(Topic ID: 142990)

The Who's TOMMY Club - Can you hear me? Members Only!

By ChadH

8 years ago


Topic Heartbeat

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  • 2,267 posts
  • 188 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 6 days ago by RCA1
  • Topic is favorited by 101 Pinsiders

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#420 7 years ago

If anyone needs a replacement blinder servo and arm assembly please check out my ad here on Pinside.
This message has been brought to you by the Shameless Commerce Division of Bob_E

** Tomorrow I will bring home a Tommy for my game room !! **

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#421 7 years ago

May I join the club? My Tommy is now home !

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#433 7 years ago

lighting issue in the backbox door
the lower string of 18 lamps is out
all my fuses are good,
lamp test, section still out... (all the flashers did cycle)
WHAT do I look for and WHERE do I look ??

solder connections good
Wires: Brown & White with Brown trace.

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#437 7 years ago
Quoted from Ive:

Locate the PPB board in the backbox - lower left. Have a look at the top left connector on that board - its *really* common for this to get toasty over time, it may show signs of overheating. Even if not give it a wiggle with power on and see if yr lights come back on. Could be flaky solder joint at the pins. If so pull the board and resolder. Any signs of burning, replace pins and connector.
Also check the GI connector on the power board. Upper left board. I think its CN9 ...(or CN8) ...from memory

It was CN8. Taking the power supply board to a expert on pin repair for inspection and/or repair. There may be some damage due to the heat.

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#440 7 years ago
Quoted from gweempose:

Yep. Looks like that connector got pretty toasted at some point. There also appears to be acid leaking from that top battery.

AND the lower battery is in the wrong way!

All 3 batteries have been removed. A remote battery pack will be installed.

#445 7 years ago

The Pinball Ninja serviced my board, repaired damage and new battery

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#447 7 years ago

Found this fuse inside my game...Does anyone know where it goes?

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#451 7 years ago

Check the coil it may be the problem and the solder joint

#456 7 years ago
Quoted from Linolium:

Hi every one!
I just got a Tommy yesterday. It's a great pin but a bit easy... Took me less then a day to get the wizard mode and the table's #1 score. Any ideas on how to make this a more challenging game?
I'm in the process of making these adjustments-
1) I removed the adjustable outlane posts from both sides
2) I am ordering 4 TOTAN yellow post covers to surround the left scoop, mode start hole, and the post left of the silverball target (along the guide for the hidden kickout area)
3) Setting the game software to 'hard' mode
Any other suggestions? Anything else to remove? disable? prevent mode stacking? etc? Should I update the code to the unofficial V.5.0 rom?

When you start a game holkd in the "extra ball" button under the start button. That will extend the blinders thru the whole game.

3 weeks later
#469 7 years ago
Quoted from Yamisetatiggler:

Today, after 4 years of flawless operation, my blinders began "jittering" in the open position. Not sure if the problem is at the servo, the motor or on the CPU board. They activate and retract at the right times and it tests OK.
Also I have noticed when it's retracted there is a noise coming from the motor as if its activated. Not sure if that's normal but I don't recall hearing noise from that in its resting state.
Hope someone can help.
Video can be seen » YouTube video

The "jittering" is a typical R/C servo problem. The feedback pot/wiper inside the servo is going bad. 20 years of building and flying R/C taught me this. I make and sell a replacement servo and arm assembly. Looking at the video, your servo has been replaced once. Hitec in place of the Airtronics. (the original arm with hex-drive pressed over the spline shaft of the Hitec).

First picture is the original Airtronics servo. Second is what I make and sell.

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#470 7 years ago

The second Issue I see is that the rubber Isolation mounts for the servo are missing. All the playfield vibrations are directly transmitted to the servo. This will cause the electronics inside the servo to fail. Do NOT attempt to turn the servo while it is under power because you could break the gear train inside

1 week later
#471 7 years ago

Does anybody know the diameter of the silver ball topper?

1 week later
#477 7 years ago

Replay Score changes, Why ??
Most of the time the DMD displays replay at 300,000 a few time it has been 350,000 and 400,000. Today it came up with 320,000.

#479 7 years ago
Quoted from Number41:

Yes, this is the original ball topper and it is 7.5" in diameter (just measured mine to double check)!

I made one for my Tommy. 8" stainless steel ball from Amazon & the 5" diameter 3/4" thick wood base at JoAnns.
There was a hole in the ball about .19 diameter which I tapped M5.
7/32 Drilled thru the base for a M5 screw, and a 1" diamerter end mill put a spot face in the base 1/16 deep to cradle the ball.
A bracket will be installed inside the cabinet to hold it in place.

