Repair & Maintenance Log
09/13/09: Acquired game. Replaced power cord.
09/18/09: Some previous person had removed the NiCad battery from MPU before it could leak and destroy the board. But no battery replacement circuit was ever implemented to maintain the volatile RAM, so game settings are lost when the power is turned off. Instead of implementing a new battery backup circuit, I replaced the old RAM chip (which can be unreliable anyway) with a modern non-volatile memory chip from Tom Callahan at pin-logic.com.
Shown above is the new memory chip (red arrow). The chip comes with a small circuit board such that the wider new chip can piggyback on the old narrower socket. Assuming the old socket is healthy, this is a plug and play modification. I folded down the TP6 wire hoop so as to not interfere with the new larger chip (yellow arrow). Blue circles indicate the old battery connections.
None of the circuit boards in the head were screwed down. So I added all the right screws and tightened them up. With all the boards firmly secured, the display induced speaker hum got worse. I don't get it. I installed a new .187 amp high voltage fuse on the regulator board. There was a shattered (yet working) standard-sized fuse crammed into the clips where the little .187 amp fuse belonged. I adjusted high voltage down to 170 volts. Every time I turn on the game, a different combination of feature lamps is out. I think I'll be rebuilding the connectors on the lamp driver board.
I plan to take this game to shows, so I added a sash lock between the head and cabinet neck. The lock is a fast safety net until the head bolts are secure. Also, the joint between the neck and body was a little flimsy. I glued it up and clamped it down with some metal straps.
Sash lock between the head and cabinet neck.
I like coining my games so I'm not a fan of homebrew credit buttons like the one that helps deface the front of this game. I disconnected the credit button and reconnected all the coin switches. I also repaired the coin door GI circuit. I still need a SBA mech and coin entrance plate for the center shoot. When I take the game to shows, I'll simply set the replay scores to their minimum values.
09/19/09: Rebuilt connectors and replaced header pins for J1 and J3 on the lamp driver board. The board looked to be in great shape with no bad transistors. All feature lamps now work.
10/01/09: Rebuilt connectors and replaced header pins for J3 and J4 on the solenoid driver and regulator board. There was 0.5 volts of AC across the original capacitor C23, so I replaced that. I made all the jumper mods recommended at pinrepair.com. The board looked mostly unmolested, but I don't think it's original to this game. For example, Q7 had been replaced, but is unused on Dolly Parton.
New C23.
10/02/09: Replaced drop targets with new and correct targets from Pinball Resource. I also added a Mylar strip along the drop target line to prevent further wear.
Old targets (left) and new targets.
10/03/09: Rebuilt flippers; new bats, plungers & links, stops and sleeves. Replaced old yellowed bumper caps with new caps from Pinball Resource. Cleaned and waxed playfield. Replaced locks with standard keyed locks (751).
New flipper bats.
Old bumper caps (left) and new.
10/04/09: Did I mention my dislike of homebrew credit buttons? I replaced the button with a wood plug, touched up with markers. Yeah, it looks like crap, but so does the rest of the cabinet.
From button to plug.
Inside shot of plug repair.
10/08/09: Repaired lockdown holes. I filled in the holes with a two-part epoxy putty (i.e. Mighty Putty!). Actually I picked something called AquaMend because it was advertised as curing to an off-white color. It's easy to smooth out with a wet finger. It cures so hard that it's difficult to color with markers. Maybe I should have started coloring before it was completely cured.
From hole to plug.
Cabinet front before (top) and after. The asymmetrical swirl patterns go a long way toward camouflaging imperfections.
10/31/10: Refinished apron. The apron and shooter gage were badly faded and littered with blotchy touchups and rust marks. I tried a decal set from Pinball Rescue, an Australian company specializing in reproduction parts. I liked that the decals were pink, white and transparent. Transparent means that the blue in the graphic will perfectly match the base blue of the apron. First I took the shooter gage to the hardware store and picked a can of blue spray paint that seemed to most closely match the original blue. I was able to remove most of the blotchy touchups with paint thinner. Then I lightly sanded the parts, washed and dried them and shot them with three light coats of paint. The blue turned out to be a tad dark compared to my other Bally games from the era. But after 30 years of fade, who's to say which is the "right" shade? Finally I applied the decals as per the instructions and it all went off without a hitch. This was a simple project that made a big improvement.
Parts and supplies.
Refinished apron and shooter gage reinstalled in the game.
11/15/10: New SBA coin door decal. New center coin entry plate. Installed dollar coin mech.
New SBA coin door decal and center coin entry plate.
10/12/13: Sold game at the White Rose Gameroom show.