(Topic ID: 47092)

St:tng owners welcome aboard the uss enterprise

By Pinballgeek

10 years ago


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There are 10,264 posts in this topic. You are on page 36 of 206.
#1751 6 years ago

yeah, i don't know why, but cleaning flipper optos is usually the trick.

#1752 6 years ago

Damn hard to get a qtip down in the opto since mine taper closed at the open end of the U. Gap is maybe half as wide as the inside bottom of the opto. Hope that makes sense.

Looks like $4 gets me a new set of optos for the flipper pcbs.

#1753 6 years ago
Quoted from weaverj:

but cleaning flipper optos is usually the trick

Best ways to clean your flipper opto boards

1) Ultrasonic cleaner

2) Dishwasher

3) Foaming cleanser and rinse in the sink

#1754 6 years ago

I'll try my ultrasonic on them next time. Didn't think about it.

Next problem I found is a made middle ramp switch that doesn't register. Pulled it loose and it might register 1 time in 10 when I manually close/open the switch. Adjusted arm back to proper shape but that didn't help. Can't figure out why it's broken, but new one is $3 so may just swap it.

#1755 6 years ago
Quoted from horseflesh:

Good question. The short answer is that the replacement connector you'll build is better and doesn't suffer from the high resistance that burned up the last one.
The longer answer is this:
The original connector is built from insulation displacement connectors (AKA IDC) which are fast to manufacture BUT aren't the most reliable. See how the wire is just mashed down into those teeth?

IDC connector (resized).png

If the connection between the wire and the terminal is poor, or the connection between the terminal and the pin in the board is poor, you get a lot of waste heat. Over time that cooks the connector. If yours went up in 15 minutes with a burning smell, something happened that made the resistance get worse fairly quickly... maybe the plastic was old and brittle, maybe the wire came half-loose from the connector, etc. Something made for a poor connection, and things got toasty.
The new connectors that you will build have the wire tightly crimped to a high-quality terminal, which will also make much better contact with the pin on the board. No high resistance problems, no heat, no toast.
This is the tool I have:
amazon.com link »
You can spend a lot more but this will get you by. It will take a little practice to use. You first crimp with the small jaws, and squish the tabs that capture the wire. Then you crimp with the big jaws, which captures the insulated part of the wire. With this tool the terminal might want to squirm and rotate during the second crimp, so I hold the terminal straight with pliers while I squeeze the crimper. A good crimp looks like this. Then you just push it into the housing and it clicks into place.

Wow! What a fantastic response. Thank you for the detail because I needed it. I will definitely pick up one of these (along with another coil that burned up) while I'm parts shopping. Things just keep going wrong all at once! It's driving me crazy. Now my game is going into a repeated ball search. It's driving me crazy that I can't play it right now!

#1756 6 years ago

Happy to help. If you google the topic you will find a lot of material too. Do get the tool that Pin_Guy linked, it's definitely nicer than mine and still very affordable.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OMM4YUY

You'll be fine, this is a piece of cake once you figure out how to use the crimper.

#1757 6 years ago

I'm getting high voltage readings on my flipper coils of 65V and the rest of the coils are reading 85V. Is this normal? My machine is a Japanese re-import and I think I have the butterfly connector configured correctly. Can anyone confirm that this is acceptable?

IMG_0067 (resized).JPGIMG_0067 (resized).JPG

#1758 6 years ago

This is for the 120vac.

IMG_1912 (resized).JPGIMG_1912 (resized).JPG

#1759 6 years ago
Quoted from Higloss67:

This is for the 120vac.

Thanks for the picture. It seems mine is correct. I still wonder why I'm getting high voltage? I'm making my way through the pinwiki and it says very little could cause high voltage to the solenoids. I wonder what those few things could be although I am sure transformer problems is one of them. Speaking of which, mine hums more than I'm used to with my other pins.

#1760 6 years ago
Quoted from BriPin:

Speaking of which, mine hums more than I'm used to with my other pins.

It must not know the words. Are you sure the ground prong on your line cord is properly wired up and are all the ground braids in the machine connected up properly, especially any in the backbox? As to the high voltage at the flippers, what is the A/C voltage coming into BR3 (J102 pins 5&9)?

#1761 6 years ago
Quoted from bobukcat:

It must not know the words.

I giggled.

Thanks for your input. I did go through the ground braid when I got this machine and it was broken in a spot so I jumped it with alligator clips and now I get continuity throughout. I checked J102 5&9 last night and if I remember correctly I was getting about 33V-34V A/C coming in. I also tested TP5 again and was getting about 83VDC. What reading do you get on TP5?

