(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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    You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider thedefog.
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    #154 9 years ago
    Quoted from Flippingr8:

    Nascar I/O board - sad hack.

    HO-LY SHIT. It looks like someone vomited on the board, then dripped solder on top of it and took a blowtorch to it.

    #160 9 years ago

    The axial cap with no label on it is a nice touch too. What's polarity?

    #162 9 years ago

    This came from my comet project. Not a terrible hack job, but seems like more work than it would have been worth to just get the correct display glass/PCB to replace with. From the back of a matching display.
    IMG_6265.JPGIMG_6265.JPG

    3 weeks later
    -1
    #233 9 years ago
    Quoted from stangbat:

    It does work like that, that is now a 20A fuse. And ugly one, but 20A nonetheless.

    I dunno about that. Ohm's law and inconsistencies with wire lengths would say it will default to one of those fuses with the load not evenly split. Now I'm curious enough to try it later, hahaha. It is probably one of those things where it would sorta kinda work, but not quite.

    #236 9 years ago
    Quoted from calvin12:

    These are in parallel so the resistance is 1/t=1/r+1/r.. so 1/5+1/5+1/5+1/5. This is a 1.25A resistor pack. In series this would be a 20A fuse.

    But fuses don't work like resistors. It is the thickness of the wire/heat/amperage that determines the blowing point. Running in series doesn't give you a 20A fuse, it'll just give you a really long 5A fuse.

    14
    #238 9 years ago

    nerd_fight_tex-100000258-large.jpgnerd_fight_tex-100000258-large.jpg

    #245 9 years ago
    Quoted from jmountjoy111:

    I love how both of those hacked up playfields with drywall screws and nails in them are sporting some nice LED lights lol.

    They've been "shopped out".

    Enough of that though.

    #258 9 years ago
    Quoted from stangbat:

    I'll be the first to admit I don't know everything. I also admit I learned something here. After all this arguing and typing, the end result is that we actually agree!

    So does this mean the nerd fight is over?
    I was hoping for a pocket protector to be ripped at least...

    2 weeks later
    #302 9 years ago

    Those bells are ridiculous. Radioshack was in existence then. A single push-button momentary switch would be much easier to find and cheaper.

    1 month later
    #347 9 years ago
    Quoted from barakandl:

    20150113_214917.jpg 335 KB

    My brain hurts

    2 months later
    #357 9 years ago
    Quoted from GPS:

    Don't Forget speaker wire. Very popular on boats as well.

    at least it isn't bare wire.

    #362 9 years ago
    Quoted from GPS:

    Very, good point!! Does dirty wire count as insulated??
    G

    firestarter.jpgfirestarter.jpg

    1 week later
    #374 8 years ago

    Id take a heat gun to that crap personally and go through that again. Pdobably was a victim of alkaline damage.

    1 week later
    #395 8 years ago

    These are from the laser war I restored. I wish I took pictures of the ramp that was held together by bumper stickers from the German arcade in which it resided.
    16844038295_e9c474514c_z.jpg16844038295_e9c474514c_z.jpg

    2 weeks later
    #410 8 years ago
    Quoted from reynolds531:

    Perhaps some intrepid soul is interested in buying this board? It might be collectable.
    Is there prize for this?

    How about we pass it around and try to actually repair it properly? Whoever can get it working becomes immortalized as the Pinside hack-repair guru.

    #419 8 years ago
    Quoted from reynolds531:

    Sounds like a good idea. Do I get the repaired board back?

    or course, it would be for fun.

    #422 8 years ago
    Quoted from reynolds531:

    Let me throw the proverbial gauntlet down to all of you board wizards/geniuses/gurus/artistes/experts. Any of you care to take a shot at repairing the worst hack ever? Untie the Gordian Knot of hacks! Think of the challenge! Think of the fun! Not mention the free advertising and accolades.

    IMG_0224.JPG (Click image to enlarge)

    Take a few more hi-res top side photos. I wanna see what happened to the top in better detail. I'm assuming this was alkaline damage.

    #427 8 years ago
    Quoted from vid1900:

    As long as you don't want the board back (in case I really f it up removing all that goo), I'll take a stab at it.
    I guess I really just want to see what's wrong with it that required so much BS, lol.

    Me too. I want to know the back story that would make someone go to those lengths.

