Stern Meteor battery - other repairs

https://nvram.weebly.com/new-pcbs.html

Just got my very first pinball machine ever, about 24 hours ago.
It's a 1978 Stern Meteor!
I think I'm gonna love this thing.

It was sitting in a basement the past 25 years or more. It "sorta" works.
Bootup is a crap shoot. It works maybe every 5th time at best.
I realized it needs some repair. I've determined I need a new rectifier board.
Picture attached.
Also my MPU has that soldered battery on it. My MPU appears to be in pretty good shape.
What should I buy to fix this? I'm hoping to find something with wires so I can put the battery down in the bottom and away from the boards.
I'm also curious about what voltage I need. The battery in the machine says 3.6 volts.
Where do I get a battery like this?

All the rubber components were rotted and falling apart (I've ordered a whole set of white rubbers)
My flippers are completely worn out in all possible respects. The leaf switches look burned and angry. They are very sloppy. One didn't even have wires attached anymore. How can I rebuild all 3 and do it affordably? Is there a kit? (need plastic bushings and anything that moves)

Last question? Where can I find the original coin door mechanism?
Somebody took that out of the machine and put a button on the left side of the door for credits.
I'd like to either remove the button or hide is somewhere so my kids have to put in quarters.

Thanks!
Mike M.

P.S. How do I get into the Meteor Club?

#meteor

TA-100 (resized).jpg

MPU (resized).jpg

#2 5 years ago

RAP

oldschoolbob

Pinside member

Collinsville, IL

10y 111K 1,777 2

First of all get that battery off of the MPU. It's a time bomb. The cheapest replacement would be to use a 4 place AA battery holder and mount it in the backbox. Install a diode in one of the battery compartments.

Battery-Holder-and-Diode (resized).jpg

P1010032 (resized).JPG

Another option would be to replace U8 and U13 with NVRAM's.

The rectifier board is repairable but NVRAM.WEEBLY makes a nice kit that easy to assemble and don't cost much more than the parts alone.

Your boot up problem may be with the connectors. I'd suggest you replace all the connectors and headers on all the boards.

#3 5 years ago

CSG

semicolin

Pinside member

Echoing the repairing the headers bit. They're never as good as they should be. Same thing for the IC sockets.

You're right to get that battery off of there. It likely has already leaked and you just can't see it. I replaced mine with one of these from TNT amusements because I preferred the look over an external battery pack: https://www.tntamusementsstore.com/wptnt/product/franks-famous-battery-board/

Welcome to the Meteor Club!

#4 5 years ago

???

RTSMikeM

Inactive member

Thanks semicolin!

That TNT amusements little board is exactly what I needed. I just ordered it!

#5 5 years ago

???

RTSMikeM

Inactive member

https://www.greatplainselectronics.com/

Is there some product I can get to lube the pins on the connectors instead of replacing ALL of them? That sounds costly and time consuming.

#6 5 years ago

RAP

oldschoolbob

Pinside member

Collinsville, IL

10y 111K 1,777 2

Costly ???

Time consuming ???

That game is 40 years old. If you want it to last another 40 years it's worth it. Otherwise you'll be chasing bad connectors from now on.

GPE has all the headers and connectors:

These crimping tools help:

https://www.amazon.com/HT-225D-Cycle-Ratchet-Crimping-interchangeable/dp/B007JLN93S

That's the first thing I do when I get a game.

IMG_1100 (resized).JPG

#7 5 years ago

CSG

semicolin

Pinside member

OP
Quoted from RTSMikeM:
That sounds costly and time consuming.

It is both of these things!

But - compared to the overall time and money pit that is this hobby of ours, it is merely a fart in the breeze. Every machine that has ever come into my house has had cracked solder joints on the board and corroded female sockets. Sometimes the connection was good enough, but the hours I've spend tracking down one bad connection after losing the best ball of my life to a reboot… repinning the connectors is worth the time and money.

