Hi all-
I have had a TOTAN for about ten years and it's in pretty condition. playfield clean, everything else working fine. Minor stuff mostly, but all three of the ramps have a few cracks so I am going to take swapping those in the next few weeks. I sourced the ramps but am looking for the swirl plastic which is a thin clear flat swirl that tops the extruded swirl ramp. I have only found it over at Pu-Parts in the UK, and they don't ship to the USA. (Its a $15 part). Anyone know of a source for it here in the USA? Should be an easy repro item.

Also, I never liked the dingy-looking metal ball guide mounted on the lower left side of the playfield which guides the ball down from the wire ramp behind the slingshot. Marco and other sell the stainless steel replacement, but I decided to clean up the one I had and found that Rustoleum #298537 paint is a perfect match for the mustard yellow used throughout the playfield. Primed the guide with etch primer, sprayed some paint, and it looks great. Just wanted to share this little tip.

tales-of-the-arabian-nights-swirl-plastic_2a (resized).jpg

Just did a bunch of updates on my TOTAN: Swapped the tiger post with the TZ adjustable one, Cleaned and rebuilt the genie lamp, hand painted and clear coated the genie, installed a mantis trough, updated many of the 555/906 lamp sockets, rebuilt outholes and flippers, installed a ColorDMD screen, installed a new bazaar scoop, refinished the coindoor, replaced lockdown bar and cabinet mounted receiver, changed a handful of roll over micro switches, reflowed the circular contact surfaces on all lamp boards and finally put in G16 mirror finish balls and a new powder coated apron with decal applied. Whew...

Now I am getting ready to change all three of the plastic ramps and some picture plastics on top of the playfield and am a little intimidated due to all of the pieces involved that need to be removed all at the same time. I have taken Lots of pictures from lots of angles.

I would love to hear from anyone that has already done this ramps swap. Any tips or areas to be careful with would be helpful.

I have an extra fully hand painted and clearcoated Genie I'd be willing to sell if someone wants it. I made two since I was in the mood to be crafty. I installed one on my TOTAN, and the other just sits... If someone has a real interest, let me know.
See it below or here (with some detail on what I did): https://ibb.co/pzkKD8d

IMG_1089 (resized).jpg

I am in the process of swapping ALL three of the clear ramps on my machine, but will post pictures as soon as the operation is done... Swapping ramps is not for the faint of heart, and I have been taking pictures and writing down every screw and spacer in hopes of being able to put it back together without issues.

There really isn't any adjustment in the back of the outer loop. Have you tried to slow motion video capture the path yo help see where specifically it is being deflected? Longshot: The rubber ring may be the wrong size (too big) and causing a bit too much width if not stretched tightly enough.

$175 seems excessive to me, but then again for any plated item, seems about right. The lamp base is $50-$60 itself, so add another $125 for plating and you arrive at your $175. That said, I think part of the charm of the game is the aged look of the lamp. If I were to also have Chris @hotrodplating plate the wire ramps, then perhaps the shiny gold combination would look good. But the original lamp seems to be fine with the aged gold 'patina'...

Alternative idea: If you want to make the lamp 'pop', then consider instead spending the time to remove the whole lamp assembly from the playfield, clean the spinning base (top surface, edges and underside) with alcohol and de-greaser, polish up the surface with some Novus, replace the lamps under the bracket which are nearly impossible to get to, and then re-assemble (carefully to get it centered!). It will be like a whole new lamp!

It's really pretty easy to clean and re-install. Just a few screws unbolt it from the playfield. (And the spinning disk can even be swapped with a purple or clear repro disk if you like). The bulbs can be swapped while it is out. The genie lamp can be gently cleaned and the rubber posts can be changed while you are there (lots of colors available). The ONLY tricky part is to make sure to mount the spinning disk back on it's bracket so that it's centered. I put it together and then leave it finger tight, place it in the playfield, and then move it just a bit to be centered.... then remove from the playfield and tighten the bracket screws completely.

