(Topic ID: 28788)

Worst hack/repair you ever saw.

By mcclad

11 years ago


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  • 4,635 posts
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  • Latest reply 7 days ago by jibmums
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    There are 4,635 posts in this topic. You are on page 66 of 93.
    #3251 2 years ago

    Badly installed, wrong wattage, wrong resistance, now open....
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    10
    #3252 2 years ago

    I picked up a Stern trident, and couldn't remove the head. I wonder where that connector went to...

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    #3253 2 years ago

    I see a lot of pins that don't use solder, but instead use tape or just tie a resistor in line and taped to the wire.

    #3254 2 years ago
    Quoted from JadedHesher:

    I see a lot of pins that don't use solder, but instead use tape or just tie a resistor in line and taped to the wire.

    Solder is for noobs.

    Duct tape and paperclips are holing the entire american infrastructure up.

    18
    #3255 2 years ago

    Found on a Bally Space Invaders. That is a use for a protoboard that I wouldn't have expected. Two pieces of circuit board stacked to make a link.

    Custom_Link (resized).jpgCustom_Link (resized).jpg
    #3256 2 years ago
    Quoted from Robotworkshop:

    Found on a Bally Space Invaders. That is a use for a protoboard that I wouldn't have expected. Two pieces of circuit board stacked to make a link.
    [quoted image]

    Bakelite's Bakelite. And the holes make it easy to custom shape with just a coping saw. Yes, I carried one, and a Hacksaw in my auxiliary tools in a Stroh's heavy cardboard beer case.

    #3257 2 years ago
    Quoted from pinballinreno:

    Duct tape and paperclips are holing the entire american infrastructure up.

    At a previous job we had a ton of Toshiba laptops that would work ok for a while and then just wouldn't charge. Got tired of sending them out where they would just put in an even more f'd up motherboard in them so I took a look - the solder was cracking on the power input.

    So, resoldered and re-inforced with.... a bent paper clip. It worked great to beef up the area.

    #3258 2 years ago
    Quoted from MrBally:

    Bakelite's Bakelite. And the holes make it easy to custom shape with just a coping saw. Yes, I carried one, and a Hacksaw in my auxiliary tools in a Stroh's heavy cardboard beer case.

    The ingenuity I see in some of these "hacks" that you OP boys cooked up to keep a machine earning has always impressed me.

    It might be related to my time spent on my grandparents farm. Money was tight. You figured out a way to fix something. Sometimes it was indeed a piece of baling wire that did the trick.

    #3259 2 years ago
    Quoted from cottonm4:

    The ingenuity I see in some of these "hacks" that you OP boys cooked up to keep a machine earning has always impressed me.
    It might be related to my time spent on my grandparents farm. Money was tight. You figured out a way to fix something. Sometimes it was indeed a piece of baling wire that did the trick.

    As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention.

    Example: Homemade tractor from the WWII era.

    #3260 2 years ago

    Not Pinball but my Asteroids Deluxe, I did the right thing and replaced it with a fluorescent light fixture.

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    #3261 2 years ago

    half the coils in this game were covered in hot glue and grease. Seen the grease before, but hot glue is a new one for me.
    Besides the plastic being melted a little from a soldering iron (I think), there wasn't much wrong with the coils themselves... so I'm not exactly sure why.

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    #3262 2 years ago
    Quoted from hocuslocus:

    half the coils in this game were covered in hot glue and grease. Seen the grease before, but hot glue is a new one for me.
    Besides the plastic being melted a little from a soldering iron (I think), there wasn't much wrong with the coils themselves... so I'm not exactly sure why.
    [quoted image][quoted image]

    The hot glue minimized the wire harness wires, Wire eyes and the solenoid windings from breaking off of the coil wire eyes. The small movement of the coil, when energized, took a toll on this stuff. Driving out to Bel-Mark lanes on a snowy Sunday night when I was on-call, to solder a wire onto a Flipper Coil, sucked hind tit. 38 miles each way.

    #3263 2 years ago
    Quoted from MrBally:

    The hot glue minimized the wire harness wires, Wire eyes and the solenoid windings from breaking off of the coil wire eyes. The small movement of the coil, when energized, took a toll on this stuff. Driving out to Bel-Mark lanes on a snowy Sunday night when I was on-call, to solder a wire onto a Flipper Coil, sucked hind tit. 38 miles each way.

    I've seen the hot glue thing too. Seems unnecessary to me.

    #3264 2 years ago
    Quoted from MrBally:

    The hot glue minimized the wire harness wires, Wire eyes and the solenoid windings from breaking off of the coil wire eyes. The small movement of the coil, when energized, took a toll on this stuff. Driving out to Bel-Mark lanes on a snowy Sunday night when I was on-call, to solder a wire onto a Flipper Coil, sucked hind tit. 38 miles each way.

