http://ilaina.wix.com/wolffpac-tech

First of all I’m not a professional tech. I have repaired a few boards but I consider myself still a beginner. I saw this kit on E-bay and was considering it when CNKay recommended it to me. At that point I ordered 2 kits. I looked over the kit when it arrived and it looked very professional and complete. I also looked over the instructions on line and they looked simple and complete.

The PC boards come with a gloss black finish that really looks nice but the gloss finish does make it a little difficult to assemble because of the light glare. However, I’m not sure I’d want that changed because it looks so nice when complete.

Today I built the first one. I made a few changes. I don’t like the locking header pins so I used header pins from GPE without the locking bar. (plus the header pins match the black PC board.) Also I installed IC sockets – Probably not necessary but being my first kit I didn’t want to take the chance I might screw something up.

It took me most of the day to assemble the kit – not that it was difficult (actually it was very easy). Each kit contains two boards and each board has about 135 solder connections. I’m sure most of you could assemble it much quicker but I install a few components then look over my work with a photo loupe before moving on. About the only difficult items were the J2 and J3 connectors – those pins are very close together and some care must be taken when soldering them. But even I managed it without any bridging.

The entire kit went together without any screw up’s and it worked the first time. I was amazed at how well it matched the old glass displays. You can pick it out when the display is off but that’s not a concern to me. All in all it is a well-designed and well-built kit that was easy to assemble even with the minimal skill level. I would recommend this kit for anyone needing a replacement display for their Bally or Stern SS pinball.

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I haven't given them a real good comparison yet. I haven't removed the protective film on the front or installed the foam tape. But just placing them in the backbox they look a good match. The LED segments do show more than the glass but I think once I get the back-glass installed it will be almost not noticeable.

My glass displays don't have locking headers but they are very hard to remove. I have upgraded to all new headers and trifurcon contacts. So I didn't think the locking headers were needed - and the GPE black headers look really good.

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I think I read somewhere that the existing 5 volt transistor is 3 amp and that it could be replaced with a 5 amp. I don't know what impact that would do the the rest of the circuits - overloading rectifier, wiring, etc. This stuff is way out of my league.

I don't want to overload my 5 volt circuit so I'll probably install the two new LED displays at the player 4 and ball/credit positions.

For now I'm really happy with the new display - I can't wait to get the other kit built and finish this machine.

Bob

I'd be happy with a 7 digit display without comma's. My Sterns don't use comma's anyway.

Bob

Two hours assembly time is great for the first one. I'll bet your next one will be under an hour. My first kit took most of a day but the second was much less (but then I'm old and slow).

I also had problems with the caps. While I didn't break any, on the second kit I couldn't get the caps to set flush with the board. It works fine, just looks a little bad sticking up on one end.

Still a great kit for the price.

Bob