Question about adding the Lasers for the cannons. Originally, I didn't think I was going to install this MOD. That said, I went ahead and set Back Alley Creations my Cannon Covers to paint. Upon further consideration, I think the Lasers would be cool. Here's the stupid thing. To my educated surprise, the Laser Cannon Covers seem to NOT be identical to my original ones. By looking at photos, the ones being sold with the MOD has a specific slot for the laser unit to "live" in. Is this correct?? So if I decide to upgrade to the laser modification, my old, newly painted covers can't be used. Right?

Has anyone considered making a Speaker Panel Mod with LEDs to light up the panel indicators?? Super cool mod which would need a wire harness to run below the playfield and tie into some connections to activate the indicator leds.

Anyone know anyone who has done this before? I once did a mod on an Indiana Jones panel for the 3 treasures (made on the prototype model).

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Yes, the new cover design has "holders" and a cutout for the laser mod built within the design. Plus the dome cover hold size issue has been addressed. Wished I had considered all this before sending off my covers to Back Alley for painting. Likely would have purchased the Laser kit and sent those covers instead.

Who knows, I may still. Im in to restoring this STTNG bigtime in $$$ now anyway, (color dmd, pinsound complete system, new rottendog power driver board, new rottendog 8 mini driver board, new rottendog flipper board, new 16 opto board, new ball trough opto boards, new speaker panel, GI OCD board, LED OCD board, complete led overhaul, new ramp, etc.
augh

LOVE the effort behind the speaker panel mod. OMG Interested in the mechanics of lighting the thing. Also the mechanics of how or if you dealt with the original backboard. After installing the new heavier plastic speaker cover, and a color dmd, my original U CHANNEL would not allow me to seat the speaker panel down. I ended up going to Home Depot and getting a shelf bracket which worked perfectly, and cut and remounted that. Had to paint it black however.

My machine is MISSING this part. Can anyone help me with the PART NUMBER or NUMBER (s) of what this is?? Star Trek Next Generation outer loop gate.

I have the manual and everything, but can't identify the part. Also I know the gate is a "one way" gate. Certainly I would be interested to know how this might impact game play and such.
Thanks all you super cool pin people!!!

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thank you guys/gals for the help on the Gate Part Number. Appreciated. Eric Manuel

Hey STTNG Peeps,

tracking this blog on a couple of topics. Yes, thank you for those who followed up on the info about the missing gate part I need.

** Still looking for the RARE Item. The A-16959 Switch Gate Assembly. (01-11688 mounting bracket and a 12-7118 Wireform. See photo attached. ANY resource someone knows for this would be fantastic!

** Also reading about the 12 volt power draw on the system. It's a LEGIT concern. With a Color DMD, PinSound System, LED Flipper Buttons and some LED lighting strips, you ARE going to blow Fuse F116. Verified. I have the New Rottendog Power Driver Board (which is fantastic) and new Optos boards everywhere including new trough boards and opto power board. And I am going to replace my original Williams DMD board with the DMD LUX board, which relocated the 12 Volt power for Color DMD from the driver board BACK to the DMD BOARD it'self. Do I need an EXTERNAL switched 12 supply of some kind for smooth sailing??? If so, what do people recommend?? Yes, I am OCD about this. sorry. Eric

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Thank you Pin_Guy. I believe I have the Color LCD display. It's the "larger screen" which is like a laptop computer screen. So there is more power needed for that system to run. I had noticed on some of the installation YouTube videos, the manufacture had ran a dedicated power line from the power supply. However mine (currently) is powered off the Power Driver Board. I went ahead and ordered a DMDLux display board, which brings the power for the display BACK to coming from the Display Driver Board it'self. Can't wait to install it.

Comments on the Optos in this game, and I have done it both ways. You can get them in pairs for under $10 a set. Yes, it's going to cost to get 16 sets, however with some careful soldering skills, and during a complete overhaul, just replace them all. Then you eliminate all the problems which I read on these blogs. The NEW Opto board is also much more power efficient too. Why do all this??? Because the STTNG game is WORTH the expense and effort, and won't work by limping by on broken optos. (my opinion). If you are (and we all are) on a budget rebuilding this game. Don't waste money on the ship mods, if the game is flaking out all the time.

Just tonight I found an Addams Family in an Arcade. Was excited to play it. Didn't get one game completed after 5 games paid for. It could find the balls in the machine. And YES, the STTNG takes (6) SIX the is S I X balls. not 7, or 9. It's clearly prints on the machine and manual.

Follow up on the Launch Ramp issue. It is VERY particular on adjustment to get it right. If it's out, the ball rubs against stuff, and NEVER gets to the top drop target, let alone goes into the trough to load the cannons. Ok that is my ranting for tonight lol. Eric

It COULD NOT find the balls in the Addams Family, sorry I miss typed. !!

When I first got the Color DMD, I "did" remove the old original power cable coming from the Display Board. Yes you are correct, the Color DMD connects to the Power Driver Board. With other options also using power from that board, it strains F116 Fuse everytime.

So tonight I installed the DMD Lux board. Ran power directly from board to power the Color DMD and everything is happy. ALSO got my newly painted Borg ship from Back Alley, and it's great. Putting in the blue windows tomorrow and some photos coming.

