Hi Pinsiders,

I'm starting this thread to document the restoration and eventual retheme on my recently acquired 1972 Williams "Swinger."

Edit: In an attempt to make this thread a more useful document, I'm adding a Table of Contents here.

- -- ------ -- -

TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Introduction (Page 1)
Backbox Cleaning
- Plywood Delamination
- Score Reels (Page 1)
- Score Reel Stuck in Bracket (Page 1)
- Score Reel Circuit Board Super Lube Discussion (Page 1)
- Score Reel Switch Adjustment (Page 1)
- Match Unit (Page 1)
- Replay Unit (Page 2)
- Ball Count Unit (Page 2)
- Realigning Circuit Board on Stepper Unit (Page 2)
Cabinet Cleaning
- Bottom Board Mold Remediation (Page 2)
- Bottom Board Relay Label Recreation (Page 2)
- Power Cord Replacement (Page 9)
- Bottom Board Red Label (Fuse Holder, Play Counter, Kick-off, etc.) Recreation (Page 10)
- Chime Unit Rebuild (Page 11)
Playfield Cleaning
- Playfield Disassembly (Page 2)
- Playfield Disassembly: Flipper Mech (Page 2)
- Playfield Disassembly: Pop Bumper and Ball Arch (Page 3)
- Playfield Disassembly: Apron (Page 3)
- Playfield Disassembly: Ball Trough (Page 3)
- Playfield Cleaning (Page 3)
- Metal Polishing (Page 3)
- Playfield Cleaning: Magic Eraser Results (Page 3)
- Playfield Cleaning: Posts (Page 4)
- Playfield Reassembly: Posts (Page 4)
- Playfield Reassembly: Stand-up Targets (Page 4)
- Playfield Reassembly: Switch Straightening (Page 4)
- Playfield Cleaning: Waxing (Page 5)
- Playfield Cleaning/Reassembly: Plastics (Page 5)
- Playfield Reassembly: Rubbers (Page 5)
- Playfield Reassembly: Switch Adjustment (Page 5)
- Playfield Cleaning: Ball Arch (Page 5)
- Playfield Reassembly: Bulb Replacement (Page 6)
- Playfield Cleaning/Reassembly: Lock-down Bar Receiver (Page 6)
- Playfield Cleaning/Reassembly: Ball Trough (Page 6)
- Playfield Cleaning/Reassembly: Apron (Page 6)
- Playfield Cleaning/Reassembly: Ball Arch (Page 6)
- Playfield Reassembly: Pop Bumper (Page 6)
- Playfield Cleaning/Reassembly: Advance Unit (Page 7)
- Playfield Cleaning/Reassembly: GirLovesWaffles' Fiberglass Eraser Results on Spider Arm (Page 7)
- Playfield Cleaning: Pop Bumper Caps (Page 7)
- Playfield Cleaning/Reassembly: Advance Unit Spider Arm Correction (Page 7)
- Playfield Reassembly: Pop Bumpers (Page 7)
- Playfield Reassembly: Soldering Advice Followed (Page 8 )
- Playfield Reassembly: Pop Bumper Reassembly List (Page 8 )
- Playfield Cleaning/Reassembly: Shooter Rod (Page 8 )
- Playfield Cleaning/Reassembly: Flipper Mechs (Page 8 )
- Playfield Cleaning/Reassembly: Switch Stack Plastic Tubes (Page 9)
- Playfield Cleaning/Reassembly: Flipper pawl and EOS switch adjustment (Page 9)
- Playfield Cleaning/Reassembly: Installing flipper spring washer and view of old/new sleeves (Page 9)
- Playfield Cleaning/Reassembly: Questioning E-clip on flipper pawl and view of populated playfield (Page 9)
- Final Assembly: Installing new legs, wrong style (Page 9)
- Final Assembly: View new legs, wrong style (Page 9)
- Final Assembly: Pecos' Everything you didn't care to know about WMS brass two-piece flippers (Page 9)
- Final Assembly: Looking for and finding missing parts and viewing power cord connections (Page 9)
- Final Assembly: Questioning how to wire up new power cord (Page 9)
- Final Assembly: Explanation of "hot", "neutral" and "ground" power leads (Page 10)
- Final Assembly: Power leads "Ribbed", "Smooth" and "Middle" explanation (Page 10)
- Final Assembly: Making new fuse board labels (Page 10)
- Final Assembly: Ball count unit switch adjustment and replacing the lost center post (Page 10)
- Final Assembly: Wire nuts unintended disassembly and cleaning workspace (Page 10)
- Final Assembly: Making "Total Play" / "Kick-off Switch" labels and view of reassembled Swinger (Page 10)
- Final Assembly: The chime unit fiasco, Part One: Broken Parts and Broken Hearts(Page 11)
- Final Assembly: The chime unit fiasco, Part Two: Possible fixes and missing 'Tub" (Page 11)
- Final Assembly: The chime unit fiasco, Part Three: A replacement, new parts and repair (Page 11)
- Final Assembly: The chime unit fiasco, Part Four: Fried coil, more repair and reassembly (Page 11)
- Final Assembly: The chime unit fiasco, Part Five: Sheaths too long, cleaning, and reassembly (Page 11)
- Final Assembly: The chime unit fiasco, Part Six: Reinstalling chime bars and another problem (Page 11)
- Final Assembly: The chime unit fiasco, Part Seven: Holes, old rubber, and final installation (Page 11)
- Final Assembly: Extra screws? Up-Post coil swap, final problems, and the flappin' flipper coil (Page 11)
- Final Assembly: Pop bumper lights fixed (Page 11)