    #437 8 years ago
    Quoted from ChrisHibler:

    There might be 10-12 hours of work there. Ouch!

    Just think about how many hours that hack took. Easily twice that, buzzing out all those bad traces and putting in jumpers for a botched socket job.

    #438 8 years ago

    I've got two sys11 boards that look pretty bad currently. Like 4-5 jumpers on each. I hate jumpers, the moment you add the first one is the moment you know it is an uphill battle. Jumpers multiply like rabbits.

    1 week later
    #443 8 years ago

    "IT WAS THE WORST HACK I EVER SAW!"

    #444 8 years ago
    Quoted from TecumsehPlissken:

    I wonder if any of the hacker's responsible ever come on to Pinside & recognize their handy work as featured here ? (THIS one of if not my #1 favorite thread on here)

    I'll own up to my early work if I ever come across it. It was limited to guitar FX pedals though, and most, if not all the stuff I built as finished is still working, decade + later. So not too much hacky stuff... But we all have (had) our moments.

    1 week later
    #459 8 years ago
    Quoted from balzofsteel:

    Williams Soccer.
    IMG_0070.jpg (Click image to enlarge)
    Half of the score reel coils were smoked, as was the score motor. I'm sure I'll find more.

    Williams Smoker HFE (House Fire Edition).

    #461 8 years ago
    Quoted from ForceFlow:

    Looks like someone is flipping that transformer. It's now listed for $130 on ebay by somebody else.
    $_57.JPG (Click image to enlarge)

    300px-AutoBerserk_OptimusPrime_closedeyes.jpg300px-AutoBerserk_OptimusPrime_closedeyes.jpg

    #465 8 years ago
    Quoted from Ralph67:

    Love this thread , Here one for you SDU out of a Stern Catacomb, Oh the horror!005.JPG (Click image to enlarge)004.JPG (Click image to enlarge)Catacomb Res 011.JPG (Click image to enlarge)

    Why not just drill holes in the PCB if you're gonna run caps in parallel in this case? This is hideous. Nothing wrong with running parallel caps. I prefer it when I build PSUs for my analog synth gear, and DE's PSUs do it in case of failure. It works out being cheaper too.

    9 months later
    #649 8 years ago
    Quoted from Minabluemerle:

    From a Fish Tales.

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    #654 8 years ago
    Quoted from balzofsteel:

    Somebody somewhere started a rumor to the effect that applying oily substances to old lamp sockets would magically restore the shrunken insulators and make the lamps shine brightly.
    How did it work out?

    You have to use Spermaceti oil though, mixed with ambergris and blubber from a seal killed by an Inuit.

    1 month later
    #716 7 years ago
    Quoted from ForceFlow:

    Just spotted this on ebay:

    s-l1600_(resized).jpgs-l1600_(1)_(resized).jpgs-l1600_(2)_(resized).jpg

    I like the blue PIA socket, nice touch. I think I have a sys11 at home that has this beat this though. I gotta take a picture of it for here. I think almost every IC was socketed, and it looks like someone used a clothes iron for soldering in spots. Probably 2 lbs of solder on the board. Oh, and some ICs were soldered into sockets. Yep...

    The plan was to slowly put like 30 mins here and there into it until it was at a point where it may actually boot, but then I found lifted traces under sockets.

    #718 7 years ago
    Quoted from arcademojo:

    One of my Galaxies had this in it. Actually both my Galaxies and my Meteor looks like this.

    IMG_2085_(resized).JPG

    Looks good to me! Just replace F4.

    #721 7 years ago
    Quoted from arcademojo:

    Naw, no need to buy a fuse. I'll just solder a jumper wire on the F4. They have a tendency to blow all the time.

    And for like no good reason either. Skip the soldering, just throw a nail in there and call it a day.

    #733 7 years ago
    Quoted from balzofsteel:

    I used to have an old Scout. I'm glad it didn't have electrical problems because the IHOP color code was kinda strange...
    18gauge wires green, 16ga brown, 14 blue and so on. There sure was a lot of green wire in that little rig.
    There were supposed to be printed numbers to identify individual wires but I only saw a couple that hadn't been washed or snipped off.

    e4396fe11ee314f9349aa3248e858b83db09e6ee_(resized).jpg

    This is Perkin's color code, even worse than IHOP color code.

