(Topic ID: 28788)

Worst hack/repair you ever saw.

By mcclad

11 years ago


Topic Heartbeat

Topic Stats

  • 4,635 posts
  • 731 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 6 days ago by jibmums
  • Topic is favorited by 312 Pinsiders

You

Linked Games

No games have been linked to this topic.

    Topic Gallery

    View topic image gallery

    100_3463 (resized).JPG
    IMG_20240321_181347 (resized).jpg
    IMG_20240321_180554 (resized).jpg
    68714440943__356B9A98-CA54-4C2A-A85D-8E5C24E9F1AA (resized).jpeg
    68714440123__30A6C9F0-7A87-4D13-882F-CC6C530664AA (resized).jpeg
    362393458_1478280539605169_7357000172916421133_n (resized).jpg
    20240316_180228[1] (resized).jpg
    IMG_0602 (resized).jpeg
    IMG_0603 (resized).jpeg
    20240307_145101 (resized).jpg
    20240303_172813 (resized).jpg
    20240219_201720 (resized).jpg
    20170518_080740.jpeg
    20240226_162953 (resized).jpg
    received_922481939573164 (resized).jpeg
    IMG_2329 (resized).JPG

    There are 4,635 posts in this topic. You are on page 65 of 93.
    #3201 2 years ago
    Quoted from Billc479:

    Used a special heat gun to ensure complete solder melt

    I forgot about that special heat gun. We had those, too.

    #3202 2 years ago
    Quoted from ForceFlow:

    This is something like what I do when I need to splice two wires together (referred to as a lineman's splice), although, I don't pre-tin, use quite so many wire turns on the ends or quite as much wire length since the wires are not load bearing. I use just enough to physically hold them together, then solder, then cover the joint with heatshrink. That way, the splice is secure and there's no chance of it breaking, unlike with a butt connector.

    Been soldering for 45 years starting with model railroads and this is the only method I've ever used.

    #3203 2 years ago
    Quoted from robertmee:

    Been soldering for 45 years starting with model railroads and this is the only method I've ever used.

    Seems like overkill for the vast majority of pin soldering, but I bet you will NEVER have a solder joint come loose when using this method.

    #3204 2 years ago

    It's a pretty fail-proof method! The only issue I ever have, is remembering to slip the @#&^@ heat shrink on the wire (or having the appropriate size on hand) *before* soldering the ends together.

    So sadly, most of my joints end up with an electrical tape wrap which isn't quite as pretty as heat shrink. But done properly, they are just as fail-proof. And sometimes tape has its own advantages too (easily color coded; easily bundled; easily removed).

    Quoted from robertmee:

    Been soldering for 45 years starting with model railroads and this is the only method I've ever used.

    Upvoted for the model RR learning lab: same way I learned most of what I do

    #3205 2 years ago

    Almost anything is better than butt splices.... they just don't last. I've bought cars that have had a succession of stereos and alarms installed and every one of them had bad splices in the wires you would expect to use for those items. At work an outside contractor used them on our equipment about 3 years ago (we are not allowed to use regular butt splices at all) - we are now seeing a lot of failures in the harness work they did. I've been repairing them with heat shrink and solder with the lineman's splice. I would use the marine connector with the heat gun setup but for 2 reasons: We don't have anyway to power the heat shrink gun where the equipment is (no power.... so I use a cordless soldering iron to solder there) and the far more important reason, work won't pay for the good stuff.

    Quoted from goingincirclez:

    And sometimes tape has its own advantages too (easily color coded; easily removed).

    Usually on its own!

    17
    #3206 2 years ago

    Example: Before and after....solder and heat shrink. After this bundle is zip tied together you don't even notice they were ever repaired!

    IMG_2265 (resized).JPGIMG_2265 (resized).JPGIMG_2271 (resized).JPGIMG_2271 (resized).JPG
    #3207 2 years ago
    Quoted from slochar:

    [electrical tape removes] Usually on its own!

    Yeah, there is definitely a proper method to using tape to prevent this. I usually stick the end of the tape "to itself" (adhesive to adhesive) at the actual joint, then wrap a few times to form a small barrel at the joint, then work it into a corkscrew wrap securing to the original wire insulation. There's a definitely "learned in the field" balance to form a wrap that's secure but not too thick. But the best thing I've found to keep electrical tape from unwrapping itself, is to use QUALITY tape! That generic unbranded crap just melts off for no reason and there's nothing worse than an exposed, gummy mess - you'd almost be better off using packing tape.