Trouble-Shooting
- Switched on, problems found (Page 10)
- Video: "how things are [not] functioning currently" and schematic lessons (Page 10)
- Differing approaches to Trouble-Shooting Post-Cleaning (Page 10)
- Schematic-reading Basics (Page 10)
- Schematic-reading Repair (Page 11)
- Helpful BingoPodcast restoration titles (Page 11)
- Final Repair and Schematic Discussion (Page 12)

Restoration Success
- Video: My son playing a "hot" swingin' Swinger (Page 11)

Swinger Outline
- Stats/History
- Layout
- Scoring
- Strategy
- -- ------ -- -

Just a quick introduction to me, I'm far more an artist (www.ElephantEater.com) than I am a tech, so this project terrifies me. However, I've already received a lot of help from a few friendly Pinsiders. So as you'll soon see, I've made some baby-steps toward completing this project.

I'm documenting this process because:

A) I hope this might serve as a helpful document to other luddites
B) My dad, who I blame for my love of the silver ball, lives 10 states away and I'd like to share my process with both my parents.
C) I love me a restoration thread!

I've documented a couple of minor cosmetic restores in the past...

My Whirlwind Topper Restore: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/topper-restorationmy-first

My Jubilee Pop-Bumper Cap Restore: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/restoration-jubilee-pop-bumper-caps-my-first-airbrush-experience

...but I've never tackled a project of this scale, so we'll see how it goes.

I've had my eyes open for a "Swinger" for some time now. It seemed like the perfect fit for my first attempt at a re-theme for a few reasons:

A) It's a fun game with lots to do (moving target in center of playfield, up-post between flippers, kick-back in the left outlane, ball return gate in the right outlane, etc)
B) While it's a fun game, the art package is a lack-luster phone-in by Christian Marche, so I won't feel bad sanding it down to put my own art in it's place.
C) Re-theming an EM seems like a more managable project, as I'll be able to mainly focus on the fun stuff: ART (not sound, modifying displays, coding rules, and other technical things that frighten artists)

So here's what Swinger looked like in 1972:

swingerFlyer.jpg

And here's the state of the machine as I received it:

swinger4.jpg

It turns on. General illumination is there.

swinger5.jpg

However, the swinging target doesn't seem to be moving (even though it WAS moving when I powered it up at the former owners place). I also cannot start a game. In addition to the above predicaments, there's some creative use of rubbers.

swinger3.jpg

swinger6.jpg

swinger2.jpg

swinger.jpg

Aside from being dirty, I didn't think it was in horrible shape for being stored in a barn. The former owner told me it was days away from being hurled into a landfill. It has a bit of an odor...sort of a slight mildew-y smell, but undetectable when the glass is on and the coin door is closed. I'm hoping once I start to sand things down and repaint, some of that will go away. In the meantime, I've been airing it out and shoving deodorizing boxes in the cabinet.

arm.png

I'm not sure how much good it's doing, but it makes me feel a little better knowing I gave it the ole' college try.

...more posts soon-ish.

Ryan Claytor
Elephant Eater Comics
www.ElephantEater.com

Before I go any further, I wanted to show some appreciation for pinsider, Dayhuff, for pointing me toward this sale. Thankfully it was too much of a project to interest him, but not enough of a basketcase to frighten me. So, thank you, John, for directing me to this little gem.

One of the things I noticed after hauling it into my garage was that the backbox had some separation damage, like the plywood was delaminating...or something. I'm art-guy and uncertain I'm using the proper terminology. Regardless, here's what it was doing:

titebondA.jpg

Another pinsider I owe some thanks to is TaylorVA, who talked me through this problem. He suggested a product called Titebond III (evidently it has more bonds that either of its predecessors).

titebond.jpg

(Also, go River City Flippers. WOO!)

Well, those extra bonds came in handy.

titebondB.jpg

After a day or so of clampage, the head held together like a champ. ...at least since I completed this portion a month or two ago.

As you may have noticed...

