I loved Spencer's it was such an appealingly quirky store. A quick Plasma Ball story I think you'll enjoy. Prince while on the 1987 Sign O' The Times Tour had Plasma Balls on the stage. He asked the tour tech if he could make one 8 feet wide. The tech told him if I do that the minute you touch it all the voltage from the pa, instruments and lights will make you a conduit and turn you into a pile of dust. Prince decided against the idea.
haha that's hilarious... some of those guys were very eccentric for their art... a few years ago somebody released some phone calls Michael Jackson had made to his manager, and on one of them he was very politely reiterating that he didn't mind them cutting some of the production costs from the show, but he definitely still wanted the "bridge to tomorrow" built, LOL So apparently he had some huge bridge they were going to build on the stage, and he absolutely would not take no for an answer on that one, haha
That memory battery deserves a medal for lasting that long without leaking AND still having any voltage left in its poor soul!! Also, the cuustomer is super lucky to have those (7) plasma displays come back to life and not have to replace them or go the LED route! I never would have that kind of luck!!
I ALWAYS replace those 100k resistors on the displays every time i have an old Bally or Stern game in for repair.. if they haven't failed they will sooner or later (been caught out many times in the past!!) I use 1/2 watt metal film resistors (same physical size as original). Cheap as chips and takes bugger all time to do.. did some just the other day took 5 minutes each display. Btw love your videos!
@@LyonsArcade Didn't mean to come across as condescending towards you or your abilities, just sharing some of my own experiences working on these old games. I'm the same in that i'll ALWAYS try to keep the cost down for customers as much as possible. I can remember several times in my early days of repairing with those resistors doing house calls on games, not replacing all of them and then having to do a return call out a week later to replace more that i'd neglected to change.. at my own expense! I see pinball repair in general as a job where you never stop learning!! As i said I love your videos, in particular these ones with 6M$m following your progress, as its one of my favourite games in my own collection.
All the battery does is hold high scores while the power is off. So even leaving it out won't stop the main pinball functions from working properly. It's nice to have high scores retained though. I love pinball. I grew up with a Williams "El Toro" machine in my house (an old relay and solenoid based machine). When I left college I worked for an amusement company fixing these things (along with juke boxes, video games, cranes games, and cigarette machines). I still enjoy figuring out what is wrong with them when they don't work.
Funny how resistors can go bad for no reason sometimes. An 80's stereo amp I fixed and overhauled a year or so ago had 2 bad resistors which had no business failing; weren't running hot, not stressed etc... just found open. Amazing how clean that game is, you sure got lucky with that clean mpu board...
I always love seeing the old displays saved. :). The sound board sounds like it is doing its thing. Probably just the startup tune disabled. Donnie made it to over 1000 subs now He is doing so well over there. Definitely worth a look. He is great on video.
Yeah he's hilarious, we record new stuff every weekend so we were just doing some stuff on the roof yesterday, it was funny as usual. He was up there and I had to go do something else, so I left for 15 minutes, and when I came back he was standing by the ladder (on the roof).... so I said "Oh you're still up there" and he immediately said "yeah, HOLD THE LADDER" lol he'd been waiting for me to come back so he could get down, his comedic timing is perfect but unintentional....
So I was inspired by this video to look at my displays. My Xenon has had an intermittent "wavy" display for the ball count and credit display. I popped it out aaaaaanddddd..... cold solder joints. Will reflow those, and check the resistors and transistors just for good measure. I know how to do these repairs, but needed a kick in the pants to actually crack the game open. An interesting note, I have the original cardboard covers on my display PCBs, bet not a lot of people can say that. My biggest issue is phantom pops. It is originating from the right flipper button. I put caps on all the pop bumper solenoid switches, but it's hard to reach the drop target solenoids, so haven't addressed them as of yet. From what I understand it can be "any" open solenoid that will allow current to flow through the entire system. Anyway looking forward to seeing how this all pans out. I cut my soldering teeth on the smaller Bally boards. Williams are comparatively easy.
