(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
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    There are 4,635 posts in this topic. You are on page 49 of 93.
    #2401 4 years ago
    Quoted from pinballplusMN:

    Let the rectifiers hang in the air. That will dissipate the heat better.[quoted image]

    It’s the wrecking ball mod. Get it swinging and watch the destruction when it touches something.

    #2402 4 years ago
    Quoted from pinballplusMN:

    Let the rectifiers hang in the air. That will dissipate the heat better.[quoted image]

    When you don't have the Bridge Rectifiers with straight leads for PCB mounting, the extended wire connection works fine. Hopefully no shorting occurs if the game gets shaken.

    The technician dressed the wires well with cable ties.

    #2403 4 years ago

    They've been soldered on every game I've owned

    #2404 4 years ago
    Quoted from pinballplusMN:

    Bally Party Zone. I guess they didnt want to replace with a post to protect the ramps so use a screw instead.[quoted image]

    I’m trying to figure out what the game is. It isn’t a Party Zone.

    #2405 4 years ago
    Quoted from Mad_Dog_Coin_Op:

    I’m trying to figure out what the game is. It isn’t a Party Zone.

    Party Animal

    #2406 4 years ago
    Quoted from Mad_Dog_Coin_Op:

    I’m trying to figure out what the game is. It isn’t a Party Zone.

    Party Animal.

    1 week later
    #2407 4 years ago

    Probably not the worst hack I’ve seen but bought a bunch of pins from an operator and he did this to every driver board, I’m guessing to stop resets. It didn’t work and I’ve removed all the jumpers

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    #2408 4 years ago

    Not the worst hack I've seen but very creative. Toothpicks and hot glue to keep 3 of these drop targets together. I was rather impressed how strong they were and how the color dye worked its way into the hot glue!

    cbddac23f9d7b241abe6e795db881ff02a64fe65.jpgcbddac23f9d7b241abe6e795db881ff02a64fe65.jpg
    #2409 4 years ago
    Quoted from 72Devilz:

    Not the worst hack I've seen but very creative. Toothpicks and hot glue to keep 3 of these drop targets together. I was rather impressed how strong they were and how the color dye worked its way into the hot glue![quoted image]

    Oddly enough, this is not the first time I have seen this.

    #2410 4 years ago

    Scrubbing through my latest EM rifle game and found this gem. Going to have to fix a few relays. Probably need new contact arms

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    #2411 4 years ago
    Quoted from Major-Havoc:

    Probably not the worst hack I’ve seen but bought a bunch of pins from an operator and he did this to every driver board, I’m guessing to stop resets. It didn’t work and I’ve removed all the jumpers[quoted image]

    These jumpers were recommended by Clay in his pinrepair guide. Indeed to help with resets.

    Resets still happen when a part fails, the jumpers can't prevent that, they're to take the stress of some small connections where damage often happens when soldering (like when replacing caps and bridges, some connections are trough the board).

    Interesting to see how opinions change over the years, now this is a hack, 15 years ago the jumpers were considered a must..

    #2412 4 years ago
    Quoted from aeneas:

    These jumpers were recommended by Clay in his pinrepair guide. Indeed to help with resets.
    Resets still happen when a part fails, the jumpers can't prevent that, they're to take the stress of some small connections where damage often happens when soldering (like when replacing caps and bridges, some connections are trough the board).
    Interesting to see how opinions change over the years, now this is a hack, 15 years ago the jumpers were considered a must..

    Yes I figured as much. The boards he did the jumpers to had no other repairs or hacks and all were resetting. And all were very easy fixes. With no resets after

    #2413 4 years ago
    Quoted from Major-Havoc:

    Probably not the worst hack I’ve seen but bought a bunch of pins from an operator and he did this to every driver board, I’m guessing to stop resets. It didn’t work and I’ve removed all the jumpers[quoted image]

    Not too bad of a fix. I have done repairs like this.

    #2414 4 years ago
    Quoted from aeneas:

    Interesting to see how opinions change over the years, now this is a hack, 15 years ago the jumpers were considered a must.

    For me it is a hack. Even 15 years ago. It might be effective in some cases but it looks like ****. When plated holes or VIA's are busted I create new ones by drilling 1mm holes on strategic places and create new connections by soldering small pieces of solid wire to top and bottomlayer traces.

    A few hacks/creative fixes I encountered last weekend....

    A nice new link ……

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    Edge connector repair on a system 80 CPU board out of a Devil's Dare game...