...I'm far more comfortable doing cosmetic restores than I am electronic restores. Basically, I have no knowledge when it comes to fidgeting around in a machine. However, I've been listening to "For Amusement Only: The EM and Bingo Podcast" recently (and so should you).

http://foramusementonly.libsyn.com/

The host, Nick Baldridge, and I have become friendly in recent days, and he's been coaching me through the starting process of cleaning my Swinger. He directed me to a few cleaning products (green Scotch Brite pads, 91% Isopropyl Alcohol, Novus 2, and 3-in-1 oil) and after some conversations, gave me the confidence to dig in and try my first score reel teardown/cleaning. Here's the one I started with:

IMG_4421.JPG

Most of the disassembly was pretty straight forward: some e-clips, some phillips head screws, some nuts. I took copious pictures so that I could follow them in reverse order to reassemble. (I guess I HAVE learned something from watching all those "American Restoration" episodes.)

So the parts were all pretty filthy...

IMG_4450.JPG

...but with a bit of Novus 2...

IMG_4451.JPG

...ended up looking pretty decent:

IMG_4452.JPG

The printed circuit board was pretty dingy...

IMG_4443.JPG

...with dried-up mystery material scraped across the traces...

IMG_4438.JPG

...but with a bit of Green Scotch Brite pad persuasion, it turned out pretty grand.

IMG_4460.JPG

Here are some more before and after images of score reel assembly parts:

IMG_4453.JPG

IMG_4454.JPG

IMG_4456.JPG

IMG_4458.JPG

IMG_4462.JPG

IMG_4464.JPG

...and to my surprise, yesterday I managed to both disassemble and reassemble my first score reel.

IMG_4470.JPG

I've gotta admit, it felt pretty good to have everything cleaned-up and back in working order. The cams, solenoids, and switches all seem to be doing what they're supposed to. I'm starting to see why some folks enjoy fixing pins as much as they enjoy playing them (never really understood that before...ha-ha).

Alright, I think that'll do it for now. I've got one reel down, 9 more to go. Wish me luck!

A marketing masterpiece.

Hi Well_Fed_Games,

Thanks so much for the kind words about my artwork. I really appreciate it. It's funny you mention the cab, that's actually the first thing I've been starting to do some sketches for. I just did some measurements last week...

measurements.jpg

...and did some more accurate vector art mock-ups...

IMG_4311.jpg

...so that I can start thumbnailing some artwork in a proportional space.

Anyhow, I'm going to be honest, this thread is going to be tech-heavy at first. I want to make sure this machine can and will run 100% before I spend a bunch of time on aesthetics. So, my re-theme reveal may take a little while.

Thanks, Nick. I credit my success to you. Thanks for your guidance thus far. I truly appreciate it. Did I mention this man has a podcast?

I guess I did.

Ha-ha! It's already tempting, but I'd like to think I have enough restraint to finish this project before diving into another. We'll see if I can hold out.

Me too!!! I don't know why I never thought of super-market rubber bands. This will save me a substantial amount on my next parts order.

I didn't think of that, but that's a pretty astute observation. I'll have to test that out once we get 'er up and running!

- -- ----- -- -

Finally, I rebuilt my second score reel tonight. I think it took me less than half the time of the first. I'd guess my first rebuild was in the ballpark of 3 hours. I think tonight's was closer to 90 minutes. Granted, I wasn't spending quite as much time photographing and documenting before-and-after glam shots, but it still felt like I was picking up the pace a bit. My guess is that there are folks who can do it in a tenth the time. Maybe I'll get there one day. In the meantime:

2 down. 8 to go.

I also suffered a loss tonight. One of my E-clips twang'ed across the basement when it popped off. In retrospect I should have cupped my hand over the top when prying it off. I looked everywhere but cannot find it. Here's what it looked like prior to the loss:

scoreReel02a.jpg

Here's the post without the E-clip (see bottom post):

scoreReel02b.jpg

This post has the same size E-clip:

scoreReel02c.jpg

...and here's the lonely e-clip-less post:

scoreReel02d.jpg

It's late. I'm off to bed. ...but not before adding this tiny E-clip to my list of parts to buy.

Mighty night,
Ryanzzzzzz...

So I made my way down the basement this evening to tackle the next in line of score reel cleaning.

hundreds.jpg

As I began disassembling the hundreds reel, I was starting to feel a bit fat and sassy, like I'd done this before and didn't even need to take pictures to remember my way back through reassembly. (I did anyway, just in case.) However, when I took off this cam-thingy:

hundreds1.jpg

I noticed that there was no horseshoe-lookin' brassy part attached to the bottom. Then on closer inspection, I noticed this unit did not have a circuit board:

hundreds2.jpg

I started to wonder if I had purchased a parts machine, as every other score reel had a circuit board...until I glanced over to the other player's reels and, sure enough, this hundreds unit also did NOT have a circuit board.

This made me feel a little better. My EM life coach, Nick Baldridge, told me that the circuit boards are not for telling the next reel to move (as I incorrectly assumed), but rather for things like match scores (tens) and extra balls (thousands and ten thousands). Things were starting to make a lot more sense.

