If it’s a socket issue you should just replace the sockets... Also replace the header and connector if you want to really ensure good contact.

It had many sockets redone a few years ago. I don't trust myself to do the repair. Hopefully after people are allowed outside, I can find someone to do the work. Thanks for your help.

If your machine was stored in a non-climate controlled environment at any point in the last 25+ years this game has been around, you may actually be better off just pulling the trigger on this while you can get it.

With the number of lamps this board has, I would charge you more than the new board costs ($50 + Shipping) to restore the board which would consist of replacing all 17 lamp sockets and 4 headers as well as touching up the 9 twist-socket connection points...and I wouldn't even toss in the 9 new twist sockets!

Hell, I'm thinking of buying one myself

Does anyone else think the singing stone looks like a McDonald's hash brown?

I do! And I love Mc Donald's Hash browns ... but I'm on a diet and can't have them

I've always wondered how they came up with the artifacts. Why not a Horga'hn or a Kurlan naiskos or the Holy Rings of Betazed. How about the Kataan probe or the Vulcan Stone of Gol. Actually these probably came after the game was made

Hey all...

Just purchased a STTNG. This will be the first time I’ve owned one, and it’s been on my wishlist for awhile. I haven’t played one in at least 10 years. The specimen I purchased is in very good condition. It was owned by a collector for a long time and had been shopped. I’m crossing my fingers that it doesn’t give me any problems ... at least for awhile. Sold an IJ to make room for it.

Congrats on the purchase - I have both IJ and STTNG, but think you've made the right choice Love my STTNG!!!

Congratulations!

Well if it does, you have come to the right place.

Lots of progress and step backs since my last post. Fixed the arm on the drop target. Still row7 fault. Disconnected every switch along the way and nothing changed. Borrowed a logic probe from a buddy and found U20 was bad. Realized my testing of the MPU wasn't correct. I wasn't jumping the pins correctly. Now I know! U20 had a touch of brown on one of the legs and wasn't showing a pulse on the bottom side.

I happen to have a rottendog MPU and u20 was soldered on. Replaced with a socket and new U20. Row short 7 is now gone. Sometimes. Which is disturbing... Now i'm definitely stuck with a Row 6 short.

Noticed my left cannon light was blinking when turning. Replaced that wiring from the connectors and that looks good now. Found a few spliced wires and a broken orange wire.

A positive from this experience is I should be pretty good at troubleshooting any pin after this monster... If I ever figure it out

Swapped optical last night, still having issues. Should i Install a new optical board?

Anybody know where I can get a new alternate looking speaker panel? I want to update the look.

I've never heard of/seen an alternate speaker panel for this game. Where did you get this info?

Let me know if you find one. That dated speaker panel, the colors used and look of it is the weakest design point of this game imo.

Sorry, I'm not sure what issue you are referring to or which opto was replaced.

Here is a picture of the alternate speaker panel.

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WOAAAAAHHHH..

Mind blown.. Must get..

Wauw indeed! Yes please

I did some alternate art for my new cabinets. Was never in love with the original art package. What do you guys think? Is there one you like more than the other?

sf (resized).png

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sf2 (resized).png

sf3 (resized).png

The second set is more First Contact in theme... The Borg was always my favorite story line in this series

yeah; the first set doesn't look right. Wrong enterprise. Wrong insignia. Wrong era.

Yeah you have the Discovery on the backbox side art. Not only is the ship ugly, but it's an insult to the Next Generation to have that garbage-ass show present on this game. There's also a Kelvin Timeline enterprise on both sets of the cabinet art. What you're looking for is the NCC-1701-D (or technically E, but don't put that on there).

Second set looks significantly better. I'd probably leave off the Starfleet Command logo on there too.

Maybe he's a fan of the Ent-E... which is ok.
I tend to agree it shouldn't be on this machine; BUT, it's his machine. I wouldn't judge him too harshly as long as it's the right show / era.

That said; We don't really know what STD Season 3 will do for the timeline.

The graphics look well done but only a few keep to the theme in my opinion. STTNG really is almost episode specific to Descent part 1 and 2 and the characters from that part of the season 6. Ships different the 1701D and even the square Borg cubes even though they look great, just don't match the theme. Again, just an opinion.

I think the second set looks pretty cool for a STTNG borg themed pin

Anyone know if those are for sale somewhere ?

Haven't checked in on this thread for a bit...sorry. did you find one? I'm pretty sure I have one brand new...I ordered it thinking I may need it but that was not my issue after all. Think I bought it from the guy on eBay but forget what i paid. Let me know.

Thx. Got one and it works perfect.

Thx though

Have you guys seen these?

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a0c1049833fce2c202fa3e790c666cd90007d84a (resized).jpg

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https://www.retrorefurbs.com/?s=star+trek&post_type=product

Same question!

I have seen those, but I opted for these side blades (to be installed still when I get to work on tng soon)
do not think I will change the translite..

https://www.tiltgraphicsinc.com/product-page/star-trek-next-gen-lcars-gameblades

If I can find that metal speaker panel (or another one that I remember seeing somewhere) however, I might do that...

