I installed the optiflux led light board. It piggybacks off the GI/flasher/insert lights. Much better looking normal illumination behind the translite. It also add flashing and color effects. It's best seen here:

Very cool. I hate the illumination as is... My Twister is the same (single tube light bulb that glows...)

I ran a piece of electrical tape right down the middle of the fluorescent tube from left to right and it made the backglass glare livable.

Good call!!!

I solved the glare by disconnecting the fluorescent tube circuit and wiring in a strip of white 12v. LED's with a 2 amp 12v. wall-wart to power them. Used the same connection that the fluorescent ballast was powered by.
2 feet of Ebay 5630 natural white LED strips (you buy the strips 5 meters long, then cut to length in increments of 3 inches), and stuck it to the rear of the glass tube in a sort of spiral. The LEDs reflect off of the electronics and provide a soft glow to the back-glass.

ebay.com link: Bright Pure White 5M 300 LEDs 5630 SMD Non Waterproof Flexible Strip Light US

Power supplies are also available on Ebay.

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I would like to do some sort of a backbox lighting mod at some point. I was pretty impressed with the interactive one from Flipper Fidelity (http://flipperfidelity.com/lighting/animated-led-backbox-light-replacement-panels/stern-simpsons-pinball-party-animated-led-replacement-panel.html) but balked at the price. However, the more I've dug into the idea the more I'm reminded that my time has value and maybe I'd be better off picking up a little overtime at work than trying to homebrew my own.

Go for the flipper fidelity one. Very nice addition.

Yeah one on route nearby last year had it and it definitely caught your eye from across the room. Plus FF's right up the road from me so I could probably just go pick it up... but PIN2DMD comes first!

That what i did for all of my machines, but the electrical tape will shrink due to the heat and leave sticky substance on the tube. But who cares, as longs as it remove the glare while I'm playing-all good!

Actually, I used a lightly sticky tape used to wrap wire looms for mine because of that.

Hey guys,
Having some issues with the multi-ball couch on my machine. Would appreciate feedback on the following if you can.

1. Often the multi-ball will trigger when there are only 2 balls locked in the couch and the game auto-plunges the third ball. Is this normal behavior that is enabled by some sequence of events prior to locking the second ball in the couch (i.e. a bonus that would "start multiball with only 2 balls locked")

2. Every now and then when starting couch multi-ball, the last ball in the couch gets stuck when dropping through the bottom of the couch. The ball gets stuck because the metal pin is not retracted far enough to let the ball pass completely through. When this occurs, a ball search does not clear the ball so you are stuck and have to end your game. Has anyone ever experienced this and, if so, can you offer advice on the solution.

Greatly appreciate any feedback.

Craig

1. Yes this can happen as a matter of course; it will happen when you get the mystery award "ball lock" for instance.
2. I have not experienced this before sorry.

-Jim

My thoughts on this may be you need to install the couch weld fix in your machine, as the back part of the couch weldment in older versions of TSPP is prone to bending causing miss-alignment of the coil, and thus binding the plunger up when it tries to release the balls.

http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=1893

http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/535-9307-00

Here's what it looks like installed (second pic in first post):
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/ever-wonder-what-the-tspp-was-and-what-problem-it-fixed

If your machine already has the weld fix, then maybe disassemble that coil, clean/replace coil sleeve?

The 2 previous replies are spot-on. Couldn't have said it better myself.

Jim, Mavantix...thank you both for taking the time to reply. I will update the thread after finding a solution to the couch issue. -- Craig

Quick update on the issue with the middle I&S drop target not lowering during ball ejection. I had to replace the small coil beneath the middle drop target to fix the issue.

If by chance it's not a misaligned coil due to the weldment issue - here's something else to check.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/tspp-couch-ball-release-intermittent-issue

(Skip forward a few posts - long story short - check the little plastic nylon part that lines the hole in the weldment that the coil plunger passes through. Mine was broken and causing an issue.)

Excellent. Very helpful. Turns out my game didn't have the fix applied yet. Have that on order and will also check the plastic nylon part you reference. Cheers, Craig

Hey guys. Looking to LED my Simpsons and use LED OCD. I know it's better to NOT use non-ghosting leds. Looking at coin takers kit for the inserts and GI. Which would you recommend? Frosted or Super Bright?

If anyone has experience with these kits I would appreciate any feedback.

I did mine almost entirely with the Comet "2 SMD 6.3V AC/DC SUPREME BRIGHTNESS with FACETED LENS", natural white in the GI and color matched in the inserts (except yellow inserts, which looked better with warm white). Comet "OPTIX MAXIMUS 6.3V SPOTLIGHT" in the spots. I also did the flashers with color matched Comet "High Output COB Tri-Side 2.5W 12 Volt DC 555 base (fits 906)" and they're absolutely ridiculous. I haven't settled on what I want to keep in the pop bumpers but next time I have the habittrails off I'm going to put in a set of their 11 SMD pop bumper discs and see how those look. Don't know how Comet compares to Coin Taker in the price department but their customer service is still pretty darn good under the new ownership.

I've only bought a few handfuls of Coin Taker bulbs at shows, no experience with their kits. LED OCD is an absolute must, the difference was startling.

I used regular CT super brights

Some/most sockets in upper playfield are mounted on side and not pointing up towards the insert. So you will want flex heads leds so you can aim the light upwards through the insert.