Now I'm weary again. Off to bed.

Until tomorrow night,
Ryan "Score Reel Cleanin' Fool" Claytor
Elephant Eater Comics
www.ElephantEater.com

Thanks, BTW75!

Man, I called every Auto Zone in my zone and the closest I could find from them was a big sack of misc. sized e-clips. They wouldn't sell me a single. It's alright, though. I've got it marked on my "to order" list for my next Pinball Life purchase. ...just trying to hold out for a little while and rack-up some more necessary purchases before placing an order. ...you know, shipping and all. Thanks for the tip, though!

Interesting!

That makes sense. I haven't picked it up yet, but will likely finish the player 2 reels with abrasive and the try out the Brasso when I get to the player 1 reels in a day or three.

Good to know. Thanks for all the info, BTW75!

Thanks, cad-kid. This is definitely outside my comfort zone, but I'm learning a TON and having a good time with it.

- -- ----- -- -

As for tonight's progress, I went to a local Harley store to pick up some more Novus 2 this afternoon:

photo 3.JPG

My tiny sample pack dried up from all the use over the past few days of score reel cleaning. I felt a little bad for not buying it from Pinball Life, but I got impatient and wanted to keep up this routine.

Anyhow, last night, after finishing reel cleaning #3, I put the unit back in its slot and started packing up my cleaning materials. Then I noticed something odd when looking at it from the front of the backbox. It was sort of crooked:

photo 1 (1).JPG

I pulled it out, ticked through a few numbers, and sure enough...CATAWAMPUS!

photo 2.JPG

I was not in a place to make a second attempt last night, so I started THIS evening by rectifying my botch. Now it is straight and true:

photo 4.JPG

...and stays so even when rotated.

photo 5.JPG

Yay!

Apart from that, I managed to disassemble and partially clean the next score reel, but didn't finish cleaning and reassembling. Sorta got side-tracked chatting pinball stuff with my EM Life Coach, Nick Baldridge. Worth it! ...but need some rest.

Keepin' it REEL,
Ryan

Hi PinBiohazard,

Thanks for chiming in. I did a topic search in the forum for "Custom/Re-Theme" and didn't find anything. Would love to see it, though. Maybe you can provide a link here. I certainly wouldn't mind.

I started this thread in the restoration subforum since it will be heavy on that to begin with, but understand it could eventually end up in "All Modding" or an EM subcategory or something else I'm not thinking of. Ha-ha! It seems like a lot of these topics kind of bleed into one another. *shrugs*

Thanks, again. I definitely have a theme in mind, but plan on waiting to reveal it once artwork is ready. I really appreciate your interest, though!

Anyhow, I wish you luck on your project and thanks for keeping an eye out for mine.

- -- ----- -- -

So, back in the exciting world of score reel prepping, today daddy finished cleaning and reassembling that disassembled reel mentioned on this thread last time...thanks to an extended nap-time this afternoon. Here are some more gratuitous before and after shots.

Before:
circuitboard.jpg

After:
unnamed.jpg

I know I've shown picto-results like this before, but I mention it because of something I noticed after cleaning. I started with a new green Scotch Brite pad this time and here's what it looked like after a few strokes:

circuitboardDust.jpg

That residue looks suspiciously like copper, not black dust that had accumulated. All this to say, I'm interested in trying out BTW75's method...

...on some up-coming score reels. There's a big box hardware store not too far from me. I plan on picking up some brasso before starting on the player 1 reels. (Making my way through the player 2 reels right now.)

Ryan "EM Student" Claytor
Elephant Eater Comics
www.ElephantEater.com

Hi Nick,

Me too! Although, you make a good point, too...

I definitely will! In fact, this got me curious about what other folks do to restore their machines. I know as you and I have chat privately, you've mentioned how everyone has their own particular method for cleaning and restoration. I'm wondering if there's a more accepted way, or even a different product than what has been mentioned here thus far. To that end, I've created this new thread, complete with A POLL:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/em-tech-what-do-you-use-to-clean-your-circuit-boards#post-2378513

Finally,

Yes! In fact, it's already torn down, so it shouldn't take too much longer before I start on the P1 reels.

Oh, and...

...I haven't timed myself yet. I'll do that soon to see if I'm nearing that 5 minute mark.

Best,
Ryan

Wow. Lots of great inspiration and resources there. Thanks for the invite to that thread, PBH! Looking forward to spending some more time poking through there. It'll be a proud day when I join those ranks.

Well, I'm happy to say I'm half-way through the score reels. I'm currently finished with the player 2 reels and the "Swing Reel" (that single red one in the middle).

backboxhalf2.jpg

...and just so you can see the comparison between cleaned and uncleaned, here's the same image w/o highlights.

backboxhalf.jpg

In case you were wondering what happened to all the dirt and carbon dust on the first few reels, here it is.

cloth.jpg

So I timed the cleaning and reassembly on the last reel (it was already disassembled when the timer started):

timer.jpg

I'd guess my disassembly is around 5 minutes these days. I've leveled-up to the point where I'm no longer taking pictures to reassemble by. So, I'd say I'm at around an hour a reel at this point. That's down from 3 hours on the first one. Ha-ha!

