(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 6 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 22 of 93.
    #1051 6 years ago
    Quoted from dudah:

    Somebody fabricated an elegant curved metal bracket, then held it in place with a L bracket.

    Excellent fix, but what did they do with the backglass that bracket was holding up?

    20
    #1052 6 years ago

    Williams chime box for sale on flebay. Seller says pry bar "sounds good".

    chimetoolbox (resized).jpgchimetoolbox (resized).jpg

    10
    #1053 6 years ago

    Longer is not always better...
    This metal screw was used to mount the bouldermachine onto the playfield-backboard of 'the Flintstones'.
    It was at least 1 inch too long, making a connection from bracket to flasher-socket and putting the entire bouldermachine on 20Volts.

    2017-05-03_161558.jpg2017-05-03_161558.jpg

    #1054 6 years ago

    STTNG has a metal arm controlled by a coil to drop the back target in some cases. Mine wasn't functioning. A week or so before I found an odd hunk of metal in the cabinet. Someone has been naughty

    IMG_7365 (resized).JPGIMG_7365 (resized).JPG

    #1055 6 years ago
    Quoted from balzofsteel:

    Seller says pry bar "sounds good".

    Ding, ding ding!!! We have a winner! LOL

    27
    #1056 6 years ago

    A lot of work went into this!

    IMGP7688 (resized).JPGIMGP7688 (resized).JPG

    #1057 6 years ago

    More reliable that the plastic ramp

    #1058 6 years ago

    Found this in my pinball Magic.
    Hot glue on moving parts is always a winner. (I installed the clip before I took the picture)

    image (resized).jpegimage (resized).jpeg

    #1059 6 years ago
    Quoted from matt_adams:

    A lot of work went into this!

    Impressive

    #1060 6 years ago

    The brand new Twilight Zone slot machine kickout plunger the operator installed failed in a couple of days. I was at the venue and wanted to play it between tourney games.

    Had to improvise a field solution with kneadable wood putty and a flipper pawl bolt. I cured the putty under the men's room hand dryer. I used a flipper sleeve to get the diameter right with the putty so it wouldn't foul when fired.

    Was still working until it was changed out with the replacement.

    IMG_20170418_201132 (resized).jpgIMG_20170418_201132 (resized).jpg

    #1061 6 years ago

    Bottom feed .156 connectors must have been rare. An enterprising hacker crimped stiff copper wire into .156 edge connector pins, fed the copper wire through the header connection and then jammed the pins into the original housing. Lot of work.
    --
    Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
    http://ChrisHiblerPinball.com/contact/
    http://www.PinWiki.com - The new place for pinball repair info

    IMG_5798 (resized).JPGIMG_5798 (resized).JPG

    IMG_5797 (resized).JPGIMG_5797 (resized).JPG

    #1062 6 years ago

    Zaccaria power supply as seen at Pinfest:

    20170506133043909 (resized).jpg20170506133043909 (resized).jpg20170506133055507 (resized).jpg20170506133055507 (resized).jpg

    1 week later
    10
    #1063 6 years ago

    A nice pair of coils I just took off a Guns N Roses

    IMGP3877 (resized).JPGIMGP3877 (resized).JPG

    #1064 6 years ago
    Quoted from matt_adams:

    A nice pair of coils I just took off a Guns N Roses

    Did they solder that with a blowtorch?

    #1065 6 years ago

    Oxy acetylene I think!

    12
    #1066 6 years ago

    IMG_3720 (resized).JPGIMG_3720 (resized).JPG

    #1067 6 years ago

    Its handy to have good lighting when servicing a game.

    #1068 6 years ago

    That's not horrible. Here is a factory bulb socket used on 6803 games:

    ssboards (resized).jpgssboards (resized).jpg

    #1069 6 years ago
    Quoted from snakesnsparklers:

    That's not horrible. Here is a factory bulb socket used on 6803 games:

    Supposed to have one of those old school round screw in florescents I believe...but never see them with it...prob hard to find.

    #1070 6 years ago
    Quoted from matt_adams:

    A nice pair of coils I just took off a Guns N Roses

    Holy mother of God!!!!

    #1071 6 years ago
    Quoted from pacmanretro:

    Supposed to have one of those old school round screw in florescents I believe...but never see them with it...prob hard to find

    You just use an LED bulb. Works great and no heat. I have one in my Strange Science.