#1762 6 years ago
Quoted from BriPin:

I giggled.
Thanks for your input. I did go through the ground braid when I got this machine and it was broken in a spot so I jumped it with alligator clips and now I get continuity throughout. I checked J102 5&9 last night and if I remember correctly I was getting about 33V-34V A/C coming in. I also tested TP5 again and was getting about 83VDC. What reading do you get on TP5?

I have 75VDC on mine, so not much different from yours and mine has always worked very well.

#1763 6 years ago
Quoted from BriPin:

... Speaking of which, mine hums more than I'm used to with my other pins.

Also, check that all the boards are mounted with all the screws and that they are snugged down. This helps to ensure an even ground plane between the boards.

#1764 6 years ago

Just added mirror blades to my STTNG and made a big game seem even bigger. Love them. Easy install and great effect. Highly recommend them to anyone. Plus learned a few things about this new game, at least to me it's new, found out as everyone said, my game had all 6 balls installed, not 3, just staged throughout under the play field as mentioned, wasn't missing any at all. I also had my faults cleared by a friend who is much better at playing pinball than I am and made the shot to the Borg ship so no more errors, yay. I also finally fixed my 1st row of lights of the light matrix being inop which turned out to be just a loose connector under the play field. Reseated each one and whamo, everything works again! Added a few remaining LEDs after this pic from Cointaker and it is vibrant and perfect. Love the game.

IMG_1761 (resized).jpgIMG_1761 (resized).jpg

#1765 6 years ago

I just rebuilt the lower flippers and now a left flip up the Alpha ramp causes the ball come screaming down and smack in to the wireform at the ball drop area and bounce out onto the playfield or bounce out and get stuck on the base of the left cannon. Anyone else have this problem?

#1766 6 years ago
Quoted from Schwaggs:

check that all the boards are mounted with all the screws and that they are snugged down.

Thanks for the input but everything is snug.

#1767 6 years ago
Quoted from BriPin:

I just rebuilt the lower flippers

What type coils did you use?

#1768 6 years ago

I reused the FL-11629 coils. It seems to have calmed down somewhat but a clean hit up the Alpha ramp will still cause the issue and I haven't even replaced the crappy ramps yet. Although unrelated, I also put Titan post sleeves on and man, the ball is hopping and airballing all over the place. I don't know if its supposed to be like this.

#1769 6 years ago
Quoted from BriPin:

I reused the FL-11629 coils. It seems to have calmed down somewhat but a clean hit up the Alpha ramp will still cause the issue and I haven't even replaced the crappy ramps yet. Although unrelated, I also put Titan post sleeves on and man, the ball is hopping and airballing all over the place. I don't know if its supposed to be like this.

Those Titan post sleeves definitely have more bounce than a black post sleeve and way more than a yellow one, I have them in almost all my games and it greatly increases difficulty on some of them (MM especially).

#1770 6 years ago
Quoted from BriPin:

I reused the FL-11629 coils. It seems to have calmed down somewhat but a clean hit up the Alpha ramp will still cause the issue and I haven't even replaced the crappy ramps yet. Although unrelated, I also put Titan post sleeves on and man, the ball is hopping and airballing all over the place. I don't know if its supposed to be like this.

A few posts ago you were saying that you were having issues with some of your voltages being high. My game is a re-import from Germany. Someone tapped the incoming AC for 100vac. I was having the same performance issues that you are describing until I tapped the ac @ 120. Everything calmed down after that. Is your coil voltage still high?

#1771 6 years ago
Quoted from BriPin:

Thanks for the input but everything is snug.

You may want to check the capacitors in the sound circuit. Power supply filter capacitors C24 and C25. The coupling capacitors C15, C21, and C20. And C22.

#1772 6 years ago
Quoted from Higloss67:

Is your coil voltage still high?

I'm still getting ~65V at the flippers and ~85V at the rest of the coils. I believe that my butterfly connector that I posted above is correct. Is there some other way to adjust the AC voltage?

#1773 6 years ago
Quoted from Schwaggs:

You may want to check the capacitors in the sound circuit. Power supply filter capacitors C24 and C25. The coupling capacitors C15, C21, and C20. And C22.

I'll check it out. Would that cause higher than normal voltages at the coils?

Quoted from bobukcat:

I have them in almost all my games and it greatly increases difficulty on some of them

I have them in my other games as well but don't get the crazy airballs that I'm seeing with this machine.

1 week later
#1774 6 years ago

My game keeps cycling through the reset sequence when powered on. Should I be looking for a bad opto or connection? It's constantly loading a ball into the shooter, firing, travelling through the subway to the left VUK, kicking up, and starting the process all over again.

This all started after I completed my shop out and swapped LEDs into GI.