That Genie is a funny toy. I have sourced a bunch of them supplied as NOS and REPRO. They are all different colors and materials. I myself have painted half a dozen custom genies for my machine and for a few friends. (see post 1715 for one I did in the summer). It's alot of work to do right. What I realized is the choice of BLUE can vary widely based on personal taste. I have made a few in the 'disney blue' to closely match the aladdin genie from the movies, and some in the lagoon blue (which matches the minaret seen on the back decal behind the genie in the game itself). For all of mine, here's the steps:
1. I tape off most of the black areas being very careful not to accidently cover any of the blue areas. Not perfectly covering all of the black areas is ok.
2. then use an automotive paint adhesion promoter spray and apply two coats, a few minutes apart
3. then spray on a base coat of Rustoleum 'sail blue'
4. then after a few minutes add a two coats of the blue of choice being careful not to apply too thick
5. then a light dusting of testors two-tone metallic blue for sparkle
6. I remove the tape and let dry a couple of days
7. repaint the black areas by hand with testors gloss black. Using a very small brush on eyebrows and beard area and where hair meets blue areas.
8. I think use my fingertips with some testors silver to put highlights into the hair
8. then the bottom fabric pants area, the gold erring, and the hair rings by hand with testors metallic gold.
9. I let that dry a few hours and then topcoat with two coats of clear and let dry for a week.

If this seems like too much work, it is, but I did it for fun. Simpler path for most folks: MODFATHER will do it for you as an exchange...

While replacing all of the clear ramps on my machine a few weeks ago, I decided to replace the newton balls (ORBS) while I was in there, just for looks. To my surprise, BOTH newton balls had been sitting on their completely stripped posts, and probably been that way for a very long time based on the level of stripping I saw on the posts. I suspect that everyone that has a machine with a bunch of plays on it will find the same functional but totally stripped newton balls. Getting them out was relatively easy with the plastics removed, and I had the two replacements in hand ($8 each I think). The play is noticeably different when the newton balls don't move (which I had never seen in the first place, but now I get it) because any shot to it bounces off much cleaner/stronger.

Anyway, this is just a suggestion to "check your balls"

The cobra plastic mounts on the skil-shot bracket, on the post near the 555 socket. It spins into any position you like, but be careful because it comes dangerously close to the glass if not positioned correctly and will cause no-joy once it catches and breaks!

I suspect there was a prototype update that changed the dagger shaped piece to a full circle. Both versions kept the dagger graphic, but the circle covers the diverter mechanism better. So... it’s now a key fob, or a extra part to do with as you like.

Maybe they re-designed the diverter mechanism itself from prototype to production, which caused the covering plastic to change. The entire diverter mechanism always seemed a bit big to me, so perhaps the orig bracket was smaller in the prototypes? Anyway, we may never know... but this thread confirms that there is no need for the dagger shaped plastic in any production TOTAN.

m

Has anyone been able to make cliffy’s bazaar scoop protector work with the scoop? Having the same issue now, not enough clearance between the two metal surfaces for a ball to fit.

Ditto. If you are careful in your de-population of the old playfield, then few if any of the old parts will be broken since many of those ball guides and screws and posts screws are metal, but you might want to freshen other parts a bit...

Consider a new set of ramps. Big ticket for the full set but worth the hassle while you have it apart. You WILL need the newton balls. I am 99% sure the balls will be stripped and just sitting on the threaded post rocking back and forth. Buy a set of clear plastic protectors (marco $30). Perhaps a few plastic posts and rubber post sleeves would be good to have on hand to make them deep rich in color again. A new set of rings (take your pick of vendor), some new bulbs (44, 555 & 906's, in some colors like yellow and blue and purple), a set of two new genie lamp post rubbers (since they get so dirty and hard), and then the yellow standup targets would be worth swapping to reduce air-balls (Marco has the "R" versions which are reinforced). Take a look at your scoop and see if the welds are still good, and if not, consider a new scoop. Don't forget the CLIFF protector for the Bazaar scoop at minimum. Lastly, consider changing the tiger loop magnetic post with the newer adjustable post type used on twilight zone. Uses the same coil you already have, and just consists of a new bracket and screw and nut and the whole thing drops in to the existing hole and uses the same screws, but can be easily adjusted and cleaned up from time to time.

Worth reminding you, all the plastics will need to be cleaned... especially the underside of the genie spinning lamp base.

My best advise would be to check that upper left metal ball guide and see how the metal on the right side is sitting. The ball guide may have changed shape or moved a little over the years. The position it is mounted to the playfield may drop the ball either TOO low (flies below the post) or too high (bounces off the back edge and misses the steel post too). The ball should smoothly exit the ball guide, roll along the back edge past those three posts and the rubber placed on those posts. I installed TWO rubber rings on those posts to eliminate a bit of movement..