Excellent tips on displays! Been looking forward to this one. My son-in-law has a Mata Hari where the displays flicker while showing the scores. I told him it's most likely where the connectors plug in. But now I've got much more info. And I'll tell him I looked into a Magical Plasma Ball to locate the problem. Thanks Ron!
Wow, the pop-up save peg. For a while, seemed like most pinball games included it. Another favorite was the "save magnet" that pulled the ball into the return lane, usually activated by a button near the flipper.
For that plasma ball to work, it has to be touching the display face. You'll be able to see individual elements glow, which will at least tell you if the display is still charged with gas. I'll post a short video tonight. Enjoyed the instructions! I hadn't read them...
@@LyonsArcade Here is a short clip of me using mine on a Bally Earthshaker. Probably a bigger plasma ball would work better (more power), but I can see them glowing with just this cheapo. It only glows in the area between the digits and sometimes around the perimeter of the display too. The dead displays will not glow at all. If nothing else it is pretty cool to play with Haha. th-cam.com/video/QXKRYXQ1GMs/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=JohnTyner
hey guys,thanks for another great video :) love this machine,had to strip a playfield of one of these back in the late 90s,that was not fun !!! This one is really coming along though x
"touching the ball with your hand will lead you to a magical world",... I don't need a fucking plasma ball for such sensations.... I have two myself...
that first description you read alound is enough for for to sent it back with some colorful artwork as to how sender can use it1 hOWEVER SINCE WE HAVE ALL SEEN THESE IN USE FOR ABOUT 1/2 CENTURY, i FIGURE "STILL WORTH A SHOT(HOPEFULLY NOT SHCOK) wow
An easy way to find the difference between -17 and -35 is the J5 connector, -17 has 32 pins and -35 has 33 pins. Also, If you're adding a battery that don't need to be recharged is to replace the R12 with a diode.
Give the magic plasma ball one more shot and hold a display glass face against the ball. You are trying to excite the gasses in the display, and through the front glass is the path of least resistance....
@@LyonsArcade desktop tesla coil will do it- i guess not enough energy in that desktop unit. a real one will put out enough RF to light an incandescent bulb held near the electrode.
You didn't really show it on the displays, but when you reflow these bad connections, is it safe to assume that you reflow ALL of the connector joints?
Yes I do, I reflow all of them while i'm in there but you could probably get away with just doing two or three on each end. Only takes slightly longer to do all of them though so I do while I have it out.
They are all connected together by the strobe and blanking lines so if one messes up it's connected to the others as well and can mess up the signal going to them. So for instance if data is sent over one of the strobe lines, but that line is shorted to ground on the display, it will be shorted to ground on the other displays too.
@@LyonsArcade the strobe and blanking lines are daisy chained in series together to all the displays. I'm not sure if the strobe signal is a Pulse width modulation PWM signal and the blanking signal will pulse to Reset the displays?
I believe the shuffle alley games were always 6 players, and used similar boards... but they were all Williams I believe like this one : th-cam.com/video/gaitei1hVsA/w-d-xo.html
Is that buzzing sound normally audible for those VFD displays, or was that an artifact of the camera picking EM noise? (Reminds me of the avalanche mode radio jamming devices they had us make in school.)
Unless it's a land shark. But they knock on the door saying housekeeping? Then you tell the land shark you don't want housekeeping. Then he says telegram. Then you say. Ok that's what I needed so you open the door. Then they eat there victims.
I love how lucky you get with those displays, I end up with totally dead displays.
just waiting for the day "to prevent shark hazard, do not expose to water" LOL!
THANKS BOB! Love the happy little traces!
Thanks for watching Dan!
Happy little traces, lol. Bob Ross was great. Watching repair & restoration videos are very much like watching one of Bob's old videos, relaxing.
He was the man. One of a kind....