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    IMG_1233 (resized).jpgIMG_1233 (resized).jpg

    #2415 4 years ago
    Quoted from MarAlb:

    For me it is a hack. Even 15 years ago. It might be effective in some cases but it looks like ****. When plated holes or VIA's are busted I create new ones by drilling 1mm holes on strategic places and create new connections by soldering small pieces of solid wire to top and bottomlayer traces.
    A few hacks/creative fixes I encountered last weekend....
    A nice new link ……
    [quoted image]
    Edge connector repair on a system 80 CPU board out of a Devil's Dare game...
    [quoted image]
    [quoted image]

    Wow! I've seen plenty of boards with wires soldered right to the pads but this is a first!

    #2416 4 years ago

    Someone was super lazy and decided to splice a 3 prong line cord into the old cord.
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    #2417 4 years ago
    Quoted from Murphdom:

    Someone was super lazy and decided to splice a 3 prong line cord into the old cord.

    Maybe those were the only tools he had. A wire splicer, Razor blade and electrical tape. Probably didn’t have a screwdriver.

    #2418 4 years ago

    We should collect all the stuff thats posted here and build our own pinside made pinball machine with them!

    MacGyver pinball!

    #2419 4 years ago

    This is one of my favorite threads.

    I had one last week that I was too rushed to stop and take a photo. Shame on me. But it was just a course thread wood screw jammed in a coil stop bracket. Nothing new or earth shattering.

    1 week later
    #2420 4 years ago

    So is this a hack, or just cheating? Do you see it right away?

    Baseball pre redo (resized).JPGBaseball pre redo (resized).JPG
    #2421 4 years ago

    Some big flippers you got....

    #2422 4 years ago

    I think that he should have added some lightning flippers to close that gap up a little more

    #2423 4 years ago

    Or these

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    #2424 4 years ago
    Quoted from j_m_:

    close that gap up a little more

    Have always loved me a tight gap.

    #2425 4 years ago
    Quoted from DCRand:

    So is this a hack, or just cheating? Do you see it right away?[quoted image]

    Are they corked too?

    #2426 4 years ago
    Quoted from gutz:

    Are they corked too?

    Probably, didn't even try them and already out of the game.

    #2428 4 years ago

    It was a joke, bigger bats on a baseball game. Corked bat

    #2429 4 years ago

    You have to be of a certain age and a baseball fan to get this one. Lol

    #2430 4 years ago

    No, I get it. My brain just wasnt in sports mode.

    #2431 4 years ago
    Quoted from gutz:

    Are they corked too?

    OK. That made me laugh out loud.

    11
    #2432 4 years ago

    Stern Spiderman 2007, best flipper rebuild

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    #2433 4 years ago

    I wonder what comes up when you scan the barcode ?

    #2434 4 years ago
    Quoted from Sputnik:

    I wonder what comes up when you scan the barcode ?

    Since the last third of the barcode has been cut off, there's no good way to tell.

    #2435 4 years ago

    It's hard enough for the clamps to hold the flipper tight on there own. If that flipper was rebuilt I'm assuming it would spin having the flat stock in there.

    #2436 4 years ago
    Quoted from Sputnik:

    I wonder what comes up when you scan the barcode ?

    the human readable number is underneath. it's just a code 39 barcode, nothing special

    20
    #2437 4 years ago

    You want the worst, you got it.

    So this guy had a Demolition Man and he tried to use lag bolts to fasten the legs to the brackets in the cab. When they stripped out the threads this genius decided it was a good idea to drill holes through the legs and use self tapping screws to attach the legs *directly* to the cabinet. They tore the shit out of the wood. Mind you this is a Demo man, one of the heaviest modern pins you can get. The game wobbled back and forth on its legs in his family room. One good push from the side and the whole thing would have came down, possibly on his children.

    To make matters worse, this was a CL deal. When I showed up the guy basically extorted another $300 over his asking price because everyone was calling him telling him what an idiot he was for selling it so cheap. That's the problem with CL 'deals' these days, most of them aren't.