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1 month later
#486 7 years ago

I will be making more servo/arm assemblies to sell. I expect to have them done in 4 weeks. I need to get open machine time at work and get busy after hours. If you need one send me a private message and I will get a pre-order list going. NO DEPOSIT required.

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2 weeks later
#490 7 years ago
Quoted from Djshakes:

Well I got my game today and definitely not what I expected.

Start buy getting the manual for your Tommy, Reprints start at $20.00 on E-bay, originals are listed too.

I would guess dirty pins on the connectors, cold solder joint or a 1/2 broken wire.

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#491 7 years ago

Who would be interested in a reproduction base plate for the blinders in their Tommy pin?

Please send me a PM if you are interested. I am not taking orders at this time. Just wondering if there is anyone interested.

I plan on making one prototype to test in my personal game and get an idea how much it cost me in time and materials. I have access to the machinery in the tool shop where I work. The base will be solid steel not a stamping, the shaft will be steel too pressed into the base. I have been making a replacement servo and arm assembly and selling them here on Pinside. Which came about when I was selling a Tommy for a friend and it needed the servo and driver board.

Now that I have my own Tommy I have the actual part to measure and replicate. My game is missing: the blinders, servo/arm, & driver board. I have ordered a set of 3D printed blinders from "BigLebowski" a pinside member. The Spring: from Pinball Spare Parts Australia. And a servo driver board from: Best of Pinball in Germany, which is made by Pinnovations.

Bob E.

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1 week later
#493 7 years ago
Quoted from Djshakes:

I would be interested. My Tommy is missing everything. I wonder how much it will cost to get blinders going in total.

From What I have made and odered about $400-450, Depending on shipping and exchange rates:

I just ordered the 3d printed blinder $163.20, Pinside member BigLebowski in Germany
...160.00 Shipped + 3.20 paypal fee..
Driver board 77.84 Pinnovations ordered from Best of Pinball in Germany
Return spring $22.18 Pinball Spare Parts Australia
I sell my servo arm assembly for 89.00 Shipped
I would be able to make sell it for $75.00. Maybe less, I have not made one yet.

But you may find some parts on Ebarf. Or parts for sale here in Pinside or that other Pinball web sites.

Note: that I may not have the base plate made until next year. I am very busy, overtime at work.

#496 7 years ago

Knowing the cost of replacing missing items from your game can give you leverage or insight, when buying a Tommy that is missing some or all of the parts.

I can upgrade to a color DMD for about $369, is it worth it to replace a display in good working order? I have yet to buy one,
But if my current DMD need to be replaced at $179 then I would consider the upgrade.

#503 7 years ago
Quoted from ejacques:

Just joined!!!!

Welcome....

3 weeks later
#512 7 years ago

After collecting and making parts I got my Tommy's blinders completed and working.

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#515 7 years ago

I have had my Tommy tilt during multi ball too.
I but I did not have my blinders installed and working at that time.
But in thee games defense I have been known to tilt out just by looking at the game.

#525 7 years ago

Finally got my knocker working, with Clay Harrrel's help. But it has more of a thud than a thwack like my EM games. I guess it is striking a short wood rail mounted to the floor is tead of the side of the cabinet. I bought a 5" bell off ebay hoping it will produce the "gong" that Golden Arrow makes on a 10K score.

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1 week later
#527 7 years ago

I make and sell a replacement servo/arm assembly. Check my ad has been relisted on Pinside. I even have one in my own game.

Bob E

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1 month later
#550 7 years ago

Did this help?

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1 month later
#581 7 years ago
Quoted from Chisox:

Where did you get that backglass? That's fantastic!

I would buy one.

1 month later
#605 6 years ago

I have one servo and arm assembly, that I make, ready to ship.
See my ad here on pinside.

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3 weeks later
#629 6 years ago
Quoted from Spyderturbo007:

I found a post on adjusting the open / close position of the blinders. My problem is that they shake a little during gameplay. You can see them wiggling when they are in the closed position.
Is there a way to adjust that portion of the blinders?

First check all the connections to the driver board. Unplug and plug back in the servo and harness. to clear any corrosion.

If the problem continues. Its most likely the servo is going bad. Inside the servo is a feedback pot to tell the servo's control board its position. The wiper has created a deadspot. by sitting in one spot for a long time plus the vibrations from game play tend to cause the failure of the pot. The original servo used was a $10.00 (retail) airtronics servo with a custom output shaft, having a hex drive rather than the splined shaft for R/C cars and airplanes.

You may get buy buy adjusting the "closed position" with the driver board under the apron. Have the blinders slightly more exposed won't hurt your game play. And the wiper in the feedback pot wont be sitting on a dead spot cause it to hunt for position. That hunting is the Jitters you see.

4 months later
#711 6 years ago

they are on the driver card under the apron on the LH side.

Jitters = sounds like the feedback pot in the servo has gone bad.

