(Topic ID: 50450)

TAF - How Disassemble Thing Gearbox

By CapnARRR

10 years ago


Topic Heartbeat

Topic Stats

  • 23 posts
  • 5 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 10 years ago by CapnARRR
  • Topic is favorited by 1 Pinsider

You

Linked Games

Topic Gallery

View topic image gallery

thing_opto.JPG
thing_gearbox_assembly_bottom.JPG

#1 10 years ago

So how do you get into the gearbox? Mine is coated with grime and old oil I need to clean out. There appear to be 4 screws holding it together, two of them are flathead and come out really easy, the other two have no threading on them at all. Am I missing something?

Thanks for your help!

#2 10 years ago

Mine was riveted. If yours has been worked on in the past, no telling what happened.

You might have to try drilling them out.

LTG : )

#3 10 years ago

Yeah this is what I'm seeing on the bottom.

Drill em out, eh? No other clever tricks? My drilling probably won't end well...

thing_gearbox_assembly_bottom.JPGthing_gearbox_assembly_bottom.JPG

#4 10 years ago

You don't have to drill out the entire rivet, just one of the caps/heads and push it out. Control the pressure of the drill and you'll be fine.

Just did both my Thing and Bookshelf motors last week.

#5 10 years ago

Would I need to replace the rivet after its drilled? I imagine i would... Anyone know the part number for this?

Do I drill on the side pictured or opposite side for minimal damage to the gearbox?

Sorry for all the questions!

#6 10 years ago

I replaced the rivets with a low profile flathead machine screw and a nylock nut, may have been a 4-40. Can't recall if anything butts up against one side of the gearbox but that's the reason for the low profile heads on the machine screws. Depending on how things go together on different gearboxes and mounting brackets you won't be able to use a larger head machine screw that will interfere with anything.

Pretty sure the rivets are identical on both ends, does not matter which end you decide to use the drill on. The gearbox casing is soft though, careful you don't drill right through the rivet head and into the gearbox.

#7 10 years ago

Keep updating this thread please...I looked for days on a thread that answered this question. Tell us what you did and how well it worked for you please.

#8 10 years ago

Does anybody else see the hidden mickey on the gearbox?

#9 10 years ago
Quoted from CapnARRR:

Would I need to replace the rivet after its drilled

Unless you want it falling open yes. Rivets or bolts.

LTG : )

#10 10 years ago

I ended up degunking it as much as I could with a long thin pick and reapplied some lubricant. The gearbox moves much smoother now, but the motor was still weak.

Replaced the motor with one from this part since the gearbox is fine with much success: http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/14-7962

Someone else will have to brave drilling out the rivets on this... I'm to squeemish and would rather leave well enough alone now that everything is working. Thanks for all the suggestions though, I'm sure others will find this useful!

#11 10 years ago

I also started mine yesterday. I did drill out the rivets and opened it up. Cleaned all of the gears and put new grease on all of them. I put it back together and mounted it but I had the hand in the wrong position and it was pushing too far. I took most apart again and had Thing in a better spot that I believe would have worked but now it does not work.

I am getting Thing up Opto error and it will not start running in a game and in test mode it won't move at all and it has no check boxes in Up or Down.

(Not trying to steal this thread but I feel it was relevant to the original purpose)

#12 10 years ago

Glad I used to rebuild automotive gearboxes.

#13 10 years ago

Sorry, I gotta bump this.

#14 10 years ago

I also started mine yesterday. I did drill out the rivets and opened it up. Cleaned all of the gears and put new grease on all of them. I put it back together and mounted it but I had the hand in the wrong position and it was pushing too far. I took most apart again and had Thing in a better spot that I believe would have worked but now it does not work.
I am getting Thing up Opto error and it will not start running in a game and in test mode it won't move at all and it has no check boxes in Up or Down.
(Not trying to steal this thread but I feel it was relevant to the original purpose)

I ran into the exact same problem - both of the opto tests for thing didn't move it at all.

I tried playing a game just to see what happened and thing started working again. It may have to do with the initial positioning of the opto lead on the first sensor.

Try aligning it like this (this is exactly how i found it when i pulled it from my TAF) and then play a game and see if thing comes out. The tests started working once the allignment was correct.

thing_opto.JPGthing_opto.JPG

#15 10 years ago

So just a bit on the inside of the opto instead of lined up directly? I want to say that is how I pulled mine out as well but I'm not sure now...

#16 10 years ago

Also, did you get a credit dot with error Thing Up Opto ?

#17 10 years ago

Yeah I think that's what the startup error read. I was worried at first that I'd broken my opto board... Check the connection going to the board itself as well, I forgot to plug mine in the first time.