I think it's Solenoid #36, "Loop Post Diverter" is the most common name in the manual. Look on pages 2-40 & 2-41 in manual.

Had a weird problem show up on my TOTAN machine last week when I swapped the Bazaar Scoop, and wondered if anyone else has run into this. I got a new scoop from LittleShop in Florida since my original scoop had some weld issues. When I re-assembled the scoop and the kicker, everything fits together fine. BUT, the ball now comes out of the scoop and back onto the playfield at a severe angle, always the same direction angle, far to the left and in fact some times falls into the far LEFT outlane. I am pretty sure it used to come out straight, basically towards the right flipper bat.

The new scoop looks just like the old scoop with a bit stronger welds, etc. I don't see any blockages inside the scoop. I am really scratching my head on this one. Anyone have thoughts on where to look?

Looks nice... I see you also swapped the genie lamp base to the purple version. I like the purple and it seems to match a few of the other purple features (like the outhole just to its left). About the only thing left for you to do is the ColorDMD upgrade, but even without it, sweet...

PPS in NV has the red, clear and purple versions. About $20 each I think

Looks like a great shape machine. You'll really enjoy it. Check out all of the bulbs... many are hard to gain access to so they are left blown out for years. You can replace many from the underside if needed. Also, check the plastics to see if/where they are cracked. Most of the plastics are still available as NOS. Also, see if the two Newton balls are loose. The ball usually becomes unthreaded from the post and needs to be replaced. $8 parts, but harder to replace. Check the tiger-run magnet post and see if it is smooth surface. It may need to be re-worked (I used the TwilightZone post to replace it much better). Lastly, check all the rubber. Some of the harder places to change are left alone to deteriorate (upper right corner for instance).

If you need help, this thread of owners has solved nearly every issue you might find.

There are a dozen mods 'for it' which really are not. They mostly include various vinyl figures like a skeleton or cobra etc that just sit in a few blank places and several of them look like an add-on and can be distracting. As for actual mods made for the machine, there is a lighted scitar sword for the ball shooter area ($90), there is a gold plated lamp ($175), there are replacement lamp spinning disks in purple and clear ($20), and hand painted genies exist ($35-75).

Note: be careful with adding LEDs to it just yet. The dimming is used pretty extensively throughout so LEDs to be effective would also need the OCD type control boards to mimic the dimming.

Recommendation: Before you jump into mods, start with assuring the bazaar scoop, skill-shot bracket, tiger-loop magnetic post and all three clear ramps are updated/cleaned/replaced. Those usually take a beating in this machine. The wood around the left outhole can be pretty raw so fixing and adding a decal ($15) may make sense too before you add the outhole cliffy protector. There are also a number of bulbs that are really hard to get to, so they likely burned out years ago and were never replaced (like all of them under the spinning lamp disk and many in the upper right corner for instance)

One word of caution when working on the spinning lamp base... It's quite easy to remove from the playfield, and clean the underside and edges (it will need this! Use 70% alcohol directly, followed by Novus) and replace bulbs, and even swap colors if you wish (PPS has all three colors for about $20 each), BUT when you re-assemble the bracket to the disk itself, it may take a few tries. The holes have some 'play' in them so the spinning disk can be noticeably off-center. Take your time and try to mount the bracket CENTERED to the disk. (It can be moved a little left or right, find the center). If you get it wrong, just 'rinse and repeat'. Also, make sure the post and bracket weld is solid. The main post can break at the weld, and the disk becomes very loose, making spin very rough. (The post bracket is available at Marco if you need to replace it.)

I do not think magnets can go 'weak'. They are pretty binary. Works or doesn't. You also said that the flasher turns on, so it sounds like a wiring error possibly. Has someone worked on this or did it just stop working? Also, the magnet itself is not that powerful, so Williams added a stainless stell lifter bracket during production. Does your ramp have the stainlesss steel lifter bracket that was added by Williams? Earlier units may not have that bracket. It essentially lifts the ball up to the hole in the magnet so when energized, it is pulled in quite easily.

That’s it!!! My machine has it, but Cliff's is the same part.

