The Aussie Pinball Arcade
Aussie Pinball Forums => Restorations => Topic started by: robm on January 30, 2013, 10:32:24 AM
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Well its onto number two of the island haul - for those that haven't read the relevant thread, have a look here http://aussiepinball.com/index.php?topic=9757.msg126624#msg126624 (http://aussiepinball.com/index.php?topic=9757.msg126624#msg126624)
This one will be a fair bit more work than the Addams i did first - this one required a re-decal. But before we get into that, a few before shots...
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/Fishtales/IMG_2947.jpg)
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/Fishtales/IMG_2948.jpg)
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/Fishtales/IMG_2953.jpg)
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/Fishtales/IMG_2946.jpg)
The playfield is dirty, but really very good - some light surface rust on the habitrails
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/Fishtales/IMG_2949.jpg)
The first job i started was to check the electronics over for errors. I'm pretty nervous about these machines as they have been stored in a fairly open environment for the last 7 years or so. The first thing i did was insepct the power lead and 240V line going to the main switch. Luckily i checked it as one of the main AC lines had been damaged or chewed through
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/Fishtales/IMG_2952.jpg)
So i installed a new double insulated cable to be safe. Next step was to check the transformer, so i unplugged everything downstream of it, so power was just going to the tranny - blew the main fuse after a few seconds. Disconnected the tranny from the main power switch and blew another fuse. Assumed it was the line filter as the thermistor and varistor looked good with no visible signs of damage - plus the line filter had continuity across active and neutral. Threw a new line filter in and it fired up no worries with a slight hum from the transformer.
Next, as i am nervous/cautious, i checked every set of output wires from the transformer for correct voltages - everything seemed to be in order. Just push the DMM leads into the female plug and turn the machine on - this way there is no way of slipped or allowing the probes to touch when working with highish AC voltages.
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/Fishtales/IMG_2954.jpg)
After that, i one by one connected power to each of the boards in the backbox. Power driver board was sweet, all test points were perfect - 5.02V on the 5V line which i was very surprised with! The CPU had no acid damage and started up the correct LED sequence which was great.
When i connected the sound board and turned the machine on, i was greeted with a shower of sparks, flames about 2cm long and some smoke!!!!! Turns out the capacitor C28 spewed its guts everywhere, so that board went into the repair pile. The Display board seemed to be putting out quite high voltages - 152 and 140, i think these should be down around 120 or so, so will investigate that one further unless anyone has any tips??? I connected the DMD for a couple of seconds, and got a full display, but it seemed to be a combination of ribbon cable garble as well as a wavy/hazy look?
So then i pulled all the boards out, the wiring harness and all the bits and bobs from inside the cabinet. Pulled the siderails off and started to peel off the decals
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/Fishtales/IMG_2990.jpg)
It was great fun just sitting in the shed with the young fella (2.5yr old) as he loved rolling the ball around the ramps and passing me tools
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/Fishtales/IMG_2988.jpg)
I think i'm training him well as he seems to get the rules of hitting the captive ball, and his aim is pretty spot on!
[ Invalid YouTube link ]
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Started by fixing up the main cabinet.
First issue was there was a strip of timber at the top that was originally chipboard that had all swollen with moisture (see sitting on top), rippped this out and put a new piece of pine in
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3068_zps8b23d8fe.jpg)
The rear of the headbox was all swollen as well, so bashed it out with a hammer and cut a new sheet out for it
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3072_zps7211665d.jpg)
There were plenty of chunks missing and parts of the cabinet delaminating, so went through quite a bit of builders bog patching up these holes and also extending the delamination as far as i could so that it didn't happen again in the future.
See this pic for an idea of the stuff i had to fill
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3085_zps192bcb3e.jpg)
This is the first application of bog, prior to sanding - its important to get into this stuff after about 1/2 hour as it sets rock hard and you will have a lot more work of sanding if you leave it too long
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3086_zpse7f8cf8d.jpg)
Here is a pic of one side of the cabinet with bog in the large holes (rear of cab) and fine filler in the tibmer grain and small scratches
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3088_zps27b8f463.jpg)
After all that has been done and sanded plenty, i hit it with spray putty - not sure that this is its intended application (more for auto body work), but i think it works OK at filling in all the fine areas that i might have missed with the other applications - the pic below it the headbox with the new back installed
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3102_zpsaf5dd355.jpg)
I also decided that the base was too far gone, so bashed it out - a pic of the cab with the first coat of black for the inside
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3105_zpsdf136129.jpg)
Then it got too hot in the shed, so i decided to grab the playfield and bring it inside the house in airconditioned comfort!
