Just wait till you find out about all those JIS screws you thought were Phillips. There’s a reason the screws in your Japanese made stuff seem to strip so easy.
(Topic ID: 28788)
Vancouver, BC
Bringing it back to hacks...here is my IJ POA PCB fix that lasted over 8yrs before a repro was available. It's ugly, but worked great. Thankfully my soldering my skills have improved since then 
Frankenstein (resized).jpg
Mulvane, KS
Quoted from Aquapin:Bringing it back to hacks...here is my IJ POA PCB fix that lasted over 8yrs before a repro was available. It's ugly, but worked great. Thankfully my soldering my skills have improved since then [quoted image]
That's impressive. Nice job!
Quoted from Aquapin:Bringing it back to hacks...here is my IJ POA PCB fix that lasted over 8yrs before a repro was available. It's ugly, but worked great. Thankfully my soldering my skills have improved since then [quoted image]
Awesome
Quoted from HHaase:Just wait till you find out about all those JIS screws you thought were Phillips. There’s a reason the screws in your Japanese made stuff seem to strip so easy.
JIS standard screws are way better than Phillips. You just need to have a JIS standard screwdriver. Difference is slight, but regular Phillips are designed to "cam out" when tightening torque gets to a certain point. JIS are a more positive drive. JIS screws have a dot on the head to indicate that they are indeed JIS.
Best JIS drivers I have found are the Vessel Megadora series, available on Amazon.
Picked this Embryon up from an antique shop last weekend. He didn’t have the coin door key when I was checking it out, but the backglass is in good shape and the boards in the backbox look good. It booted and played a game no problem other than a flickering display in the shop. Got it home, was able to open the cab, and found the manual (!!!), the usual loose change/parts and this hot mess. Good times!
1F42027A-D567-4DD4-9311-D7EB4317A4AE (resized).jpeg2B143477-A3B2-4CDF-BBDB-3462D94D43CA (resized).jpegFD954EF7-AB93-40A4-8BA4-8EDDA007852D (resized).jpeg"20 amps? Wall circuit is only rated 15 so clearly that one's not needed..."
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Actually, I never thought about it until making that joke so / but in all seriousness, wouldn't a 15A breaker (in the wall) trip long before the pin could draw +20A to blow that fuse?
(Granted, I know the fuse is necessary because commercial wall runs would preferably be rated at 20 or more... but in the typical 15A home run, what would happen?)
Quoted from goingincirclez:"20 amps? Wall circuit is only rated 15 so clearly that one's not needed..."
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Actually, I never thought about it until making that joke so / but in all seriousness, wouldn't a 15A breaker (in the wall) trip long before the pin could draw +20A to blow that fuse?
(Granted, I know the fuse is necessary because commercial wall runs would preferably be rated at 20 or more... but in the typical 15A home run, what would happen?)
It's 20 amps at whatever voltage that circuit is - so in theory if there was a 20 amp fuse in the 120 volt line, the 15amp breaker should trip first.
But a 20 amp circuit in a lower voltage circuit could draw that much. Think about it - you can put 4-5 pins on a 15 amp breaker, and #44 lamps draw 1/4 amp.... if it was 1/4 at 115 volts, you could only have 60 total bulbs for all 4/5 machines! We know that's not true.
20 amps on a 6.3vac GI string is very little current draw on the primary side of the transformer. The primary side (120v for us USA’ers) is what is being protected by the 15 or 20a cir our breakers.
20a@120vac is not equal to 20a at other lower voltages.
Quoted from ForceFlow:Saw this video a couple weeks ago and found it interesting:
Screw that!
Quoted from FunkyFreshWalrus:Just making sure I brought all my screwdrivers with me.[quoted image]
I try to be totally anal about using the correct screw. But in a pinch if it were the last thing I needed to get the machine going, yep, I'd do this.
Quoted from JethroP:Screw that!
I see what you did there 
Well not exactly a bad hack. But why wouldn’t you just solder the main wire directly to the middle of the socket instead of messing with these little bitty jump wires? Half the sockets in the game have these, and a quarter of them have broken loose.