It's the clear piece of plexi with a metal bracket, correct?

https://littleshopofgames.com/shop/playfield-plastics/playfield-plastics-single-plastics/tales-of-the-arabian-nights-skill-shot-clear-plastic-31-2562-3/
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/31-2562-3

(You'll have to make the metal bracket)

That plastic pops up every once in awhile on ebay, but usually in sets. pinball.center has repro's in stock, but with shipping probably $25 these days.

https://www.pinball.center/en/shop/pinball-parts-by-game/tales-of-the-arabian-nights/3875/cobra-plastic-for-tales-of-the-arabian-nights

m

Yes, it should be a newton ball. PBL has the replacements (chrome) for about $8 each. You should probably check the other newton ball as well as the ball usually strips the threads and is just held in place by the plastic and metal parts around it. That makes the strike way different. I recommend you replace them both, since you have it torn down anyway. (You can find the GOLD versions too, but about three times the price.

ebay.com link: Tales Of The Arabian Nights Pinball Harem Plastic New Free shipping

$23

ebay.com link: Williams Tales Of The Arabian Nights Pinball Cobra Plastic New

$15.50

Remember you need a red half dome with two tabs, and the rivets to replace it in the new plastic. That half dome is rivetted to the old harem plastic and not very easy to remove. You install the half dome upside-down using two 1/8" tubular rivets and two matching washers. (You'll need the HT174 type rivet setter to do this). Alternatively, you could try some short 4-40 screws, washers and locknuts but that is not nearly as authentic.

I used automotive adhesion spray, then 3 different auto blue tones, including a metallic, then two coats of clearcoats. I hand painted the black and gold details. Took me 45 minutes in total, but had to let it dry a few times in between steps.

It was a factory add-on early in production. Good thing you have it and quite easy to install. I am attaching a picture

ADDF5DF0-9552-4FDA-8500-6BD060C40AB2 (resized).jpeg

It is! My machine glass had 30 years of scratches on it. Found someone locally that swapped a few of their new machine's glass to HD glass, so gave me a sheet a few months ago. Makes a BIG difference!!!!!

I can see what you are saying, but I got to say I have had it for 15 years and NEVER had it get stuck there... Perhaps the ramp spacers are too tall? Were they replaced at some point?

Over the years, the spacers may have been changed depending on who worked on it and what they had available. What I am suggesting is the ramps may not be at the right angle causing the ball to get stuck. The slope of the ramp should be downward consistently, but over the years changes may have accidentally been made. Spacers are usually plastic, but there are aluminum and steel ones as well. Refer to page 2-42 for the location of the mounting tabs in the upper left of the play field. I suspect one or more are a bit too tall making the ramp sit too high.

That switch is very tough to work on and the left ramp may need to be removed to do so. Try this, reach up there and see if the switch lever has any resistance when pressed down. You should almost feel nothing as it depresses. Any resistance could mean the lever blade has been bent, or the switch itself many be damaged and the blade is rubbing against the ramp plastic itself.

If you see there is physical resistance of any type and the ball can 'hang' in the ramp on the blade, it's a pretty easy to find the cause. If the ramp is at the right slope, then one possible issue is the alignment of the switch mounting bracket and the hole in the ramp or the switch itself. Sometimes that bracket is not exactly at the right angle (especially if the ramp is a reproduction) and causes the blade to rub against the acrylic itself. Sometime the microswitch is damaged and the blade wont move freely. I have even seen the microswitch screws too tight and causes the blade to be stiff. Try to get some more detail based on above thoughts and we can help you from there.

The genie magnet is a standard 20-10197 coil, which is two wire. I have never had to dive into the vanishing magnet very deep, but have always assumed that the THROW is accomplished by applying voltage to the coil to grab and hold, and then releasing the hold and briefly re-energizing that voltage for a moment to THROW. That would seem to indicate that the driver control is damaged. Looking at the manual, it looks like Q81 is the driver for it so start there.

Anyone else seen this issue?

Odd, Q26 is a low power circuit only driving the ramp diverter coil, not involved in the other two coils. But if it's working now, no need post mortum analysis!!! Life's too short. 8-)

But don’t forget the shooting star vertical pop ups above the inlanes, and the spinning lamp, a magnet or two, crazy artwork, amazing swirl ramp!!!

Amazing game...

Cliffy has that ramp lifter part available as well.

Nice looking machine!!!! Welcome!

