My first playfield replacement and complete overhaul of a pinball machine is complete (video below is lame because it is hard to play both flippers and hold a camera at the same time). The flippers need their position adjusted a bit and I want to work on the sensitivity of the pop bumpers, but otherwise I think everything is working as it should. All the LED lighting looks great -- that is why the one bumper up front looks brighter as I am testing a new LED in that as well. All the mechanical parts including the flippers and drop targets we completely taken apart and cleaned, and a lot of the switches were replaced. My next hurdle is I want to repin the circuit board connectors in the back box and work on the exterior paint job.
I am still thinking about how I can systematically engage with this administration without it becoming a full-time job.
So in the mean time, pinball restoration! I moved everything to the new playfield and completed about 200+ solder joints. I fired the thing up, with some trepidation, inserting one fuse, testing, and then another fuse, with the General Illumination fuse first and the solenoid fuse last. After finding just a few shorts, and a few swapped wires, and one drop target where I reversed input and output on the sensors, everything is mostly working. After these photos were taken I get the pop bumpers installed and a few other details like the coil that puts the ball in play. Next up siderails and all the playfield details. I still have not cleaned up the huge 7 drop target monstrosity that is really the core of the game.
