(Topic ID: 28788)

Worst hack/repair you ever saw.

By mcclad

11 years ago


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  • 4,635 posts
  • 731 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 7 days ago by jibmums
  • Topic is favorited by 312 Pinsiders

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    There are 4,635 posts in this topic. You are on page 17 of 93.
    #801 7 years ago
    Quoted from Darcy:

    The Door Bell switch is an often seen hack.
    Hopefully it rings the chimes too. Or the best answer, used to summon the wife to bring you a fresh drink.

    then it belongs in the mods section! and then it's great!

    #802 7 years ago
    Quoted from Darcy:

    The Door Bell switch is an often seen hack.
    Hopefully it rings the chimes too. Or the best answer, used to summon the wife to bring you a fresh drink.

    Or a "Little Demon" post like on Fireball II.

    #803 7 years ago
    Quoted from Darcy:

    summon the wife to bring you a fresh drink.

    Oh no you didn't.

    #804 7 years ago

    Not really a hack but lots of fun so thought I'd share...

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    #805 7 years ago

    The worst hack I ever saw... was the last time I looked in the mirror. *cue price is right loss music*

    #806 7 years ago
    Quoted from jwwhite15:

    Not really a hack but lots of fun so thought I'd share...

    I feel their pain. I had a classic Stern sling arm break off at TPF last year. Luckily Mr. Munroe was there to hook me up with a replacement.

    #807 7 years ago

    Somebody decided to cut the wires and tape them together on the GI on the last action hero I just got. Why don't operators just carry connectors on hand?

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    #808 7 years ago
    Quoted from Okarcades:

    Somebody decided to cut the wires and tape them together on the GI on the last action hero I just got. Why don't operators just carry connectors on hand?

    because tape is cheaper than a new connector

    #809 7 years ago
    Quoted from Drewscruis:

    because tape is cheaper than a new connector

    I found a couple wire nuts in my previously routed JP. Not terrible, but soon replaced.

    #810 7 years ago
    Quoted from markp99:

    I found a couple wire nuts in my previously routed JP. Not terrible, but soon replaced.

    beats hot glue and duct tape...

    #811 7 years ago

    Wire nuts. That's a dam luxury on a em I have wires just twisted and two taped not twisted.

    #812 7 years ago
    Quoted from Fortytwo:

    Wire nuts. That's a dam luxury on a em I have wires just twisted and two taped not twisted.

    At least they taped them

    #813 7 years ago
    Quoted from thedefog:

    At least they taped them

    Shoot, now I've half a mind to just try chewing gum next time to see how long that lasts. I mean there IS a prize for "worst hack" if it works, right?

    What's the amp rating on dry Elmer's Glue?

    #814 7 years ago

    Does your chewing gum loose its amp rating on the bedpost overnight?

    2 weeks later
    #815 7 years ago

    Cables soldered to the board and tape.

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    #816 7 years ago

    Doctor who left flipper ... Grrr

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    #817 7 years ago
    Quoted from adams_arcade:

    Doctor who left flipper ... Grrr

    That is the funniest thing I have seen all day. Nice!!

    Quoted from ChilePin:

    Cables soldered to the board

    Typical GI toast! Someone needs to send me one of these so I can start making replacement sets.

    Shawn

    #818 7 years ago

    "Professional" soldered cables to the board and external conector.

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    14
    #819 7 years ago

    Gottlieb system 1 had every plug on the game removed with each wire individually soldiered in place

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    #820 7 years ago

    Holy shit

    Did they use plumbing flux too?

    I would have never bought it.

    You are a brave man!

    #821 7 years ago
    Quoted from CNKay:

    Holy shit
    Did they use plumbing flux too?
    I would have never bought it.
    You are a brave man!

    It was a parts machine that came in a large group purchase. It was months before I even opened the head. I was definitely caught off guard

    #822 7 years ago
    Quoted from wildwest3163:

    It was a parts machine that came in a large group purchase. It was months before I even opened the head. I was definitely caught off guard

    I knew there was a perfectly good explanation.
    Well now you have a nice winter project. Good Luck ?

    #823 7 years ago
    Quoted from wildwest3163:

    Gottlieb system 1 had every plug on the game removed with each wire individually soldiered in place

    I absolutely love taking on stuff like this!!

    #824 7 years ago

    I would not say i love it. I do think it is great candidate for some awesome pin repair videos or classes. Something your local electronics high school teacher would love to get all the kids involved in. Teach them how to fix it the correct way. Then the kids get to play it a bunch when finished and you got some time saved. Either way if your going to fix it take lots of before and after pics to show off.

    14
    #825 7 years ago

    Taxi on location, mid-tournament. The bottom of the bracket had snapped off, and I didn't have a replacement in stock. Kept the game in operation until the new bracket came in. I knew keeping a couple "old" superbands around would pay off eventually!

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    #826 7 years ago

    Nothing wrong with temporary fixes to keep things flipping!! Pretty classy! Nice outside the box thinking.

    #827 7 years ago
    Quoted from CNKay:

    Nothing wrong with temporary fixes to keep things flipping!! Pretty classy! Nice outside the box thinking.

    Yeah, unless he forgets to fix it and sells the machine off and the next owner will open it up, take a pic, come here and post the pic and say, " look at this crazy hack I found on this pin I just bought".