As for the Bazaar scoop drain trajectory, it takes a bit of trial and error to adjust it. While not intuitively obvious, but the scoop part you see is a separate stainless steel assembly than the coil-mounted ejector bracket under the playfield. The coil bracket can become slightly bent over time, left or right. The natural tendency to fix a drain situation for the scoop is to try to bend the curved part of the visible scoop to fix the launch error, but I would FIRST try and bend the coil bracket a bit, making it ever so slightly closer to the left or right side of the playfield. TINY ADJUSTMENT!!!! The coil bracket change will affect the trajectory of the ball itself.

(IMHO, Bending the scoop curve is the last resort)

Did you try bending the COIL bracket foot??? It's not intuitively obvious, but the alignment of the coil bracket to the scoop assembly makes THE WORLD of difference in how the ball exits the scoop because the scoop is much WIDER than the ball by quite a bit. The ball launches fast, and has a ton of play from left to right, which is why the exact location of the plunger hitting the ball matters! That's why I am suggesting that you play with the coil bracket leg and simply bend it ever so slightly to have a huge affect on the trajectory at the exit of the scoop!

I would remove the bracket to make the bend. (I hate stressing the wood screw holes). Remove the two screws on the coil bracket, a slight bend with a wrench, and then re-attach to playfield.

Glad you are tracking the trajectory fix down. It really makes sense once you realize that the kicker coil can launch the ball all over the inside of the scoop because it is SO wide, and what comes out is just a function of the alighnment! As for the sockets, I keep a handful of fresh PCB mounted sockets on hand to replace everytime I have a board out of any machine. They also get gummed up with grease, and are just nasty. Easy fix too...

I am going to put up for sale a spare BOTTOM TROUGH ASSEMBLY which is nearly impossible to find these days. It is used, but in perfect condition. Original smoked acrylic, not some kind of repro. WMS part number A-20812 shown on Page 2-24 in the manual, reference item #15. If you need this, PM me....

pf1 (resized).jpg

Now listed here: https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/ad/109621

Pretty sure these are standard GI type bulbs, #555 wedge if I remember correctly. That would be 6.3v bulbs. Pretty tough to change those bulbs without removing the lamp, so if you are in that area anyway, you might want to remove the disk and clean the UNDERSIDE and the SIDE of it thourougly with alcohol. It makes a world of difference! (Alot of people probably never realized there ARE two bulbs under there because they never get replaced by route operators due to the difficulty in doing so). And if you want to get fancy, PPS has Purple and Clear OEM versions of the disk, about $22.

My fingers must be too big.... that said, you’d be shocked how much oil residue has accumulated on the underside of the spinning disk!

Lol

Its been over a year since I replaced those bulbs, but you may be right. They may be intended for the higher voltage, 906 type bulbs. You only have two choices. #555 which are the smaller bulbs used throughout the machine in places like all of the PCB twist bulbs under the playfield, and the second choice is the #906 flasher bulbs bulbs which are twice the physical size in length and higher voltage and used in places like the lightning insert. Both bulbs have the same wedge socket shape which is unfortunate. The 906 will work in a socket made for a 555, but will be very dim. Start with installing the 906 bulbs first. If the bulb brightness is normal, then you are done! (The opposite of putting a 555 in a socket made for a 906 will yield a bulb that burns VERY very bright for a few seconds and then fails quickly. )

I think your first comment is the most telling. TOTAN's sound system is the old pseudo stereo (aka mono with a few filter components) type used in most WPC machines. Pinsound, although exciting technically, is most exciting when the community has created updated soundtracks. I checked Pinsound's website a few weeks ago and TOTAN does NOT have any alternative soundtracks, and although you can create your own soundtracks easily, would you??? That sounds easy until you add up the hundred hours you will need to spend looking for and editting audio clips from other sources. (i.e. Disney's Aladdin movie, or Arabian Nights, or Shazaam, Return of Jafar, ?). And I fear the net result will likely be less appealing than you started with. Last summer, there was a guy on Pinside that found the original TOTAN actors and recorded new clips for his re-authored Alladdin machine (based on TOTAN), but I don't think he ever shared the new recordings or if they would even work from a content standpoint for TOTAN's ruleset and goals.

Instead, consider just a simple speaker swap to get the most bang for your buck. (Edit: adding powered speakers as noted in the post below CAN be helpful, but the sound itself will still be the exact same soundtrack as shipped) Last year, I wrote a few posts about swapping the cabinet and backbox speakers with much higher quality devices, for a total of less than $100. I think it was Boss CXX8's in the cabinet and Kicker mid-ranges in the head. As noted below, if you have the $250 to add power speakers, then perhaps that is a good mid-point upgrade.