COOOL info on the Coil Stop for the Catapult. Next on the tweeking list to mess with.
E

STRANGE CANNON ACTIVITY. Some help STTNG Pin people please. So sometimes during gameplay, a choice to "Launch A Probe" is selected to use the Cannons. The Cannon (Right Side) will cycle through (all the way to left then back to home) and then the ball will load. It's almost like the software "jumped the gun" on moving the cannon, then settled down to load the ball.

Additional information. New Opto Transmitters and Receiver Boards everywhere (all replaced) and new opto board. Also, new designed Trough Board. Upon testing, everything is fine. I am also getting a "lost ball" sometimes during game play. Final note. I also the Cliff Subway protectors installed (if that matters to know). All of the diverters everywhere are 100 percent rebuilt.

Ideas as to where to begin my investigation??

Yes, I replaced the Cannon Looms with new ones. I know the symptoms of a broken loom lol. If I had a guess, even though all the opto sets are totally new, the are working in and around the subway protectors (3) different ones which are now installed. Do you have those? One shoots through the steel protector which has a hole, cant remember which one specifically.
Thoughts??
Other questions if I may:
1) Do you use a pinball cover, and if so, what do you like??
2) Do you use an external 12 power supply for mods like lighting led strips, etc? if so what did you go with?
3) Has anyone did a mod to cover up the ugly section where the ramp feeds the Borg ship?? Crap, you see the opto boards and end of ramp fittings, looks crappy.
4) Do you have a favorite pinball table leveler ? What do you use.?
thanks man

Thank you Zitt for the info.
Here is the area I was talking about. Some people replace the Borg ship with a Cube version (not my favorite, but that is just me). I was interested if anyone has addressed doing a mod to hide this mechanical crap? With a backboard lighting strip, it shows up, which makes it worse.

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Another issue I would love to learn more about. Borg Ship internal lighting. There are (4) lighting circuits within the ship. Left Flashers, Center Flashers, Right Flashers, and Borg Ship (inside) itself. None of this lighting is on any other rows or column. This lighting is designed to create a cool light effect, when actually facing the Borg in the game, all other lighting goes off. It's cool and dramatic.

Question: The (2) Borg Ship lighting bulbs are barely seen, or even used. The flashers are very active, even in the light show at the end of the game. So what is the actual purpose for this understated (2) bulb lighting?

You can actually test the bulbs via TEST and going to Single Lamp and selecting Borg Ship.

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FOLLOW UP on a couple of things:
* My Borg ship internal lighting is working fine. And the brightness is "normal" for the leds used. I was referring to the time used during gameplay isn't much. Certainly the Flashers are the primary light seen. It's not a technical problem as much as understanding why the designed the operation that way.
Rant? Maybe or just ocd interest.

* I wish we could show Zitt some love for his designed STTNG custom designs interactive backboard mod. Possibly if more people knew about his concept mod from several years ago, enough would show interest to make producing the product practical.

* Question: Which is the best Enterprise 1701-D ship to add to the STTNG? Also what are you using to power it? NOTE: I have the LED OCD and GI OCD systems. So the old school GI isn't available. Hallmark wants to use a Legacy Power Cable which people are wanting "stupid" money for. No.

* Suggestions for Pinball Covers for Williams Wide Body? Happ Controls had wonderful covers in the mid/late 90s, but they don't have those anymore. Also read the thread on here about people in the past having troubles with various suppliers.

mbelofsky
thank you so much for the info. LOVED THIS PAGE and your posting

SPEAKER LED LIGHTING ----- Recommendations Please.

....Note: Yes I know the speakers on stock STTNG machine are different sizes. Not mine. The right side has been made identical to the left, and the speaker replaced with PinSound ones. And the power I would gather should come from something external, like my switched service outlet.
I have seen BriteSound and others. What does everyone like??? Thank you so much for your thoughts !!

Eric

H-E-L-P PLAYFIELD Damage.
Is there anything which can be done to repair something like this (see photo)? Sorry I am posting so much guys/gals, deeply involved in this STTNG restoration.

Or at least make it look less ugly. Kind of embarrassed to even post this.....The machine has had a hard life, but over the last 3 months, received the well deserved TLC. New color DMD, New PinSound System, New Power Driver Board, New DMDLux Video Board, New 8 Driver Board, New Fliptronic Board, New Opto Board, New Optos everywhere, New Trough, New Trough Opto Boards, New Cannon Looms, New Cannon Motors, LED OCD and GI OCD systems, New Flipper Rebuilds, Paint Job for cannons and borg by Back Alley.....more

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Thank you everyone for your follow up answers to questions. VERY appreciated
Some addition follow up to comments given:
* All my Optos throughout the game are new (new opto sets -16 pairs)(new opto board)(new trough boards) and all the connections repunched with a tool. They all work. I am nearly positive the (1) Subway steel protector may be slightly restrictive on the ball flow. An opto set shines through it. If and when I removed the subway again, I will either enlarge the hole in the subway protector, or remove it completely.

* I may need to slightly tweak the "Home" locations of the Cannon switches underneath the playfield, however they seem to locate fine. The right side seems to cycle once early when Picard says "Launch a probe". Then the cannon waited for the ball to load, and everything works as expected.

* YES. Painted the trashy steel located and the ramp entry into the Borg ship. Also touched up the eye sore screws where the ship mounts. Photos coming soon. Looks way better.