    #828 7 years ago

    Brackets are for chumps. Just have a small child climb inside and hold the coil in place while you play.
    <--- Father of the year

    #829 7 years ago

    Replacing connectors on a Bally Future Spa when I came across this. So I will reuse the housings because there is no reason not to. Unless they're toasty crispy I usually do. Easy enough to pull the old crimps, clip them off and put on a new. Wire by wire, slot by slot.
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    Obviously it was well overdue.
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    And if you haven't seen it yet...
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    I'm picturing some random dude cursing and bitching about how hard it is to solder these little bastard crimps on the end of the wire and then insert them in the hole. I have to wonder; has he graduated from soldering the wires directly to the rectifier board or is that the next step? Eliminate the crimps and go for the direct contact? Oh, and heaven forbid we don't have the standard op fix of toothpicks for a key! Not a hack if it works, right?
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    #830 7 years ago
    Quoted from Vanapult:

    Taxi on location, mid-tournament. The bottom of the bracket had snapped off, and I didn't have a replacement in stock. Kept the game in operation until the new bracket came in. I knew keeping a couple "old" superbands around would pay off eventually!

    Zip ties are a tournament organizers best friend!

    #831 7 years ago
    Quoted from snyper2099:

    Zip ties are a tournament organizers best friend!

    Yes! Directly after that fix, the next thing I did was make a note to "buy more zip-ties for toolbag"

    #832 7 years ago
    Quoted from Mk1Mod0:

    Oh, and heaven forbid we don't have the standard op fix of toothpicks for a key! Not a hack if it works, right?

    I like the toothpick idea. That way when you're done eating your wings while working on the game at the same time, you can pull one out and pick your teeth. And the grease makes it easier to insert the crimp connectors

    #833 7 years ago

    The bright color makes losing this harder!

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    #834 7 years ago

    Resistor array in a system 11A

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    #835 7 years ago

    Same board. Pull traces with heavy handed desoldering, bridge with lots of solder.

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    #836 7 years ago
    Quoted from lyonsden:

    Resistor array in a system 11A

    That's pretty nicely done! Still a hack although if it worked I would just leave it.

    Quoted from lyonsden:

    Same board. Pull traces with heavy handed resolving, bridge with lots of solder.

    Ouch. I have seen too much of that unfortunately.

    #837 7 years ago

    Always like to contribute. Found this today while cleaning up my RBG. From another post I made it appears that the previous owner ( and let me say this was bought from a reputable pinball shop in Ohio) put a screw through the flipper button to make it longer instead of adjusting the flipper switch. Now maybe the shop didn't make this modification but don't you think they would have corrected it before selling.

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    #838 7 years ago
    Quoted from Tropicalcats:

    Always like to contribute. Found this today while cleaning up my RBG. From another post I made it appears that the previous owner ( and let me say this was bought from a reputable pinball shop in Ohio) put a screw through the flipper button to make it longer instead of adjusting the flipper switch. Now maybe the shop didn't make this modification but don't you think they would have corrected it before selling.

    Kind of looks like the post on the end of the button is broken. Don't they know you can get a new button for $2 or just bend the switch a little.

    #839 7 years ago
    Quoted from snakesnsparklers:

    That's pretty nicely done! Still a hack although if it worked I would just leave it.

    Agreed -- I left it as is.

    #840 7 years ago

    I did that resistor array thing to a funhouse that I worked on because I thought that was the problem.

    #841 7 years ago

    high speed...everything works (after changing f104 and f102)...

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    #842 7 years ago
    Quoted from cosmokramer:

    high speed...everything works (after changing f104 and f102)...

    They could have at least pushed the wires all the way through the holes to make it cleaner and snipped off the excess. Less chance of bridging them too.

    #843 7 years ago
    Quoted from sohchx:

    They could have at least pushed the wires all the way through the holes to make it cleaner and snipped off the excess. Less chance of bridging them too.

    WHat? and have to remove the board to do the repair? F That!

    #844 7 years ago
    Quoted from Cheddar:

    WHat? and have to remove the board to do the repair? F That!

    Lmao

    #845 7 years ago
    Quoted from lyonsden:

    Same board. Pull traces with heavy handed desoldering, bridge with lots of solder.

    I think I had that board at some point. That resistor array and the colored stripes on those transistors looks really familiar. I don't remember what became of it. I think it was something I didn't have time to mess with that got thrown up on eBay. One of the SYS11 boards that was inside a cab of a game I bought. Does it have a lot of IC sockets all over on it?

    #846 7 years ago
    Quoted from thedefog:

    I think I had that board at some point. That resistor array and the colored stripes on those transistors looks really familiar. I don't remember what became of it. I think it was something I didn't have time to mess with that got thrown up on eBay. One of the SYS11 boards that was inside a cab of a game I bought. Does it have a lot of IC sockets all over on it?

    Yes, yes it does. It is in a pinbot I picked up recently and have been trying to get things worked through on it. For the most part, I have the board set working, but has a reset problem when the game is cold and the visor moves to the full up/down position (goes away after it has been on for a few minutes) and a sound problem where the music freezes occasionally. I suspect that neither of these is due the CPU board. Music comes from the sound board (but it could be the ribbon cable, I guess, ROM, RAM, etc) the reset -- cold solder joint somewhere, a bad connector, bad blocking diode? I have some more diagnostic work to do.

    1 week later
    11
    #847 7 years ago

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    #848 7 years ago

    That was where the repair tag was tied on after service, right?

    #849 7 years ago
    Quoted from dothedoo:

    That was where the repair tag was tied on after service, right?

    Actually, you joke, but I think you might be right.

    #850 7 years ago

    Apparently they broke some legs off and couldn't find a replacement. Power board had an auto fuse holder soldered on with a 20A fuse. Also found a couple aluminum wrapped fuses. This one ought to be fun.

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    There are 4,635 posts in this topic. You are on page 17 of 93.

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