My 2-cents, a better plan.

Very awkward since it’s driven by the 6 bazaar letters but it is clearly the gems. Feels like mixed ideas converged to yield something BIZARE! Lol

It looks right as It was designed, but on my machine I solved the broken bulb problem by using the next size smaller ring, and I doubled up the ring on the same posts. (Installed two rings). You are correct that those bulbs break all the time and a routed machine will always have those bulbs missing the glass and hopefully not shorting because of the difficulty accessing them under the ramps.

Check the bulbs under the genie lamp too...

A few years ago, I went through a phase when I created 5 or 6 hand-painted, custom show car quality genies. I was buying them for $40 a piece and hand finishing them for myself with many different shades of blue (I used a total of 8 different spray blues over that time). I ended up giving a few away each time I wanted to try another 'finish'. I used various color bases and complexity of automotive paint and painting techniques including metallic sheen effects and multi-layer clear-coats. They all came out great and loved the look of each. But there was always an idea in the back of my mind of making a rubber mold of the factory genie, and they using a vinyl casting compound to create a TRANSLUCENT blue genie from the mold, then adding the hand-painted details (black, gold, silver). I imagined that lighting him up would be done from the INSIDE using the existing flasher wiring but perhaps adding a few extra bulbs to make the whole thing light up (or fade on/off if I added a resistor and capacitor to the circuit)... Sounds like alot of work, but I expect it would have just been a 6 hour project and it would have been stunning.

I thought about it for a long time and then when I finally had the priority to try it a few years ago, the reason I did not try it was the cost of molding/casting products has risen so much! It would have been well over $100 to 'try' this and see how it worked or a wasted $100 if it failed. After 15 years of thinking about doing this, I never got to it before I sold my machine last fall (which included my finest custom genie!)

Hard to believe, but TOTAN was released BEFORE electronic layout files like PDF were used by 99% of the world. Things were alot harder back then and manuals had to be created by artists and couldn't really be shared electronically very easily. (Hence, it's hard to find clean copies of the original material instead of the electronic scans of original pages). The 2 scanned pages you seek are shown below.

Tales_Of_The_Arabian_Nights_PAG 118+120.pdf

Consider painting the waist cloth wrap, the earring and the pony-tail clasp by hand in Gold. If you do decide to paint, I strongly recommend FIRST applying Duplicolor paint adhesion promoter spray (amazon $12) , then apply whatever paint you like, and follow it with a couple coats of auto-grade clear-coat. (On mine, I also added a few streaks of silver to the hair)

But look how nice it looks with some 'flair'!!!! LOL...

(Gold trim, Metallic blues, gloss clears)

IMG_0280a (resized).jpg

Making those genies has become a personal adventure... I had 4-5 on my machine over the years. And I have passed some of those on to other TOTAN owners as I made a new one.

That said, I now own nearly every shade of blue spray, from classic genie blue to every flavor of lagoon and classic blue. I have metallic shimmer clear coats, and several shades of gold and silver accent paint. In the process, I found something called "Adhesion Promoter" which if you have never tried it, do! It allows nearly any surface to be painted and stick.

The genie itself, which on a fresh machine is aladdin blue like in the movies. Light but full bodied blue. This bright light blue dulls and gets a green/grey tint on a heavily routed machine. After I degrease older genies, and apply adhesion promoter, I start with a base aladdin blue and then add depth using other shades. I find the genies look best when I mix a couple of the shades of blue carefully. Looks richer...

Now that I don't have the machine any longer, I think my artistry might be drawing to a close...

I kept mine dead-on at 6.5. Anything lower and the balls felt like they were a little 'floating', and higher seemed to affect long drops from the genie to the flippers more than I liked. 6.5 (measured at the flippers) was the sweet spot for my style of play.

-deleted-

So are you saying that you get Ball 1 sent up to the shooter lane normally, and then once you play that and it drains, a new ball is ejected into the shooter lane, followed by another a few seconds later? Or does the eject coil send up TWO BALLS at the same exact time with ONE coil energize?

Longshot: Have you checked the shooter lane switch??? It might be flaky and not registering all the time. Just trying to eliminate variables here...

