Wife Gave Me The Green Light!

[Fungi]

It appears that one of the chips is bad on the control board, which is why the dip swithces and sound aren't working. It's hard to find that one chip for sale, so I might have to buy a new board, but they're out of stock everywhere. However, another option: there's a French guy who makes all-in-one boards for System 80, which is the CPU, driver and power supply boards on a single board. Problem is it's kind of expensive so I'll have to save up a bit. Seems like it would be worth it to get this all-in-one board to avoid old board-related headaches down the road as well.

Considering you only paid $600 for the table, would it offset the cost of this board? For that matter, do you even have a choice?

 

[Jeff Strong]

Considering you only paid $600 for the table, would it offset the cost of this board? For that matter, do you even have a choice?

Yeah, that's my thinking as well. It is very playable at the moment, but having sound and being able to adjust settings would be pretty awesome. Plus things like the attract mode and high score saving don't work without the dip switches.

At least I can still play in the meantime while I save up some money. Thankfully the wife is very supportive so I still have the green light on future upgrades like this.

The counter argument is that the all-one-board is over $300, which could be applied to another pin, but I think I'd rather have one mostly-working machine than two that both need a fair amount of work.

There's still a chance I could find the solo chip I need, but then there's also no guarantee that it's the only problem with my current board(s). It could be multiple issues, so I'd kinda just like to have the potential to nip them all in the bud if I can.

 

[karl]

If you plan on keeping the machine for while, I say it is worth it. They will work for another 40 years at least but I guess it depends on how worn the boards look.

How does the connectors to the board look? Those are often the ones that go first. At least they are not that expensive. I know the feeling of dread towards new boards. I had to buy a lot of Alltek boards for my old Bally games.

 

[Jeff Strong]

Right on Karl. I think the connectors look mostly ok. I'll definitely keep an eye on them, so thanks for the tip.

As far as gameplay goes, one snag I've hit is the roto target just stripped out on me :/ It still sort of turns but just a bit. From what I've heard, it's not an easy task to fix. The local repair guy told me that you pretty much have to remove it and then ship it off to the one guy in the U.S. that actually rebuilds them. Not exactly the news I wanted to hear lol. Ahh well, it's still fun as is and you can still score of the roto target most of the time. It's hard to expect perfection from a pin that is 1 year older than I am. As long as it still plays, I'm happy.

 

[Heretic]

When you get those schematics scan or take some good high res pictures bud, i wont slight your pinguy but i wanna have a look too and probably karl and the other owners here, the many eyes theory. its also good to get lots of opinions when the costs are so high. i dobut ill be much help but hey just call me mcgyver!

 

[karl]

Also, Pinside can be soup of bad ingredients in most cases, but when it comes to helping others with pinball problems, it can be a great source of help.

Find a thread about your machine, and post a question about the problem, or just post it under a thread in, say "Tech: Alpha-Numeric" or " Tech: Early Solid State"

 

[Jeff Strong]

Oh damn, I was going to take some pics of the boards when we had it all opened up but I forgot. I definitely will next time. I'll gladly take as many extra sets of eyes as I can get, heh.

The dude said it looked like there had been a lot of work done to the MPU over the years, so I guess maybe I'm lucky it's working as good as it is.

 

[Jeff Strong]

Getting in some games today. Here she is lit up like the old cougar she is.

 

[Fungi]

Geez that's pretty. And it doesn't have that annoying left outlane thing that Genie has.

 

[Kolchak357]

So Jeff, what is you favorite shot on this beauty? I'm guessing that spinner up top from the left flipper.

 

[Jeff Strong]

Geez that's pretty. And it doesn't have that annoying left outlane thing that Genie has.

Yeah, the only thing I would trade with Genie is the top left drop targets over the roto-target, mainly because drop targets can be fixed easier lol, but the roto is cool though for something different.

So Jeff, what is you favorite shot on this beauty? I'm guessing that spinner up top from the left flipper.

You nailed it! Very rewarding shot in terms of feel. Much trickier from the right flipper, but it can be done if you're really in the zone. And of course I love my drop targets. Having the space between them definitely keeps things interesting as well. The 5000 point lanes are fun to shoot for from both sides too. I'm really glad I went with a widebody for all the shot variety.

 

[Jeff Strong]

For some reason, the dip switches randomly started working. Not sure how or why, but now I have a bunch of things working for the first time (attract mode, free play, match mode, etc.)...I haven't touched the boards in nearly a year, so it just decided to sort of fix itself somehow heh. Still no sound, but I can't complain. I just hope it decides to stay like this.

 

[Heretic]

Maybe with the summer heat something reseated itself....yes Jeffery your pinball machine is hot for you

 

[Kolchak357]

Self healing pinball machine. They should all do that.

 

[弹珠台]

sorry，i mistook "Wife Gave Me The Green Light!" for "Wife Gave Me The Green Hat!"

 

[Jeff Strong]

Maybe with the summer heat something reseated itself....yes Jeffery your pinball machine is hot for you

Self healing pinball machine. They should all do that.

I'll take it boys. Only problem is an old friend is here visiting me on vacation and is currently giving me a run for my money on a weekend highscore battle. Wish me luck on whooping his ass. He's currently up on me, but we just can't let that stand, am I right?

 

[Kolchak357]

You've got the home pin advantage. My money's on you.

 

[wolfson]

Jeff have a great weekend with your mate , and a couple of drinks wouldn`t go astray !!! I`m just having a break ,I`ve got another 4 football matches then sleep in Sunday !!!!

 

[Kolchak357]

Jeff have a great weekend with your mate , and a couple of drinks wouldn`t go astray !!! I`m just having a break ,I`ve got another 4 football matches then sleep in Sunday !!!!

Better pace yourself. That's a lot of action.

 

[Jeff Strong]

Have fun Wolfson!