#1775 6 years ago
Quoted from Pahuffman:

My game keeps cycling through the reset sequence when powered on. Should I be looking for a bad opto or connection? It's constantly loading a ball into the shooter, firing, travelling through the subway to the left VUK, kicking up, and starting the process all over again.
This all started after I completed my shop out and swapped LEDs into GI.

Does it say "Locating Balls" or is it actually resetting the game / CPU? If it's the former then make sure you have 6 balls in it and check operation of each opto, especially the trough and the three VUKs (two at the left eject and cannon and one set at the right cannon. Also check operation of the subway diverter.

If it's the latter then I'd start checking all my power supply voltages on the boards.

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#1776 6 years ago
Quoted from bobukcat:

Does it say "Locating Balls" or is it actually resetting the game / CPU?

I don't believe it says anything. I'm pretty sure it's in attract mode. I'll check when I get home. So I need to run a switch edge tests to check the optos?

#1777 6 years ago

Does the DMD come on? Mine was doing the same thing and it was a blown fuse for the 12vdc. The dmd did not have any display.

#1778 6 years ago
Quoted from Higloss67:

Does the DMD come on? Mine was doing the same thing and it was a blown fuse for the 12vdc. The dmd did not have any display.

DMD works well except for the one line that has always been out.

#1779 6 years ago
Quoted from Higloss67:

Does the DMD come on? Mine was doing the same thing and it was a blown fuse for the 12vdc. The dmd did not have any display.

You must have a colorDMD, the original plasma display would tell you to check the 12V fuse.

#1780 6 years ago
Quoted from Pahuffman:

My game keeps cycling through the reset sequence when powered on. Should I be looking for a bad opto or connection? It's constantly loading a ball into the shooter, firing, travelling through the subway to the left VUK, kicking up, and starting the process all over again.

Sounds like its trying to stage balls, but running into difficulties. You can confirm if it's a staging issue by ejecting all the balls and dropping 3 into the ball trough and one into each of the 3 VUKs; if it stops acting up, then you know its unable to properly stage the balls.

#1781 6 years ago
Quoted from Pahuffman:

I don't believe it says anything. I'm pretty sure it's in attract mode. I'll check when I get home. So I need to run a switch edge tests to check the optos?

You can run the regular switch test that shows the status of all switches, from there you can see if they show open or closed and then drop balls in one at a time (3 in the trough, one in each VUK) and see if they register properly. You should definitely check the operation of your subway diverter too.

#1782 6 years ago

Very proud to make this my third pin. I've been playing pretty heavily since it arrived, but now its condition is already deteriorating.

If anyone can offer some advice, the right cannon often won't fire when I pull the trigger. Sometimes it fires when it reaches the end of its rotation, sometimes it won't fire until it is just before its home position. Worked fine when it arrived, and I hate not being able to fire a probe when I want.

Also, the top diverter is not diverting. It is very resistant to triggering. I've tried lubricating the arm, because that's all I really have in the way of parts.

Finally, the left lane return's eddy sensor is extremely weak. It will only trigger on one side of the resistor, and even then the ball has to be touching the wire.

Any help on these issues is greatly appreciated.

#1783 6 years ago
Quoted from Ordinal:

If anyone can offer some advice, the right cannon often won't fire when I pull the trigger.

Sounds like a cannon loom issue to me. You might want to order a replacement kit or follow the advice of others here about testing for broken wires in the loom.

Quoted from Ordinal:

Also, the top diverter is not diverting. It is very resistant to triggering. I've tried lubricating the arm, because that's all I really have in the way of parts.

Have you taken it completely apart; cleaned the diverter where it mates with it's sibling?
I'm pretty sure I took my whole diverter out of my machines; and removed all traces of dirt, oil, etc. then re assembled.

Quoted from Ordinal:

Finally, the left lane return's eddy sensor is extremely weak. It will only trigger on one side of the resistor, and even then the ball has to be touching the wire.

There isn't much too that eddy circuit. You might need to get a replacement sensor or send yours out to get re-done.
Since the eddy sensor has a disconnect-able "sense" inductor (the "resistor" thing you talked about)... swap it with your other sensor on the right return lane. If the sensitively issue follows the inductor; you can eliminate the eddy sensor board and look to see if the sensor wires are tight in the IDC connector.
If it stays with the board; then you may have a cracked solder or some other defect on the board.

#1784 6 years ago
Quoted from Ordinal:

Finally, the left lane return's eddy sensor is extremely weak. It will only trigger on one side of the resistor, and even then the ball has to be touching the wire.

I hope this doesn't sound like too basic of a question, but did you try adjusting it?

#1785 6 years ago
Quoted from Zitt:

Sounds like a cannon loom issue to me. You might want to order a replacement kit or follow the advice of others here about testing for broken wires in the loom.