[COLOR="silver"]- - - Updated - - -[/COLOR]
So in terms of the playfield - here are a few unglamourous shots
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3128_zps40995c00.jpg)
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3129_zpsb680e42e.jpg)
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3130_zps05838610.jpg)
Basically threw the playfield in my home made rotisserie and started pulling all the bits off. The only issues i could find were one coil that had its wires clipped off and the only reason it was having problems was that its bracket was a bit bent, making the plunger difficult to move up and down. Other than that, the rear of the playfield is very very clean. Rebuilt the flippers, pulled all the light PCBs off and washed them, checked all other mechanical components and linkages etc, and everything seems to be pretty good - although i won't fully know until i power it up and do all the necessary tests.
The backboard of the playfield was absolutely hideous with possum crap and everything all over it - the pins on the small PCB were stuffed. So a new set of header pins and plenty of scrubbing ahead...
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3204_zps2c317ee9.jpg)
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3205_zps19d7c9a2.jpg)
After a bit - it all came up great!
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3206_zps81ef1650.jpg)
After everything was stripped, i put all the small metal parts in the tumbler for a few days to clean/polish up.
Cleaned all the ramps, plastics and posts etc, then moved onto the fun part, getting into the playfield
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3215_zpsbe816c75.jpg)
So with a mix of shellite, metho, nifty. magic erasers and plenty of rags and elbow grease you can get a very satisfying result
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3217_zps743be796.jpg)
Then i got the treasurecove polishing kit out, and polished it all up
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3218_zps43e9c5ad.jpg)
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3220_zps46111618.jpg)
With everything clean, i'm now at the stage of repopulating the playfield. Easiest way is to go through all the photos i took of pulling it down in reverse order.
I've started putting LEDs through the machine - if you have a few machines and/or LEDs, its great to organise them by colour and type in this sort of case - heaps better than sifting through ziplock bags all the time!
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3224_zps6109e7f1.jpg)
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WOW - that's one dirty game, and a huge challenge that you are breezing through. Great to see the kids involved. You are doing the right thing by checking the electrical wiring. That would be my biggest concern due to the game's history. Playfield looks fantastic after cleaning. Maybe all the poop provided a protective covering ?
Video has some very cool background music. Underrated album - "Hollow Years" is a epic song. I often listen to DT while doing long hours.
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Going great guns so far Rob . Playfield looks great after cleaning . ^^^ How many hours so far do you reckon ?
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Coming along nicely, can't believe that pf what a mess :lol
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Hmm hours are hard to keep track of, i'm doing it fairly slowly so i enjoy it and it doesn't become a chore, but i reckon around 70-90 so far, particularly with testing and doing all the boardwork, plus hours of sanding and bogging
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Thanks for posting these threads it's such a valuable resource for us guys that are just starting out
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Wow, what a job, and what a great job you are making of it! Real dedication Rob, great to see a game saved that easily have been written off.
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^^^ Highly commendable @@*
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Hmm hours are hard to keep track of, i'm doing it fairly slowly so i enjoy it and it doesn't become a chore, but i reckon around 70-90 so far, particularly with testing and doing all the boardwork, plus hours of sanding and bogging
Yep, know what you mean re hard to keep track of . My next resto I am going to try and document the hours cause so far I always guess .
I'd bet that the time that really goes in is way more than we guess
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A fair bit of progress today and yesterday
Got all the playfield back together fully and looking good, hopefully the coloured LEDs i've put in work well as i've tried to match the plastic colour to the LED for the general illumination lights - won't really know until i power it all up
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3227_zps7e2daa02.jpg)
Once that was done, i ventured out of the air conditioning and into the shed. A bit more time on the sander giving the spray putty a nice smooth finish. Then i gave a few extra coats of satin black to the inside of the cabinet, plus sprayed all the corners so that when i trim the new decals, there will be black underneath giving a nice edge.
Then i cut out a new base for the main cabinet - set a guide up by clamping a straight edge down and cut it with the circular saw, then cut out the switch and speaker holes and glued it to the cabinet.