8663477E-D1A3-4010-905E-6039AD5BED9B (resized).jpegQuoted from ajfclark:I feel like that might be a hair more than 20 amp very very slow blow?
When it absolutely, positively has to be running in the next 5 minutes, reach for the ACME NO-BLOW Fuse!
Now available at Wal-Mart, Menards, your local Lucas Dealership or on the floorboards of your repair van.
Quoted from MD_Pinball_Dude:When it absolutely, positively has to be running in the next 5 minutes...your local Lucas Dealership...
Lucas Smoke (resized).pngQuoted from RichWolfson:[quoted image]
Q: Why do the British drink warm beer?
A: Because Lucas makes refrigerators.
Quoted from MrBally:Q: Why do the British drink warm beer?
A: Because Lucas makes refrigerators.
Let's get it all done with one post. <G>
Why didn't the Germans bomb the Lucas plants during WWII? The Germans considered Lucas an ally.
The Lucas motto: "Get home before dark."
"And the Lord said 'let there be light'...Joseph Lucas replied 'no way, Lord, no way'."
Lucas denies having invented darkness. But they still claim "sudden, unexpected darkness".
Lucas--inventor of the first intermittent wiper.
Lucas--inventor of the self-dimming headlamp.
The three-position Lucas switch--DIM, FLICKER and OFF. The other three switch settings--SMOKE, SMOLDER and IGNITE.
The original anti-theft devices--Lucas Electric products.
"I've had a Lucas pacemaker for years and have never experienced any prob..."
If Lucas made guns, wars would not start either.
Did you hear about the Lucas powered torpedo? It sank.
It's not true that Lucas, in 1947, tried to get Parliament to repeal Ohm's Law. They withdrew their efforts when they met too much resistance.
Did you hear the one about the guy that peeked into a Land Rover and asked the owner "How can you tell one switch from another at night, since they all look the same?" "He replied, it doesn't matter which one you use, nothing happens!"
Back in the '70s Lucas decided to diversify its product line and began manufacturing vacuum cleaners. It was the only product they offered which didn't suck.
Quality Assurance phoned and advised the Engineering guy that they had trouble with his design shorting out. So he made the wires longer.
Why do the English drink warm beer? Lucas made the refrigerators, too.
Alexander Graham Bell invented the Telephone. Thomas Edison invented the Light Bulb. Joseph Lucas invented the Short Circuit.
Recommended procedure before taking on a repair of Lucas equipment: check the position of the stars, kill a chicken and walk three times clockwise around your car chanting: "Oh mighty Prince of Darkness protect your unworthy servant."
Lucas systems actually uses AC current; it just has a random frequency.
Lucas is an acronym for Loose Unsoldered Connections and Splices.
In the 1980's Lucas tried to get into the newly burgeoning PC market, but they discontinued the product when they couldn make it leak oil.
Why are there no skyscrapers in London? Lucas makes elevators
Lucas Factory motto, put in a good day's work then home before dark.
Why is there no death penalty in England? Lucas makes electric chairs.
///Rich
Quoted from Aquapin:Bringing it back to hacks...here is my IJ POA PCB fix that lasted over 8yrs before a repro was available. It's ugly, but worked great. Thankfully my soldering my skills have improved since then [quoted image]
Thats great work!
Having owned a Land Rover product, I agree with it all.
The Land Rover defender. Turning radius of the titanic, and just as water-tight.
Quoted from RandyW:Makes it easy to move and impossible to level
You are so right. I hate those things. Then when you do move the game and you hit a crack in the concrete they bend really easy.
Quoted from HHaase:Just wait till you find out about all those JIS screws you thought were Phillips. There’s a reason the screws in your Japanese made stuff seem to strip so easy.
I completely forgot about these until you mentioned them (haven't had the need since I restored my honda SL70 a few years ago). I just purchased 2 nice vessel megadora sets this morning
Quoted from RandyW:This isn’t the worst one I have seen recently.... but it sure makes working on and playing it... interesting. The owner refuses to let me put feet on it though. Makes it easy to move and impossible to level.