Oh, and I've been informed that the credit reel is not a score reel, so it looks like my score reel cleaning count is at:

5 out of 9 completed

Alright, I think that's it for the night.

So, I'm moving on to the Player 1 score reels. In my mind, this was a logical point of compartmentalization to try something new. I've been trying to figure out if I would use a chemical to clean the circuit boards, as was suggested above:

...or if I would stick with a mild abrasive.

I've also been trying to figure out what to lube the circuit boards with after cleaning them. To these ends, I started an alternate thread to survey the EM community and see if there was a general consensus.

Regarding the cleaning procedure, it seems as though using some sort of mild abrasive edged out chemical cleaners by one vote in the poll, but won by a landslide in the comments section (6-2 in favor of some sort of abrasive). Another factor that caused me to pause regarding the use of Brasso, is that it has a pretty low flashpoint, 105 °F.

For all these reasons, I'm chosing to stick with a mild abrasive, and since I already have a stack of green Scotch Brite pads, those are what I'll continue using.

With respect to lubing the circuit boards post cleaning, the overwhelming response in the thread was that 3-in-1 oil was old news and Super Lube Teflon Oil is the thing to use.

superlube.jpg

Just out of curiosity, I looked up flashpoints for these two products as well:

3in1: 305 °F
Super Lube Teflon Oil: 428 °F

...which were both quite high. In chatting with my EM Grand Master, Nick Baldridge (who pointed me to those flashpoint documents), I mentioned that you'd probably have to stick your machine in a microwave before it approached those temperatures. He agreed and added that there would likely be other problems occurring before getting that toasty.

So, while flashpoint didn't play much of a role in determining which lube to use, I figured I would try out something different and see if I had a personal preference toward either one. I'll swing by Harbor Frieght today, pick up a tube, and report back what I find next reel update. Nick's concern was that over time, this newer product might do unpredictable things. Although, from what I can tell, it seems to have been used for at least a decade already in the pinball community and I'm not hearing any adverse stories about it yet. Plus, if anything does happen (hardening of the product, attracting dirt and grime, etc), I can always use an abrasive to get it off and use something different, since this will be in a home environment and closely monitored.

Until next update,
Ryan

Now 6 of 9 reels are complete:

reel13.jpg

Also, I picked up ye olde Super Lube today and used it on the first Player 1 reel I cleaned (that one next to the dummy reel above). It's...weird. It's like...the consistency of Vaseline. Much thicker than the 3 in 1 oil I've been using. I put some on my finger and it felt kind of sticky. Supposedly dust is not supposed to stick to it, but it has a consistency of something that dust would stick to.

*shrugs*

Any thoughts or words to assuage my fears?

Mighty-night,
Ryan

Good to hear. I tried to keep it thin. I'll do my best to take a decent picture of the board lubed-up on my next reel. Thanks for chiming in, BTW75!

I've been found out. ...was trying to keep this a secret.

singer.jpg

Thanks, Odin. *sigh*

7 of 9 reels are complete:

041415reelD.jpg

Was hoping to show an image of the Super Lube, but this most recent reel was the hundreds reel...without circuit board. See:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/williams-swinger-restoration-and-eventual-retheme#post-2373917

...for a recap of my revelation.

Since I can't show you my new lube, how about some process pix from this reel:

041415reelA.jpg

041415reelB.jpg

041415reelC.jpg

So I'm moving on to this guy here:

reel15.jpg

...but for the life of me I can't seem to pull this thousands reel out of the housing. (Every time I think I know what to expect...)

So, I'm pulling, I'm jimmyin', I'm shakin', I'm bobbin' and weavin. No dice. I don't want to get TOO brute-y with it, of course, but I'm definitely using some man-might, and it's not going anywhere.

So I start investigating to see if I can tell where the hang-up is. Front:

frontBracketReel.jpgfrontBracketReelB.jpgfrontBracketReelC.jpg

Looks pretty normal, from what I can tell. Plus, I can feel it rattling a little up there, so I don't think that's it.

Back:

underReelBracketB.jpgunderReelBracket.jpg

Now, I'm not sure if you can tell from the above two photos, but that clippy-tab thing (did I mention I'm new to tech stuff) is bent back, so it's not holding the score reel in position, as it was designed to do. So, that doesn't seem to be the culprit. However, I'm assuming that someone else also had this predicament (of not being able to extract this reel) at some point in time and put their goon-hand down on that bracket, thinking that was the hang-up. Hrmmm... Short of gettin' rowdy, I was at of loss for how to proceed.

Enter Nick "EM Zen Yogi" Baldridge. (If you've been keeping up with these updates, you're probably noticing a trend. I'm starting to think this guy might need his own plaque on my Swinger when it's done.)

