You can get to the lights under the couch ramp from beneath the main playfield? Or are you talking about going under the upper playfield. Sorry I’m not in front of the machine right now

I second this…

110% agree.
I did the same, and tried every bulb I could think of from stock.

I left the couch ramp alone and agree it looks fine as is with the incandescents. Unfortunately when replacing the wedge bulb in the spotlight nearest the shooter lane, the bulb snapped off and left the base in the assembly…it’s always something

I finally did it, I built a donut shooter rod! They are basically extinct / impossible to find, so I decided to give it a shot and am very happy with how it turned out! Check it out.

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I have a crazy amount of hours in it (over 20!), it was a ton of work but also a lot of fun. I am going to build 10 of these bad boys and offer them for sale. 6 of them are already spoken for. Because of the amount of time into them, the price will be comparable to new Stern shooter rods. If you want one, send me a message asap to reserve yours.

If this is not allowed here, I apologize and will remove the post.

Agree that the frosted sunlight looks great for most of the G.I. Just not under the transparent ramp….. yet.. I am too lazy to pull that apart again…. So I still have them under there. Wondering if it would be easier to just lift the whole upper playfield and replace bulb from below.

Some really ice cabinets above…. Love the sideart…. It’s so vibrant.

The bulbs for the couch ramp specifically can be done from above or underneath. The easiest way to get to all of the mini playfield lights is to remove the mini playfield. It can be entirely removed if you cut the zipties under the main playfield and disconnect all the connectors... but there is an easier compromise.

Unplug the connector right behind the TV.
Find the bundle of mini playfield cables under the main playfield, and cut the zipties
Remove the 3 mini playfield black thumbscrews
Lift the mini playfield and enjoy the slack in the cables thanks to the cut zipties
Tip the mini playfield so you can get to the underside, and rest it on some towels so it doesn't scratch anything or get snared on upper playfield items

You should be able to find an easy way to lay the mini playfield that exposes all of the bulbs underneath. Obviously you can't take it out of the game entirely while it is connected, but if you are lazy there is enough slack to work on it anyway. I was able to do all the bulbs, install the garage ramp Cliffy protector, and clean the hidden ball grime with no trouble.

I put frosted sunlights in mine and I agree that incandescents look somewhat better under the couch ramp. But, I want LEDs everywhere so I accept the compromise. A few more days and I won't even think about it. YMMV.

Like horseflesh said you can easily take out the upper playfield to get to those bulbs. Slide the main playfield out and you will have good access to the mini pf. I took mine out and unplugged it.

Agree, unplug the TV cable, remove the 3 black screws and lift the mini-playfield and tilt it over a bit. Used shop rags under to protect.

In case anyone is wondering how this first-timer fared… I’m about 80% done with the LED conversion. Tackling the upper playfield and difficult GI spots tomorrow, and may add the outhole strip and a few other spotlights that came with the comet kit. Homer and Lisa don’t appear to be lighting up in attract mode but everything else is looking good.

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Also, is novus 2 ok for this playfield or should i just stick to novus 1?

Are you also including an LEDOCD board with your change-out as well? Also, did you 1-for-1 color match? Curious because this is on my to-do list but I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

People have different opinions about Novus 2. I personally will use it if the PF is quite dirty and needs a deep clean. Usually when getting a new to me (used) pin that needs a shop. After that first deep clean, if I keep it clean regularly with Novus 1 I don’t ever need Novus 2 again. Well maybe places like inlanes once in a while. In summary I use sparingly. A modern pf like TSPP especially is not of concern for this kind of application IMO.

Also a little naphtha helps along the way (at least for me).

Yes i added the OCD board onto the comet kit. I just took whatever bulbs they recommended for the specific game. It appears that they’re all color matched for the inserts, mostly sunlight for GI. Everything really looks so much better

Next on my list is replacing the rubbers with Titans. I see a lot of user-generated kits on the website with different color combos, has anyone used any of them specifically?

Have a TSPP that hasn't been serviced probably ever. The Itchy and Scratch multiball shoots the ball out into the flipper and bounces exactly back into the Itchy and Scratchy target 9 times out of 10. Is that a usual issue or is the rubber on the flippers just that old/bad?