[quoted image]
I guess if you had a junk set of legs you could use them as a Pinskate alternative...
Quoted from RandyW:The owner refuses to let me put feet on it though
Why wouldn’t he the wheels make it much easier to slide save without scratching the floor.
Quoted from chad:Using a rubber band that has since deteriorated as a credit up device. Connected to the reject button.
And the bubble gum? 
pasted_image (resized).pngI dunno... That's pretty clever if you ask me! And they didn't drill a hole in the door for a push button! Double bonus!
Quoted from chad:Using a rubber band that has since deteriorated as a credit up device. Connected to the reject button.
[quoted image][quoted image]
Should probably just fix rubber band break with small piece of duct tape....or some dollar store plasticy electrical tape.
Quoted from RandyW:I dunno... That's pretty clever if you ask me! And they didn't drill a hole in the door for a push button! Double bonus!
Looks like it was simpler, just far less durable, than my hack of a couple zip-ties and a microswitch attached to the coin mech.
Richard
just an easy means to identify one of the keys in particular? (since they all look to be the same brand
I just made one nice credit display for a Pinbot out of two complete hack jobs. The first picture is a board with a brand new display glass that someone had trouble installing properly. It actually worked but was just awful. I had previously picked up a bad credit display with the nipple broken off the back and one of the worst solder jobs I've ever seen. There are so many obvious shorts the person soldering must have had extremely poor eyesight or just didn't have a clue.
I was able to clean off all the excess solder and transfer over the nice display to the board with intact traces and ended up with one nice display.
20200308_123434 (resized).jpg20200308_123446 (resized).jpg20200308_123504 (resized).jpgQuoted from Robotworkshop:I just made one nice credit display for a Pinbot out of two complete hack jobs. The first picture is a board with a brand new display glass that someone had trouble installing properly. It actually worked but was just awful. I had previously picked up a bad credit display with the nipple broken off the back and one of the worst solder jobs I've ever seen. There are so many obvious shorts the person soldering must have had extremely poor eyesight or just didn't have a clue.
I was able to clean off all the excess solder and transfer over the nice display to the board with intact traces and ended up with one nice display.[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
These are the jobs I enjoy doing the most. Taking a massive stinking turd and turning it into something polished and better than new. It really soothes my OCD seeing the before and after of a job well done.
Heres a few recent ones I've came across. I never knew there was a thread for this. Ha.
Screenshot_20200317-093930_Gallery (resized).jpgScreenshot_20200317-093948_Gallery (resized).jpgScreenshot_20200317-094711_Gallery (resized).jpgScreenshot_20200317-094632_Gallery (resized).jpgScreenshot_20200317-094523_Gallery (resized).jpgScreenshot_20200317-094156_Gallery (resized).jpgScreenshot_20200317-094222_Gallery (resized).jpgScreenshot_20200317-095030_Gallery (resized).jpgQuoted from NinJaBooT:Someone used a trunk popper assembly or something as the right flipper coil. I was quite surprised how well it worked.
That right there is effing genius. I'd have been tempted to leave it in. Not even any coil stops to worry about!
Quoted from beepnutz:Anheuser Busch beer cap nut on flipper button with custom switch and wiring, just replaced this one tonight, perfect timing for this post. Funny thing is it worked just fine.
Bob
[quoted image]
I see that beer cap hack and instantly start singing “Real American Heroes” from the Bud Light commercials
Quoted from goingincirclez:That right there is effing genius. I'd have been tempted to leave it in. Not even any coil stops to worry about!
And No pesky E.O.S. switch either. 
Zeist
Working as a volunteer in a pinball repair shop; some encounters with creative repairs…...
A repaired coil stop with some help from an Allen bolt....
Notice the cracks in the crappy "enforced" Suzo coilstops. I do not recommend to use these "extra strong" coilstops.
Classic Bally / Stern rectifierboards could have a thread on their own….this one I met in a Flight 2000.....
Marco
Quoted from RandyW:How’s this for a way to deal with credits? The quarters fall into these funnels and then onto a basket on the floor.
Ah! The original implementation of free play! 
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