Interestingly, I seem to have found my issue, and it isn't as bad as loom damage. Futzing around with the test showed me that its home position barely existed. After adjusting the switch for home, the cannon no longer cycles without a ball in it. I guess all that playing bent that switch out of position. A quick readjustment fixed half my issue, I'm going to have to try the mark switch tomorrow.

Quoted from Zitt:

Have you taken it completely apart; cleaned the diverter where it mates with it's sibling?
I'm pretty sure I took my whole diverter out of my machines; and removed all traces of dirt, oil, etc. then re assembled.

This will hopefully be my weekend project, provided I get these tests graded.

Quoted from Pin_Guy:

I hope this doesn't sound like too basic of a question, but did you try adjusting it?

I did, according to the many posts that said to pull it back right after the led activates. No such luck there. I'll try as Zitt said, and switch the two sensors; but that will have to wait, at least until the diverter issues is handled.

Thanks a bunch, fellas. This game is a real gem to play. Its the only one I've ever played that rewards me 10 million points for being impatient.

#1786 6 years ago
Quoted from Ordinal:

Its the only one I've ever played that rewards me 10 million points for being impatient.

hahahaah, right!?

"Thank you Mister Data".

#1787 6 years ago

I just saw a STTNG with a different laser cannon mod than the ones I'm used to seeing. It protected a green laser that cast a line all the way along the play field not just a red dot on the targets.

Anyone familiar with that style laser cannon? I'm intrigued.

#1788 6 years ago

The only on I know of is the red dot. I'm assuming someone custom created one.

#1789 6 years ago

well i'm not sure why the Enterprise would be firing green projected energy unless it was retrofitted with a Romulan disruptor array!

*pushes glass up on face*
*snorts disdainfully*

although having said that, now i feel like i have to replace the red lasers with orange ones for accuracy, haha.

#1790 6 years ago
Quoted from pezpunk:

orange ones for accuracy

:Cash register sounds: in the background

#1791 6 years ago
Quoted from pezpunk:

well i'm not sure why the Enterprise would be firing green projected energy unless it was retrofitted with a Romulan disruptor array!
*pushes glass up on face*
*snorts disdainfully*

We should hang out.

#1792 6 years ago

Im looking for some advice about putting LEDs in my ST:TNG. I started a new thread in hopes of getting some general advice as well.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/sttng-led-advice

#1793 6 years ago

Anybody know where to get those "deeper" cube-shaped Neutral Zone targets that make ball hits easier?

A friend has on on his STTNG and now I want one after experiencing the game play

Thanks!

BobC

#1794 6 years ago

Hi all, so one of the cannons on my machine is acting up. It will sweep but not shoot until it's turned all the way to the right. I checked the harness and sure enough it has been patched 2 times with different color wires each time. I then checked the right cannon and sure enough it was patched as well but all the wires patched in the same red colored wire. I got new harnesses from Marco. Does anyone have a picture or anything that shows where each color wire is supposed to go?

#1795 6 years ago
Quoted from Goalie:

Hi all, so one of the cannons on my machine is acting up. It will sweep but not shoot until it's turned all the way to the right.

Did you verify your mark switch is closing properly? I'd hate to see you replace a harness if it doesn't need it.

840 (resized).JPG840 (resized).JPG
841 (resized).JPG841 (resized).JPG
842 (resized).JPG842 (resized).JPG

#1796 6 years ago
Quoted from Goalie:

Hi all, so one of the cannons on my machine is acting up. It will sweep but not shoot until it's turned all the way to the right.

I just had this problem, and even mentioned it a few posts up.

I'd bet money it's your home and mark switches. Run the test, and see what it gives you. Mine, for example, would have the home switch closed very briefly while rotating in the home position. Once I fixed that, everything went back to working order.

Edit: the fix required me bending the switch out a little further so that home stayed closed while the mechanism was pressing it down.

#1797 6 years ago

Thanks, I will check to make srure it's not the switches.

#1798 6 years ago

Ok I finally have sometime to check this. what should the correct operation look like during the cannon test?

#1799 6 years ago

The home switch is probably fine since you didn't mention "Cant find home" errors or ball loading problems.

Both switches are normally closed when the cannon is parked at home; the cannon cannot fire if the mark switch is closed, so it should be adjusted to open as soon as the cannon clears things you wouldn't want to shoot a ball at.

Cannon switches (resized).jpgCannon switches (resized).jpg

#1800 6 years ago

Never mind, I see what's happening. The metal arm on the mark switch is sliding up over the cannon assembly so it never closes. I'm guessing I new switch won't have any up down play and will stay on straight.

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