* Comment on the "dark look" of the game. Yes I am familiar with why the game is dark, and all the GI lighting goes out when encountering the Borg gameplay. I think it's fantastic. My "newly painted" Borg ship by Back Alley is fantastic, however gets lost in the darkness. As a photographer, I added some side lighting tied into the GI so during normal gameplay, you have a hint the ship is there. I have always felt the lack of any operational GI lighting was terrible inside the ship, so I added some led lighting. The "Borg Ship" (2) bulbs are barely visible and are hardly on at anytime. So this is a must do mod for me. But good comments on the "feel and flow" for the game. Agreed.

* Thanks for the links to Planetary Pinball for the shield inserts. I think I will order some. However even though I've worked on dozens of pinball machines, playfield stuff I have never attempted. Very scary.

* Outer Loop Gate: Got something from Marco to try, however as you can imagine to install it, requires removing the Borg ship completely. Not feeling it just yet.....but I will.

Looking forward to sharing my project WITH photos soon. It's been a 3 month journey and countless (seriously) hours of work. Happy New Year..

I have had the covers for the switches previously. Kind of a mixed blessing. Yes, it looks better, but sometimes they will pop off if you don't install the additional metal clips. And if I remember, those clips require you to remove and reinstall the 2 switch screws. That is easy enough, however may be hard to get to ANY if you've got them adjusted perfect, you'll have to adjust them all over.

I may do it again on my current STTNG, still undecided.

Current mod for the STTNG pin restoration also the newly painted Borg Ship by Back Alley Creations (they totally rock!)
The backboard image was custom created in Photoshop and printed by Walmart photo.

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QUESTION:
Recently I posted on the topic of playfield issues, so I have been reviewing the Shield Inserts. When did they go from Blue to Green (Teal)?
These are some random images from a google search. Recently ordered 3 replacements from Planetary Pinball in the Teal (all they had), but I do like the Blue ones. Thought I would get them while they are out there to get. Putting them in is beyond my skill set.
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Thank you everyone. Here is the website which has them. Planetary Pinball
When I had the game 15 years ago, nobody knew what LED bulbs were. And recently I didn't notice what the shields looked like before I turned everything off, and began the restoration. The LEDs now in the machine are blue flex ones. So certainly the bulb color will influence the results.

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I guessed as much, thank you much for chiming in on that.

This is likely a dumb question, so go ahead and laugh at me....What is the purpose of the round colored lens in the corner of the playfield on STTNG??

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Hey STTNG Pinball fans. Still working on my machine (month 3). Did some mods to light up the ramps, which traditionally are dark. The color is good on them so I thought they needed to be seen. In addition, used the cool Cliffy protector in the launch area, with a few extra things. Lighted that. And tied a light into the "Spinner" flasher with a diode to highlight that aspect of the gameplay.

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Star Trek: The Next Generation (LX-7C Competition MOD)

been seeing posting to this.....What Is It? How is it any different than what's out there....?

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Borg gameplay question?
During the 2nd of 5 ball gameplay, without any balls in LOCK, and without encountering the Borg yet, I hit a ball up the LEFT Ramp. Normally the diverter will prevent (I believe) the balls from entering the Borg Ship. However one went in. Normal game play continued until finally entering the Borg gameplay, and then it shot the ball. Does a ball normally "load in advance" ?? I seldom get a ball into the ship.

Have no idea what "normal" is. Thanks. Also, as previously posted, what is the LX-7C Competition MOD ROM???

Thank you as always for your thoughts and suggestions

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Thank you for the Borg Game Play comments....Useful!! LASER CANNON question....I made the plunge and ordered them today. And I understand they are powered off the motors themselves. Do they use a lot of power? And is it 12 volt power? Anyone have any installation tips or suggestions??

Even though I've taken steps to reduce the 12 volt usage on the machine, the last thing is needing something else which may affect the machine's ability to "know" where the ball is.

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You are likely right, however the question is outside my level of experience.

Have a "Lock is Lit" question. You hear this a lot in game play. "Lock is Lit". I see (2) green inserts which are labeled "LOCK". However neither are actually lighted. Lamps work fine.....so what gives? Are there "several different types of "LOCKS"?

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Added the Eaglemoss Goddard Shuttle, replaced the Rio Grande I had there. Put it on a lighted star post to give it some 3D feel and to allow seeing the ramp better.

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Thank you, I must not have looked and the LOCK light off the playfield, possibly that is the light being referenced. Super detailed information on this topic. You rock!!!

Ha, hi Mick, I was just going to text you. I have the Color DMD, (1) 12 volt small light strip, and the led flipper buttons which are on the system. I know previously with another strip on there, the F116 I believe fuse was blowing. Just for reference, all the boards in the pinball except for the CPU board have been updated / upgraded including the more efficient opto board rebuild. So what I have been reading is, if a lower voltage than 12 volts is present, the optos get flakey and the machine gets the whole "I can't find the ball" crap.
I will admit this is outside my knowledge area greatly

CANNON SET-UP QUESTION:
The STTNG Manual provides no documentation or illustration of the CORRECT positions of the motor arms. Note: I rebuilt my cannons, optos, etc. AND they are working, finding the "HOME" position and so on.

The real question come from the strange activity they sometime do. Picard will say "Launch A Probe", and the left or right cannon will cycle through, return to home, and then the ball will load. The RIGHT SIDE ONLY will not allow you to fire the ball until it's on the "return" swing back.

Does anyone have good photos of a proper and good setup? Showing the arm positions related to the contact switches underneath the playfield. I am installing the laser mod and now is the time to address this issue, IF it's an issue.
Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions?