    #1072 6 years ago
    Quoted from SUPERBEE:

    You just use an LED bulb. Works great and no heat. I have one in my Strange Science.

    I found an old source and bought several florescents once...lol. prob better for glass to use the led for sure!

    #1073 6 years ago
    Quoted from pacmanretro:

    Supposed to have one of those old school round screw in florescents I believe...but never see them with it...prob hard to find.

    Except for Strange Science (which is what this game is - you can tell by the small solid state relay board). SS flashes the bulb rapidly with the neon topper. It would destroy a fluorescent bulb.

    #1074 6 years ago
    Quoted from dothedoo:

    Except for Strange Science (which is what this game is - you can tell by the small solid state relay board). SS flashes the bulb rapidly with the neon topper. It would destroy a fluorescent bulb.

    Interesting. Never considered that. The manual for Strange Science specifically calls out the florescent.

    #1075 6 years ago

    Generic manual page?
    On my motordome I went with a bright warm led bulb. Tried a color changer but too dim. The effect was kind of cool.

    #1076 6 years ago

    Lol this thread kills me every time

    #1077 6 years ago
    Quoted from pacmanretro:

    Supposed to have one of those old school round screw in florescents I believe...but never see them with it...prob hard to find.

    I thought I read in the manual it's actually a 130v incandescent commercial sign bulb? A 6803 I found in a warehouse had one of these but it was an amber color.

    2975_ab31aca8c9ff21e6c6615fc646df5ca51d51a58c_original (resized).jpg2975_ab31aca8c9ff21e6c6615fc646df5ca51d51a58c_original (resized).jpg

    #1078 6 years ago
    Quoted from Crash:

    I thought I read in the manual it's actually a 130v incandescent commercial sign bulb? A 6803 I found in a warehouse had one of these but it was an amber color.

    From what I've observed, the earlier games used an incandescent bulb, but later games used that round florescent bulb.

    #1079 6 years ago

    Opened up the back box on a Gottlieb system 1 pinball pool. It looks like it came from a VCR and used car speaker wiring.

    20170526_122538 (resized).jpg20170526_122538 (resized).jpg

    #1080 6 years ago
    Quoted from Ashwood486:

    Opened up the back box on a Gottlieb system 1 pinball pool. It looks like it came from a VCR and used car speaker wiring.

    What is that extra board doing in there?

    --
    Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
    http://ChrisHiblerPinball.com/contact/
    http://www.PinWiki.com - The new place for pinball repair info

    #1081 6 years ago

    Not the worst but a hack nonetheless... with coil backwards, shoddy wiring...
    I'm sure this spring doesn't reduce flipper strength at all

    IMG_20170527_231547 (resized).jpgIMG_20170527_231547 (resized).jpg

    #1082 6 years ago

    Found this gem in my Whirlwind. I'm diagnosing an issue where the rear playfield GI is locked on. Found this:

    IMG_6183 (resized).JPGIMG_6183 (resized).JPG

    Looks like instead of previous owner/operator fixing the dead transistor (which is what I presume to be wrong), he wired in some relay backwards so that the locked on transistor would keep the GI on and not permanently off.

    #1083 6 years ago
    Quoted from superJackpot:

    Not the worst but a hack nonetheless... with coil backwards, shoddy wiring...

    I... umm... just... aah.... rip it all out and start from scratch. That's my solution.

    #1084 6 years ago
    Quoted from ChrisHibler:

    What is that extra board doing in there?
    --
    Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
    http://ChrisHiblerPinball.com/contact/
    http://www.PinWiki.com - The new place for pinball repair info

    Acting as a power supply, maybe?

    #1085 6 years ago

    Another creative hack on my Pinbot project.
    Taking apart the shooter assembly, the e-clip was a bit difficult to remove.
    OP popped on some washer to hold it on. Surprisingly worked very well. Look at the shooter tip to get an idea how old this setup is.

    DSCN3402 (resized).JPGDSCN3402 (resized).JPG

    #1086 6 years ago
    Quoted from dudah:

    Another creative hack on my Pinbot project.
    Taking apart the shooter assembly, the e-clip was a bit difficult to remove.
    OP popped on some washer to hold it on. Surprisingly worked very well. Look at the shooter tip to get an idea how old this setup is.