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    #2438 4 years ago
    Quoted from herbertbsharp:

    You want the worst, you got it.
    So this guy had a Demolition Man and he tried to use lag bolts to fasten the legs to the brackets in the cab. When they stripped out the threads this genius decided it was a good idea to drill holes through the legs and use self tapping screws to attach the legs *directly* to the cabinet. They tore the shit out of the wood. Mind you this is a Demo man, one of the heaviest modern pins you can get. The game wobbled back and forth on its legs in his family room. One good push from the side and the whole thing would have came down, possibly on his children.
    To make matters worse, this was a CL deal. When I showed up the guy basically extorted another $300 over his asking price because everyone was calling him telling him what an idiot he was for selling it so cheap. That's the problem with CL 'deals' these days, most of them aren't.[quoted image][quoted image]

    Horrible indeed!

    #2439 4 years ago
    Quoted from herbertbsharp:

    You want the worst, you got it.
    So this guy had a Demolition Man and he tried to use lag bolts to fasten the legs to the brackets in the cab. When they stripped out the threads this genius decided it was a good idea to drill holes through the legs and use self tapping screws to attach the legs *directly* to the cabinet. They tore the shit out of the wood. Mind you this is a Demo man, one of the heaviest modern pins you can get. The game wobbled back and forth on its legs in his family room. One good push from the side and the whole thing would have came down, possibly on his children.
    To make matters worse, this was a CL deal. When I showed up the guy basically extorted another $300 over his asking price because everyone was calling him telling him what an idiot he was for selling it so cheap. That's the problem with CL 'deals' these days, most of them aren't.[quoted image][quoted image]

    Unbelievable

    #2440 4 years ago
    Quoted from herbertbsharp:

    You want the worst, you got it.
    So this guy had a Demolition Man and he tried to use lag bolts to fasten the legs to the brackets in the cab. When they stripped out the threads this genius decided it was a good idea to drill holes through the legs and use self tapping screws to attach the legs *directly* to the cabinet. They tore the shit out of the wood. Mind you this is a Demo man, one of the heaviest modern pins you can get. The game wobbled back and forth on its legs in his family room. One good push from the side and the whole thing would have came down, possibly on his children.
    To make matters worse, this was a CL deal. When I showed up the guy basically extorted another $300 over his asking price because everyone was calling him telling him what an idiot he was for selling it so cheap. That's the problem with CL 'deals' these days, most of them aren't.[quoted image][quoted image]

    I picked up a Cyclone a couple years ago like this where the legs were drilled out and attached with drywall screws.

    #2441 4 years ago
    Quoted from Coindork:

    I picked up a Cyclone a couple years ago like this where the legs were drilled out and attached with drywall screws.

    Oh man, that's the worst! I don't know what people are thinking lol

    #2442 4 years ago

    Just be glad he didnt put nuts on the other side of the legbolts with red loctite.

    #2443 4 years ago
    Quoted from herbertbsharp:

    Oh man, that's the worst! I don't know what people are thinking lol

    They are not!

    #2444 4 years ago

    Here's another fairly common one on my Pool Sharks. When the centre post gets loose just drill another hole. Who cares if it's not central or not.

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    #2445 4 years ago
    Quoted from king-pin:

    Here's another fairly common one on my Pool Sharks. When the centre post gets loose just drill another hole. Who cares if it's not central or not.[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

    This is infuriating.

    #2446 4 years ago
    Quoted from king-pin:

    Here's another fairly common one on my Pool Sharks. When the centre post gets loose just drill another hole. Who cares if it's not central or not.[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

    I guess they never thought about the toothpick trick. If they are going to get out the drill at least do it though the original hole and put a T nut on the back and change the post to a threaded one. That would have fixed it and been an upgrade.

    What were they thinking??

    #2447 4 years ago

    The much desired dropped off-center post ... brilliant!

    By the way, the third pic is where I finally saw what you were talking about.

    #2448 4 years ago
    Quoted from Robotworkshop:

    I guess they never thought about the toothpick trick. If they are going to get out the drill at least do it though the original hole and put a T nut on the back and change the post to a threaded one. That would have fixed it and been an upgrade.
    What were they thinking??

    They were not!

    #2449 4 years ago
    Quoted from Mr_Tantrum:

    The much desired dropped off-center post ... brilliant!
    By the way, the third pic is where I finally saw what you were talking about.

    Makes it interesting when deciding whether to leave the ball or not. Feeds the right flipper nicely.

    #2450 4 years ago
    Quoted from king-pin:

    Here's another fairly common one on my Pool Sharks. When the centre post gets loose just drill another hole. Who cares if it's not central or not.[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

    At least there's no artwork in that spot. It could be filled and painted without being too obvious.

    There are 4,635 posts in this topic. You are on page 49 of 93.

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