Tech: Star Trek 1978 Advice Needed

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

My brother just dropped of the 1978 Star Trek I bought from near
Cleveland. It worked fine before he loaded it in the truck but after a
5-hour ride in the back of a pick-up it's got some problems.

When I plug it in, all the lights on the machine power up but none of
the displays do and there's no sound. I'm a rookie at troubleshooting
these things...any advice as to where to start on this one? I don't
see a problem with the fuses but I'll probably run out and get some
replacements just to make sure.

I don't see any loose wires or connections.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

reseat all the wires and ribbon cables even if they look ok. more than
likely they got jared lose on the trip

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Open the backbox and look for the green LED near the bottom/center of the
MPU board (board in upper left corner of backbox). When you turn game on,
this LED should give a brief flicker, pause, then seven flashes with a pause
in between each. After the 7th flash, the game is supposed to come up into
attract mode (scores light up, lights start blinking, etc.)

Check to see what the LED is doing. That will give us more info on what to
recommend.

Ray J.
--
Action Pinball & Amusement, LLC
Salt Lake City, Utah USA
Web: www.actionpinball.com

We're serious about pinball. Anything else is just for fun!



"Rictor" <rictor99@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1123191036.687171.325640@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> My brother just dropped of the 1978 Star Trek I bought from near
> Cleveland. It worked fine before he loaded it in the truck but after a
> 5-hour ride in the back of a pick-up it's got some problems.
>
> When I plug it in, all the lights on the machine power up but none of
> the displays do and there's no sound. I'm a rookie at troubleshooting
> these things...any advice as to where to start on this one? I don't
> see a problem with the fuses but I'll probably run out and get some
> replacements just to make sure.
>
> I don't see any loose wires or connections.
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

I double checked all connections...couldn't find a loose one...but
plugged it back in and everything booted right up and worked so either
something was a little loose and I couldn't tell or the game was just
acting up earlier.

Game plays fine...just need to replace a few playfield bulbs. This is
a single ball game, right? It's acting like it wants to kick out
another ball sometimes when I'm playing...I hear the loud crack of the
ball return.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Duh. I'm getting a credit...I knew that...well, I knew OF that. I'm
not old enough to actually have played a game like this before. Since
it's on free play, I wasn't paying attention to the credits. Now I
need to figure out how to change it to extra ball instead of extra
game.

Anyone know where I can get a set of playfield plastics for this game?
I'm going to try to clean these, but just in case they don't clean up
nicely.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Put them in the dishwasher and run a wash cycle. DO NOT USE DRY CYCLE
WHERE THE HEATING ELEMENT COMES ON. This will melt the plastics.

Once they have been through the wash dry them with a soft cloth and
buff them out with Novus 2. They will look as good as new.

Jeff

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

"Rictor" wrote:
> I double checked all connections...couldn't find a loose one...but
> plugged it back in and everything booted right up and worked so either
> something was a little loose and I couldn't tell or the game was just
> acting up earlier.

Glad it's working. But behaviour like this is not unusual for these 25+
year-old games.

There are some upgrades and modifications you should probably do just to
make the game healthier and increase reliability. For details (with
pictures) see our website- www.actionpinball.com in the Technical Articles
section. Recommended reading.

> Game plays fine...just need to replace a few playfield bulbs. This is
> a single ball game, right? It's acting like it wants to kick out
> another ball sometimes when I'm playing...I hear the loud crack of the
> ball return.

Yes- 1 ball only in this game. If your outhole kicker is firing
intermittently, it may be due to the switch in the outhole being adjusted
too sensitive (vibrations setting it off).

Congrats on your new game!

Ray J.
--
Action Pinball & Amusement, LLC
Salt Lake City, Utah USA
Web: www.actionpinball.com

We're serious about pinball. Anything else is just for fun!

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Can be a bit hard to find- maybe check Mr. Pinball classifieds
(www.mrpinball.com) or eBay. Something may pop up there.

They'll usually clean up okay if not physically damaged- we use Novus #2 and
Novus #1 on plastics for restorations in our shop. Info on our site (url
below).

Ray J.
--
Action Pinball & Amusement, LLC
Salt Lake City, Utah USA
Web: www.actionpinball.com

We're serious about pinball. Anything else is just for fun!



"Rictor" <rictor99@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1123203105.272508.58090@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Duh. I'm getting a credit...I knew that...well, I knew OF that. I'm
> not old enough to actually have played a game like this before. Since
> it's on free play, I wasn't paying attention to the credits. Now I
> need to figure out how to change it to extra ball instead of extra
> game.
>
> Anyone know where I can get a set of playfield plastics for this game?
> I'm going to try to clean these, but just in case they don't clean up
> nicely.
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Or are you getting a credit? One ball game.

John!



Rictor wrote:
> I double checked all connections...couldn't find a loose one...but
> plugged it back in and everything booted right up and worked so either
> something was a little loose and I couldn't tell or the game was just
> acting up earlier.
>
> Game plays fine...just need to replace a few playfield bulbs. This is
> a single ball game, right? It's acting like it wants to kick out
> another ball sometimes when I'm playing...I hear the loud crack of the
> ball return.
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

I cleaned the playfield plastics and they look okay...not great but
okay. I guess they are pushing 30 years old. The cabinet paint is
great except for a little wear here and there...playfield looks good
but it has years of grime on it, so I'm going to strip and clean it.
Replaced all the old 44 bulbs with 47 behind the backglass...going to
replace the playfield bulbs while I'm cleaning...there's quite a few
out.

 

[Scott]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Those bulbs that aren't working could be because of:
1) Burnt out bulb
2) Bad Socket
3) Bad Transistor on the Lamp Driver Board

Find a working bulb and swap it out with a non-working bulb - that will
let you know if its item #1.

I'd check the Lamp Driver Board Transistors by testing them with a DMD
- that will let you know if its item #3.

If the light bulb still doesn't work then you'll have to work with the
socket to get the bulb to work.

Let us know what you come up with.