Just uncovered a handful of NOS/REPRO plastics for TOTAN. I will be putting them on the market soon. I don't have all of them, but a couple of sets of slings, the clear pieces, the swirl ramp, the underplayfield ball trough, an original new silverball shooter rod, and a new WMS logo flipper bat pair in purple with yellow rubber rings. Also have a couple new AE-27-1200 coils used in a few places in TOTAN.

I think Cliffy has the same magnet lift bracket for owners here in the USA

Regarding your double ball load issue...

So it was a shooter lane switch issue, but not the switch itself, but the row or column was being held closed by another switch in the tiger lock area. Those double lane switches are tough to align properly and even tougher to find a replacement. Two switches on one bracket seems to be too tight to me, but then again it works. Make sure the blades don't interact with each other. I've had my share of trouble with that tiger loop lock area...

While you were there, did you notice if that magnet post needs to be replaced due to mushrooming?

You may be able to slightly tilt/angle the scitar sword from underneath to slightly reduce the amount of space between the sword and the acrylic center piece. It wouldn't take that much of an angle change to close that space and probably eliminate the ball wanting to wedge itself as you show. Could be as simple as putting a couple of washers under the playfiueld to tilt it a bit and then tighten it down.

After owning one for 20+ years, I sold mine last summer for $9500 in pristine condition. I though I was over it, but I have a sense I will end up back in the club at some point soon. TOTAN is an amazing machine.

Is there any specific plastic you need first? I have a few NOS I could scan. I can see if I have the one you need.

I have the slings. Here is a hi-res scan of them (and attached)

http://www.fileconvoy.com/dfl.php?id=g1de2e0d3e0a0548810003520325f04472ddb7f211f

TOTAN-Sling-Plastics.jpg

I suspect that is a bug in the software/code. A bunch of us owners have seen and posted similiar issues with that diagnostic message, but like you, the diverter itself is working fine. I no longer have the machine, but remember clearly that the diverter message could be safely ignored.

That is a sweet TOTAN. The gold plate against the vivid radcals makes the outside pop. (And I like the high gloss look!)

contact Sonic to order

I did refinish a TOTAN appron once:

You can use a paint stripper and then sandblast the existing anodized surface to get the original screened black and red lines and scroll-work off, then you can prime with a metal etch primer, followed by two-three coats of gold spray from Krylon (I used Krylon Fusion Metallic Gold, but you could try Rustoleum Hammered Brown, which is really gold, and might match the rest of the powder coatings if you do so), then 2 coats of clearoat. Bake the whole thing in your oven at 180-degrees for 4 hours. Then you can hit up TREASURE COVE for a TOTAN die-cut decal for the apron (about $60), which is applied using contact/release material. The decal is die cut, so every line is cut and the whole thing applies without extra clear material reducing the 'factory' look at the end.

The LAMP is a tough gimmick to refurb. In it's factory state, it always seems to beg for a refresh, but when you decide to apply paint to it, it always seems like you have to make a choice what 'feel' you want to leave it in, original, shiny or antiqued. I struggled with this exact choice, and ended up leaving it alone. In the end, less is better IMHO, and any shade of gold probably works fine, but remember it is 6-inches away from the skill shot bracket, which if you have refinished, might work to tie in, and then the apron is also an area that commonly gets refinished, in some shade of gold. I don't think there is any 'best' answer, just your taste.

Also note, PPS has the lamp spinning disk in red, purple and clear, which may influence/compliment your choice above. And lastly, if you are in the spinning disk area doing work, make sure you change the bulbs under the disk which are many times forgotten for years, but changes the look of the lamp as well.

If the switches are on the same column, then your problem is likely a column wire. Just to exhaust the troubleshooting, take the genie skin off. It's pretty easy, One screw (and a washer) on the back just below his neck. Don't drop the screw or washer. Then the genie vinyl will slide off upward if you are careful. You will see that there are two stand-up style targets mounted upside down on the genie mechanism. Make sure none of the wires have been disconnected. While you are there, replace the bulb in the genie's head. You put the skin on the same way you took it off, but it takes some finese to get it back on and align the mounting hole.

That entire bracket has been easy to come by at the parts suppliers. PPS has them for about $60 and in stock right now. MARCO IS ABOUT $25 more and also in stock. The metal was welded originally, some repro makers spot welding.

