Addam's Family Recondition !

[bigdaddy]

Great posts. Keep them coming I'm learning heaps.

PS: That's one nice TAF

[Strangeways]

So this is where I get to test out my Aoyue 701. Removing the Caps and Bridge rectifiers is always a bit of a challenge, as the legs on the Caps are not the expected wire legs, they are more like lugs and they often remove the collar that is the conductor between one side of the board with the other. Sometimes, after completing these upgrades, some voltages may not be present. The Marvin's guide adds jumpers for this very reason, and I've always used them in the past.

I've preheated my desoldering gun, and I've used a little solder for the tip of the gun. The BRs were removed in around a minute per BR ! VERY easy - "stuff all" effort. They simply "fell off" the board once I have done the last of the four legs ! The Caps could not be removed with the desoldering gun - there needs to be a continuous heat applied to each leg. So I used the solder pencil. I placed a fresh "Ball" of solder on each leg and heated one leg up, then gently pulled the leg a little - moved to the opposite leg and did the same. so effectively, I heated up each leg and SLOWLY extracted the capacitor. Took time - but as I removed each Cap, I checked for the copper "collar" - none present - so I dropped a bit of solder on the pads of each removed Cap and used the desoldering gun to "clean up" the hole. This technique worked well - and I had all 5 caps and BRs out in around 15 minutes.


The old ;





The new ;





Here's some pictures of the board with the Caps and BRs removed. Very clean job (this time)








To install the new parts - start with the BRs. Make sure they are installed correctly. Now the really good thing about using a Desoldering Gun, is that the solder pads are clean and the holes have no solder - so when you resolder, the solder can pass through the hole and flow through the collar to the other side of the board. Leave plenty of room in between the BR and the board. Just in case when you solder - the solder does not make a good connection on BOTH SIDES of the board - this is important - especially if the collar was damaged (or any tracks), when the old parts were removed. Now check that the solder is on both sides of the board. If now - now is the time to use the space between the board and the BR to drop some solder on the parts side.

Now install the Caps - make sure they are pushed in all the way.

Should look something like this














Jumpers - I didn't really need them, but I've install some anyway on the main culprits. I mark them out with a permanent marker before taking the parts out. The aim is to ensure that the tracks on the parts side of the board are not severed IF the collars were damaged during removal. So what you do is check the tracks on the parts side while the caps and BRs are removed, and draw a line from the Caps two solder pads to their next component on the solder side. This is where the jumpers will be installed. They are usually connected to the corresponding BR.


Here's an example




Hard to explain, but it is always advantageous to install the jumpers.

Now that I've used the Desoldering Station for this task - I'll NEVER go back ! While the board is out - Check the GI connectors J120 and J121. Reflow the solder - regardless of whether they look "good" !


 

[johnwartjr]

Was questioning regarding the boiling water on the metal parts, not the translite

On translites, I use Crazy Clean, a cleaner I use on cabinets as well and get from pinrestore.com - works great for me.

[Strangeways]

Was questioning regarding the boiling water on the metal parts, not the translite

On translites, I use Crazy Clean, a cleaner I use on cabinets as well and get from pinrestore.com - works great for me.

Sorry John, your response was straight after the translite comments so I assumed ! I also missed the word "boiling"  -I don't think that would work well with a translite !

For the screws and fittings and smaller parts - I use an old Ice Cream container. Throw all the screws etc in the empty container and then 4 - 5 sprays of Windex. Pour the boiling water in and let it sit for an hour or two. I the container is too thin, just place it inside another container. Boiling water may melt the container if it is too thin. If the parts are REALLY filthy - leave them overnight.

[johnwartjr]

I will try it tomorrow :) I bought a windex 'kit' at the warehouse club today, for under $10, I got a spray bottle of Windex and a gallon sized refill :) I can clean a lot of parts with that I bet!

[Pintoxicated]

Awesome stuff once again Nino.  Don't know where you get the time and patience to do what you do but I am sure plenty of us are learning heaps and are in awe of your restos.

[Strangeways]

Awesome stuff once again Nino.  Don't know where you get the time and patience to do what you do but I am sure plenty of us are learning heaps and are in awe of your restos.

I "find" the time - and to be honest, apart from daily responsibilities etc and playing with my kids - I have no other "outlets". I honesty have no interests outside of Pinball other that AFL ! "Patience" - I just enjoy what I do - so I never "run out of patience".

Update


All the boards have been removed and checked for problems. Headers have been resoldered. The CPU board needed the jumpers set for "America2", so that if factory defaults is chosen, the machine will be in a default "English" language.