Anyhow, Nick gives me a few suggestions. "Maybe it's the beer." I assured him I had not been drinking. Then he proceeded to tell me that sometimes beer gets spilled on these machines. After it's hardened for 40 years it can act like super-glue. So I jammed a flathead screwdriver between the score reel housing and the metal plate upon which it sits, gently but firmly, at Nick's urging.

Still stuck.

But it was wiggling a bit, so it didn't feel like it was beer-stuck. More like...mechanical stuck. Like an object was preventing it from moving.

Nick also suggested that I might need a different trajectory of pull. Like, instead of straight back, try an upward/vertical pull or diagonal. Sure enough, this did the trick.

I'm still not entirely sure what was making this stick. My suspicion is that it was the little metal tab on the bottom, that one that is not being held in by the bent-back clippy-bracket shown above. I'm imagining maybe that got bent somehow and is preventing the unit from being extracted smoothly, but I'm not certain. I had to drive off to work shortly after excavating the reel, so I'll do a little more poking around soon.

Until our next EM adventure,
Ryan Claytor
Elephant Eater Comics
http://www.ElephantEater.com

Boom goes the EM Life Coach.

(Thanks for chiming in here, Nick.)

8 of 9 complete:

reel15b.jpg

I'm referring to this score reel as "ole' sticky." Not only was it stubborn about coming out, but the circuit board looked like this:

circuitBoard.jpg

circuitBoardB.jpg

Definitely the worst of the bunch, but here it is mid-cleaning after a couple swipes with the green Scotch Brite pad:

circuitBoardC.jpg

...and finished:

circuitBoardE.jpg

It still amazes me how these clean up.

circuitBoardD.jpg

So, I've been trying out some new lube on the Player 1 reels.

superlube.jpg

...and thought I'd post some pictures to make sure I'm doing this right.

circuitBoardF.jpg

I've been told to use this sparingly.

circuitBoardG.jpg

circuitBoardH.jpgcircuitBoardI.jpgcircuitBoardJ.jpg

Here it is completely lubed:

circuitBoardK.jpg

In some angles it looks a little goopy...

circuitBoardL.jpg

...but it's spread on pretty thin:

circuitBoardM.jpg

One more score reel to go!

Hm! I'll try that on the next (last) reel!

Thanks for the interest, PinBiohazard. I'll likely be sitting on the theme until it's time to start arting this thing. ...sorry. There are only a handful of trusted friends/family that know what I have planned for the re-theme. I think it'll stay that way for a while.

Ha-ha! Awesome. Thanks for the support, PBH.

I will confirm that I am NOT retheme-ing an EM Pinball machine to Mortal Kombat X. *LOL*

That's all you get,
-Ryan

I cleaned my final score reel yesterday. By the end of the day, I ran out of steam before posting here, but here's what happened. After disassembly, I got a little nostalgic sitting there looking at the spread of parts in front of me.

IMG_4649a.jpg

9 days ago I would have crapped my pants if you told me to reassemble this. Today I can tell you the exact order, placement, and orientation for reassembly. I'm trying to hold-on to this feeling as I move into other unknowns of cleaning and restoration.

Before tackling the next item of business, I couldn't move-on without taking another couple of pre and post cleaning circuit board shots:

IMG_4650.JPG

IMG_4651.JPG

Aw yeah...

Next post I'll show some shot of the super-lube finger spreading (instead of q-tip spreading). For now, we're off on a family Saturday outting. Until then, here's some final reel shots:

IMG_4665.JPG

9 of 9 reels cleaned!

ba.jpg

I wanted to touch base about the Super-Lube application suggestion I received from EM Diplomat, Nick Baldridge:

...but also from a few other folks over on this alternate thread:

My problem with finger application of the Super-Lube is that usually by the time I get the score reel mech disassembled enough to apply the grease, my hands tend to look like this:

IMG_4653.JPG

So, I resorted to a clean Q-tip to begin with. Otherwise, I'd have to stop what I'm doing, go wash up, in a bathroom that's in a far flung region of the hous--IAMLAZYSTOPJUDGINGME!!!

At the urging of the aforementioned folks, I washed my hands. Here's the lube process. I was told to take a TINY bit, a "beebee sized" drop to begin with:

IMG_4664.JPG

...and then apply it directly with my finger:

IMG_4655.JPGIMG_4656.JPG

Here's what it looked like after the fact. I tried to keep it thin, but I'm open to other suggestions.

IMG_4659.JPG

IMG_4657.JPG
IMG_4658.JPG
IMG_4661.JPG

My electro-mechanical consultant, Nick Baldridge, tells me this will be our next action item:

gapA.jpg

A couple score reels back I asked him if these switches were gapped appropriately:

gapB.jpg

In the photos above, they're supposed to be open and I'm pretty sure they're too close together. For those still following along, you can anxiously anticipate the wonders of rookie switch adjustments in the coming days.

