The Aussie Pinball Arcade
Aussie Pinball Forums => Technical Matters => Pinball Repairs / Problems & Assistance => Topic started by: ralph67 on October 11, 2014, 03:14:32 AM
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Greatest Hacks Page. Okay guys next time you see a Hack photograph it and post. The 2 here are from a "Catacomb That i am restoring for elgor-alish. Transformer and power supply wires just twitched and then insulation tape applied! ^&( Best Pics gets a prize ..
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Machine sold by a guy selling container trash in Melbourne. This was after having supposedly spent over $900 in repairs on the machine.
The other flipper was the same. Have a close look at the connector in the 2nd pic....yes it is a nail shoved into the connector to hold the wire in place.
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^^ Hey Blair have you doctored those pic's? Lol Lol you know I'm joking still can't believe someone would sell a game in such a dangerous condition.
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Hacks are funny, it's amusing to see the things people do to fix things "bush mechanic style"
I haven't got any photos but one I had was on a Gottlieb where the game over relay was out of adjustment and wasn't supplying power to half of the coils, to fix this they ran a wire from one bank of coils to the other.
Only problem with that was all the coils were then running off one fuse - easy fix put a bigger fuse in. :)
Once I worked out what was gong on it was a five minute fix adjusting the relay.
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^^ Hey Blair have you doctored those pic's? Lol Lol you know I'm joking still can't believe someone would sell a game in such a dangerous condition.
"Dangerous condition" - Where do I start ?
I'll sift through my collection of hacks. What becomes apparent is that the overseas operators used hacks to keep the games operating and dealers use hacks to hide problems that they don't want to fix or pay to be fixed.
Here is an example below - This is from a "mint" and "restored" DE Star Trek that I recently had to repair. There's even a sales invoice that claims the game is in "perfect" working order. The GI connector on the Power Supply was completely burnt out and instead of replacing the connector and repinning the wiring, the dealer chose to utilize the in house butcher to cut the wires and reconnect them directly to the GI wires from the transformer. Effectively, this bypasses the fuses and the GI Relay. So if a GI lamp socket shorted, it cannot blow the fuse (as it is bypassed), it will then cause problems on the secondary side of the transformer. If that broke down, then the mains fuse should blow ? No - It was a 20 Amp fuse instead of a 4 Amp Slo Blo.
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I often wonder how these guys brains are wired? No concern for anyone or anything.
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Geez Nino you must come across some real dodgy games people have bought from importers-if I buy a game with a receipt I assume I have the same protection as I would like buying a car with a roadworthy am I right? But if I buy off eBay or the bloke down the road with no receipt I'm on my own? Surly people selling through a company name have a duty of care and are ultimately responsible if someone hurts themselves! Do I live in a dream world?
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The nail to hold in a connectors a beauty but hacking the gi straight to the ac input is genius who comes up with these simple repair ideas?
The Best bush hack I'd ever seen was a coach bolt welded to a steel plate to replace a flipper actually made the FJ pinball more fun to play
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^^ Hey Blair have you doctored those pic's? Lol Lol you know I'm joking still can't believe someone would sell a game in such a dangerous condition.
Aahh yes. Well it was suggested that I may have doctored those pics by an AA mod. Posting those pics on AA in an attempt to alert would be buyers about this shonky seller ended up in me getting banned from AA. Why? Because the seller was a sponsor of AA at the time and could do no wrong.
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Hmmm I suspect I have been shafted by the same dishonest seller who sold me a machine different to the one he sent pictures of then told me it was a risk I took!
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Geez Nino you must come across some real dodgy games people have bought from importers-if I buy a game with a receipt I assume I have the same protection as I would like buying a car with a roadworthy am I right? But if I buy off eBay or the bloke down the road with no receipt I'm on my own? Surly people selling through a company name have a duty of care and are ultimately responsible if someone hurts themselves! Do I live in a dream world?