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TIE-BACK is a MUST. Everything else means nothing. And don't just do the little wire down to the drop target. There are several different solutions including a jumper wire from the mini 8 driver board to the Power Driver Board. Look these up, AND DO THEM ALL. It will not hurt anything. Also, where you have TWO wires joining on a coil. Combine them to a single wire, solder them together to a single wire, and make the single wire THE CONNECT to the coil. In the event it should break off, you will only have a non working coil, not a fried board.

I fried my board AFTER thinking I had the Tie Back installed. I guess not good enough, so new coils (melted the original) and a new Rottendog 8 driver board later, I put effort into addressing the Tie-Back issue. My coil which fried was the same as yours. The is also another solution of doing redundant diodes on the coils themselves. You can to be careful to get the direction correct if you do that. Williams relocated the diodes to the driver board, and in years later would go back to having them on the coils again.

Sounds like a lot of hype, overkill, and worry....but it's not. When you hear the sound of a coil locked on, see the smoke and feel the heat, it's WAY TOO LATE

TIE BACK issue and fried boards. NOTE: Williams put some flashers and led controls on the Mini 8 Driver board (I don't know why).
So, until you address fixing the Tie Back issue, some of your flashers and playfield leds and NOT going to work, and you will continue to blow fuses

Perfect. And you found one of the good references. Great. If you dig around, you will find references to the other items I mentioned. I think I did a total of 4 or 5 of them. I suffer from OCD, and not proud of it. I even installed the diodes (correct direction) although that is likely overkill.

I thank all the members of this fantastic STTNG Blog for all the information shared. This information came from your contributions to the information resource. Some things like the Tie Back Mod are UNIQUE to the STTNG machine, although some of the practices of combining wiring pairs is good advice no matter the situation.
Rock On

Some people get excited about putting toppers on machines, or toys in the pinball. That's cool, I do too. HOWEVER, you have a 27 year old machine! And unless someone with OCD has maintained the machine over the years, you WILL have issues, especially with STTNG. It's NOT a beginner machine to work on.
Replace BOTH cannon looms - Just do it
Know you will have Opto problems, clean or replace them ( I did all of them)
Know the machine has divit issues in the ball trough, where balls get stuck. Don't do the insert, it doesn't work. You will or should likely install on new one

Look up the Williams Tech bulletin parts 1,2 and 3 about things to do BEFORE playing and using your game. Original boards are going to have heat damage and broken solder joints around the high power connector (burned). You ignoring the problem to buy toys for the game, is like not servicing the car engine because the fussy dice look cool

Get the old bulbs OUT, and get the LEDS, the power savings and reduced heat alone is manditory

and just LOOK through the machine underside, and see if something looks out of place. Example. Wire hanging loose, it shouldn't be.

Also look at the wiring on the Drop Target at the bottom of the playfield, certainly a problem area.

You have a Collectable, Classic Car you have no idea about it's maintenance history, so ASSUME it's got none, and provide tons of TLC

May I suggest something simple. You are NOT ready to power your game on yet. Read the suggested stuff (You need to translate to English) but this is the BIBLE of repair.
NOTE: There is a list of stuff to do, BEFORE ever powering up a 27 year old game. This LINK, is a 3 PART series. Tons of information, photos ect. Read ALL 3.
and there isn't any shame in the game, to call for help from someone locally.

Be honest everyone, we all have, so no shame to do that. However READ and absorb all of this cool stuff.
http://steffe.net/stuff/flipper/PINBALL%20%20Repair%20Williams,%20Bally%20Pinball%20Games%201990-1999%20part%20one.htm

I had looked around for the ENGLISH version, however for some reason the Williams Repair Guides I found in English the photo links were BROKEN.
I find the photos a must have, when it comes to installing jumpers, or referencing something specific.

Thought I would give back a little for all the help I receive from other pinball super fans. Working with Doug Hanselman of Speaker Light Kits, I installed a Light Kit Type 13 on my Star Trek, Next Generation.

NOTE: Don't order this kit, unless you are ready, and ABLE to perform modifications to your speaker panel. This is not Plug-N-Play. I had previously upgraded to a Pinsound system (fantastic must have btw), and decided NOT to use the adapter plate they provide Williams/Bally owners, to compensate for the little right tweeter speaker. I enlarged the hole to match the more standard size 5.25" hole on the left. There are several blogs on this forum, which cover that.
The kit simply installed between the back panel and the speakers. Slightly longer screws were needed, and pickup up from local hardware store.

No lie, it's some work, but I feel it was time well spent. Here is the video on YouTube:

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Ok all you brilliant Star Trek Next Gen Pinball owners...please allow me to ask a (hopefully not stupid) question. For years I have seen STTNG pinball machines with some variation of this.
A washer installed on the Cannon. Sometime only (1), on one side. Sometime several, sometime none at all. What is the purpose??? Is it needed to help raise the Cannon entry to the wire rail? Is it to help "level" the cannon? If it's between the base and cannon mounting, ok. But I have also seen the washer on TOP, for what purpose???

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That's what I think "NORMAL" is, however all the time, I notice as mentioned, someone putting a washer or two in there. I put one between the base plate and the cannon mount itself, only because it seemed to shorten the drop for the ball. However I have NO IDEA if that is a thing. Slightly related, I am targeting in my Laser Cannons, and if I take the washers out, it WILL drop the Cannon Cover, lowering the laser target..