See ya next update,
Ryan

Alright, so I snapped some shots of a score reel with switches I believed to be appropriately gapped. My EM Tutor, Nick Baldridge, confirmed my suspicions to be true. Here's the "0" position:

EDIT: THESE SWITCH POSITION LABELS ARE INCORRECT!!! SEE FOLLOWING POST FOR CORRECTION.

0postionJPG.JPG

...and a close-up of the same "0" position:

0postionClose.jpg

Here's the "1" position:

1postionJPG.JPG

...and a close-up of the "1" position:

1postionClose.jpg

Finally, the "other" position:

otherPostion.JPG

...and the "other" position close-up:

otherPostionClose.jpg

For any fellow newbs out there, they make a tool for adjusting switches. It looks like this:

switchAdjuster.JPG

For any fellow skinflints, it's available for under $10:

http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=1518

Just to give you a little better look at this wacky little lever, here's one side:

switchAdjusterA.JPG

...and the other side:

switchAdjusterB.JPG

Here goes. Fingers crossed I don't mangle anything.

A couple days ago I posted some switch positions for my score reels:

Today I made some time to dig in and adjust some switches. As I'm going down the line of reels, I noticed the positions aren't all the same. (Some reels had all switches open on the 1 position, others on the 0 position.) After consulting with EM Patron Saint, Nicolas Baldridge, he assured me they SHOULD all be the same.

To make a tedious story short, I reassembled the first score reel (Player 2, 10's position) and found that the key on the back of the reel was SLIGHTLY out of position. I'm not sure why this caused it to be an entire number off (maybe I moved something else when reassembling?), but it was correct after I got it back together.

Anyway, for future reference, THIS is the 9 position (pay no attention to image file names):

0postionClose.jpg

THIS is the 0 position:

1postionClose.jpg

...and this here be the "other" position:

otherPostionClose.jpg

With that out of the way, I started adjusting switches in the way I was instructed:

1) Tighten switch stack
2) Adjust switches using the switch adjustment tool (see previous post)
. . . a) Whenever possible, adjust the short switch (not the long one)
. . . b) Position tool close to the base of the switch stack, then adjust

So, I set to work adjusting switches. Here's an example of a messy switch stack on the Player 1 1000's reel. These switches should all be open:

openNot.jpg

Since they weren't, I started adjusting switches with the above suggestions in mind. Here's what the open switches (0 position) looked like after adjusting:

open.jpg

...and I proceeded to make adjustments so that each of the other states were appropriately gapped. Here's the closed state (9 position):

closed.jpg

...and the "other" position:

other.jpg

There was only one occasion where I did not position the switch adjustment tool on the base of the switch stack when adjusting. There was a long-side of a switch that had the extended portion (above the pad) that was bent in an inappropriate direction. I could tell, no matter how I tweaked the bottom of that switch, the top bend would prevent it from acting as it should in each of the states. So I put my switch adjustment tool on the base of the offending bend, which happened to be right above the switch pad (near the top of the whole switch). After straightening that bend (sorry, I forgot to snap pics of that), then I adjusted from the base, as usual, and things turned out fine and dandy.

Alright, I think the score reels are good to go. Next stop, stepper units!

Hi Shawn,

I'm pretty flattered that you'd stop by this thread as I bumble my way through learning about EM technology (let alone "favorite" it). I've haunted your threads for a while now, and really admire your work.

Congrats on the well-deserved Best in Show at TPF last month. I mentioned this in an alternate thread but my 1.5-year-old son demanded that we watch the Dallas 11 News coverage of your masterpiece again and again. I must admit, I didn't put up much of a fight.

So, sincerely, thanks for stopping by. Also...

...I just about fell out of my seat laughing when I read this. Could see where that was going before the explanation.

Speaking of which, guess what I found!

jesusClip1.jpg

My long-lost Jesus clip!!!

jesusClip2.jpg

...a little worse for wear, but I think I can tweak it back into working order.

jesusClip3a.jpg

Scratch one item off the parts order.

Stepper units, here I come. ...maybe after a youtube view or two. I hear there's a nasty spring inside waiting to cut me and that I'll need to mark a position or something.

*more preemptive fear*

So here's what I've been looking at for the past couple weeks.

backbox.jpg

When we last left, I'd just finished cleaning the score reels and adjusting their switches, so these are done:

backbox2a.jpg

Now I'm moving on to the stepper units, of which there are 3 (in the backbox):

backbox3.jpg

As a person who is completely new to electronics, it's interesting to notice how I'm starting to view this backbox in a slightly more knowledgeable way. My vision sort of compartmentalizes the backbox into different sections, as I've shown above, which is a far cry from the bog of wires and circuitry it seemed to be a couple of weeks ago.

