every day, I guess.

Yeah, his posts in this thread are mostly advice and help with troubleshooting.

I think the original setup was green bulb condoms, not green tinted bulbs. Those give a pretty good tint.
I do have green frosted LEDs in mine though.

Yup. Much better in the dark that way.
The LEDs do make it much more obvious in lighter conditions.

That company does make good products, but not what he's asking about.
He's looking for clear protectors to keep the light shield plastics safe, not the playfield.
Would be here if they had them:
https://www.playfield-protectors.com/23/Plastics%20Protectors?page=7

Yup.
https://www.planetarypinball.com/pinball-31-1441-12

Doesn't help if you want to print your own, but PPS does sell it.

Inkochnito makes a bridge replacement board to correct that issue also. His information says that 11B games do not have the issue as fuses were added by Williams starting with 11B. He does not list Space Station as an application for his board.

Seems like reaching in with the playfield sort of at half mast was best.
It's awkward.

Yes.
Although those kits do not include bushings, which you will probably want to replace while you are at it.
Should be these:
https://www.pinballlife.com/williamsbally-nylon-flipper-bushing.html