I had a similar issue, including it going away for a while. Ultimately removed the mech and thoroughly cleaned it, as someone had apparently tried to lube it in the past.

Question on rules, when starting a mode, you have 30 seconds to either finish, or get it into the otto saucer to restart the clock correct, or start another mode? I had situations where when attempting to reset via otto, the clock continues to run down? What am I missing here

Otto doesn’t start any modes, at least not a tv mode. More time is added to modes by hitting the stand up by the pop bumpers.

Doesn't start the mode, but it restarts the timer for the mode you're in..

Need advice: my machine has significant wear around the flipper buttons. Obviously, there are lollipop rails I can use to cover them up. I'm not opposed to it, but it's not my favorite look.

Problem is, the worst wear is -- for some reason -- around the Start button.

So, my question is: has anyone found clever ways to cover up wear around a Start button? Or, what is everyone's thoughts on simply re-skinning it with a decal? I know original artwork raises value, but what would be the trade off between that vs. wear? Thanks!

Otto has to be lit (ha ha) in order to collect. The left tower has a lite Otto switch that lights "Otto's Bus Tours."

Now collecting Otto should get you the timer reset.

thanks...I'll look out for that next time around...

Original artwork may keep the value higher, but cabinet decals (when done right) are always going to give the machine more value than a machine with wear on the cabinet. I wouldn't even mess with it, unless it really bothers you and you need it to look really nice. Having a cosmetically nice machine is really great, but as long as it plays well, you will not even be thinking about the cabinet while you are playing it.

Thanks for the response. It doesn’t really brother me. In a way, it’s kind of nice in how it shows it’s a well-loved machine. Was just wondering what others’ thoughts were on wear vs decal.

Will probably leave the art alone (I do like the more faded look than the brighter decals — too much noise for me), and put lollipop rails on it and find a solution for the Start button area. Thanks!

I don’t necessarily think having original artwork in great condition raises the value of the machine at all from my experience. I’d say get a new decal set if it bothers you and then if you don’t want the lollipops on the side you don’t have to either

Hey all! Philadelphia homes have very small doorways so I recently had to disconnect and reconnect the head for a move. I'd done this once before with no problems but am having an issue:

Everything plays correctly but the TV/Timer doesn't display anything. I checked all the connections in the head and everything seemed fine except for two things:

1. I have a cable that's not hooked up to anything. I can't find an empty connector on any of the boards but this seems like it can't be right.
2. There's a connector with a single pink wire that came out while moving. I re-crimped, but am wondering if that might be the culprit and I should try crimping again.

Appreciate any ideas on where to go from here!

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The pink one seems right.

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I couldn't find that other one anywhere on my boards. I did find this unused connector behind the lamp but it is larger than yours.

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My machine is a HUO (sorry for the humble brag) but it is unmolested so should be a good reference.

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The TV connects to the harness under/behind the playfield.

is there rear moe's decal available somewhere to install on the right rear side?

i saw the moe mod but its a little pricy for my taste at +- 175$.

thanks

...you can try to find moe's bar on Ebay.

ebay.com link: itm

ebay.com link: itm

thank you! do you know if its bolt-on? or it needs some trimming?

Fits right in with just a bit of trimming on the right where the block is

you put glue under or 3m double-face tape? or just leave it there with nothing?

Mine has nothing holding it in. I don’t normally do a bunch mods even though I have a 3-D printer and have access to high-quality printers.

im looking to but a donut shooter rod. If you have one you'd sell - please message me,

thx
pete

The pink one is nla but another vender sells something similar which i purchased.

Woo thanks Cliffy ! Cant wait to get these installed!

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I received mine as well

Left ramp and garage not installed yet.

If you have a DIY, let me know. Im confused.

Have you already seen this PDF? It may help.

http://www.passionforpinball.com/TSPP/Installing%20Cliffys%20TSPP%20Ramp%20Protectors.pdf

Just joined the club today after picking up this beauty. I’m going to spend my weekend cleaning this one up and converting it to LED.

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I put in Comet sunlight. Frosted up top and clear under playfield. I put a couple of frosted green where you can see the bulb.

Can you post a photo of what it looks like with sunlight comet LEDs?

Hi GeekedOnPinball

I am using Sunlight in my TSPP. I really like it.

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Sunlight here as well

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I put a few green in where the white is too bright.

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Ah...I might just do that too...that one under the couch ramp goes straight to my eyeball

I used a frosted white in that spot as well as a few others... But, I like white in the GI rather than color matching
Still love this game after all these years!

Word of caution: decals aren’t the easiest thing to do WELL. I’ve seen a number of poorly done decal jobs that are coming off or otherwise applied poorly. Don’t trade faded original for a poor decal job. Some people are very good at decals but most just THINK they are good at them. To do it correctly requires a lot of work and I don’t think you’ll get the bang for your buck/time.

Just my opinion of course.

Thanks for this. I've had the machine now for about a week, and I've decided against the decals. I've actually come to kind of love the "used" look of it. It's in great condition, just some wear where you would expect. It makes me feel like I have a collectible game, rather than something NIB. Thanks!

I just joined the club last night! This game is incredible. One question: while I was playing last night, I had two balls locked on the couch and started Itchy and Scratchy multiball. At some point, I did something and managed to start couch multiball without locking another ball on the couch. Is that possible in-game, or do I have a couch switch that needs adjusting?

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Maybe the Mystery Award, which you get by making the garage shot, awarded a lock?

Congrats on the game! Love mine.

Ah, that would make sense! And thank you! I can already tell I might as well bolt this one to the floor.

Nice looking Donkey Kong, also.

Congratulations!

As stated by another pinsider you can get a lock via a mystery award but I didn't realize that you could actually commence the couch multiball without the final ball hitting the spot on the couch. Maybe someone else can confirm whether the "final lock" can be awarded or whether you always have to earn it.

I've never seen it, but he did say he started itchy multiball first. Maybe that's the difference

I’ve never seen it his either

I think I had a glitch, either switch or software related (running 4.0, my 5.0 chips are in the mail). The machine was originally set up to leave balls on the couch in between games, and it started losing the ball occasionally when there were one or two balls on the couch. I've since changed the settings so that locked balls drain between games and I haven't had any issues since.

That makes sense.

Are you potentially losing balls from the couch because the couch metal part is broken? Mine did that until I found a way to repair it.

I'll have to investigate that; nothing appears broken, but I also didn't take the couch apart. All of my previous experience is with '80s era games so Simpsons is still a little intimidating!

Any Stern Whitestar expert around here?

Experiencing a super odd issue: at launch DMD displays 'missing 53 balls' (!), start score is not zero but 100 million.

You can play, but the DMD displays incorrect in game data and some unreadable text.

First thought would be 'dmd board', but then... Why the wrong number of balls and wrong score?

I'm more inclined to think of a Data transfer issue between the cpu board and the DMD board

Anyone would have some comment?

Regards

I would start with a new set of Roms

Well, it's on the list, but since you can play normally (except that the display is not working)...

I'm suspecting a connectivity issue between the CPU board and the DMD controller

Stern support is usually pretty good about diagnosing problems. Doesn't matter if you're not the original owner. They'll help you.

So further info, and I think this gives me a lead to the defect : the display now exhibits a constant behavior, at launch I get 'missing 53 balls', then a score is displayed and display is stuck

The displayed score is 101,010,101

This awfully looks like that the data bus is stuck

we had this issue a few weeks ago, and replacing the ribbon cable between cpu board and DMD controller resolved it, only for it to appears again. Replacing the cable again, and voilà the issue is gone. But for how long.

I'm suspecting bad soldering either in the buffer driving the DMD signal, or at the connector