The new Titan yellow looks sharp. I only bought a few for the slings, but I like the color. Yellow Super Bands for the posts look nice too. Also, light blue, clear and purple are ok.

Definitely not intended. Assuming you are going to change the flipper rubber, do that to see where the ball goes, and then you can adjust the I&S kickout deflector if needed.

Last chance to reserve a donut shooter rod! Only a couple left, shoot me a PM if you're interested.

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mikespins apparently my account is too new to DM, but could you DM me? I'm interested.

Sure! Sending now

I did the full yellow kit in November. Very accurate and looks great.

Where can I find the attract mode setting. I’m trying to get Homers head to go side to side every couple minutes.

So my newly adopted HUO TSPP has a pretty dirty playfield. I doubt it's ever been cleaned or serviced or anything. For every 5 cleaning threads I read, I get 8 cleaning suggestions. These don't look like swirls, but just look like dirt? Can I I just naphtha + microfiber it away? The balls are pretty dirty as well (new ones already ordered). Also need to order new rubber everything. Seems like Titan is the go to, but there are about 20 different TSPP kits, so not sure which to pick. I assume I need to do all the above cleaning at once so I don't just keep pushing dirt around to new components.

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Some times that much dirt is a good thing ! It helps protect the playfield . I remember seeing games in the wild that looked like after a month !

It's always a bit of a holy war when people discuss cleaning methods. I'm not going to say this is the "must do" way, this is just what I did to clean my TSPP which looked similar:

0. I ordered all new rubbers, plastics, balls (I recommend ball baron), Cliffy protectors (my I&S hole was pretty beat up), and the lazerific plastics protectors. While you're at it, I recommend (to help save on shipping) taking a quick look at the upper PF posts, the upper PF flippers and the game-specific post rubber (just left of the Otto shot) to see if you need those. I ended up making two separate purchases because I didn't plan enough ahead on the game-specific items. Also, if you're planning on converting it to LED now is the time because there are a few lights that cannot be accessed without pulling up a bunch of stuff--another thing I fully missed.

1. I stripped off nearly all of the playfield so I could get everywhere. I took an absolute ton of pictures as well as video of me describing what I took off and any additional notes. I also wrote down everything I did and put the component in muffin tins.

2. Cleaned every piece of metal with some simple green and a toothbrush and then into a tumbler for a few hours (and sometimes a day). In hindsight I wish I had purchased an ultrasonic cleaner because that toothbrush work took a year off my life.

3. I vacuumed everything. The PF, the cabinet, the wires. My game had a lot of black on the inside, likely due to the 5 flippers and lack of prior attention. If you don't vacuum the cabinet and the wires your game will get dirty quickly. Well, that's IMO.

4. I wiped down the entire PF with naphtha and a ton of elbow grease. When some places wouldn't come up I used a tiny amount of Novus 2. In the worst case scenarios I gently used a magic eraser but that was a last ditch effort.

Edit: 4.5: Wax the entire thing! I used the P21S wax.

5. I carefully cleaned all of the game's plastic pieces with Novus 1.

6. Install everything back and play!

Vid's thread covers most anything you'd want on the topic: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/cleaning-and-waxing-pinball-machines-vids-guide

Hey all, got a question regarding the upper left vuk especially when I’m AI. Whenever two balls go in, there is never enough power to get the balls to exit correctly, in fact it seems odd that it can exit correctly at all given the second ball sits at an angle so when the vuk fires the ball it is never going to exit correctly.

I’ve searched everywhere to see if this is common but cannot find any thing to say that it is so I’m hoping there is something I can do to resolve.

So far i have changed the coil, sleeve and fork switch but still getting the same results all though with one ball now this exits pretty much every time to the upper play files.

Like I say it only really happens in AI as when one ball gets locked in the vuk, if another follows I’m kinda screwed and time runs out before the ball is released due to the machine looking for lost balls.

Any advice appreciated.

ordered today from pinball life a lockbar with no hole.

will powdercoat the game once the part arrived in hot yellow.

Thanks for the tips. Making progress. Full set of titans coming Monday. New silverjets came yesterday. NVRAM shipped out this weekend. A few small mechanical things like a buzzing when you hold the right flipper and the Kwik E Mart drop not registering. Likely a color dmd and pinsound in my future as well.