So the mystery is still out there.

Pin-Guy!! Dude, you are amazing.
Did that information come from a Service Release bulletin?? Because that is NOT in my STTNG Manual. And clearing the ball makes sense. On the other illustration ( I haven't got to look at it super close yet ) again, have NEVER seen this before.

Wow!!!

You ( and others ) make this page so great, thank you.
Eric

I have posted before on my "MISSING OUTER LANE ONE-WAY GATE".. And through help of several cool Pinside Pin People, determined that there are (2) pieces which comprise the part.
The A-16959 Switch Gate Assembly: which is 01-11688 mounting bracket and a 12-7118 Wireform.

Nobody has this part I have discovered. And so I took the suggestion to order something "close". Macro had something and went with that. Here is the detail. The "wire" is nearly unbendable, and any adjustments to it just breaks it. So with creative design, and put a screw into the side (and NO, I am too embarrassed to show the photo). Needless to say, it works and stops the ball. If you DON'T have the gate, the machine works, but can get confused related to the location of the ball.

Final note: With the correct part ( I had one on a STTNG machine 10 years ago), the ball slides off down into the 3 lanes. Mine isn't quite right, and the ball can sometimes get STUCK there.

SO my quest is to find the part, and as you can imagine, it's in a hard to get to location, under the Borg Ship!!!
Anyone with a thought, direction or resource would be appreciated.
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Marco has the part you need, I just ordered one.

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/31-1803-12

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So this is what one of the mysteriously UNAVAILABLE "outer Loop One-Way" gates look like? I did, as mentioned, got some generic gate from Marco, however in attempt to "bend" one of the ends to make the generic gate only flow one way, I broke the gate wire. What ever it's made of does NOT want to be bent, at all ever!!!!!

Is that off your machine? Thank you so much for snapping a photo. I would get one from over seas if it were out there.
Eric

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So this is an actual "photo" of the hard / impossible to find part for the Star Trek Next Generation pinball. It's a One Way Gate at the top of the Outer Loop. Needed for proper game play and the machine programming to work properly.
Previous posted the part numbers on the item. Attempted to DIY one from similar parts, and the results were "functional", but not ideal. Too embarrassed to actually "show" my results and the ball will sometime hang at the location.
The bent wire portion is nearly impossible to bend, or I don't have the right too to manage it. Anyway, all the normal venders DONT have this. So looking for creative resourceful suggestions....

Hey everyone, I am still working though some stuff on the restoration. Several questions:
* After playing a few games, the "RIFT" target tends to drift over and crowd up the left target. Everything is tightened down. What can be done to fix or prevent this issue??

* Photo of coin door shows (3) gaps in the hardware. Did someone just strip out the coin mech because most people don't need it? The system will NOT work with coins as it is shown. Not a big thing, just curious.

* Has anyone "lighted or illuminated" the dark section of space between Command Decision and Neutral Zone??

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This may break from traditional modding on the Romulan Ship from Hallmark, but that is ok. I will be installing LEDs inside to brighten the look.
Instead of cutting the hole in the bottom of the ship, for the traditional green flasher, I mounted the flasher in a popper light socket, and wired it from behind into the original flasher wire harness.

No longer needing the large section of the ramp plastic with a hole, that has been trimmed away. 2 benefits to this are: Allowing more room for the Command Decision LEDS and you can see more area over the outer ramp playfield.

NOTE: The (2nd) non-lighted photo features the ramp trimming. Newer photo

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Sup Zitt? Thank you for the comments. There is NOT a socket there, however if I was thinking ahead when the playfield was torn down, I would have put on there. Hardly any space (in the space) so a socket would need to be installed through the playfield. Directly below is the Subway, so it's hard to do, unless the subway is out. Thought of running an LED strip from the access hole under the left ramp, however...... the steel railings come together behind the Command Decision Hole, there is no way even something paper thin can get through to the area we are discussing.

Coin Mechs are gone. Go figure..... my OCD will have to adjust. There is literally no reason to have them, ocd sucks man. I will be ok lol

Stack Brackets for stand up targets, huh! Ok, I will check into that. The ball must hit the right side of the RIFT target enough, it shoves it over.

You the Man!! Thanks

ADDED: Here is the Bracket you mentioned. Says it's for Stern, however I wonder if it would work for NEXT GEN

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STAND UP TARGETS:

Would you be suggesting the rivets, or what ever is holding those target together, is just worn out? That is causing them to crowd up? Time to replace? Great history on the stern issues.

tech note for the day. Replacing flipper boards may require some tweaking, to have BOTH opto switches work. It's a big deal.. If you don't have an upper and lower switch happen on your edge test, you've got work to do.

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Is modifying the STTNG Game ROM within anyone's skill or ability to do? With Williams and Bally out of business, and the machine being 27 years old.
It's obvious bugs and tweaks would be nice to improve.

Like what?
MORE TIME to first the cannons BEFORE it spits the ball out on the playfield. Instead of 5 seconds, some code number change to 30 or whatever.
I know there must be other improvements worthy of consideration. Am I out there in left field on this issue? Thoughts, Ideas, Suggestions?
I am currently using LX-7 and I have seen other people with LX-8 or LX-9 which address LED Ghosting (not sure on that issue).

Seen others have other issues of interest too. Help??