2 months later
#743 6 years ago

If you need a replacement servo & arm assembly to operate your blinders send me a PM.
Currently my parts for sale ad is down until I have them ready to ship.
I will be making some more in the next few days after Christmas.

I will take a "pre-order" by PM. But NO money until I am ready to ship.

Bob

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3 months later
#770 5 years ago

27.75 inches, it may help to take the door off the hinges .

2 months later
#815 5 years ago

Lasr year for my birthday my wife order these Flipper Bat covers and a Shooter Rod.

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#817 5 years ago

My wife is checking on it... will post when I know.
not the knob was carved and painted, but the drilled hole was on an angle to the carving.

#818 5 years ago
Quoted from Ive:

Who sells the shooter rod?

The wife found a seller on Etsy. spinnyvinny

makes and sell pinball mods/trinkets

#822 5 years ago

Replacement Servo and Arm Assembly for Tommy Blinders for sale in the market place.

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1 week later
#826 5 years ago

Has Anyone ever seen a Tommy Calculator?

Reported to be a promotional Item for the tourof The Who's Tommy, original cast (1992 Broadway Revival)

The story behind it is that about 100 were made for Data East employees to be given out in 1994 or 1995.

Based on the FIREBALL calculator the Had Flipper Pool on the box and the sides of the calculator.

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3 months later
#849 5 years ago
Quoted from lhammer610:

My Tommy is missing the silverball. I got from a garden shop one of the outdoor silver balls. I have not figured out how to mount it on the head, so it does not accidentally fall off.
Any suggestions?

I bought a ball on line, it had a tapped hole. So i bought a 5" round wood plack at Michels. On centerline 1" spade drill 1/4 inch deep, this make a pocket for the ball to rest on, then a thru hole to clear the screw. 2 wood screws to hold it down to the back box. Then Paint it yellow.

1 month later
#862 5 years ago

Check R2 R5 these pots control the end points of servo travel.

#863 5 years ago

Listed in Market Place the replacement servo/Arm assembly I make for Tommy.

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1 year later
#1339 3 years ago

Has anybody made, and sells, new sound chips with the original Who Tommy Album?

3 weeks later
#1371 3 years ago

If you need just the servo/arm assembly. I still make and sell a replacement.

2 weeks later
#1427 3 years ago
Quoted from bsrhardy:

New to the older games, my Tommy flippers just stopped working. One minute good, next nothing. Where to start? Any assistance is appreciated. Just need a path.

check the fuses, then go buy the manual for the game about $20.0-30.00 on Ebarf if you don't have one.

5 months later
#1834 3 years ago
Quoted from AntennaMan:

Need some help. A few months ago my Tommy "wigged out". Blinders, propellers, mirror, just about everything actuating constantly. DMD out, fuses blowing, couldn't start a game, etc. I rebuilt the power supply, changing just the caps didn't solve the issue, so replaced the voltage regulator, bridge rectifier & power transistor. On restart all solenoids except the left kick out were out. Replaced the blown fuses tied to them. All appeared to be well. Played a few games, no blinders. That's where we sit today, everything as it should be except the blinders. Now I've been pondering selling/trading, so I figure I should get them working. Is there a fuse or transistor tied directly to the blinders operation I may be missing?

can you operate the blinders using the ARCH in the test menu?
under the apron there is a driver card for the blinders, it might be bad, it makes the signal for the servo to operate.
do not attempt to move the servo while the game is powered up, you will damage the gear train inside the servo.
Pinovations makes a replacement driver card
https://www.bestofpinball.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=0&products_id=15234
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#1840 3 years ago
Quoted from pinballjah:

Funny, I played Tommy a few times at friends and fell in love with the game (being a Who fan). Read about the 'blinders' before and had no idea what they were talking about. Then after I bought myself a Tommy, one day the blinders popped out and I was like, what the fuck?? Great feature of the game for sure.

When you start a game hold the extra ball button in, you get to play the whole game with the blinders.

1 month later
#1873 2 years ago

I found this fuse in my Tommy.. it is 250 Amp ... is it for the sub woofer ?

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10 months later
#2063 1 year ago
Quoted from tominator:

Question for the Tommy experts here...
Should my game have a knocker?
I never hear a knock when I win a free game or match...
Also, I read somewhere about a simple mod that limits the epileptic flashing... is this something most owners do? Are there instructions somewhere?
Thanks!

Bottom of cabinet, mine works but does not have the hard TWACK sound like my other games.
I guess it is because of the location, hitting a plate on the cross brace.

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#2065 1 year ago
Quoted from tominator:

Hmmmm
Interesting. I don’t have a knocker then. Nothing near the speaker for sure...
Will investigate further... wonder if I can add one. Will report back fir sure...

that is a sub woofer which was added to the game.

