Creature Prototype Restoration

[Strangeways]

That is a very honorable thing you are doing for you friend's Widow and daughter. I'm sure your friend would be pleased that you are helping him, ever after he has passed - and he would also be pleased that someone like yourself is working on his games.

I work at my own pace as well - I maintain the "fun factor". If it becomes stressful or laborious, I find something else to do. Sometimes I work all day and then only an hour the next. It is all about finding the time and looking after the more important things in life.

[johnwartjr]

Underside is almost done!



Worked on it quite a bit tonight. Finally came inside around 1:30 AM after realizing I do need some sleep before getting up for work @ 6 AMish. Yeah, it's almost 2:30 now, so I better make it short and sweet!

All wires routed as neatly as possible, but solenoids are still unsoldered. Everything is lining up where it belongs, though!

The wiring harnesses have 'memory' after being run for years and years, even after being unsoldered for a few years, the wires lay pretty close!



Still need to decide how to tackle the opto harness.



What a mess.. but it will tidy up nicely!





Spent 10 minutes trying to figure out where this lamp socket went... then remembered the backboard :)

[johnwartjr]

After a bit of debate, I added some connectors to 3 assemblies that were added to production games, mainly because fixing anything wrong with these assys ever would be a royal pain of desoldering in tight spaces.

First, I robbed the opto harnesses off the 2 right hand side VUKs to copy them. I harvested the correct color wire from a junk harness, cleaned it, and built new harnesses with identical connectors and routed the wires to the same pinouts.

Harnesses from regular Creature:



First harness, installed



And the second..



And finally, the 3rd assy with a switch that was not on a connector, the up/down assy:

[johnwartjr]

The playfield is in the cabinet!





The underside



And a junk playfield glass is slid in place and secured. Gotta have a way to keep things clean!



Looks like I have a few issues to work through - not unexpected with a game that was bought as a project and in parts. Had 1 bulb in the lamp matrix stuck on - guessing a diode since it's just 1 lamp and not a whole row/column, and all the flashers in the game lock on unless I remove a certain connector. While I was troubleshooting that, I got the always unpleasant burning electronics smell, and when I rebooted the game, it said CHECK F114 / F115 and of course the switch matrix was then dead. No burnt coils, most logical thought is the lamp socket that is stuck on may have been shorted and that took out BR1.

I'll get back to it, but I'm done for the evening. Got plenty of fun to look forward to tomorrow.

[johnwartjr]

It's alive!



All solenoids, lamps and switches working. Was quite the day of troubleshooting. I lucked out and found someone on IRC who was VERY knowledgable with the heart of a teacher and got walked through troubleshooting the WPC driver board. Learned bunches.

Upon further diagnosis, I found out the entire Row 1 of the lamp matrix was stuck on - but the transistor was fine! The lamp matrix is 12 volts, but it 'strobes' 18 volts to produce 12. When the column or row locks on, it eventually draws enough to blow the fuse. So, the stuck row caused the fuse to blow. Pulled the lamps in that column, replaced the fuse, and the game was fine again.

Apparently, this board got nailed REALLY hard by something before it came to me. I had a problem with 3 flashers and 1 coil locking on as well, and after looking at the schematic, I found that the lamp row, 3 flashers and coil all connected to D0 on the driver board. After hooking up the logic probe, it was obvious that something was pulling D0 low when it should be pulsing.

I ended up replacing U1, U2, U3, U4 and U5 because pin 2 on all these chips was shorted. Logic probe kept finding a bad chip and D0 was pulled low instead of pulsing, I'd remove the chip and retest, and it'd still be pulled low! Long story and I'm not gonna go into it, but the driver board took 3-4 hours to straighten out.

Adjusted 3 switches, replaced a bulb that was burnt out, reflowed the solder on the DMD driver board (had an intermittent problem with the DMD driver garbling images/text and failing the RAM test until it'd been on for 10-15 minutes, as expected, there was a cold solder joint) and now, it is 100%.

Time to return to assembly :)

[shansta]

That is a very honorable thing you are doing for you friend's Widow and daughter. I'm sure your friend would be pleased that you are helping him, ever after he has passed - and he would also be pleased that someone like yourself is working on his games.

+1 - A true gentleman! 

