Shoot Again Pinball Repair

Hey friends! I keep telling myself to post more. I promise! This week's fun project was brought to me in the form of a Strikes and Spares, a super fun bowling-themed game from Bally in 1978. This is a gorgeous copy, but it suffers from the same problem as all of the Bally's from the late 70s and early 80s. Crappy controlled lamp sockets. As they age and oxidize, the electric connection also degrades, and the lamps fail. Because the socket is soldered to the ground, replacing them is a pain. Also, incandescent bulbs produce excess heat that warps the playfield inserts.

In steps the Yoppsicle, a clever design created by David Yopp using an LED on a tiny printed circuit board, with proper circuitry. They look great and will last forever. They come in a number of colors, but for this game, we're sticking to the OG warm white. A labor of love (about 5 hours in this case) with a workflow of desoldering, removing, some tetris logistics around the star rollovers, and resoldering, but the end result is gorgeous. Also, it's a great opportunity to get the dirt and grime out of the insert holes.

After doing this, fixing a few of the "pins" (star rollover switches), and a couple of other minor issues, this plays amazing and is ready to head home.

Need your game fixed or refurbished? Or looking to buy, sell, rent? Hit me up!

Here's a fun one!
Symptom: Whitewater (one of the best games ever!) would always start a game when turned on, but would almost never start subsequent games until you turned it off/on.

After some digging knowing it wasn't the switch or software, it turns out that starting a game requires Bigfoot's rotating head to be in its home position as determined by a switch.

In test mode, we realize that Bigfoot can only go clockwise, and not counter clockwise. Turning off/on the game just so happens to spin him back into position.

Rotating Bigfoot head is controlled by a bi-directional motor board under the playfield. After removing that board, it was immediately apparent what the problem was.

A 25 cent capacitor, now well over 30 years old had leaked its corrosive electrolytes all over the board. Look at how it ate right through the copper traces and even the chip itself.

Many ask. Is it worth repairing these? Absolutely. This board can run upwards of $100 for a replacement. A new capacitor and the chip literally cost $1 total. I will neutralize the leaked chemical, give it a light sanding, repair the missing traces, and install a new capacitor and chip, and test all the connections. Should take around an hour.

How do I prevent this? These 12V circuit capacitors on these auxiliary boards and the main Williams driver board are well beyond their life expectancy. They're a ticking time bomb, and this type of damage is suddenly becoming a common find. It takes literally 2 minutes to replace capacitors like this, and they're super cheap. Be proactive now, and save time and money later.

Have a pinball machine needing repairs, cleaning, rehab, LEDs, rubbers, or perhaps you just want to sell or trade it? If you're in western PA, hit me up!

"Raise the dead! Out to the cemetery, come on everybody!"

Shipped to me from across the country, this Addams Family was dead and would not boot, let alone filthy from sitting for years.

After removing someone else's hacks and repairing the board, she came to life, followed by a couple days of cleaning, re-rubbering, and all brand new LED illumination. Zero mansion wear!

This original survivor looks great and is in far better condition of most copies of this well-loved title I come across. A nice crisp display too.

Will be posted for sale this week. If interested, let me know!