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Looks nice! Sterns from this generation have noisy flippers, it's not something to worry about. I tried "fixing" mine with those little rubber washers that someone on Pinside sells as a kit, but they did absolutely nothing for TSPP or Metallica.

Mine does the same thing. I think I read somewhere that this was early in the era of using a delay mechanism with the flipper when you hold it. In other words, this is very common and I wouldn't particularly worry about it because no harm is being done (at least as far as I've read).

Hey all,

So I ordered an LCD colordmd from the ColorDMD site and being a newb I had someone else install. We downloaded the software and installed it in the new display and when we turned it on it seemed to work. I didn’t really play it at the time so fast forward a couple of weeks and when I turn it on now the power seems to glitch and the display doesn’t come on. What’s weird is that when I turned it on and off it came and stayed on once so I started a game but the images (which were color) didn’t sync with what the game was actually doing. When I hit a shot it would show the appropriate screen reaction but after it would cycle through and display random Simpsons screens/reactions while the ball is in play.

So tonight I turned it back on, the lights flickered and it seems like it was going to crap out power-wise (lights on black box flickered a bit) but then the game display doesn’t come on. Any thoughts?

I’m on v4.0 of TSPP, I see there’s a v5.0 for download on the Stern site so am wondering if I was supposed to upgrade to v5.0 before installing the colordmd.

Any thoughts/insight is appreciated, thanks.

Yes, I was going to say you probably need to update to game code 5.0 as i believe that’s what the newest DMD is coded for

You’ll have to swap new chips into the main board and lcd board

You need code 5.0 and also the updated display rom

Hmm, so the only way to do so is re-install the old display so I can see what I’m selecting (upgrading properly), then swap it back with the color once upgraded?

I don’t think so. Just acquire the chips, pop the old ones out and the new ones in. I did it for the first time about a week ago and it was no problem. This was before you could download a code file onto a USB so it’s a little more of a pain

https://mattsbasementarcade.com/product/the-simpsons-pinball-party-stern-rom-upgrade-chip-set/

Hmm, ok not sure what the new chips you’re referring to. When it was installed we downloaded the TSPP rom code from their site and installed it into the LCD. I presume that’s what you’re referring to?

If so then it sounds like I just need to download the v5 from the Stern Support site and upgrade the pinball machine with it. Thanks for your help.

You can do that with the ColorDMD board bc it has a microusb port.

In order the update the TSPP game code you need to physically swap microchips from two locations: one on the main board, and one on the LCD board that was reinstalled onto the ColorDMD

I just did this and emailed the company. They said you don’t need 5.0 even though it says that on their site. I have 3.0 and the color dmd works fine. I’d suggest to check your connections.

Not only the top but really anywhere the ball touches you should clean (so includes scoops under the PF, any subways etc). Otherwise the ball will just drag that grime up to your newly cleaned upper playfield.

Hey all. I'm thinking about changing up the looks my TSPP with custom rubber colors. Mainly flipper and/or slings, but might consider others. Right now I have the standard red and black, by the book (manual). Anyone want to share what they've done to give me ideas? I'm thinking pink might actually work, it's like the Simpson's color and there is a lot of it on the apron and PF. TIA

Hi All. If anyone is looking to purchase a nice TSPP my ad is in the marketplace. Located in Western Massachusetts.

Pink looks great on sings and rubbers

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thanks, I like what you've done there. The green post sleeves on the nuclear plant are neat. Are those Titan "glow" color?

Jack

Yes they are

I just got my Comet LED kit with the LED OCD board. Can someone tell me if the LED OCD board is plug-and-play, or is it necessary to download the software? I have a Mac, so I'd have to harass a buddy to download it for me. I'm not looking to do anything fancy like adjust a specific lamp to 73% brightness, I just want everything to work properly, including the pulsing lamps when you're about to start a mini-wizard mode. Thanks!

Plug and play. No software download needed

Right on, thank you!

NVRAM swapped! Titans came in...Now for more cleaning before ready to play again. Likely going to wait on the color dmd and pinsound. Maybe I'll pick them up at TPF.

Is Blitz Wax the go to after cleaning everything?