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The Logo on the Speaker Grill is original, it's painted on. I believe you can find reproductions out there, but I have not looked.
A good friend did his rails in black..not my personal taste because of the chrome throughout.
The coating will make other things more difficult because of the additional thickness, I wouldn't unless you truly want it

TECH QUESTION: Why would anyone "hack up" the power supply harness?
My game is working fine, but I just want to know the reason someone chops the wiring up? You can see in the photos wires went into the connector, and were cut off.

What purpose were the (now gone) wires for? If someone at Williams thought they were needed. These photos are from a Star Trek Next Generation.
thanks....

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WIRING HARNESS HACK
Thank for the post on the Wire Harness HACK. Super Clean and restored machine in the photo.
That is how I got the machine, except I cleaned up the wiring with zip ties. Additional information. I have an LED & GI OCD systems installed, which bypassed the traditional wiring harness to the header, also I see you have a Color DMD system installed. Some of those systems tap the 12 volts directly from the supply. My Color DMD uses the 12 volts already in the header. When I began installing my color DMD, that's when I noticed the absence of a connector in the cabinet.

Is that what is missing?? A typically unused 12 volt breakout connector?? Referring to what Zitt always says "If it's not broke, don't fix it". Is this something in need of repairing? More info please, thank you in advance. As these machines goes, I am trying to De- F**K-it as much as possible.
E

POWDER COATING THE RAILS
This is not personal experience on the making the rails black. I have heard during the chrome plating or powder coating of the rails, the thickness is increased and sliding into the ramp mountings becomes and issue.
As mentioned, these are comments for someone who's done it, not me. I think if you dig around on there under STTNG restorations, you will come across some fantastically documented projects, one of which speaks to that topic.
E

Thanks Mr Mikeman. For whatever reason the schematic wasn't very clear enough to read, however it's appreciated it was provided. Understand all of the LED and GI OCD info, and why they do it that way. Yes, the machine came from France is my guess, based on the coin door slots and inserts.
Certainly you have a great amount of experience with the hardware in pinballs. Even though I have rebuilt 14 machines, I am still learning, every single day.

Understand what boards get what volts in the header, just couldn't understand why hacking wires, and such are left that way in a machine. Speaking of lazy techs, wow. As I am going through the machine, INSTEAD of replacing the connector on a Power Driver Board, (you know the ones which always burn up), this dude spliced wires into the board and connected them directly to the wires, bypassing the burned up connectors all together.

The word "BAD" was written in the corner of (3) boards. So based on this, and all of the poor conditions throughout, I replaced the bad board, one being the Power Driver Board.

Again, appreciate the time it took you to step through the power line uses coming out of the transformer. Thank you

Thanks Manny65,

I came across the documentation related to the "Loop backs" or jumped on the backside of the connector. I'm not going to worry about it, and replacing the whole thing jus for looks, feeds my "ocd", lol, but not yet. What really got me is seeing the dedicated 12 volt line for the DMD. When installing that, one of the options was to run a cable down to the transformer, as shown earlier in this thread. But my connection was absent. So the Color DMD instructions provide a tap on the Power Driver Board for 12 volt.

You likely know as you work your way through a pinball restoration, things are revealed, hacks and workarounds show up from previous ownership, and in my machine, not a working Tie-Back. So you already know what that leads to.

Thankfully this STTNG Board is here, to loft a question or idea, so we don't always have to reinvent the wheel ourselves.

Everybody contributing makes this fun and interesting.

Thank you for the info

Tonight's additions and engineering fun!

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In the history of pinball, coin machines were considered a form of gambling.

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Hey everyone, I see from time to time, detailed information which is NOT in the November 1993 Star Trek Next Generation Manual. Like someone posted details of the subway assembly, or details about specific parts, and many other things. What is this documentation coming from? I know Williams has a SERVICE manual, in general about the era of machines, however if there is a revised owners manual, I want to get it.

Thanks for any light you can shine on this topic. Hope I am being clear..... here is an example.......this is page 3-44....my manual goes to 3-37 (part number 16-50023-101-1) Is it incomplete?? Think I purchased the item from Marco

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this is what I am interested in. The GREEN Parts Manual. Didn't know about that one. I think it is this part number 16-9932

PIN-GUY Rock's it out again!!! Dude!
When normal Operator's Manuals aren't enough to read, Planetary Pinball has online, the WILLIAMS GREEN PARTS catalog, which is 444 pages of nerdy cool on several pinball machines, and of course STTNG.
Reposting his link:

http://www.planetarypinball.com/reference/partsmanuals/WMS_Parts_Green_16-9932/files/mobile/index.html#1

So it is the DEEP DIVE into illustrations, additional information and much more.

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Before randomly replacing a bunch of stuff, what is causing this to happen frequently? The sling rubber is new, however the kicker arm is original. Thoughts and advice appreciated.

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KICKER RUBBER TROUBLES

I think the wrong size of slings may be installed. I have ordered some 4" size, and see what happens. In the meantime, I will also be replacing the old kicker arm with a new one. After 27 years, it's done it's time....

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Nice Pinball machine dude. You must has additional sling protectors under the artwork. The effect with the light is amazing.

For those who have PinSound, you already know it's certainly a drastic, huge upgrade for all pinball machines, especially for STTNG. That said, thought I'd help the subwoofer out some.
Like a home speaker, I gave mine an enclosure to call home.

The bass response was increased, in addition to keeping things out of the subwoofer cone.