I had to replace the "shield" pcb recently and decided to go back to using standard 555 incandescent bulbs to allow the shields to dim and brighten as needed. It was working great for a few days, but today the shield bulbs just come on full and do not dim. I've gone into the test mode and they also do not dim during the tests. Any ideas?

I finally started the topside teardown today to clean up my recent acquisition and put in some new plastics, ramps, posts, rubbers, and LEDs. Man, this thing is dirty. Kinda wondering what I got myself into - I have two 6-foot folding tables full of topside parts, 5 pages of notes, and about 100 pictures. Yikes. I hope Humpty Dumpty goes back together again.

This is the wrong L-shaped left lane guide, correct (solid red as opposed to the other three transparent red)? Anyone know where I can find a replacement? I browsed thru the lane guide plastics on Marco's and Pinball Life and didn't see it.

IMG_7937 (resized).jpg

Mine are all the same. 3 red transparent covers. Trust me, the one under the Borg ship is the same.
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I would be surprised if Pinball Life didn't have those lane guides.
If you can't find them. I'm doing a Pinball.Center group buyin a few days... They seem to have them in stock... if this is the correct one:
https://www.pinball.center/en/shop/pinball-parts/playfield-parts/lane-guides/1875/lane-guide-1-3/4-red-transparent-double-sided-03-8318-9

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/03-8318-9

http://www.pbresource.com/rollover.htm

Thanx...I think what threw me into the weeds when searching Marco's was that I was looking for a red transparent lane guide that was L-Shaped like the opaque one in my game, not double-sided like the other three lane guides. So you're saying that all 4 lane guides at the top are identical (that makes things easier)? I guess a previous owner stuck whatever lane guide he had laying around when the left-most one broke. During teardown, I've found several more interesting hacks as well.

Many thanx for the offer, @zitt. Apparently I was looking for the wrong thing on Marco's and PinGuy pointed me to the right one. I'm building up a Marco order now and will just add this to it. Thanx again...

The only de-hacked STNGs are ones that have undergone a complete restore.
I'm sure I have a few hack in mine I don't know about.
I *KNOW* mine has fiberglass resin on the PF under the borg ship... I just haven't felt bored enough to start the restore on this beast like PinGuy.

Not for sale, but I can hook you up with the guy overseas that created these for my machine. You have to design and create your own theme for it to be a homebrew

I'm in the middle of my topside tear down, deep cleaning, and semi-shop job. So far, so good. I've got days and days of tumbling metal bits ahead, and while I'm waiting I'd like to go ahead and start the LED conversion. Question for the group here:

Is it ok to power on the machine with all this stuff unattached to check and make sure the replacement LEDs light up (to locate any duds or 555 lamps put in backwards)? Will I damage anything by powering up in this state? Can I just ignore the tons of test report errors to go to the lamp tests in the service menu? I don't care about LED ghosting at this point, I just want to see them light up. I'll be installing the OCD GI and LED boards after I start putting everything back together.

Thanx...

IMG_7954 (resized).JPG

Hrmm, might be a good first use of the carving machine I put together a while ago then.. Did you just rough draft a design, or use the Stern LE speaker panel as a template ?

It should be safe to power up with the coin door open (assuming you have a working high-power disable switch) but not if you have any switches floating around that could short out to either the GI or feature lamps, keep in mind that the cannons may still run as I don't believe the 12VDC gets disabled by the door.

Thanx, bobukcat . Pretty sure the 12VDC gets disabled with the door - the Flasher bulbs don't work with the door open and neither do the cannons (which are removed anyway).

Unless someone comes back with practical experience (@Pin_Guy? @Zitt?), I'll probably lean on the ultra conservative side and not power-on to check lamps until I have everything reassembled.

It doesn't, only your 50V and 20V gets disabled.

If you have the door open and disconnect the motors from the EMI board you should be ok as long as you don't have exposed wires or parts dangling anywhere underneath...AND you have a working HV disable switch as bobukcat had mentioned.

Ah...I was basing my thought that 12V gets disabled by the fact that the flashers don't flash with the door open. I guess the flashers are using 20V then and not 12V. Thanx for the advice.

The balls won't clear unless the coin door is closed so I'm assuming the HV disable switch on the coin door is working.

Question for the group. On maybe 1 power up in 5, the right cannon just sweeps right to left several times, repeatedly tries to fire, and then stops like this with the black firing mechanism exposed. If I push in the black firing mechanism while it's doing this, it works fine and plays fine. I am open to suggestions and am hoping you guys have dealt with this before I begin disassembling the cannons.

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Would start with cleaning the opto and receiver with some alcohol, the optos could sense a "close" and is trying to get the ball out of there.
If the cleaning does not help look at the soldering of that opto-pair, reflow if nescesary.

If this does not help, look at your switch matrix if it's registering inregular.

That would be my start Good luck!

When it's repeatedly trying to fire, is the black firing mechanism (plunger) exposed the whole time? If it is, the plunger is triggering the attempt to fire by blocking the opto and the opto thinks there is a ball present and eventually the cannon "cannot find home" because the opto remains blocked by the plunger. See if the plunger is binding up and sticking - may need a new sleeve or just a good cleaning.