    #739 7 years ago
    Quoted from balzofsteel:

    Went to an auction the other day. Games from the estate of a furniture lover. Not just one or two but a whole row of pins with the cabinets stripped and varnished. This guy even replaced all of the metal legs with wood bingo machine legs.
    misso_(resized).jpg
    Did get me a Miss-O for $60. The plastics and schematic were inside.

    This is pretty cool looking. Cool looking game too, neat layout. Nice $60 grab.

    #742 7 years ago

    Here is that toasty sys 11 I've talked about with the PIA soldered into a socket. Now that I look at it, it doesn't look as bad as some of the other hacks here, its just really stupid. And I swear this board weighs like 1 lbs more from all the solder. R81

    20160503_194741_(resized).jpg20160503_194741_(resized).jpg

    #744 7 years ago
    Quoted from barakandl:

    Ouch that poor MPU....

    To the credit of the hacker, the thing was destroyed by alkaline damage, so it was never going to work anyway. Not like they destroyed something potentially salvageable. Good board to practice on for them I guess. It was inside a sys11 game I picked up a couple years ago (along with another roached sys11 board I actually got working and a display driver that worked), so I don't know the back story.

    I dunno why I even kept it thinking I'd be able to save it. Now it sits on the shelf for laughs.

    #746 7 years ago

    Nice rectifier. Is it even soldered in? Looks like the leads are wrapped with mini barbed wire.

    3 months later
    #812 7 years ago
    Quoted from Fortytwo:

    Wire nuts. That's a dam luxury on a em I have wires just twisted and two taped not twisted.

    At least they taped them

    4 weeks later
    #828 7 years ago

    Brackets are for chumps. Just have a small child climb inside and hold the coil in place while you play.
    <--- Father of the year

    1 week later
    #832 7 years ago
    Quoted from Mk1Mod0:

    Oh, and heaven forbid we don't have the standard op fix of toothpicks for a key! Not a hack if it works, right?

    I like the toothpick idea. That way when you're done eating your wings while working on the game at the same time, you can pull one out and pick your teeth. And the grease makes it easier to insert the crimp connectors

    1 week later
    #845 7 years ago
    Quoted from lyonsden:

    Same board. Pull traces with heavy handed desoldering, bridge with lots of solder.

    I think I had that board at some point. That resistor array and the colored stripes on those transistors looks really familiar. I don't remember what became of it. I think it was something I didn't have time to mess with that got thrown up on eBay. One of the SYS11 boards that was inside a cab of a game I bought. Does it have a lot of IC sockets all over on it?

    2 months later
    #870 7 years ago
    Quoted from slag:

    ower board had an auto fuse holder soldered on with a 20A fuse.

    I've honestly wondered why pins didn't go that route, being that auto fuses are a dime a dozen, always easy to find, more compact, and easier to replace. Seems like that would have been ideal for ops. At least for the lower voltage fuses.

    1 week later
    #885 7 years ago
    Quoted from ChrisHibler:

    Not the worst I've seen but I'm not going to enjoy cleaning it up.
    --
    Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
    http://ChrisHiblerPinball.com/contact/
    http://www.PinWiki.com - The new place for pinball repair info

    At least they made it pretty with different colors. Very patriotic.

    3 weeks later
    #891 7 years ago

    I was getting nostalgic going over my previous shop-job galleries, and found this beauty.

    20476752381_bc3115580b_z (resized).jpg20476752381_bc3115580b_z (resized).jpg

    Nice smooth ramp entry

    There were screws on both side of it where it was cracked.

    I ended up gluing on pieces of lexan to the side of the ramp where it chipped off. Hopefully it is still doing the trick.

    #894 7 years ago
    Quoted from sohchx:

    That ramp is about to be reproduced by member Replay40 I believe. It may be being produced right now. If you need it send him a PM

    I don't have the game any more, but that would have been nice a few years ago. Freeplay40 makes awesome ramps. I picked up some for Genesis a while back.

    2 months later
    #1002 7 years ago
    Quoted from ForceFlow:

    Looks like someone substituted a DIP chip for a failed SMD chip.

    This should be called a "DIP shit"

    2 weeks later
    16
    #1024 6 years ago
    Quoted from 64bsstp:

    Got this one to repair recently. Still laughing.

    FaceApp_1492171288007.jpgFaceApp_1492171288007.jpg

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