Nice!

Is there a trick to fixing this? Other than being severely warped like homies codpiece, it’s in good shape.

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Multi-ways... I use the top of the pinball glass and some old hardcover books...
I have a shrink tube gun... it gets very hot... I lay the plastic piece on the glass
and cover a part with the many books I have... I start at one open end and work it flat...
I wave the heat gun over the plastic very rapidly... You do not want to melt it.
Then, I move to another section... it takes awhile to get the hole plastic piece done.
I us the books to apply a flattening force to the warm plastic...
There are other ways to do it... It all depends on what you prefer.
I would chime in at the restoration blogs to get more advice.

I usually put mine in an oven at 180-200 degrees for a few minutes. Just make sure whatever surface you put it on is completely smooth or it will leave impressions in the plastic.

1) I use a heat gun moving the gun rapidly over the plastic till it starts to lay flat.

2) Keep the gun MOVING. Too much heat in one spot will cause bad things to happen.

3) You need to get the plastic fairly hot. You will see the plastic actually moving around when it is getting "just right" and it will lay flat.

4) Have the plastic on a CLEAN surface, no debris or it will be imprinted in the plastic.

5) Glass or metal is preferred but I have used clean plywood as a heating surface.

6) If it is a small plastic, after heating I slide (do not touch, when hot even your fingertips will leave imprints) into a hardcover book and then let it sit 5 minutes with a weight on it for good measure.

7) If a large object you can use 2 playfield glass for a sandwich to keep flat till cool. I have 2 two foot square pieces of heavy mirror glass I salvaged from work for the job.

I have had great success with this method with 100% success rate. Maybe i'll do a video later..

Oh man! So I’ve been struggling with a pop bumper bumper n this game. Last night I heard a sound abs I realized the bracket that holds the pop bumper coil has snapped off. Does anyone know what pop bumper bracket that works with this game for replacement? If anyone had a link it would be super cooo.

Bally part no A-613-114
Bally Thumper Coil and Bracket Assembly

I don't know who actually sells the bally part. Most places sell the substitute Williams part: 04-10888
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/B-7417
http://www.pbresource.com/pfbumpb.htm#B-7417

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/vids-guide-to-rebuilding-pop-bumpers/page/4#post-1841913

Am I missing something in the art work or is there a reference from another game? What is MOTA? Is it an acronym for something?
I don’t get it

Post "300" Xenon acronyms.

That helps but I guess with MOTA im not seeing the same significance as KMIEC.

He really shoehorned his name in there and made it work but Im wondering if MOTA has an ambiguous meaning also....

KMIEC = Last Name
MOTA = Needed to make it work because Molecular Object Tube Award was too much for the playfield text

or is MOTA something else as significant as KMIEC

I always thought Mota was just Atom backwards with no deeper meaning needed.

Just thought I'd post- I still love this game. Such a PITA to get to multi-ball and punishing to keep there for any period of time. After 2 years of ownership still happy with my purchase, longer legs than Medusa in my opinion.

Yeah, I love medusa, but sometimes the more simple shots / progression makes for a less tiresome experience. With a few adjustments, xenon can be set to a very high level of difficulty.

Medusa is a pretty pin but Xenon has better sound and play in my opinion. Medusa only lasted a few short months here while Xenon is still trucking.

As promised a quick video.

With a larger piece, 2 pieces of glass would have to be used or a larger book

I been using the same method for years. A couple comments. I clean the plastic 1st completely, Novus 1 on the printed side, Novus 2 polished on the top side and then Novus 1. I heat the plastic on a sheet of wax paper using the same method. Once flat, another sheet of wax paper, a piece of plywood then a 20lb weight on top. After cooling some on the long pieces like arch plastics will a 2nd flattening.

I would not use wood in the flattening stage, even with paper as a buffer I have ended up with wood grain and other imperfections in the plastic after.

Glass is the gold standard for flawless debris free flat.

Been using clear, sanded knot free wood for 20 years. At least 250 plastics without an issue. Might be the silver standard, but I'll stick with it.

Sweet, thank you. Do those plastic protector jammies people put underneath help from warping?

When giving advice be specific. You may know its clean plywood, some guy listening to you is thinking..

"He said plywood, I have some Texture 1-11 out in the garage"

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I have made them to prevent getting plastics broken but never for warping. If a concern my go to is LED bulbs which you can use on Bally GI strings without flickering.

Or use #47 bulbs which put out less heat.

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Chill. I'd expect that people here would be smart enough not to lay textured plywood on soft hot plastic. Just as I assumed you didn't mean pattern glass to flatten plastics. Anyone who made that mistake would only do it once.