    (Speaking of: if stuck with "whatever on hand" and thus in doubt, I'm not above wrapping electrical tape with a final packing tape seal to guarantee it doesn't come off. *THIS IS UGLY AND EMBARRASSING but when FUNCTION takes precedent and there are no better options available, it's better than nothing (or a questionably durable tape seal) at all*)

    #3208 2 years ago

    Even with good tape it still unwraps.... probably from all the flexing. If I need to leave it on/use it I'll do what you said make it long and then put a wire tie on the ends of the tape to keep it in place. I've done that with heat shrink too when I was too lazy to get the heat gun out (not at work though, usually just some kind of bench harness)

    When I moved into my current house the previous owner's electrical work was extremely questionable - I guess he missed the part of the NEC where you can't overstuff junction boxes. All of them were overstuffed and all the wire nuts were reenforced with cheap tape, most of which had melted into goo. So you know those boxes were getting hot hot hot.

    He buried a lot of those cheap 'handy boxes' in the walls too, that could barely fit a switch or outlet, and managed to stuff extra connections in there, too.

    #3209 2 years ago
    Quoted from goingincirclez:

    It's a pretty fail-proof method! The only issue I ever have, is remembering to slip the @#&^@ heat shrink on the wire (or having the appropriate size on hand) *before* soldering the ends together.
    So sadly, most of my joints end up with an electrical tape wrap which isn't quite as pretty as heat shrink. But done properly, they are just as fail-proof. And sometimes tape has its own advantages too (easily color coded; easily bundled; easily removed).

    Upvoted for the model RR learning lab: same way I learned most of what I do

    This reminds me of the time I had to splice two (long) pieces of cable together but accidentally spliced both ends of the same piece to each other, creating a loop

    #3210 2 years ago
    Quoted from JethroP:

    Example: Before and after....solder and heat shrink. After this bundle is zip tied together you don't even notice they were ever repaired!
    [quoted image][quoted image]

    applause2.gifapplause2.gif

    #3211 2 years ago

    Curious what you guys think of this... lil RS fan soldered to TP3, TP5.
    fh1 (resized).jpgfh1 (resized).jpgfh2 (resized).jpgfh2 (resized).jpg

    #3212 2 years ago
    Quoted from canea:

    Curious what you guys think of this... lil RS fan soldered to TP3, TP5.
    [quoted image][quoted image]

    Clever way to dissipate some heat.

    #3213 2 years ago

    A non scarring hack at least...

    20210628_114122 (resized).jpg20210628_114122 (resized).jpg
    #3214 2 years ago
    Quoted from chad:

    A non scarring hack at least...
    [quoted image]

    That's where my 1/2" PVC coupling landed...

    #3215 2 years ago
    Quoted from canea:

    Curious what you guys think of this... lil RS fan soldered to TP3, TP5.
    [quoted image][quoted image]

    I wonder if there were actually problems that this was attempting to "fix" or if someone felt the heatsink and thought that it shouldn't be hot and just put a fan on for no good reason?

    #3216 2 years ago

    At first I thought this was because they ran out of solder. I think the coil extends so far out it hits the back panel

    DD98F4AB-291A-481B-8620-9A4E7E98A726 (resized).jpegDD98F4AB-291A-481B-8620-9A4E7E98A726 (resized).jpegE5394A29-2281-44E9-B079-86E299A19705 (resized).jpegE5394A29-2281-44E9-B079-86E299A19705 (resized).jpeg
    #3217 2 years ago
    Quoted from canea:

    Curious what you guys think of this... lil RS fan soldered to TP3, TP5.
    [quoted image][quoted image]

    I've seen that a few times.

    #3218 2 years ago

    probably a REALLY good way to get all kinds of dust and crud in there...heat sinks are usually meant to be passive, no?

    #3219 2 years ago
    Quoted from Grandnational007:

    probably a REALLY good way to get all kinds of dust and crud in there...heat sinks are usually meant to be passive, no?

    No doubt companies can cut corners on the size of a heatsink and things might be running on the hot side - especially the old linear power supplies. I actually think that was a pretty good idea. Not sure how they implemented it, but moving air across a heat sink is a good thing.

    Probably didn't make much of a difference w/dirt since it wasn't drawing in air - just moving it around.

    #3220 2 years ago
    Quoted from mbwalker:

    No doubt companies can cut corners on the size of a heatsink and things might be running on the hot side - especially the old linear power supplies. I actually think that was a pretty good idea. Not sure how they implemented it, but moving air across a heat sink is a good thing.
    Probably didn't make much of a difference w/dirt since it wasn't drawing in air - just moving it around.

    My friend has some cooling fans made by a Pinside Mod shop that are mounted at the flipper coils to cool them down. He said it has helped with performance as the coils were getting very hot and would lose power. I think it was for his Stranger Things pin.