    I've seen that many times. So often in fact, that I wonder if that is original equipment.
    --
    Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
    http://ChrisHiblerPinball.com/contact
    http://www.PinWiki.com - The Place to go for Pinball Repair Info

    #1087 6 years ago
    Quoted from ChrisHibler:

    I've seen that many times. So often in fact, that I wonder if that is original equipment.
    --
    Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
    http://ChrisHiblerPinball.com/contact
    http://www.PinWiki.com - The Place to go for Pinball Repair Info

    I believe the "C" clip is original for Williams games.

    #1088 6 years ago

    Did the bracket for the laser kick on your Data East game break?
    Just tighten that bad boy down with some screws!

    20170319_130419 (resized).jpg20170319_130419 (resized).jpg

    #1089 6 years ago
    Quoted from Zippyy:

    Did the bracket for the laser kick on your Data East game break?
    Just tighten that bad boy down with some screws!

    #1090 6 years ago
    Quoted from pacmanretro:

    Supposed to have one of those old school round screw in florescents I believe...but never see them with it...prob hard to find.

    They're called circlines and came in 15 and 27 watt sizes (15 used in Bally pins). Have not seen them in stores in years.

    #1091 6 years ago
    Quoted from girloveswaffles:

    They're called circlines and came in 15 and 27 watt sizes (15 used in Bally pins). Have not seen them in stores in years.

    Always scared me that, since its a normal socket, someone could screw any wattage incandescent in that they wanted.

    #1092 6 years ago
    Quoted from pacmanretro:

    Always scared me that, since its a normal socket, someone could screw any wattage incandescent in that they wanted.

    And replacing that ring shaped lamp with an low wattage incandescent or even a CFL doesn't disperse the light the same way so it's bright in the middle and not spread more evenly.

    #1093 6 years ago
    Quoted from dudah:

    Another creative hack on my Pinbot project.
    Taking apart the shooter assembly, the e-clip was a bit difficult to remove.
    OP popped on some washer to hold it on. Surprisingly worked very well. Look at the shooter tip to get an idea how old this setup is.

    This is factory!! It's called a c-ring. Read the manual

    #1094 6 years ago

    Here is my contribution. This fuse holder is from a 1958 Bally Golf Champ. Fuse holder fails and you lose some pieces well then just find an extra switch blade and cut it up and solder in place. They made sure to make good use of that blade throughout the holder. I appreciate the fact they used the portion with the contact point to assist in unraveling the hack.

    Mike V

    IMG_1038 (resized).JPGIMG_1038 (resized).JPG

    IMG_1039 (resized).JPGIMG_1039 (resized).JPG

    #1095 6 years ago
    Quoted from RacingPin:

    Here is my contribution. This fuse holder is from a 1958 Bally Golf Champ. Fuse holder fails and you lose some pieces well then just find an extra switch blade and cut it up and solder in place. They made sure to make good use of that blade throughout the holder. I appreciate the fact they used the portion with the contact point to assist in unraveling the hack.
    Mike V

    Bally fuse holders have always been crap. That isn't a hack, it's an upgrade.

    #1096 6 years ago

    Speaking of fuse holders, this isn't the worst hack I've seen but it did make me think, "what da hey"?
    --
    Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
    http://ChrisHiblerPinball.com/contact/
    http://www.PinWiki.com - The new place for pinball repair info

    IMG_5943 (resized).JPGIMG_5943 (resized).JPG

    #1097 6 years ago

    I just started reading this thread and wow....there are some real doozys in this thread!

    #1098 6 years ago

    This is my World Fair machine. No idea why somebody cut the harness in half when all they had to do was unplug the jones plugs. The wire colors don't even match but it actually works fine.

    IMG_0041_1024 (resized).jpgIMG_0041_1024 (resized).jpg

    #1099 6 years ago
    Quoted from phillyfan64:

    This is my World Fair machine. No idea why somebody cut the harness in half when all they had to do was unplug the jones plugs. The wire colors don't even match but it actually works fine.

    Looks sorta like the Paddock that came home recently.

    IMG_0567 (resized).JPGIMG_0567 (resized).JPG

    #1100 6 years ago

    To someone who has never seen a Jones plug it doesn't look like a plug.

    There are 4,635 posts in this topic. You are on page 22 of 93.

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