I used to run a tech line, I could regal you with tales for hours about smart people.

There is a reason I did a video as it leaves little room for "interpretation" by viewers.

Does anyone know the world record of xenon?

Records are kind of pointless in pinball IMO. Too many variables with regard to set up, angle, power etc. the only record that counts is the high score on the machine you play.. pref with NVRam to have it stand. What's fun is hosting a local tournament at your house, and having people put a bunch of rediculously high scores on your machines to beat .. living in a pinball hub can be crazy!

needing help with a multiball issue, all new allteck boards and was working great until today the multiball stopped working. after 3 upper saucer kickouts the 1st will stay in the left hole the lights in the apron/shooter lane flash but when second ball goes down left lane it trips the rollover sw before the left hole it kicks the first ball out but not the second. i have done a sw test and all are working correct . any ideas? thanks Ron

Did you go into the top saucer 3 times after the 1st ball lock?

That was the problem, I just put a hardtop on it(looks great). And forgot to do that. Tks for reminder( hell getting old)

Now a new problem. When launching ball in shooter lane it goes airborne when it hits the hardtop grove and hits the metal bracket where the ball goes into the Playfield if I don’t pull plunger all the way back it’s ok. Anybody know what color spring is the weakest? Tks Ron

You can ease and bevel the edge where the hardtop starts quickly with a triangular file

Been wanting to try this, today is the day.

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Shindig magazine #111 (would be Feb. 2021 issue, but they don't assign dates) has a 4-page article on Suzanne Ciani that mentions Xenon.
.................David Marston

Ok I need some help understanding something. I got a xenon pinball and updated to leds. I also added/installer the updated driver board. I also maybe got a bit too carried away with adding led strips in the game (I added under cabinet lighting that occurs during different moments of the game, out hole lighting when the ball is locked, and a couple spots with uv lights).

Game looks super cool but I still have a couple of spot on the game where certain things aren’t lit. I have a couple letters out on xenon bonus circle, pop bumper flicker a bit, and also the arrows often flicker.

Is this just because I added too much? Or is it because there’s something wrong with the lamps?

Listen I’m new and have too many ideas! Thanks for any help on this.

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Hmm.. IIRC, there might be some setup for the driver board for LEDs for example, for the Altek, I believe you need to connect a wire to the controlled lamp circuit. The OE setup for this machine will have a symptom of LEDs flickering for controlled lamps.

Bonus lamps out, could be anywhere between the lamp driver and the bulb itself. I would use the lamp test diagnostic mode (check manual), and have them all flashing. You could try adjusting the socket, or replace if needed. This is the most common.

Pop bumper flicker is again probably a dirty or loose socket.

Without knowing the exact draw of everything you are trying to connect to a controlled lamp it's hard to know for sure if you are overloading it.. I kind of doubt it.. but a quick hack could be to instead actuate a relay in that case to drive whatever you need and keep it excluded from drawing too much power from the driver board.

It's the game rebelling against you because you installed all those blue LEDs, ruining the much loved Xenon artwork.

The only classic Bally with factory colored lamps in the general illumination circuit is Fireball Classic

Not true. Xenon has color sleeves behind the upper arches and on a few controlled lamps. I have had several of their EM that had them as well.

I do agree in general about color leds in the GI circuit, use moderation please.

Of course it does.

But not the entire GI, ruining all the playfield artwork.

No, not the entire GI but you did state Fireball Classic was the only one with colored GI. A difference in interpretation perhaps? All is good.

I can’t bring myself to tear this thing down again to finish my resto.
Getting a couple games in before I start stripping the head apart.
Playfield and door are good now time for the cabinet work.

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On the back of the light panel can someone confirm where this orange wire is supposed to go?

Mine is cut. It’s right above the player 1 display.

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Just checked mine. Same orange wire not hooked to anything.

Awesome thanks!

Anybody know how much heat is generated from a comet flat flex led . I’m looking at lighting the eyes on the spacemen and need to get as close to backglass as possible. Tks Ron

Not sure about the flat flex specifically, but I get about 60' or so on most of the multi SMD types (measured on exposed SMDs, no cover/cap etc). It should be ok, but quick temperature changes can be damaging, not specifically high heat etc.

is this stock on Xenon? I have in on mine, bought long agi but just starting to play around with it. It must be pushed in order to power up the game.

it looks like something is missing, because even when closing the coin door, nothing push the button in. is there some special tool to make it work?

I believe you forgot to include a picture??

ops!

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That is something that isn’t stock. On some of those style switches you can pull the plunger out where it goes into a detent. This would be used for servicemen that needed to test equipment with the door off.