CPR has the TOTAN in their short runs available. 899

Is yours missing or just damaged/discolored? The reason I ask is it would be easy to replace the plastic part if you still have the metal mounting portion. Upkick or any plastic maker can cut a new part if you have the old one as a guide. If not, someone might be willing to remove theirs and TRACE the outline for you to have it manufactured, and you'll have to improvise on a metal angle bracket. (Just a few wood screws under the playfield if I rememeber correctly when I took mine out for cleaning a few years back).

That’s what I heard. They had stopped filling orders, but the website seems to have been updated recently. I would drop Pam an email before you sent any money…

TOTAN code does not include direct support, but a $250 pinshaker will do the job. Basically the pinshaker triggers off of all your flashers and coils. You chose what each trigger does. Takes some setup, but will add some feel. I could see the lightning flasher being a great source of trigger, as well as the outholes and the star captures. You can choose with pinshaker.

I assume you are referring to the UP KICKER described on Page 2-21 in the manual? If so, it's either ON or OFF electrically, and it sounds like it turns off fine, just doesn't retract very fast.... so I suspect you'll find the issue is pure mechanical (don't chase any wiring or drivers, etc). The mechanical is pretty simple, a coil, a sleeve, a spring and a plunger. The plunger is probably fine, since it's just a stick of metal. Could be the spring is missing or damaged? Easy enough to test with your finger. So that leaves the coil form and the sleeve... both of which are made of plastic. (putting the coil wiring aside). So I suspect that the coil form or the sleeve has warped over the years, and now making smooth travel a bit strained... likely due to overheating at some point. Refer to part #7 or #8 in the manual. Easy to swap them both if needed, but a quick disaassembly and a few seconds eyeballing the plunger travelling in the sleeve when installed in the coil will give you an idea of next step.

I tore down a Totan last year to replace the ramps. Replacing the ramps takes some real patience, but replacing the scoop is easy. Remember that the coil part of the scoop assembly is a separate bracket piece from the scoop itself. Take some close-up pictures of the two brackets fitted together before you remove it. Also, when you re-assemble, you may need to reposition the coil bracket otherwise the ball may eject crooked and come out of the scoop SDTM.

Try taking a slo-mo video of the ball exit. You might see the ball bouncing off the left or right side towards the half-pipe section of the scoop. What I found is the coil brack and scoop bracket are two different assemblies, and the alignment between the two significant affects the ball motion. You may be able to adjust the exit by slightly moving the coil bracket, but will take some trial and error. The goal is to try and eliminate the ball from being launched into the wall of the scoop.

I don't think these are for TOTAN, not ringing a TOTAN bell!

Be careful touching the Apron metal.... it's a metal yellow anodized finish that is impossible to restore if your finger prints oxidize it significantly. (I am told you can't get that kind of finish in the USA any longer due to some chemical hazard issues with the OSHA folks). If your apron does get significantly tarnished, you'll be sanding the whole thing, and painting it some flavor or sunburst gold, baking it a bit to get a hard surface, and then hopefully getting a cut vinyl scroll-work decal applique from Treasure Cove (if he still makes them) to apply.

I have never seen the skeleton bed of nails in your picture. Where did you find that?

Mezelmods has them in stock for $7

Its one of the few 'universally treasured' machines you'll find. Even though it's 25+ years old, its a machine that most every collector would love to have (and collectors that at one point *HAD* one are always still looking to find another one now that they are getting sooooo scarce!)

Welcome!

…And the genie lamp is like a supersized spinner!!

Flylanddesigns.com has some new original side blades

Soulrider911 made some TOTAN specific skeletons a while back…

I had tried a bunch of different finishes before I found the one I liked best. The best ones IMHO were the hand-applied antique golds. The lamp looks best with some depth, and the hand application brings that vintage 3D feel out. (I used a rag and some gold leaf paste in the end). That said, I ended up re-finishing mine probably 5 or 6 times before I ended up there.

I don't have the machine any longer (uggg). I sold it right when COVID hit and regret doing so everyday! (It was pristine). What I found was a bit of technique to the amount of pressure applied with just a hint of gold leaf on the rag worked the best. You literally want to 'rub the lamp' to apply the finish.

8-(

Correct. It should be solid with no play. Welding it should work. Marco may still have replacements if you get in a jam. On the bright side, those two bulbs under the disk will finally get replaced!! Also, PPS has several colors of replacement spinning disks, if the RED one no longer suites your taste!