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Manny65
I don't actually know. Seriously I wouldn't want the box to be any larger, as the Drop Target adjustment screw is extremely close when moving the playfield. On porting or installing a hole, I truly don't know. I'm not an audio guy. However at least the box prevents dirt, screws, solder and tools from having an accident with the speaker cone. Anyone who works on the machine, mods and tweaks and do add-ons will know the hazard.

If there had been more room, possibly some sound dampening material inside the box would be a plus. However the box was installed fully assembled, and that was such a tight fit, anything larger would have been impractical.

SPEAKER IN A BOX
Speaker revision 2.0. Speaker cover was removed. Vent holes (2) installed in the back. Rubber backed carpet now lines the inside of the speaker box. (2) coats of Satin Black paint and (2) coats of a flat finish sealer were also applied. New gasket lines the bottom so box will not rattle.

NET RESULT. A little less volume from the speaker, but the is good. The cabinet can breath. The SOUND is certainly MORE CLEAR with the same deep range. Work, but recommended

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Tonight, the Enterprise 1701-D Topper arrives. For anyone modding one these ships, the difficulty speaks for itself. It's not perfect, or the most expensive, realistic one, but it works for me.
Hope everyone likes it.

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GI OCD and LED OCD

My opinion only. If you are going to the effort to have, own and maintain this STTNG pinball, and put effort into restoring it, the GI and LED OCD boards are a must. PinSound and Color DMD are also a must. These ALL make the machine better. For those just getting a STTNG, get your basic machine mechanically working, everything checked through from fuse sizes, burnt connectors replaced and so on.

But when you really want to add modifications to take the machine to the next level, those are worth the money, and will add value to your investment.
And do them one at a time, for budget reasons. Honestly, it's a lot of work to add all that at once.

ANSWERS
Flicker LEDS? YES, that is what the GI OCD is designed to do....among other improvements. Countless examples on youtube. check it out. Also, go into TEST mod and go to GI Lighting Test. everything flickers until level 6 or 7, because your machine without GI OCD can't dim the leds.

PinSound board and speakers eliminates ALL the sound issues related to audio balancing. It's a 27 year IMPROVEMENT from 1993. What are you waiting for?
Your system is now a single 3-way mono low fidelity sound. PinSound is a 2.1 digital stereo system. drop the mic!

Also, the GI OCD smooths the transitions of the light brightness, and allows the Shield feature to work in the game.

RESTORING a STAR TREK NEXT GENERATION Pinball.

It's like anything else such as restoring a home or fixing a vintage car, ..cost and budget. This is a fantastic this page and I appreciate the answers and suggestions people make. Some people just want a pinball to play, others have it their home for a novelty, and still other are extreme avid collectors. It can be an expensive, passionate hobby, with tons of invested hours.
Honestly, if you decide to own a pinball machine, you will likely also be owning a set of tools and get really good at soldering.

BUDGET.. Pinball restoration CAN an WILL be expensive. Take your time...... It's the genuine LOVE of tinkering, enhancing, restoring, improving and breathing life back into something unique and special.

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ACTUALLY My CPU board is the ONLY board I have NOT replaced? Why, cause it either works, or it doesn't. Out of 15 machines I've worked on, if the machine is working, just make sure you are using the last, or most up to date Game Rom. In Star Trek NG is 7-L or 7-LX. It's required for Color DMD, and gives you some additional features..

People, the boards which you seriously need to spend bench time with, is the Power Driver Board, Not the CPU board. The power drive board has tons of things which time and abuse have up it through. The OPTO's and the next critical thing to do.

Before spending money on toys and toppers, make sure the machine is solid, electrically. Crunch down the socketed chips, reseat ALL, repeat, ALL the connectors multiple times to polish up the connections. Check the fuses to see if the are the CORRECT size, and there are any burned out ones.

OH, get the dam batteries OFF the CPU board, no exceptions. The would be the only benefit with the new board, the chip which stores the setup instead of a battery.

But the board is $200.

I have never replaced the side art, or a playfield insert. And the shields WILL need it sometime. I have them purchased, but intimidated as hell to do it.

LED BULBS - What types and Why?
Fantastic description of all the little devices which light's up your pinball world.
Sharing this for everyone who wants it from Comet Pinball

https://www.cometpinball.com/pages/the-art-of-pinball-leds

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This page is a learning page, so learn from my mistakes. The 1993 Hallmark 1701-D ornament doesn't like it, when you give it too much "juice". 6.4 volts is BAD. Looks bright and bold.........but in about 7 minutes you've already provide your password which has began the "self-destruct sequence". Enterprise on left suffered greatly during the encounter with the Borg.
But the Hallmark Federation of Planets provided a replacement Enterprise, with the engine power properly balanced.
Don't do me, I make the mistakes so you don't have to! lol

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Hallmark Enterprise 1701-D

Pin_Guy, tested on 12 volts huh? That is amazing. The original box show indicates 3-6 volts. On the electronics side of things, is the another variable I am missing here? It's been a minute since I cooked my first Enterprise, so I am not being intentionally vague. I want to say, I think it was connected to GI circuit.

Eric

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RELAY SWITCH?
Looking for a way to control an externally powered mod in a pinball machine. Specific info: Adding a 2.5" Plasma Disk to a Star Trek Next Generation pinball. Issue is, it will stay on all the time.
Thoughts and advice needed:
I want to control the power to the Plasma Disc with activity related to a LAMP, so the disk come on, then the lamp is active. Power source is 3 watt. Thoughts, ideas, suggestions?