    Quoted from Mad_Dog_Coin_Op:

    I've seen the hot glue thing too. Seems unnecessary to me.

    I've never seen this before but it makes sense.
    Seen way to many coils where a wire on one of the windings does break at the eyes like MrBally said.
    It's like when WMS started turning the flipper coils around so the leads ere closer to the plunger instead of the coil stop. Less movement at the lugs less breakage.

    #3265 2 years ago

    Not Pinball but a real doozy. Just saw this on the VillageBBS this morning.

    DK hack (resized).jpgDK hack (resized).jpg
    #3266 2 years ago
    Quoted from TecumsehPlissken:

    Not Pinball but a real doozy. Just saw this on the VillageBBS this morning.
    [quoted image]

    Makes sense I guess. Someone didn't have Money to do proper work.

    #3267 2 years ago

    Someone else didn’t know about connectors

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    #3268 2 years ago
    Quoted from trilogybeer:

    Someone else didn’t know about connectors
    [quoted image][quoted image]

    Hate to think what people like that do when they need to remove power to their T.V.

    #3269 2 years ago
    Quoted from hocuslocus:

    half the coils in this game were covered in hot glue and grease. Seen the grease before, but hot glue is a new one for me.
    Besides the plastic being melted a little from a soldering iron (I think), there wasn't much wrong with the coils themselves... so I'm not exactly sure why.
    [quoted image][quoted image]

    Guarantee they covered them in glue as to "silence" them. There's people out there overly obsessed with the fact that flippers sometimes buzz. One method to "fix" it would be to add cushion to the coil stop. In this case someone took it to the next level.

    #3270 2 years ago

    Figured I'd post a hack that may show up in the future
    Ngg pinball. Shaft was unavailable. So made a repair using jb weld and a shell casing

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    #3271 2 years ago

    No one likes a "rack" hack even though this 1980 sticker is covering up nice artwork it's still better than on the apron.

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    #3272 2 years ago
    Quoted from pinballplusMN:

    and a shell casing

    Was 45 ACP fits like a glove. I have closer pic on OT gun thread awhile back I think.

    #3273 2 years ago
    Quoted from pinballplusMN:

    No one likes a "rack" hack even though this 1980 sticker is covering up nice artwork it's still better than on the apron.
    [quoted image]

    A hair dryer may provide enough heat to loosen the 40 year old sticker glue. Then keep on cleaning it up.

    #3274 2 years ago

    I was able to remove metallic 25c stickers off an apron with WD-40 . Maybe WD will work on your sticker. Soak a pad of paper towel or thin cardboard with WD and put it on the sticker to seep in for a while.

    #3275 2 years ago
    Quoted from pinballplusMN:

    No one likes a "rack" hack even though this 1980 sticker is covering up nice artwork it's still better than on the apron.
    [quoted image]

    For context, here is the plastic without the rack hack

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    #3276 2 years ago

    Here's my version....

    #3277 2 years ago
    Quoted from JethroP:

    Here's my version....
    [quoted image]

    A couple of years ago someone posted a pic of a Chicago Coin Stampede back glass and the boobs had been completely scraped off into a large rectangle of a window and a bunch of bible verses had been taped to the glass for your reading edification.

    It was bizarre. I wish I had grabbed a copy of that pic.

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    20
    #3278 2 years ago
    Quoted from cottonm4:

    A couple of years ago someone posted a pic of a Chicago Coin Stampede back glass and the boobs had been completely scraped off into a large rectangle of a window and a bunch of bible verses had been taped to the glass for your reading edification.
    It was bizarre. I wish I had grabbed a copy of that pic.
    [quoted image]

    I remember that haha, had to go back and find it

    https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stampede-the-ten-commandments-version-no-more-boobs

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    #3280 2 years ago

    Simpsons drop target assy. using Gottlieb drop targets.

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    #3281 2 years ago

    I find a lot of these more ingenious than anything.
    No replacement ribbon switch available for a Riverboat Gambler? No problem!
    I'm not so sure about the speaker wire though.
    New holes were drilled very accurately to line up with the buttons.
    Underneath, I've installed the correct ribbon switch.

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    #3282 2 years ago
    Quoted from Markharris2000:

    For context, here is the plastic without the rack hack[quoted image]

    That girl gets around! Compare to EBD -

    8 ball (resized).jpg8 ball (resized).jpgEBD (resized).PNGEBD (resized).PNG
    #3284 2 years ago
    Quoted from pinzrfun:

    That girl gets around! Compare to EBD -
    [quoted image][quoted image]

    Pinball companies were great with figuring out what was hot in society and bringing it to pinball, a la Bally's Dolly in 1979 that followed Dolly's TV show in 1976-77.

    I never picked up on this before. I recognize that EBD girl.

    I can't find her picture right now, but this will do.

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    Unknown (resized).jpegUnknown (resized).jpeg

    The movie Unban Cowboy was in theaters in June 1980.