#18 10 years ago

It's plugged in good, I did forget to plug in the magnet as first as well. I will check that on my next day off and report back here.

1 week later
#19 10 years ago

Okay. I got it going now but it still seems to be grinding on the last bit of the movement. Also the previous owners drilled about 4 sets of holes for the gearbox and I can't find the correct one. Notice how it is over a bit. Since it works should I just let it be and leave well enough alone?

#20 10 years ago
Quoted from CapnARRR:

I ran into the exact same problem - both of the opto tests for thing didn't move it at all.
I tried playing a game just to see what happened and thing started working again. It may have to do with the initial positioning of the opto lead on the first sensor.
Try aligning it like this (this is exactly how i found it when i pulled it from my TAF) and then play a game and see if thing comes out. The tests started working once the allignment was correct.

By the way, this is 100% what fixed it. It has to be halfway off the opto toward the other opto.

#21 10 years ago

That movement does seem a bit awkward, I'd personally be worried about it chipping the box plastic or wearing out the motor.

Disconnecting just the motor from the gearbox makes the hand easier to manipulate and position, I would do this and manually pull it out and see where it's sticking, then realign the hand mechanism. If it was working before, should just be a process of elimination and you wouldn't need to drill another hole.

Glad to hear its responding again!

#22 10 years ago

How are you manipulating the hand resting position? Mine I have to open up the gear box and move the second gear to make the hand move. I believe that I am going to keep it this way until after my Space Shuttle swap and then I will remove TAF playfield with everything still hooked up so I can puddy in the holes and diagnose all types of Thing problems. Any input on that?

#23 10 years ago

I remember it being able to move while attached to the gearbox with a little bit of pressure (just pushing and pulling on the hand itself). The motor made things a bit trickier while attached since it had some resistance to it. I would detach the motor and manually pull the hand out of the box to see where its catching, reposition and reseat the gearbox screws as necessary (easier said than done, I'm sure!)

Promoted items from the Pinside Marketplace
$ 10.00
Playfield - Protection
UpKick Pinball
Protection
$ 399.95
Lighting - Led
Pin Stadium Pinball Mods
Led
From: $ 11.00
$ 25.00
Playfield - Decals
Metal-Mods
Decals
12,000 (OBO)
Machine - For Sale
Las Vegas, NV
$ 8.50
Lighting - Led
Pinball Haus
Led
$ 329.99
Lighting - Other
Lighted Pinball Mods
Other
$ 84.99
Playfield - Toys/Add-ons
GMods
Toys/Add-ons
$ 29.99
Electronics
NO GOUGE PINBALL™
Electronics
$ 159.00
Cabinet Parts
Pinball Haus
Cabinet parts
$ 109.95
Electronics
PinSound
Electronics
$ 27.99
Rubber/Silicone
Comet Pinball
Rubber/Silicone
$ 15.00
Cabinet - Sound/Speakers
Gweem's Mods
Sound/Speakers
$ 10.00
Playfield - Other
Loop Combo Pinball
Other
$ 119.00
Playfield - Toys/Add-ons
pinballmod
Toys/Add-ons
$ 54.99
Cabinet - Shooter Rods
Lighted Pinball Mods
Shooter rods
$ 299.95
Lighting - Led
Pin Stadium Pinball Mods
Led
From: $ 11.00
Playfield - Toys/Add-ons
Twisted Tokens
Toys/Add-ons
Wanted
Machine - Wanted
Pensacola, FL
$ 119.00
Playfield - Toys/Add-ons
Loop Combo Pinball
Toys/Add-ons
From: $ 110.00
Playfield - Other
Arcade Upkeep
Other
$ 58.00
Playfield - Toys/Add-ons
Lermods
Toys/Add-ons
20,000 (OBO)
Machine - For Sale
Oakdale, CA
$ 1,059.00
Flipper Parts
Mircoplayfields
Flipper parts
$ 26.99
Playfield - Other
Lee's Parts
Other
From: $ 12.00
Flipper Parts
Precision Pinball prod.
Flipper parts
$ 12.00
Tools
Nezzy's Pinball Prints
Tools
$ 1,159.00
Flipper Parts
Mircoplayfields
Flipper parts
11,500 (OBO)
Machine - For Sale
Hanford, CA
$ 24.00
Various Novelties
Pinball Photos LLC
Various novelties

Reply

Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.

Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!

Donate to Pinside

Great to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!


This page was printed from https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/taf-how-disassemble-thing-gearbox and we tried optimising it for printing. Some page elements may have been deliberately hidden.

Scan the QR code on the left to jump to the URL this document was printed from.