I do 2 days worth of repairs a week. These are games imported and bought locally. Twenty years ago, you can understand the hacks keep the games on location - so you can forgive these - and some have been ingenious. In the last 5 years, I've seen some "lethal" problems - literally. Almost every game that I've seen has been a deliberate attempt to "not repair" the game, or a badly butchered repair because the sellers simply don't have the technical expertise, or the employees are not technically proficient. I do remember visiting a "state of the art" workshop, and the soldering irons were the same ones used to solder battery terminals. Really "back yard" attitude to repairs.
I don't do onsite work unless I know the full history of the machine - ie - I sold it, or I've worked on it. But on occasions, I really feel "sorry" for buyers and I try to help out. The BIGGEST problems are that an owner presents the game with one minor issue, and when I view the game, it has several issues and I feel compelled to help them - even though I'm the LAST in a long line of attempted repairs - and every single "tech" has ripped them off. Our industry will never be regulated, so reputations are important. Some simply don't care - after they sell the game - they won't help.
I will find more pictures - and some of them will be very interesting - and I'm not referring to rubber bands being used in the place of rubbers.. @@^
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A few I've recently fixed...
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OMG.
A parralel universe in series trouble.
These guys must have shown potential as youngsters with Lego blocks.
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Ha ha- Ive recently done that very same thing to a battery holder!!
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A few I've recently fixed...
Omg That is beautiful! Never ceases to amaze me what people come up with. John looks like your in first place for a prize so far
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A few I've recently fixed...
Why dont all components come attached with those crimp connectors, would making swapping parts out easy *)*
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I think i have some pictures somewhere of some of the hack repairs i've come across in the past few years.. will post some if i find them.
I saw a pretty inventive one on a KISS that i repaired recently.. the connectors on the power supply, rather than the usual hard wire method for the burnt connectors that we've all seen, someone had wired in an EM style jones plug and socket for the 20 pin connector!! I was nearly gonna snap a pic of this but didn't get around to it. I didn't touch this connector as the game was in a customers home and i was called in to repair a sound board issue.
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Another 2 from the same "Catacomb" , This time its the Sol/Driver Board. This board is being replaced with Altek I reckon its the same "Hacker as the shots on the transformer/ Power supply Why buy the correct Caps when you can make you own to suit! I recently repaired a Amazing Spiderman System 80 out of africa . Has some very nice Hacks. no photos yet but i need to go back and replace the power supply on it, So i will take a few shots .
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I love the Caps.
I had to do similar to an old Onkyo 508 amp. the 100,000uF caps are under rated and die. They are no longer available. So I got the next nearest in a different size but higher Voltage rating, added two extra caps to bring the values up, some heat shrink and copper bar. Now I need to find the other short on the boards to get it working. It's only been two years.....
Simon.
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I love the Caps.
I had to do similar to an old Onkyo 508 amp. the 100,000uF caps are under rated and die. They are no longer available. So I got the next nearest in a different size but higher Voltage rating, added two extra caps to bring the values up, some heat shrink and copper bar. Now I need to find the other short on the boards to get it working. It's only been two years.....
Simon.
Nice , I think what you are doing is perfectly acceptable . No doubt you would make a neat job of it, that is a large value! .I was asked if i could fix the Sol/dri Board and declined Haha. Getting a new one for the "Catacomb" Driver board will prob go into the Board box for future repairs or parts
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Another 2 from the same "Catacomb" , This time its the Sol/Driver Board. This board is being replaced with Altek I reckon its the same "Hacker as the shots on the transformer/ Power supply Why buy the correct Caps when you can make you own to suit! I recently repaired a Amazing Spiderman System 80 out of africa . Has some very nice Hacks. no photos yet but i need to go back and replace the power supply on it, So i will take a few shots .
JEEEZUS.. i guess SOME thought went into the caps that went onto that SD board.. well at least the values used add up to the original 11'000uF :D :D
I see that kind of thing a LOT on old audio gear/old guitar amps etc.. and on a few occasions have been forced to do it myself when someone needed their amp in a hurry, much as i hate doing it!!
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I'll add the "No-Blow" fuse to the list.
I've seen nails, foil and copper wire before but never a roofing screw.
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I'll add the "No-Blow" fuse to the list.
I've seen nails, foil and copper wire before but never a roofing screw.
Oooh, that's a good one. Looks like a piece of wire soldered onto the fuse below it as well??