So, the bottom-right stepper is the credit unit:

creditUnit.jpg

...followed by the player unit, which determines which set of reels will score, in the bottom-middle:

playerUnitz.jpg

Finally, the top-middle stepper is the match unit:

matchUnit.jpg

...which, like most of the units, is conveniently labeled:

matchUnitLabel.jpg

This labeling system is something else that surprised me as an EM newb. I'm used to SS & DMD pins that have a bunch of circuit boards that are only labeled via the manual. This struck me as awfully handy. Not to mention...HOW ARE THOSE LABELS STILL ON THERE AFTER 40+ YEARS!??!

Anyhow, here's the other (labeled) side of the match unit:

matchUnitB.jpg

You'll notice on the top left of this next picture, I've unscrewed the mounting bracket...

matchUnitA.jpg

...however, due to the lack of slack from the wiring harness, the match unit didn't move away from the backbox much at all. So I removed a couple of wiring harness screws...

screw.jpg

...the ones running along the top of the backbox...

harness.jpg

...in order to give it a bit of slack. It didn't do a whole lot, but it gave it enough wiggle room to do what cleaning and disassembly I needed to do.

Anyhow, here's the main cleaning I did. I took off the wheel...

wheel.jpg

...and cleaned the rivets underneath. They started out kinda dirty...

rivetsDirty.jpg

...but after some green Scotch Brite abrasion, the rivets looked a lot better.

rivetsClean.jpg

After the cleaning, I rubbed the rivets with a bit of Super Lube, similar to the traces on the score reel PCBs.

On the other side, I removed just a few things. First the solenoid, plunger, and plunger stop:

backA.jpg

...which allowed me to clean each of them (including the metal plunger sleeve) with some 91% Isopropyl Alcohol. Away they go:

backB.jpg

And then the gear/shaft piece was able to come out:

gearA.jpg

A little gunky at first...

gearB.jpg

...but after some more cleaning, not too shabby. I used a bit of Scotch Brite persuasion this time.

gearC.jpg

Some more pin-bling:

gearD.jpg

I know there are a lot of pics in this post, but there were a TON more I'm not including. This was a unit I was unfamiliar with, so thank Jesus I took a bunch of disassembly shots. Otherwise, I would have been hosed. In particular, there was a whole spring/lever/gear debacle I got myself into. Thankfully I had an abundant supply of photos to help me solve that puzzle.

Anyhow, here's proof that it's all together again:

together.jpg

Woo-hoo! (I always breathe a sigh of relief when it's back into one unit.)

As if this post wasn't long enough, I have a couple addendums.

- -- ----- -- -

Addendum #1: When I took the plunger apart, the plunger was a bit...uhm...rounded(?) on top, and the plunger stop was a little cupped. When put together, they sort of fit inside one another...just a little bit. Here, take a look:

plunger.jpgplungerB.jpg

These are the only two pics I have, so I hope they translate what I'm talking about. I only ask because I'm used to seeing flat plunger stops, like this:

stop.jpg

Is this normal? The plunger moves through the sleeve with the greatest of ease, so I don't think it's doing any harm. Just curious if this is customary for EM's.

Addendum #2: Does anyone know what these little screw spacers are called or where I can get them?

screw.jpg

THANKS!!!

This past weekend I had a couple of family days, and a nice time with my wife and son at Pinball at the Zoo.

2015PatZ.jpg

^^^Shameless plug.

http://www.elephanteater.com/10641

^^^...and another.

Consequently, this thread has gone dormant for a couple days. Nevertheless, I'm working on the next stepper unit (credit reel), running into some challenges, all which will be documented here soon. However, I wanted to thank you guys for stopping by and leaving some feedback.

RESPONSES!

Okay, I had a suspicion that might be the case. I've got that added to the parts order. Gracias, Nick.

...a good reminder from a fellow skinflint.

Ah-ha! Good call. I'll keep this in mind. Thanks, Shawn.

Yah? Why is that? Not trying to be combative, just trying to learn. (I'm certainly not pretending to mask my ignorance in this thread.) Right now the plunger (albeit wacky at the top) moves through the metal sleeve really easily.

*interested*

Sweet. I ask only because during the re-theme process, I'm thinking I'd like to add some dimensionality to some of the plastics (if possible...I know the EM PF glass has a pretty low profile), a la:

ww.jpg

Ha-ha! I would imagine after the flood of praise in the wake of TPF, your head is having trouble fitting through doors. Well, as deserving of praise that we (hobbyists) know you are, there are always moments like this to bring one back down to earth:

ShawnIsTheMan.jpg

Respectfully, the "Let's help Shawn not go through the trouble of expanding all his doorways" club.
Owner and President,
Mrs. Shawn.

Also,

...this sounds reasonable. I'll probably price these out and see if it's worth my while to file (...and buy a file. Yes, seriously. I do not have one.) or just buy new hardware. Thanks, btw75.

Thanks again, all!
Ryan Claytor
Elephant Eater Comics
www.ElephantEater.com

Thanks for your insight, Nick!