I loved Spencer's it was such an appealingly quirky store. A quick Plasma Ball story I think you'll enjoy. Prince while on the 1987 Sign O' The Times Tour had Plasma Balls on the stage. He asked the tour tech if he could make one 8 feet wide. The tech told him if I do that the minute you touch it all the voltage from the pa, instruments and lights will make you a conduit and turn you into a pile of dust. Prince decided against the idea.
haha that's hilarious... some of those guys were very eccentric for their art... a few years ago somebody released some phone calls Michael Jackson had made to his manager, and on one of them he was very politely reiterating that he didn't mind them cutting some of the production costs from the show, but he definitely still wanted the "bridge to tomorrow" built, LOL So apparently he had some huge bridge they were going to build on the stage, and he absolutely would not take no for an answer on that one, haha
@@LyonsArcade Very eccentric, yes both were. MJ had his "Bridge to Tomorrow" and Prince had the awful "Graffiti Bridge" movie. Lol!
Loved the "Bob Ross" reference!!
That memory battery deserves a medal for lasting that long without leaking AND still having any voltage left in its poor soul!! Also, the cuustomer is super lucky to have those (7) plasma displays come back to life and not have to replace them or go the LED route! I never would have that kind of luck!!
I think he got lucky that the high voltage didn't short to full voltage like they do a lot of times...
I ALWAYS replace those 100k resistors on the displays every time i have an old Bally or Stern game in for repair.. if they haven't failed they will sooner or later (been caught out many times in the past!!) I use 1/2 watt metal film resistors (same physical size as original). Cheap as chips and takes bugger all time to do.. did some just the other day took 5 minutes each display. Btw love your videos!
You should have came and done this one right, it sounds like you're much better at it than I am! Thanks for watching.
@@LyonsArcade Didn't mean to come across as condescending towards you or your abilities, just sharing some of my own experiences working on these old games. I'm the same in that i'll ALWAYS try to keep the cost down for customers as much as possible. I can remember several times in my early days of repairing with those resistors doing house calls on games, not replacing all of them and then having to do a return call out a week later to replace more that i'd neglected to change.. at my own expense! I see pinball repair in general as a job where you never stop learning!!
As i said I love your videos, in particular these ones with 6M$m following your progress, as its one of my favourite games in my own collection.
Another great video. I learned a bunch. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for watching Kevin!
All the battery does is hold high scores while the power is off. So even leaving it out won't stop the main pinball functions from working properly. It's nice to have high scores retained though. I love pinball. I grew up with a Williams "El Toro" machine in my house (an old relay and solenoid based machine). When I left college I worked for an amusement company fixing these things (along with juke boxes, video games, cranes games, and cigarette machines). I still enjoy figuring out what is wrong with them when they don't work.
You better prevent shark hazards now! *lol* XD
"When I wasn't supposed to be in Spencers." You too, eh? "There a happy little trace" LOL! That's a lot of jeans!
Funny how resistors can go bad for no reason sometimes. An 80's stereo amp I fixed and overhauled a year or so ago had 2 bad resistors which had no business failing; weren't running hot, not stressed etc... just found open. Amazing how clean that game is, you sure got lucky with that clean mpu board...
Dang it man! I've been loosing sleepover that battery. About flipping time 😂🤣🤣
Thanks Ron 👍👍👍
If you’re in Alaska doesn’t it stay light all day anyways??????
@@LyonsArcade only when it's not dark 😉
Thank you for removing the battery. I've been unable to sleep.
That's what I'm here for!
I always love seeing the old displays saved. :). The sound board sounds like it is doing its thing. Probably just the startup tune disabled.
Donnie made it to over 1000 subs now He is doing so well over there. Definitely worth a look. He is great on video.
Yeah he's hilarious, we record new stuff every weekend so we were just doing some stuff on the roof yesterday, it was funny as usual. He was up there and I had to go do something else, so I left for 15 minutes, and when I came back he was standing by the ladder (on the roof).... so I said "Oh you're still up there" and he immediately said "yeah, HOLD THE LADDER" lol he'd been waiting for me to come back so he could get down, his comedic timing is perfect but unintentional....