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Oooh, that's a good one. Looks like a piece of wire soldered onto the fuse below it as well??
Actually every fuse with the exception of the 2 above the roofing screw had wire soldered onto them. This particular machine was recently purchased like this from an old operator.
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How about this for a slow blow fuse %.% found this in a Quick Draw i did work on not long ago!!
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How about this for a slow blow fuse
What a classic! Even better that they left the washer and nut on. Wonder if they read 10 gauge instead of 10 amp! @.@
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Here's another pic i just remembered i had that i thought was a pearler of a hack at the time.. this time from a Gtb Genie.. do you think the 1 amp diodes used might be just a tad underrated :D :D
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Machine sold by a guy selling container trash in Melbourne. This was after having supposedly spent over $900 in repairs on the machine.
The other flipper was the same. Have a close look at the connector in the 2nd pic....yes it is a nail shoved into the connector to hold the wire in place.
Ahh the memories, those pics certainly bring back a few. %.% The apparent investment in tech repairs to this machine was $921 to be exact !!@ Funny how he was never able to name the tech or come up with a receipt though.
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The no blow fuse idea is insane!
I always remember a story a friend told me years ago about a ATM tech who after going back to same Bank Atm time after time to replace a blow fuse. Thought he would Put in a higher rates fuse. 2 days later the bank burnt down!
The
Moral to the story is simple. Use the correct fuse size.
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A couple of a Bally/ Stern Sol Driver board, These show some shoddy soldering and use of House wiring i think as jumper tracks %.%
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Found This fuse(s) in my Cosmic Princess the other night while i was talking some pictures for the IPDB .
I'm not sure what he was thinking. Both fuses look to be okay %.% , so maybe he couldn't find a fuse of the required amperage and made his own .
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Question is: Do 2 10A fuses in parallel make 1 20A fuse?
I would have thought not as both fuses wouldn't be exactly the same spec and so path of least resistance would be taken.
I could be wrong... I could be right as Mr Lydon would say
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Question is: Do 2 10A fuses in parallel make 1 20A fuse?
I would have thought not as both fuses wouldn't be exactly the same spec and so path of least resistance would be taken.
I could be wrong... I could be right as Mr Lydon would say
Then the one drawing more current heats up more, slightly increasing its resistance.
I can imagine some kind of feedback loop happening.
Would never not blow over its 20 amp rating, but could also certainly blow under it.
Its a safety, safety fuse.
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That's a lazy tech. I'll bet the fuse clips are broken and the second fuse was soldered in place. The lower fuse is most likely blown, but it would be reading fine as it has the other fuse completing the circuit.
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They both look fine , same looking fuses, both 10amp i think , too much solder on the ends to see ..
I wonder if the thing would take longer to blow? , With all that extra material to flow through IE the fuse ends and solder.
A slower slow blow fuse possibly , I should crank the amps through it and test till it fails . ^&(
The usual 'hack' i normally encounter is the 'Trusty soldered fuse wire across it method'.
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They both look fine , same looking fuses, both 10amp i think , too much solder on the ends to see ..
I wonder if the thing would take longer to blow? , With all that extra material to flow through IE the fuse ends and solder.
A slower slow blow fuse possibly , I should crank the amps through it and test till it fails . ^&(
The usual 'hack' i normally encounter is the 'Trusty soldered fuse wire across it method'.
They might look fine, but I'll bet the fuse soldered into the clips is not good.
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Lol another beauty.
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Wasn't going to post this but since the thread popped up why not. (http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/12/17/99f84985a20f336a4385adab02b6f3ad.jpg)
Just I case data east power supplies arn't hard enough to remove lol
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at least heat shrink was used!
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Yeah wasn't terrible more a pain in the ass but seriously even if you needed to order the plug its only $10 and a weeks wait.
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That's a lazy tech. I'll bet the fuse clips are broken and the second fuse was soldered in place. The lower fuse is most likely blown, but it would be reading fine as it has the other fuse completing the circuit.
No the fuse clips are good , just in the one pic ,it looks like it's soldered in place , but isnt .
This board will be rebuilt or renewed when the Cosmic Princess gets Restored ...