    And EBD was on the floor less than a year later in April 1991.

    And everybody had their cowboy hats and boots and rode the mechanical bull.

    #3285 2 years ago
    Quoted from cottonm4:

    The movie Unban Cowboy was in theaters in June 1980.

    And EBD was on the floor less than a year later in April 1991.

    Rip Van Winkle.

    #3286 2 years ago
    Quoted from cottonm4:

    The movie Unban Cowboy was in theaters in June 1980.
    And EBD was on the floor less than a year later in April 1991.
    And everybody had their cowboy hats and boots and rode the mechanical bull.

    I like a lot of the similar but not copied themes if they're done well. F-14 Tomcat was obviously similar to, but not the same as, Top Gun.

    The alien depicted on Bally's Space Invaders pinball is a pretty obvious copy of H.R. Giger's Alien creature from the film. For that reason, plus being slow and boring, I dislike that pin.

    #3287 2 years ago

    I will admit this one is one I did. When I got the board, the heat sink was missing over the bridge rectifiers. I had a bunch of heat sinks left over from replacing old 5v regulators, so I decided to repurpose a couple for the rectifiers. It’s not pretty, but it works.

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    #3288 2 years ago
    Quoted from uncivil_engineer:

    I will admit this one is one I did. When I got the board, the heat sink was missing over the bridge rectifiers. I had a bunch of heat sinks left over from replacing old 5v regulators, so I decided to repurpose a couple for the rectifiers. It’s not pretty, but it works.
    [quoted image]

    You should post this in the "Best Hacks and Repairs" post. I don't see any issues with that at all. And if anything, its going to relieve some thermal stress from the adjoining bridge when one heats up more than the other.

    #3289 2 years ago
    Quoted from uncivil_engineer:

    I will admit this one is one I did. When I got the board, the heat sink was missing over the bridge rectifiers. I had a bunch of heat sinks left over from replacing old 5v regulators, so I decided to repurpose a couple for the rectifiers. It’s not pretty, but it works.
    [quoted image]

    If you're trying to post a bad hack, you're failing. Cant see anything wrong there.

    #3290 2 years ago

    Wow, I've not seen one of these before, did you put that one in?

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    #3291 2 years ago
    Quoted from Atari_Daze:

    Wow, I've not seen one of these before, did you put that one in?[quoted image]

    https://www.ezsbc.com/product/psu5-nonoise/

    #3292 2 years ago
    Quoted from Atari_Daze:

    Wow, I've not seen one of these before, did you put that one in?[quoted image]

    Yes I did. That is a switching 5v regulator from https://www.ezsbc.com/product/psu5/
    Every time I come a cross a WPC driver board with low 5 volts, I replace the regulator with one of these and the caps. It works about 90% of the time.

    #3293 2 years ago

    Been a couple of years since I actually worked on a machine, thanks ForceFlow, I'm going to have to bookmark that one!

    #3294 2 years ago
    Quoted from uncivil_engineer:

    Yes I did. That is a switching 5v regulator from https://www.ezsbc.com/product/psu5/
    Every time I come a cross a WPC driver board with low 5 volts, I replace the regulator with one of these and the caps. It works about 90% of the time.

    Yep. I have a ritual. Every time I encounter a 5V issue, I throw in a Kahr board, order the connectors and pins and an ezsbc (although I usually keep a couple on hand). Kahr works until I repin the 5 and 12V connectors, replace the caps and install the ezsbc. Then off comes the Kahr.

    23
    #3295 2 years ago

    Produce rubber bands for flipper rubbers.

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    24
    #3296 2 years ago
    Quoted from AJGross:

    Produce rubber bands for flipper rubbers.
    [quoted image]

    Would be ok if they were banana flippers...

    #3297 2 years ago
    Quoted from ajfclark:

    Would be ok if they were banana flippers...

    Nice one!!

    #3298 2 years ago

    I looked it up. Produce code 4060 is broccoli, not bananas. So someone had broccoli for dinner and decided to use the bands for their flippers. This thread continues to amaze me. Just when I think I’ve seen it all…

    #3299 2 years ago
    Quoted from kevmad:

    I looked it up. Produce code 4060 is broccoli, not bananas. So someone had broccoli for dinner and decided to use the bands for their flippers. This thread continues to amaze me. Just when I think I’ve seen it all…

    Another money-saving idea for the 3" Flipper games at PHoF; More money for charity and to pay the loan!

    At least use them for the rebound rubber on the top playfield arch. Why waste a proper Flipper rubber.

    #3300 2 years ago

    That's almost a perfect hack. Notice how they aligned the text on each 'rubber'. The R in produce is at the tip of both flippers. That didn't happen by coincidence.

    Unfortunately major deductions for not pushing the left 'rubber' down far enough and the right 'rubber' is installed with the text upsidedown. Nice try.

    There are 4,635 posts in this topic. You are on page 66 of 93.

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