    A fan, maybe necessary, maybe not, can't hurt anything.

    #3221 2 years ago
    Quoted from JethroP:

    Example: Before and after....solder and heat shrink. After this bundle is zip tied together you don't even notice they were ever repaired!
    [quoted image][quoted image]

    With that many wires, would a better alternative be to just pin them and make a Molex connection?

    #3222 2 years ago
    Quoted from pinzrfun:

    With that many wires, would a better alternative be to just pin them and make a Molex connection?

    The wires are crosscut and not staggered. You would have a huge ball of Molex connectors all bunched up.

    #3223 2 years ago
    Quoted from mbwalker:

    I actually think that was a pretty good idea. Not sure how they implemented it, but moving air across a heat sink is a good thing.

    Looks like the consensus is that the little fan that could should keep on truckin'.

    #3224 2 years ago
    Quoted from canea:

    Looks like the consensus is that the little fan that could should keep on truckin'.

    Choice #1: Hot (or very very warm) heatsink

    Choice 2: Not so hot heatsink because of a fan

    I vote #2!

    #3225 2 years ago

    Please excuse my ignorance, but we did not need fans to cool flipper coils in the '90s. It was just fine. Why do we need them now? Not being a smartass, BTW.

    #3226 2 years ago
    Quoted from FlippinJB:

    Please excuse my ignorance, but we did not need fans to cool flipper coils in the '90s. It was just fine. Why do we need them now? Not being a smartass, BTW.

    Many games like Segas do heat up quickly when playing long games. It seems to be caused by using single wound coils instead of dual wound, or adding big filter caps to the power supplies. WPC don't have the issue that much but any manufacturer that doesn't recreate the exact systems that williams used tends to have issues or weak flippers

    #3227 2 years ago

    I have heard of cooling fans as a mod for Lord of the Rings flipper coils losing power due to heat brought on by long ball times

    #3228 2 years ago
    Quoted from TecumsehPlissken:

    I have heard of cooling fans as a mod for Lord of the Rings flipper coils losing power due to heat brought on by long ball times

    .....errrr......no......brought on by POOR DESIGN in the first place! Let's place the blame fair and square where it belongs.

    #3229 2 years ago
    Quoted from chad:

    A non scarring hack at least...
    [quoted image]

    Would this be considered a "hack" for that pf? (Cut down version mounted to my garage ceiling)

    20210630_212354.jpg20210630_212354.jpg
    #3230 2 years ago
    Quoted from pins4u:

    ..brought on by POOR DESIGN in the first place! Let's place the blame fair and square where it belongs

    Easily fixed without any need for fans.

    https://www.pinballlife.com/lotr-special-flipper-coil-090-5020-2ot.html

    Single wind flipper coils get hotter than dual wound coils, but I don't recall having a problem on any recent titles. On LOTR, you eventually couldn't make the middle ring (ramp) shot. It was painfully obvious the flipper weren't strong enough. I haven't seen any single title since then that has shown the same symptom. Even with the recent weak-ass default flipper power on JJP games, you can still at least barely make all the shots.

    tl;dr if you can make all the shots in your game after playing for 30 minutes or more, you don't need fans

    #3231 2 years ago
    Quoted from chad:

    A non scarring hack at least...

    I've seen that a few times. Usually dad sheepishly explains he did it for the kids.

    As long as there's evidence of kids in the house, I say no prob. Then I clean or replace the ring. I also offer to upgrade rubber bands blocking outlanes to actual rubber rings. They're usually down for that sweet (and cheap) upgrade.

    #3232 2 years ago

    Even those coils get hot after a long game and lose power...

    #3233 2 years ago
    Quoted from zacaj:

    Even those coils get hot after a long game and lose power...

    I've played at least three games with them and haven't felt fade. You have to jack up the game to 7 degrees for them to play right. Actually too strong at 6.5 degrees. Will break all the little toys on the playfield either way, but way more fun to play with the strong coils.

    I put the same coils in my Ripley's (also at 7 degrees, lower flippers only) and never felt fade. They're about the strongest single wind flipper coils available.

    #3234 2 years ago
    Quoted from Irishbastard:

    Would this be considered a "hack" for that pf? (Cut down version mounted to my garage ceiling)
    [quoted image]

    Oh my , it's the cocktail version...

    #3235 2 years ago
    Quoted from chad:

    Oh my , it's the cocktail version...

    Ha, yup. I bought out an old OP years ago, this of was leaning against a wall in his basement, in 6" of water. Had rotted and was covered in black mold, saved what I could. Saved my Gorgar from that basement, it had lost a few inches off the legs from sitting in water for years, but otherwise was in great shape.