3 months later
#2101 1 year ago

right next to the bridge rectifier I had leaking electrolytic capacitors that were replaced. note the heat from the heat sink and rectifier was the suspected cause. look in the red circle.

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3 months later
#2151 1 year ago

It might be better to show it with OLD CHICAGO... but I don't have that game

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3 months later
#2169 1 year ago
Quoted from pinballjah:

Can someone confirm the size of the silver ball topper? Is it 10 inches round? Thanks for the help!

7.5"

I made one for my Tommy. 8" stainless steel ball from Amazon & the 5" diameter 3/4" thick wood base at JoAnns.
There was a hole in the ball about .17 diameter which I tapped M5.
7/32 Drilled thru the base for a M5 screw, and a 1" diameter end mill put a spot face in the base 1/16 deep to cradle the ball.
A bracket will be installed inside the cabinet to hold it in place.

My original post #479

1 month later
#2178 1 year ago
Quoted from Kanthony:

Hello all just started a group on Facebook since I could not find one. I am the only member it has no traction yet.
[quoted image]

i just did a search and it did not come up...

3 weeks later
#2195 12 months ago
Quoted from gjm:

I was thinking about buying a TOMMY and having it shipped to HEP so he can do his magic to it. I would also purchase and send him: Union Jack cabinet wrap, alternate translite, pinsound ect
I think I'd rather invest $10-$12k that way instead of buying a new NIB pin.

Buy a nice Tommy first, play it for several months before spending $$$ for the rest of the work. I got my Tommy several years ago and will not part with it. It has a sub-woofer in it now but I am considering Color DMD & Pinsound to get the original Who music. And yes I have an alternat backglass.

1 month later
#2207 10 months ago
Quoted from jdoz2:

Just posted joined with a fairly nice example but unfortunate this game was advertised as 100% but is missing the blinder arm.
Does anyone have a servo arm for sale?
[quoted image][quoted image]

is there a spline shaft under the hex drive? I my have parts to make an arm that won't break. I used to sell a servo & arm assembly here on Pinside.

under the aluminum, arm is a Hi-tec HD servo arm, the spine shaft will fit Hitech servos. the pin is steel with a glass filled nylon roller.
A buddy bought a 3-D printed arm and the pin/roller broke off.

send me a PM and I will see what I have left.

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#2209 10 months ago

These are pictures of the latest Arm I have made.
Using a Heavy duty Hitec servo arm modified, aluminum arm, steel dowel pin, nylon roller, press fit retainer.
Send me a PM if you need an arm. I have some parts in inventory to make them.
I can also modify a new Hitec servo to fit the original steel servo mounting base/bracket.
This arm will only fit modern standard size Hitec servos. The spine shaft is different on other brands of servos.

Bob E

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#2211 10 months ago
Quoted from ArgyleRuby:

We have an odd problem on our Tommy and I was just wondering if anyone else has encountered something similar or has any suggestions.
The little metal, curved wire (is this referred to as the switch?) in the left return lane occasionally holds up the ball. A few body-bumps on the machine usually does the trick in allowing the ball to continue to roll down the return, but, of course, this can also lead to tilting the game if you bump too hard.
Is there anything to look at to keep this from happening? Is there anything that can be done to the wire? I've examined it at least once and it seems fairly flimsy, but it can still occasionally stop a rolling ball.

Compare the spring tension to the in lanes and out lanes, you may have to adjust the leaf switch.
Check the wire for any binding in its slot.
Do you have enough slope on your playfield?
Does the ball roll thru the lane freely , not being pinched by the slingshot rubber?

#2216 10 months ago
Quoted from rvermeire:

Got my blinder/arch working by disconnecting the shaker board.
But fine tuning doesn't work out.
Open is fine with potentiometer adjustments.
But closing not, 2nd potentiometer is not working
Tought defect pot on controller and got a new board from pindora box
Same story... closing pot not moving the motor
I get 10.46V and 4.96V coming in on both boards (old & new)
I have continuity from the 3 cables going to CPU board starting from this 7 pin connector on the blinder board (Clock, data and Clear)
any suggestions?[quoted image][quoted image]

You might have to reset the arm on the servo. you may be at end of rotation of the servo.
Take the blinders off and see how much the servo rotates, also listen to the gear set of the servo.
Do you have the original Airtronics servo? If so the arm can be rotated 60 degrees in the direction you need to go. It has a hexagonal output shaft.

!!! Do not force the servo's rotation
!!! Do not turn the servo while it is under power

I made and sold replacement servo & Arm assemblies. I may have enough parts to make another one. Bob

9 months later
#2258 17 days ago

Clean the pins on the connectors for the ribbon cables. I use 400 or 600 grit water sandpaper dry.

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