I have found this, but not sure if it's right, or how to wire it....thanks.

Maybe something like this??

Timer Relay, DROK Time Delay Relay DC 5V 12V 24V Delay Controller Board Delay-off Cycle Timer 0.01s-9999mins Trigger Delay Switching Relay Module with LCD Display Support Micro USB 5V Power Supply

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TIE-BACK MOD
Mandatory on all STTNG pins. If you don't do it. Plan on spending money. If you do it, do it right
LINK
https://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation

HALLMARK SHIPS
Zitt, yes, exactly. The enterprise is barely lighted at 5 volts. I have done some other research on this. Hallmark originally promoted the "PRE 1997" star trek ships as just plugging into a string of Christmas lights. That really is NOT true. The ornaments REQUIRE a product Hallmark no longer makes, called a Legacy Cord. Your reference to the number of ornaments which could be on a string???

The only allowed (4) ornaments per Legacy Cord. The Hallmark Legacy Cord are on Ebay for something stupid like $80. I purchased a standalone power supply, which is running the Enterprise at 9 volts. It will run at 12 volts, and looks brighter / better, but I am afraid to kick it up anymore. Again, it's been months since I cooked the last Enterprise lol.

The Rio Grande was a flame out too., and it has a lot of guts in it to produce Worf voice Christmas wishes. My KPOF (2) both stopped working within 30 minutes of running, however in those cases, I installed the traditional lamp sockets on the bottom, and called it good.

I have a Romulan Ship running too, and it's a 5 volt power supply, and it's using the original tiny lamps installed by Hallmark. They are NOT leds.
I have another Romulan War Bird torn down for LED install, however backed away from it for now. These tiny ships with LED installed and a serious pain. lol
patience was wearing thin.

More coming soon.

POWERING HALLMARK ORNAMENTS in the real world...
Interesting discussion about the "mystery cords"
https://hallmarkstartrekornamentsdotcom.wordpress.com/tag/legacy-cord/

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COIN DOOR - BALL TROUGH

In reference to the damaged possibly being caused by the coin door mech (top) and rubbing against the end portion of the ball trough. Noted! I have the newer "rail" ball trough and the newer Optos boards as you can see in the photos. Without actually putting a camera "inside", it's hard to see it happen. But the evidence is there from the wear on the top of the coin mech. In my case, as best I can tell, the coin mech is rubbing the trough between the rail pivot screw and the opto board (metal portion of the trough).

I notice when I put the playfield down, the two metal handing brackets don't seat completely, until I open the coin door. And reclose it. It's like a 1/8 or 1/16 of an inch. I may use a drummel tool to shave that off. Thoughts anyone? Zitt? Pin_Guy?

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COIN DOOR / PLAYFIELD issue
Actually guys / gals, the top of the coin mech was hitting the section "between" the rail screw and the opto board. And someone mentioned a "binding" in getting the coin door to close, that is correct. So I trimmed down the corner. It doesn't look great, however the door closes correctly, the playfield sits properly, and I didnt have to cut on the opto board, which in "my case" wasn't the issue. The plastic lockdown was easily removed, and modification took 5 minutes.
And you don't see it. Is it factory perfect, no. But it works

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SHARP EYE PIN GUY!!!
I am impressed. When I rebuilt the coin door, and I mean completely torn down to parts, it's likely these to items were swapped. Oh well, live and learn. I am impressed with you!

BORG REGENERATION CHAMBER and LIGHTED BORG Mod
Tonight's newest mod. Sound activated, interactive Plasma Disk and my Laser Eye Borg Guy

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LIGHTED STAR POSTS mods

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ZITT
Point well made on the decal. I am not embarrassed. I didn't notice it. Is there a better version out there?

ZITT,
I just noticed you sold them. Sorry, if I had known, I wouldn't have purchased them from him. It was done some time back. Did he steal your concept / design ideas for his product??

Lighting up some dark areas of the game. It was some work to get to, but the often unnoticed (2) Red Star Posts needed some attention. Used several leds designed for star posts and connected to the GI Lighting.
On the Command Decision location, the graphic was always dark. Due to limitations in playfield space, and located above the ball subway system, Williams didn't install GI Illumination in this location. Routed and led stripe from under the Left Ramp over.
Without question, without a teardown, one of the harder areas to work on.

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TODAY's MOD: Borg ver 2.0

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Borg 2.0 Test photo

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Currently working on the latest mod. A high definition video screen topper for the STTNG Pinball. 1080HD format, Quad Screen layout. Each of the 4 screens independently changes and is different. Screen one is the STTNG console interface, screen to shows cut scenes, screen 3 is a constantly changing star field and screen 4 is dedicated to the Borg

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This is my 5 month journey into restoration. As most of you on this page know, it's not just about how the machine looks, but how (if) it works at all. I'll post more later with a list of the fixes, modifications and additional enhancements. The inside mechanically with PinSound, GI & LED OCD, and other things make it work well. More coming and thank you for looking at this post.

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Throwing a STTNG Mod idea out there for all you creative people to consider. I am using one of the magnetic communication pins inside the machine on the apron, and think it adds to the machine. But how about this??

A START BUTTON mod which would possibly go over the current start button. And you would "tap" the communication pin to start the game?
The metal pin here (found on Ebay or Amazon) is actual size for the location, however I am not sure how to engineer the spring mech. Also something which would allow illumination through or around the button would be killer. Thoughts???

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