Great vid mate. It’s given me the confidence to look at my dodgy Flash Gordon displays. Looking forward to the next one
You can do it :)
Ron, thanks for another educational & entertaining video. Btw, don't use the plasma ball near water... could result in shark hazard...LoL
Thanks for the tip!
So I was inspired by this video to look at my displays. My Xenon has had an intermittent "wavy" display for the ball count and credit display. I popped it out aaaaaanddddd..... cold solder joints. Will reflow those, and check the resistors and transistors just for good measure. I know how to do these repairs, but needed a kick in the pants to actually crack the game open. An interesting note, I have the original cardboard covers on my display PCBs, bet not a lot of people can say that. My biggest issue is phantom pops. It is originating from the right flipper button. I put caps on all the pop bumper solenoid switches, but it's hard to reach the drop target solenoids, so haven't addressed them as of yet. From what I understand it can be "any" open solenoid that will allow current to flow through the entire system. Anyway looking forward to seeing how this all pans out. I cut my soldering teeth on the smaller Bally boards. Williams are comparatively easy.
Excellent tips on displays! Been looking forward to this one. My son-in-law has a Mata Hari where the displays flicker while showing the scores. I told him it's most likely where the connectors plug in. But now I've got much more info. And I'll tell him I looked into a Magical Plasma Ball to locate the problem. Thanks Ron!
I hope you're able to get them rock steady!
Wow, the pop-up save peg. For a while, seemed like most pinball games included it. Another favorite was the "save magnet" that pulled the ball into the return lane, usually activated by a button near the flipper.
Now that's a well maintained machine! You deserve some easier work after that nightmare Jubilee haha
Tell me about it! Thanks Fernando for watching, we appreciate that!
For that plasma ball to work, it has to be touching the display face. You'll be able to see individual elements glow, which will at least tell you if the display is still charged with gas. I'll post a short video tonight. Enjoyed the instructions! I hadn't read them...
I tried it like that, and it didn't work unfortunately!
@@LyonsArcade maybe you need to send it off to a certified repair facility...LOL. I'll post what mine looks like later.
@@LyonsArcade Here is a short clip of me using mine on a Bally Earthshaker. Probably a bigger plasma ball would work better (more power), but I can see them glowing with just this cheapo. It only glows in the area between the digits and sometimes around the perimeter of the display too. The dead displays will not glow at all. If nothing else it is pretty cool to play with Haha. th-cam.com/video/QXKRYXQ1GMs/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=JohnTyner
Phew I was starting to get withdrawal symptons Ron.
haha we've been working on all kinds of stuff and filming videos but 1 a day is too much :)
@@LyonsArcade Understood, I've been watching on Donnies Channel as well.
Button-cell holder :)
Bob Ross pinball repair with happy little diodes 🤣
He was the man!
hey guys,thanks for another great video :) love this machine,had to strip a playfield of one of these back in the late 90s,that was not fun !!! This one is really coming along though x
Yeah there's a lot on it really! Thanks for watching Saskia!
"touching the ball with your hand will lead you to a magical world",...
I don't need a fucking plasma ball for such sensations.... I have two myself...
Party on Brother
Great vid
Thanks Pauz21!
I smell the old “planned obsolescence” on every new battery I buy these days at Lowe’s or Home Depot I think.
I think you're right :)
that first description you read alound is enough for for to sent it back with some colorful artwork as to how sender can use it1 hOWEVER SINCE WE HAVE ALL SEEN THESE IN USE FOR ABOUT 1/2 CENTURY, i FIGURE "STILL WORTH A SHOT(HOPEFULLY NOT SHCOK) wow
A little Ron Ross hot pink here :) and a bit of Joe Ross Red there :D
An easy way to find the difference between -17 and -35 is the J5 connector, -17 has 32 pins and -35 has 33 pins.
Also, If you're adding a battery that don't need to be recharged is to replace the R12 with a diode.