The big insert in the upper playfield i used a 2 headed flex head super bright led. So it lit the whole thing.

I dont have the machine anymore but it did make a big difference. Esp with LEDOCD

Rebuilding the playfield with new ramps, rubber, led's and cliffys as well as a few mods this weekend. I'm surprised by how dirty it is in all the hard to clean spots.

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I'm surprised by how dirty it is in all the hard to clean spots.

Yeah, it certainly is a packed playfield.

I can't figure out how you pulled the playfield. How many connections are there? And get that Quik E Mart sticker!

Kwik-e-mart decal

http://lermods.com/products/kwik-e-mart-decal

Pull the translite out, and there is a bundle of wires fed up from the playfield to the control boards in the backbox. There are quite a few connectors. After they are disconnected, feed then all down into the lower cabinet. The playfield is pretty easy to pull out then. I had another person help me, but one person could do it. I had to remove the apron and backboard, as well as a couple of bulb sockets to get it mounted up to the rotisserie.

I have the kwik-e-mart decal, it will be installed, along with a ton of other stuff.

Looking forward to seeing what you have planned

If anyone is looking for cabinet decals I found these: http://www.retrorefurbs.com/shop/the-simpsons-pinball-party-cabinet-decals/

Good progress this weekend. Playfield depopulated, cleaned, ball tracks buffed out. 4 coats of wax so far. Playfield is starting to be pieced back together. I have all new ramps. I'm waiting on the arrival of some 1/8 tubular rivets to swap the ramp flaps to the new ramps. Are there any common failure areas I should look at while the game is apart?

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Are there any common failure areas I should look at while the game is apart?

Here's my short list of TSPP common issues to look at and address:

* Install the couch weld fix.

* Upgrade the garage door opening coil per Stern tech doc, and while you're at it, replace coil sleeve and plunger (look at the tip, any "flat spot" wear on it can cause the door to not open).

* Cliffy the garage door ramp, that front plastic lip will eventually break if you don't.

* LED the hard to reach bulbs, like under the ramps, under comic book guy, etc.

* Install PI-SIM to quiet the game considerably - http://www.flippp.fr/pisim.php

* Fix that damn speaker hum - https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/tspp-speaker-humbuzz-fixed

I installed a full Cliffy set and leds for the GI.

Just wondering if anybody happens to have high rez scan files of the cabinet art they may be able to share with me?

Just joined the club. What's the best side decals and who sells them?

sillyoldelf should be able to hook you up.

More reassembly on my TSPP tonight. Flipped it to do some work on the underside. I found something missing on one of the main flippers. Might explain the buzzing when holding that flipper on.

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If anyone thinks they need more mods for their TSPP, I have some custom cards available...

There are a ton of great custom cards out there, but very few that match the apron, that was my approach to making these....

Regular cards- $12 Shipped
EL cards- $65 Shipped

The EL cards are 5 volt and I have been running them off of my GI without issue (so far)

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Also to note, if you want any other designs done in EL paper that are already out there, I can do those for you for the same price. You are paying for the materials and time for assembly. My printer is a high end large format photo printer and produces excellent quality images.

I see that you are missing an eos switch actuator, but that won't cause the buzzing. Why are there 2 springs?

No idea on the springs. The flipper hardware all looks fairly new, I'm guessing who ever did the work thought if one spring was good, two would be better? Any though on the buzzing emminated from the machine when holding the right flipper on? It doesn't on the left side.

Buzzing on Sterns is usually coil stops. What kind of shape are yours in?

Ditto on the coil stops. I bought new ones from Marco. That will also cut down on black dust. Since you have it apart, it would be a good idea to inspect the plungers, sleeves, rebound stops and coil stops.

You guys nailed it. I checked all the coil stops and the one for the right flipper half way up the playfield was toast. The upper and lower flipper stuff looks pretty new. Why does that cause it to buzz?

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The stop needs to make solid, complete contact with the plunger. I guess the plunger was ok. This machine uses direct current, so you might ask why would it buzz anyway... The flippers are controlled through the cpu and pulse very rapidly after actuation to avoid coil burn. Similar to an end-of-stroke circuit on an EM. The eos on TSPP opens at full stroke to not reduce current, but to signal to the cpu to fully energize the coil if the flipper is hit by the ball hard enough to drop it, closing the switch, while at full stroke.

It's getting there. Led's are installed, and new rubber. New stronger garage door solenoid. New plunger for the VUK, shooter eject and garage door as well. Up next, ramp flap install.

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The rivets are 1/8 x 3/16 aluminum tubular type. I thought about using pop rivets, but they would stick up more and not look as nice. I obtained a rivet clincher from Hanson rivet and used my drill press like an arbor press. It worked really well. The star washers in the back side provide extra support for the rivet against the plastic.

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Hey guys im new to the club. Getting my machine tomorrow. Super excited and cant wait. How hard is it to install a color DMD? Plan on buying one next month

It's pretty easy to install. On a difficulty scale of 1-5, I'd rate it a 2. Just carefully follow the directions on their website and you shouldn't have any problems.

Make sure to remove the fuse in the display driver board and secure the cables that you disconnect. If you leave the cables loose or don't pull the fuse the cable can accidentally short circuit with something in the backbox.

My last question is how difficult would it be for a beginner to take apart the play-field? This is my second pin but ive never done so before. I want to know so i can clean it when the time comes