All looks pretty good with the new base and sides all black
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3231_zps5e0bd6da.jpg)
I then started to reinstall the cabinet hardware, starting with the earth braid in the headbox. Doing this stuff is fairly slow, but also good as you can see that the process is getting closer and closer to being able to fire it up for the first time!
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3229_zps1f756fec.jpg)
Also i've been replacing a few plugs where the old ones are burnt - this is a very common issues, particularly for J120 and J121 which are the two plugs for general illumination. You can see the old one i've snipped off is well past it and burnt!
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3230_zpsf833dc5f.jpg)
Also have spent a lot of time cleaning up the wiring harness (cleaning all the wires with Nifti and rags), painting bolts and bits and pieces ready to install back in the cabinet so everything looks good.
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Amazing job.
Hard to believe it's the same machine.
I can't wait to see the finished product.
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Very talented and lots of hard work. Great to see the young bloke helping.
Let the young fella have the first game and take a photo of him shooting the first ball. Would make a great photo for years to come !
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Very impressive Rob!
I am watching your updates with interest as I am pretty much doing the same thing with my WH20 and you are a few steps ahead of me. I too had to replace the headbox back section, and at the moment I am trying to decide if I should buy a drill press to put the vent holes back in or do it free hand *!@
When you replaced the braid, what size staple did you use? I have been looking to get the same size as the originals, which I can find (71 series staples), it's just the actual staple gun that is hard to find at a decent price. Best local one I have found is around $169 + delivery, and none of the major hardware chains seem to carry them.
Look forward to seeing some more updates from you ^^^
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Thanks for the comments
In terms of drilling the vent holes - the best option is a router.
I (stupidly) replaced it with MDF - should have used ply. Cutting a neat hole in MDF i found quite tricky - a holesaw seemed to push a few chunks out the back side of the MDF, as did a brad spade bit. I ended up drilling small pilot holes for the tip of the spade bit (32mm - a bit smaller than the standard size) and cut from both sides - i didn't try going from both sides with the holesaw but probably should have. The holes are OK, but not perfect.
I reused the old earth braid as it was OK, i couldn't find the original size staples locally, so just got a manual $20 staple gun from bunnings and the staples are probably 10-13mm i think, a bit wider than the earth braid. It would be nice to have an air stapler as the manual one doesn't get them right in all of the time and i need to tap them a bit with the hammer
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So now have the headbox mostly back together. Cleaned all the boards up - still have to test the soundboard as it had exploding caps - i replaced them, but am yet to power it up. Flame polished the topper cover which made a fair difference. I also put blue and green LEDs in the topper - will see how it looks once powered up. I also added new fuse listings, but did this after i tool the picture.
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3237_zpsb6226b4d.jpg)
And a pic with the decals installed
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3238_zps23ed3fca.jpg)
I did the headbox and front of cabinet dry, and also added a sheet of polystyrene where the coin dorr cutout is, to stop the decal sagging
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3240_zps6ec44905.jpg)
Then my wife helped me do one side decal - we did it the wet method - sprayed some detergent on the back of the sticker and on the cabinet (needs to be well sealed prior to application), and put the decal down. After trying this, i'm a big fan of the wet method, simply because it gives you time to smooth out any air pockets very easily with a squeegee. Some people have mentioned that they can move the whole decal around, but i certainly couldn't do that (not that i needed to as i aligned it before application. I actually stuck the back 100mm or down dry, so it was aligned perfectly, then did the rest wet.
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3241_zps8acf2cdd.jpg)
Have also been spending time cleaning and polishing all the cabinet hardware - painting all the bolt heads in satin black so they look like new.
The fishing reel/launcher was very crusty with heaps of gunge and very dull looking. Cleaned this up with the wire brush, then prepsol, then etch primer, then hit it with some chrome paint - came up great i reckon!
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3242_zpse5f98647.jpg)
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It looks amazing. Superb effort.
You shld get good money for this Fishtales machine if u sell it because its terrific now that its redecalled n all shopped properly.
Stock un-shopped ones not redecalled go for $2500 usually without any hassles so u shld get a grand or more over the stock money easily to the right buyer who wants a really beaut fishtales. Great fun game as well.
