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    Repair log: Judge Dredd (Bally, 1993)

    Repair logs are quick summaries of workshop and on-site repairs. If your machine needs a service, πŸ“¬ Contact Us to discuss how we can help!


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    Lots of work involved in preparing this machine for sale! First, a thorough clean. This necessitated taking all of the ramps off the playfield so you can access all ball areas at the top of the playfield. There was some Mylar lifting in this area so that had to be removed.


    Next, the drop targets. The "J" target was not staying up. The targets are meant to rest on a plastic shelf which keeps them in the "up" position. Somebody had installed a homemade version of this part which had cracked. Correct part installed and assembly rebuilt.


    Next, the subway entrance. There were some lamps missing here which were reinstalled. There are also two small wire ball guides on either side of the hole which guide the ball into the subway. They had fallen out at some point and were in the base of the cabinet. They were re-tensioned and glued back into place. New rubbers installed while I had this bit apart.


    Next, the lamps. Plenty not working, particularly those on the lamp boards. Cracked solder is common on these, particularly the lamps in sockets which are parallel to the playfield. Most of these needed resoldering.


    Next, the Deadworld. It kept spinning and wouldn't stop to allow the magnet to pick up the balls. One of the optos under the playfield which reports the Deadworld position was not working. It was fouled up with dust and dirt which were keeping it "closed". Cleaned and back in action.


    Finally, the flippers. Upper right flipper to be exact. This one was intermittently weak. A quick rebuild did not help. Test mode revealed the flipper switch was flaky. This switch is on an opto board. Rebuilt the connector and reflowed solder on the board but this didn't fix it. Turns out, the opto itself was on the way out. Replaced it and all was good again in Mega City One.


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    Repair log: Funhouse (Williams, 1990)

    Repair logs are quick summaries of workshop and on-site repairs. If your machine needs a service, πŸ“¬ Contact Us to discuss how we can help!


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    Another Rudy with various issues! First was the display. It wasn't working except for the faintest edge of a letter or number every so often. After some probing I found that the negative high voltage display rail was too low (~20v). No improvement after new caps and transistors. The fault was with R48 which was preventing this half of the regulator circuit turning on. With the circuit rebuilt the display was back in service.


    Lamps were next. Lots of controlled (insert) lamps were dead. Mixture of new wedge globes and new sockets needed here. The playfield general illumination was also not working, while the backbox lamps were fine. The lamps themselves were all good, so the problem was on the driver board. The power input connector at J115 had been hacked up a bit with a small Molex connector used to replace a burned section. The crimps in this connector had failed, which cut off all power to the playfield GI. New crimps and the playfield was bright again.


    Last, the lower left flipper was a bit weak, and sticking up sometimes. Two issues here. The first was a dirty and gummed up flipper mechanism. Once cleaned and resleeved, power was back. But the flipper would still stick up sometimes. The contact points on the high-current flipper switch contacts were sticking. New flipper switch went in and the sticking stopped.


    A quick clean to finish up and Rudy was back to his old tricks!


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    Repair log: Black Pyramid (Bally, 1984)

    Repair logs are quick summaries of workshop and on-site repairs. If your machine needs a service, πŸ“¬ Contact Us to discuss how we can help!

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    This Black Pyramid wasn't booting up anymore. The MPU board exhibited corrosion from a leaking battery. Voltages were all good, so something in the reset circuitry on the MPU was stuffed. Took the board in for rehab, removed affected components, treated the alkali residue, sanded everything back, and repopulated the board. Now it's booting up reliably again.


    There were a few more tasks to get this game back to 100%. The solenoid driver board got some fresh capacitors and voltages were adjusted. Installed new rubber rings on the playfield. Replaced a broken drop target. (These linear drop target mechs are a breeze to work on!) Reflowed solder on the auxiliary lamp driver board to get some lamps going again. A couple of switch capacitors had died, rendering the switches inoperable. Replaced those too. After all that, it was good to go again!


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    Repair log: The Addams Family (Bally, 1992)

    ο»ΏRepair logs are quick summaries of workshop and on-site repairs. If your machine needs a service, πŸ“¬ Contact Us to discuss how we can help!

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    This Addams Family had a bit of a wonky bookcase assembly. It wasn't level with the playfield and was trapping balls on its bottom edge. After taking it apart, a few broken parts revealed themselves including the bookcase frame, base, and one of the actuators driven by the bookcase motor. Perfect opportunity to service the mechanism and replace all of the broken parts! New parts ordered, installed, and working great now.


    A few minor repairs were enacted on other parts of the game as well including a new battery holder for the CPU board, replacement of some lamp sockets, and installation of a strip of LED lights (had to create a small custom wiring harness for them).


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    Repair log: Tri Zone (Williams, 1979)

    ο»ΏRepair logs are quick summaries of workshop and on-site repairs. If your machine needs a service, πŸ“¬ Contact Us to discuss how we can help!


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    I haven't had to do any System 6 game repairs in a while, so here goes! This game was having a couple of issues. The top pop bumper wasn't working. There was a bunch of hackery under the playfield from someone trying to solve this issue in the past. The old solenoid was shorted, so that was replaced. Switches were adjusted for correct operation. This is very important for the special solenoid circuit, or the coil will lock on! The driving transistor in the backbox was also fried, so it was replaced as well. Pop bumper was back in action after that.


    Next was a sound issue. No game sounds would play although the sound board would play its diagnostic tune when the button was pressed. A faulty sound select switch was the cause.


    Finally, a flipper issue. The left flipper wouldn't work. Flipper assembly was all OK as was the cabinet switch. The connector in the wiring harness between the playfield and backbox was not making proper contact. After it was properly seated the flipper came back to life.


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    Repair log: The Hobbit Smaug Edition (Jersey Jack, 2016)

    ο»ΏRepair logs are quick summaries of workshop and on-site repairs. If your machine needs a service, πŸ“¬ Contact Us to discuss how we can help!

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    A beautiful looking game! This one hadn't had much play, and the owner wanted to help protect the common wear areas with Cliffy protectors. No problem! We installed protectors on the Radagast and Balin VUKs, shooter lane eject protectors, and a protector on the Smaug ball drop area. Also adjusted one of the pop-up targets, which was binding due to the bracket being a little bent; a common issue with these pop-up targets. CPU battery was also dead, so that was replaced, too. (Remember these need to be replaced every 3 years or so!)