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    Repair log: Twilight Zone (Bally, 1993)

    1993 Bally Repair log Twilight Zone

    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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    πŸ› οΈ Basic service for a Twilight Zone that had been sitting unused for a number of years. First port of call was the CPU board. Batteries weren't retaining any memory. No wonder, they expired in 2016! Other than the battery pack, there was only minor damage to one connector and header pin which was causing one column of switches to fail. All replaced, and a coin cell battery added.


    Now onto the playfield. Rubbers were perished, so new rubber rings installed throughout, including the mini playfield. Several lamps not working. New lamps and sockets were necessary. Of course two of the pop bumper lamp sockets were broken, so they had to be desoldered, unstapled, pulled out and replaced. Very fiddly! Highly recommend the lamp sockets with centering brackets for this.


    The trough release coil was jamming, stopping from balls moving in the trough. Pivot point was gummed up with dirt and debris. Cleaned and re-sleeved.


    Lockdown bar had a bit of surface rust on it as well. Treated and polished. Nice and smooth now. Playfield also got a clean to finish off.


    πŸ“Ί Reminds me I need to watch the original Twilight Zone series!


  • Published on

    Repair log: Centaur II (Bally, 1983)

    1983 Bally Centaur Repair log

    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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    Time to get a Centaur II up and running again! First problem? Start a game, and the balls are nowhere to be seen. Turns out they were all hiding in the multiball trough. But they weren't getting kicked out because the ball launcher was gummed up with grease that had solidified, rendering it immobile. Cleaned and re-sleeved and the ball issue was fixed.


    The left flipper had also given up the ghost. Broken wire between the flipper coil and the end of strike switch. An easy fix!


    ...then a hard fix. A sound issue. Absolutely criminal on Centaur, because the best thing about the game is hearing it say "Destroy Centaur"! One of the wires on a sound board connector had come loose. New crimp pins and a new connector housing solved the problem temporarily, but it returned soon after. One clue was that some of the backbox lamps would go out when the sound went out. Weird. Somebody had cut the backbox GI lamp braid, and simply tied some wire around it to reconnect it; a poor connection. Once this was soldered back together, the sound (and backbox lamps) returned.


    Plenty of lamps out on this playfield, which were replaced as needed. The "B" in "ORBS" was a little less cooperative. The SCR driving this lamp had failed. New rectifier installed and it was lighting up again.


    The rubbers on this machine were long gone, so a new rubber kit went in too.


    Finally, the ground braid connecting the lower cabinet to the backbox was... not connected together. Didn't seem to be causing any issues, but it certainly could do, so they were reconnected.


    πŸ”Š "Destroy Centaur!"


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    Repair log: Judge Dredd (Bally, 1993)

    1993 Bally Judge Dredd Repair log

    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: Black Pyramid (Bally, 1984)

    1984 Bally Black Pyramid Repair log

    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!


  • Published on

    Repair log: The Addams Family (Bally, 1992)

    1992 Bally Repair log The Addams Family

    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).


  • Published on

    Repair log: Strikes and Spares (Bally, 1978)

    1978 Bally Repair log Strikes and Spares

    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 had the pleasure of servicing this absolutely stunning Strikes and Spares. Haven't seen one quite as nice as this before, and I doubt I ever will! While cosmetically flawless, this game had a few issues to sort out. It needed some new rubbers. Problems with the playfield fuse were causing issues with the coils. There were a couple of electrical issues to fix too, including some flickering displays and non-working lamps. Did a few switch adjustments to round out the repair. Looking as good now as it did back in 1978!