    #3236 2 years ago

    Eightball deluxe socket repair for backglass lamp

    16251942534338609019629645112965 (resized).jpg16251942534338609019629645112965 (resized).jpg
    #3237 2 years ago
    Quoted from pinballplusMN:

    Eightball deluxe socket repair for backglass lamp
    [quoted image]

    We did that all the time on the routes. Sometimes directly solder the wires to the pins. Usually ty-wrap the tube in place too.

    #3238 2 years ago
    Quoted from MrBally:

    We did that all the time on the routes. Sometimes directly solder the wires to the pins. Usually ty-wrap the tube in place too.

    I'm starting to think of you on-the-road pinball repair guys are more like old farmers using old baling wire to "fix" everything.

    Actually, I am amazed at some of the creative fixes/cheap fixes that have been posted here. Amazing, the ability to cobble together something that can "keep the old girl on the floor to drag in more coins for a little while longer."

    #3239 2 years ago
    Quoted from pinballplusMN:

    Eightball deluxe socket repair for backglass lamp
    [quoted image]

    Makes changing bulbs a little tedious

    #3240 2 years ago
    Quoted from Pin-Pilot:

    Makes changing bulbs a little tedious

    Those preheat tubes usually lasted a year or so. Most pins were rotated back through the shop where we had most parts in stock. We'd replace the broken socket as part of "shopping" the game to place at a different location.

    11
    #3241 2 years ago

    WORLD CUP SOCCER had an error code for a fuse....

    Yep we found a 3 Amp fuse blown, upon close inspection of the other fuses....
    A 7 Amp fuse piggy backed to a slow blow
    A 5 Amp fuse blown and repaired with a piece of wire soldered across it.
    Yes, these two were in the 3 Amp sockets

    F1 (resized).jpgF1 (resized).jpgF2 (resized).jpgF2 (resized).jpgF3 (resized).jpgF3 (resized).jpg
    10
    #3242 2 years ago
    Quoted from bob_e:

    WORLD CUP SOCCER had an error code for a fuse....
    Yep we found a 3 Amp fuse blown, upon close inspection of the other fuses....
    A 7 Amp fuse piggy backed to a slow blow
    A 5 Amp fuse blown and repaired with a piece of wire soldered across it.
    Yes, these two were in the 3 Amp sockets
    [quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

    Surprising amount of work when a screw or a nail would have also worked.... lol.

    1 month later
    #3243 2 years ago
    Quoted from koen12344:

    from a Road Show project i'll soon be working on
    [quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

    Quoted from PinJim:

    Wow, wonder if there’s any saving that board...

    Quoted from koen12344:

    Remember the hacked up Road Show I posted a while a go? Starting to work on it and looks like I have more detective work ahead of me.
    [quoted image]

    While admittedly it does not yet work, it cleaned up pretty well. Lots of broken traces and eyelets. Still WIP!
    DSC_0010 (resized).JPGDSC_0010 (resized).JPGDSC_1131 (resized).JPGDSC_1131 (resized).JPGDSC_1130 (resized).JPGDSC_1130 (resized).JPGDSC_1133 (resized).JPGDSC_1133 (resized).JPGDSC_0013 (resized).JPGDSC_0013 (resized).JPG

    1 week later
    13
    #3244 2 years ago

    Resourcefully Brilliant

    20210819_090541[1] (resized).jpg20210819_090541[1] (resized).jpg
    #3245 2 years ago
    Quoted from TecumsehPlissken:

    Resourcefully Brilliant
    [quoted image]

    Mine had exactly the same fix...easy and quick solution

    #3246 2 years ago

    I've seen that too. Those factory welds are really weak

    #3247 2 years ago
    Quoted from koen12344:

    I've seen that too. Those factory welds are really weak

    Mine had numerous tie wraps on it as well.

    #3248 2 years ago

    Operator took time to replace coil,eos switch. To compensate for slop in worn link a rubber ring was used.

    20210820_145918 (resized).jpg20210820_145918 (resized).jpg

    3 weeks later
    18
    #3249 2 years ago
    324AA7FC-3D3D-491A-86E8-D152EDEB206B (resized).jpeg324AA7FC-3D3D-491A-86E8-D152EDEB206B (resized).jpeg
    #3250 2 years ago
    Quoted from EJS:

    [quoted image]

    In that location and it's not a Stern machine....

    There are 4,635 posts in this topic. You are on page 65 of 93.

    Reply

    Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.

    Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!

    Donate to Pinside

    Great to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!


    This page was printed from https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/worst-hackrepair-you-ever-saw/page/65 and we tried optimising it for printing. Some page elements may have been deliberately hidden.

    Scan the QR code on the left to jump to the URL this document was printed from.