[johnwartjr]

So, the Creature is ringed



A few posts got moved around a little as I realized I had them in the wrong places when the rubber didn't fit just right. And I had an interesting issue pop up. There's a post next to the snack bar scoop that has a bell shaped rubber on it. On the proto game, the stainless ball guide behind the post appears to be a little longer - so the bell shaped rubber won't clear it.

My teardown pics show the issue, and the rubber on the game before was notched, so I notched the bell shaped sleeve and installed it. In home use, I think it'll survive just fine.



One of the protos I am aware of shipped from the factory with black bats. I figured I'd do black bats with white rings. Every rubber part in the machine is white now!



You can also notice in the last picture that with the bats installed, the enlarged flipper holes don't prove to be troublesome.



Another fun proto issue - some tweaked mounting hardware for the bowl ramp. I can probably get it close (I've looked for a replacement!), but will the bowl fit right?

[Strangeways]

That bracket in the last picture looks like it was involved in a car accident !

Looking good, John, and the white rubbers look awesome. Although Black suits this game, white "freshens" up the playfield. The black bats with white rubbers really look strange, but I'm sure it will "fit in" as the playfield takes shape. Great job on the electronics - that would have stumped me for a few hours !

[johnwartjr]

I have one more place to check for a new one. Doesn't seem like it'd be a bracket that is often damaged etc, so maybe I'll have some luck. I'd rather get a new one than straighten this one, I'm worried that I'd straighten it and the bowl would sit wrong, so I'd rather find a new or used one that is straight and use it and have the original bent beat up one to fall back on.

I am not a fan of black rubber on anything. I don't like the bounce of it, I don't like the dust it drops everywhere, and I like how white brightens up a game. Out of all the games I've ever worked on, I put black on one because that's the kit that I recieved in the mail for it (didn't think to ask for white) and I was in a hurry to reassemble the machine. I've been buying bulk rings for years now, and I don't even get black.

I guess it's a matter of preference.

[ktm450]

Looking fantastic John, Interesting you are using white flipper rubbers, have never seen anyone use them on newer games

[johnwartjr]

Some more pictures, with the plastics starting to be installed. The final parts orders should arrive in the next 2-3 days.

I bent my first wire gate today. It was easier than I thought it'd be, but wasn't simple by any means!



I may attempt this gate again tomorrow night. This one is functional, but isn't as pretty as an original. The paperclip that was somewhat misformed in this bracket just wouldn't cut it.

Plastics being test fit, protectors should be here in about 2 days

[johnwartjr]

So, I got 2 of the final 3 parts orders in today. And I placed another order, so really there are 4 final parts orders. Someday, I'll be good enough to have all the parts in house before I start. Or, is that 'wealthy' enough to have them in house?

The parts that arrived were the cointaker LEDs for the pop bumpers (the test subjects ended up being left in the 'test' game, I liked them so much!), and the Pinbits plastic protector set.

The plastic protectors look like they will be very effective. Basically, Pinbits has made a clear version of the plastics that commonly break, extended the plastic ever so slightly where the ball impacts the plastic, and made them from plastic that is not likely to shatter. It is installed under the plastic, and should save the plastic from being cracked or broken.



The 4th order I placed today was for some 'jam' nuts, a thinner version of a locknut. Once you add the extra thickness, it reduces the amount of threads that can be engaged on the nut holding the plastic down - meaning the threads may not get to the nylon locking portion. So, I ordered some of the thinner locknuts, and some small washers as well to go under the nuts. The washers will keep the nuts from cutting into the plastics.

It's looking really good!



The 3rd package, containing the sling plastics, new bowl ramp, and new PF window arrives tomorrow, unless USPS messes up!

[MartyJ]

Looking great John.  I bet you're hanging to play it finally!

[el_timbo86]

+1 with Marty,

You must be HANGING to press that start button on the first game...

Looking great, very very informative thread for guys like me just getting into the hobby.

Thanks very much.

el_timbo

[Caveoftreasures]

John, since you are nearly finished with the Creature resto, what machine are you doing next ? and why/what made you pick the next in line ?

I note, that you have all of us watching every part of every restore over here and we are all enjoying your great work. Your resto threads are helping alot of guys, espescially with confidence to have a go.

That Creature, will probably end up being one of the best examples in the world when done.

I dont think Treasure Cove even does as much as you do.

Nice work mate !