I needed the two scoops (Swamp and Chair) rewelded and a section of the main metal guide from the ramp rewelded. Special thanks to Angelo (Slammer) for doing this for me  . Turned out VERY good and they are already installed in the machine. Here's a picture ;





Now I'm at the stage where I need to test the machine and this is where I hope to "iron out" any issues. I've played around 20 games and it plays very well so far. I still need to source a RHS sling and I'll be happy ! Hopefully one of the Sponsors will have one for me.

Sneak pictures as of tonight







Nearly done..

[Caveoftreasures]

hey, whats the machine selling at ? hint hint.
sure looks nice.excellent work.
Again, very talented.not many people can do what u do.     

[slammer]

Great to see that they made it to you all in one piece via the post!

The repairs were a piece of cake when you have thew right tools.

It was a pleasure to repair these for you Nino, after the work you did on the Drop a Card for me.

Cheers Angelo

[Supremicus]

Very nice nino, was great reading all the work you did.

[johnwartjr]

Came out very nice. I'm impressed with the scoop repair, most of the ones I've seen repaired had a fair amount of burn on the stainless and the welds themselves didn't look very clean!

[johnwartjr]

And I don't want to 'postwhore' your thread, but I was debating something today as I was making the kids lunch, can't wait to give it a try.

Regarding precleaning parts before tumbling. I'm curious if it's the windex, the heat, or the combination of both that help out here.

One tool in my toolbox that I use sometimes is an ultrasonic cleaner. I typically use the ultrasonic to clean the little black #555 lamp holders - the ones that screw into the lamp PCBs - with 91% rubbing alcohol.

It stays pretty clean after you just clean 1 'batch' in it



But after a bunch, it starts to get really dirty and awful looking, like you mentioned the 'coppery' or 'tea' colored..



The ultrasonic is nice, but frankly, I've not found that it has 'paid for itself' at all, the investment is not cheap, and I've not found a lot of applications where it does a great job. I know several other US collectors who swear by them, though, and have told me you just have to keep trying different cleaners til you get the results you like.

The ultrasonic doesn't get boiling hot, but it does get too warm to fish parts out of if you leave it on long enough - and some of the higher end ones do have heaters built in. Mine just heats itself up due to the action of running I guess.

[Strangeways]

John - Your comments are more than welcome 

I had a need to clean some filthy, corroded and rusted playfield hardware on a system1 machine a while ago. I found that soaking in Nifti was ok, but windex worked better. I added the boiling water and windex, thinking the heat would separate the dirt and help the windex lift the dirt etc. It worked really well. I tool it a step further by using old plastic containers with covers (just supermarket coffee containers). What I did was grab a 1/4 of a cup of hardware (screws etc), drop them into the container, spray windex into the container and shake for a minute. I then added 1/2 cup of boiling water and shook the container for a minute - much the same as shaking a spray can. I then emptied the hardware into a clean bowl of water and I was amazed. What really surprised me was the amount of FILTH left behind in the container. I think the heat AND windex (as the cleaner) do the job well.

From that day on - I just apply this simply method to all hardware prior to dropping into the tumbler. What I will do - Next machine I recondition - I will document the process. Just years of "trial and error" - and it works for me - and the "beauty" of it is - anyone can do it !

Ultrasonic cleaner - I've not used this method yet - but I'm happy to compare results. The problem with ultrasonic cleaning is the expense of the cleaner and the relatively small "bins" they have. Only a small amount of hardware can be done at once.

[johnwartjr]

I may try to do some experimenting tomorrow. I have cashboxes full of parts from parted out games through the years - one full of metal posts, one full of screws,  one full of nuts, etc. So I've got plenty to play with and do some experimenting.

I keep thinking I'll have time at night, then something more important (bah!) pops up that the wife or kids need, etc.

How do you dry before tumbling? Just towel dry? Blow the parts out? Or just drain them and toss them in the tumbler?

[Strangeways]

I may try to do some experimenting tomorrow. I have cashboxes full of parts from parted out games through the years - one full of metal posts, one full of screws,  one full of nuts, etc. So I've got plenty to play with and do some experimenting.

I keep thinking I'll have time at night, then something more important (bah!) pops up that the wife or kids need, etc.

How do you dry before tumbling? Just towel dry? Blow the parts out? Or just drain them and toss them in the tumbler?

I drop them on a towel, and then put them out in the sun for 5 minutes ! If I need to dry at night - I use the compressor ! Then straight into the tumbler.