Great job. ^^^
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I'm glad the machines ended up in the right hands. A real credit to your patience and dedication. I'll be watching all these games restored back from the dead (if you continue with resto threads *%*).
what an amazing restoration.
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Got the other main decal on no worries, then cleaned up the last of the bits and pieces all lying around and started putting it back together.
Felt protectors for the headbox hinges
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3245_zpsf9115e5c.jpg)
Then put the head on, as well as new rails, shooter, new flipper buttons and the cabinet wiring loom
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3246_zpse9c8db04.jpg)
Also installed a new woofer from Jaycar, put most of the wiring in corro conduit, which looks so much nicer than factory
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3247_zps46dffb6b.jpg)
I then went around and tested all the earths back to the the plug, and all was good.
Since all the boards were in and main wiring harness without the playfield i decided to fire it up. I had previously tested all the boards, but not the sound board since many of the original tantalum capacitors threw mini fireballs at me....i replaced them with electrolytic caps and........everything powered up nicely with no smoke!! I should never have doubted my repairs! The CPU booted up fine as well. Next step will be to put the playfield back in and test from there.
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Been following this thread with much interest.. looking VERY NICE indeed ^^^ ^^^ @@* @@*
I just looked again at the pics in the start of the thread, hard to believe its the same game.. looks brand new!!
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+1
You should be very proud of the work put in and the end result.
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I dropped the playfield in and plugged everything in, and........no display, no sound, two blown flipper fuses after a few seconds BUT, some very pretty lights! So was good to see it all lit up - unfortunately i'm not a good enough photographer to capture it, but this is a machine that LEDs really lend themselves to.
So after some board swapping, there must be an issue with the fliptronics board, display board and sound board - even though they powered up, they did not do their job. The sound sounded like farts in a bathtub trhough crackly speakers - swapped the sound board with a good one and it works fine, so assuming its something to do with the amp chip????
Anyway, since then i've had a few games - its super fast but plays perfectly (after a few minor switch adjustments). Very happy with the result and will try and throw a quick video up later
Enjoy the pics
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3308_zps0f530b89.jpg)
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3306_zps4626576b.jpg)
You cna't see it here - but i put a mixture of blue and green LEDs in the topper and it looks great - also a red one in the fish's eye
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3305_zpsd2d4177f.jpg)
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3299_zpse3cf0ef1.jpg)
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3293_zpsb097d4ba.jpg)
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3291_zpsc04cf43b.jpg)
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3287_zps95b6d3aa.jpg)
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3286_zps4d694e66.jpg)
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/IMG_3282_zpsbbfba76e.jpg)
Oh - and just for a giggle, here is the first couple of looks at the machine
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/P1020514.jpg)
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/Fishtales/IMG_2954.jpg)
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rjmilla/Fishtales/IMG_2946.jpg)
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Unbelievable transformation!!!
I just look at all that possum piss and crud and see a wreck... you didnt.
What can i say apart from im gobsmacked!
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Unbelievable transformation!!!
I just look at all that possum piss and crud and see a wreck... you didnt.
What can i say apart from im gobsmacked!
+1- brilliant effort!! #*#
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awesome Rob, congrats, looks great.
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Wow you would not think its the same game amazing job you really have spent some time but well worth it
So which one is next :lol Howzat
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Well done.
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You've got my vote!! ROBM FOR PM (PINBALL MAESTRO)
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$$( $$( $$( awesome $$( $$( $$(
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I said it before & i'll say it again... Hard to believe its the same machine!!
FAN BLOODY TASTIC effort @@* @@* @@*
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Unbelievable result there Rob ! ^^^ *%*.
Can't wait for the next one
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Truely amazing result ^^^
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Excellent stuff and what a story behind it all! Well done. #*# #*#
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Amazing results, well done ^^^
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I just noticed how amazing the inside of the cabinet came out.
I wish every machine came this way from factory, cause it looks 100 times better with the cabinet insides painted properly.
When a Fishtales is profesionally fully shopped n restored like this, it makes u wish you could have bought one brand new off the line when they were first made.
I still cant believe how good u made this machine look. Superb work. I cant wait to see the others as well. ^^^
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as a new member I did a search for fish tales on this forum and this is simply incredible.
I don't know how many people would have had the vision to see the potential from the original shed condition it was in
this IS inspiring!