Also you could do it the way I did it
Used your link to look up some world's smallest tiny arcade units. Basically they're smaller versions of classics like Pac man MS Pac man etc
Hey Joe, love these pin restores! Do you have an old Williams FishTales in the back you could work on?
Unfortunately we don't have one of those, most of ours are even older....
Rechargeable NiCd and NiMH typically output 1.25 volts per cell. So that battery was 3.75 volts as a baby.
That sounds right 😀
Yay Spencer's!!!
Did you carefully check the arcade for sharks before trying the plasma ball against the glass?
Yes, all I saw were some goldfish
4.25 volts I think for the 1/3AA batteries
Give the magic plasma ball one more shot and hold a display glass face against the ball. You are trying to excite the gasses in the display, and through the front glass is the path of least resistance....
Doesn't work.
@@LyonsArcade desktop tesla coil will do it- i guess not enough energy in that desktop unit. a real one will put out enough RF to light an incandescent bulb held near the electrode.
So THAT'S what an undamaged MPU board looks like... :)
You don't see them too often!
Land Shark reported in North Carolina . 🦈
It happens
You didn't really show it on the displays, but when you reflow these bad connections, is it safe to assume that you reflow ALL of the connector joints?
Yes I do, I reflow all of them while i'm in there but you could probably get away with just doing two or three on each end. Only takes slightly longer to do all of them though so I do while I have it out.
JOES CLASSIC, if one display is bad it will cause the other displays to not work also, any reasons why that is?
They are all connected together by the strobe and blanking lines so if one messes up it's connected to the others as well and can mess up the signal going to them. So for instance if data is sent over one of the strobe lines, but that line is shorted to ground on the display, it will be shorted to ground on the other displays too.
@@LyonsArcade the strobe and blanking lines are daisy chained in series together to all the displays. I'm not sure if the strobe signal is a Pulse width modulation PWM signal and the blanking signal will pulse to Reset the displays?
I think this is the only 6 player pinball machine I've ever seen.
That I can think of.
4 player definitely.
5 maybe.
But never a 6.
I believe the shuffle alley games were always 6 players, and used similar boards... but they were all Williams I believe like this one : th-cam.com/video/gaitei1hVsA/w-d-xo.html
Adjusted for inflation this is the 24,828,405.80 Dollar Man pinball machine now.
In less than four years wait till you see what the hyper inflation machine is worth!
i dont understand how did you make it work the flickering display? and because my english is not that good
@2:40 FYI... Ma-tsu-shi-ta is pronounced "Panasonic"
I really don’t give a shit
I’ve been missing in action...
We found you finally!
Is that buzzing sound normally audible for those VFD displays, or was that an artifact of the camera picking EM noise?
(Reminds me of the avalanche mode radio jamming devices they had us make in school.)
These aren’t vfd and yes they buzz
@@LyonsArcade Mrow, right; gas-plasma discharge display. That would also contribute to why (I thought) it was an unusual pitch for VFDs to be making.
Spencers still does
"to prevent Sharknado"
That Bob Ross "happy little trail" made me laugh so loud that I woke up my wife. Hahhaahah
She shouldn't be sleeping anyways with cool stuff like this happening, that's her own fault!
A large Tesla coil might do it (grin).
A Tesla coil can do about anything :)
Touch the glass of the display to the glass of the ball
Doesnt Work
3.6 volt batteries. 1.2 volt battery is nicad
Ha, hyperventilating over the battery.
I'm clutching my pearls
They make lithium rechargeable coin cell batteries so you don’t need to add a diode and they last 4-5 years.
Or you could do it the way I did it too
Unless it's a land shark.
But they knock on the door saying housekeeping?
Then you tell the land shark you don't want housekeeping.
Then he says telegram.
Then you say.
Ok that's what I needed so you open the door.
Then they eat there victims.
He never gets me until he says Pizza Delivery
“What do the GD Germans got to do with it”?
th-cam.com/video/cyWVPHoFGJA/w-d-xo.html
My favorite line ever from a movie!
Must have been made in china.
Everything is made in China, even entire governments!