#8 5 years ago

BIL

dothedoo

Pinside member

If the voltages are correct on the rectifier board I wouldn't replace it. Just replace those two cement resistors that have been damaged, replace the header pins and repin the connectors as suggested.

You have to repin the connectors anyway, and replacing the headers and resistors is easier and cheaper than replacing the board and connecting the wiring harness to the back.

#9 5 years ago

???

RTSMikeM

Inactive member

Ok that sounds like what I need to do...
Fortunately, I'm really good at soldering.

So the procedure is:

Desolder the "header" from each board, put on a new one, and crimp new connectors to the harness.

I checked https://www.greatplainselectronics.com

How do I know what I need to buy for each board?
I have no idea what parts I need.

#10 5 years ago

BIL

dothedoo

Pinside member

OP
Quoted from RTSMikeM:
How do I know what I need to buy for each board?

.156 header pin strips, 24 pins you cut to length
.156 trifurcon crimp pins, 18-20AWG
1026-CT or 1028-CT crimper tool
1 600 ohm, 10W cement resistor
1 25 ohm, 5W cement resistor

#11 5 years ago

???

RTSMikeM

Inactive member

dothedoo,

You really have 39 pinball machines??? Holy Crap!!

I checked and great plains is sold out of the .156 trifurcon crimp pins.
(looks like you bought them all
Any other ideas on a source?

#12 5 years ago

CSG

semicolin

Pinside member

OP
Quoted from RTSMikeM:
dothedoo,
You really have 39 pinball machines??? Holy Crap!!
I checked and great plains is sold out of the .156 trifurcon crimp pins.
(looks like you bought them all
Any other ideas on a source?

These should do what you need: https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/molex/0008500187/WM17403CT-ND/467826

#13 5 years ago

???

RTSMikeM

Inactive member

Ok. When I looked at great plains they had some with bronze plating, some with tin and some with something else.
Which kind is best for connectivity and longevity?

#14 5 years ago

???

RTSMikeM

Inactive member

Digi-key is pretty hard to search. Do they have the cut off headers too?

#15 5 years ago

BIL

dothedoo

Pinside member

OP
Quoted from RTSMikeM:
You really have 39 pinball machines??? Holy Crap!!

Nope, 40 machines. Forgot to add another Xenon I bought in January.

#16 5 years ago

ABH

acebathound

Pinitech

12y 89,050 2,585

Quoted from dothedoo:
Nope, 40 machines. Forgot to add another Xenon I bought in January.

I'm glad to see you're a fellow Mr. & Mrs. Pac-Man enthusiast

#17 5 years ago

CSG

semicolin

Pinside member

Realistically, the important thing is materials compatibility. That means same metal on your headers and connectors. Tin/Tin mating is just fine. You could do gold/gold but I don't think it's worth the expense. Tin/tin should last decades.

Yes, they sell the housings. Go to parts category "Rectangular Connectors - Housings" and filter to show only series "KK 6442"

#18 5 years ago

RON

Ronnie1114

Pinside member

Coeur D'alene, ID

11y 83,800 3,056 39 10

OP
Quoted from RTSMikeM:
Digi-key is pretty hard to search. Do they have the cut off headers too?

Ever since GPE has stopped stocking parts, I just use that website for part numbers. Copy the molex part number and put in into Digikey. I have always used tin plated contacts but I doubt copper ones would be problematic. You may want to replace the plastic housing too if it's damaged or if you don't want to remove all the old pins.

#19 5 years ago

???

RTSMikeM

Inactive member

Thanks guys. I got the stuff ordered from DigiKey. 250 pins and 16 - 24 pin headers.
Hopefully that will be enough!

#20 5 years ago

BIL

dothedoo

Pinside member

OP
Quoted from RTSMikeM:
Thanks guys. I got the stuff ordered from DigiKey. 250 pins and 16 - 24 pin headers.
Hopefully that will be enough!

I just realized I read your earlier post wrong and thought you were asking for parts for rectifier board only. Other pins/headers needed are .100 size.

#21 5 years ago

???

RTSMikeM

Inactive member