Author Topic: Stern Cosmic Princess  (Read 662 times)

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Offline Mr Pinbologist

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Stern Cosmic Princess
« on: April 10, 2011, 09:43:27 PM »
Hi all, just brought home another one for the resto queue, and game #20 for the collection  :D

I picked this one up yesterday, Ian (howzat) told me about this one that he came across for sale in Port Macquarie, and after looking at it for himself decided that it wasnt for him, and he told me about it, so.. being a wishlist grail title of mine i decided that a weekend trip to Port Macquarie was in order  :lol

below are some pics of it after we got back to Ians's place. Now the BG in this game was badly faded. It just so happened that Ian was given a few BGs a week or so ago.. which included none other than.. a very nice, minimal flaking UNFADED cosmic princess BG!! So since he decided that he didnt want to buy this game he offered me this glass for the game if i bought it.. so i gladly accepted  #*# Since he plans on framing the BGs he was given and hanging them in his shed, i gave him my glass, rather than keeping it, as it would've been tricky getting a 2nd glass home, and he still has 3 BGs for decorations in his shed/gameroom.

This title is yet another of the first few games that i played when i got into pins, i used to play one at the old Pinball Parlor in Port, im not sure, but this one could very well be the VERY SAME machine i played all those yrs ago. this one sure had the same fading on its original BG and missing paint in all the same spots i can remember the from the Pinball Parlor one,  but it could just be coincidence !@# I knew of two CPs in the Pt Mac area, the pinball parlor one, and one i repaired for a lady there years ago.


« Last Edit: April 10, 2011, 10:15:53 PM by Mr Pinbologist »

Offline Mr Pinbologist

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Re: Stern Cosmic Princess
« Reply #1 on: April 10, 2011, 09:49:13 PM »
more pics.. check the 2nd pic... the game had the usual hard wired connectors on the power supply, so i had to cut them close to the power supply in order to remove the backbox.. well 2nd pic shows what i found when i looked closer at the wiring...

so you need to remove the backbox... simply cut the wiring loom in the MIDDLE  and solder it up later and NOT INSULATE the wires !! ^&^
« Last Edit: April 30, 2011, 10:07:03 PM by Mr Pinbologist »

Offline Mr Pinbologist

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Re: Stern Cosmic Princess
« Reply #2 on: April 10, 2011, 09:52:06 PM »
A few more pics.. as it now sits in my garage

Offline Mr Pinbologist

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Re: Stern Cosmic Princess
« Reply #3 on: April 10, 2011, 10:02:02 PM »
Last lot of pics for now.. the PF is much better than i thought it would be since its mylar (or contact?) covered, should come up real nice.

And NO wiring hacks under the PF, which is really nice to see.

the game was partially working when i looked at it, with just a few solenoids not firing (one bumper, drop targ reset and the saucer kickout), plus #4 display wasnt working and the sounds that apparently were working last time the guy had switched it on.. i reckon i should be able to have the game fully working in a few hours!

So i think i might get it going and set it up to play for a while until i decide to do give her "the treatment"  :lol Of course it 'll need the usual power supply rebuild with new connectors etc, so i'll do all that soon, so it can be played.

Oh btw i paid $900 in case anyone is wondering, i already knew that was what he was asking for it. i tried to get it for a bit less than that but he wouldnt budge,  besides i had already decided that i WANTED IT  :lol :lol anyway considering that it is in a LOT better condition than i thought it would be i didnt mind paying what he wanted, especially seeing as it was another 'grail' title.  *%* *%*
« Last Edit: April 30, 2011, 10:09:57 PM by Mr Pinbologist »

Offline Strangeways

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Re: Stern Cosmic Princess
« Reply #4 on: April 10, 2011, 10:22:11 PM »

Cool game Mitch, and there's no "real" price tag on Holy Grail pins - especially when you just "have to own it" !

Looking forward to the restoration.
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Offline deadlydave

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Re: Stern Cosmic Princess
« Reply #5 on: April 10, 2011, 11:23:37 PM »
Looks great Mitch, playfield is bright, will be very tidy once you work your magic  ^^^

Offline chris288

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Re: Stern Cosmic Princess
« Reply #6 on: April 10, 2011, 11:44:00 PM »
Thats a nice looking machine Mitch.

The plastics look ok and the colours on the playfield seem to be nice and bright.

I am just working on a conversion chart for the Stern playfield rubbers so it will be quick and easy to work out which Stern part number corresponds with what size rubber.

Offline goodolddays

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Re: Stern Cosmic Princess
« Reply #7 on: April 11, 2011, 10:26:14 AM »
Looks good Mitch . I think a great buy for the price.
Looking forward to this thread. Where on earth do you fit 20 machines ?
I need more room ! and more $$$

Offline Mr Pinbologist

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Re: Stern Cosmic Princess
« Reply #8 on: April 11, 2011, 09:29:43 PM »
Where on earth do you fit 20 machines ?

At the moment two of them are with howzat in his gameroom/shed. At this time there are five in my loungeroom, seven set up in the garage ( i will eventually have ten set up in the garage when i get done with some other projects) And i currently have three set up in my spare room (there's room for four games in there). the rest are stored away. I have worked out i can have nineteen in total set up to play here when i get them all restored.. in a rented two bedroom unit  :D :D :D :D have i gone mad or what  :lol i will post pics of my madness when i get the games set up better

Though by the time i have them ALL restored i will most likely have moved.. hopefully to a place with more room *%*

Offline Mr Pinbologist

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Re: Stern Cosmic Princess
« Reply #9 on: June 06, 2011, 10:10:42 PM »
Hi all.. over the weekend i decided to get this game up and running, as i was keen for a few games!!

since the game was basically working with only a few minor issues, i knew it wouldnt take me too long, and at this time i cant take on any more lengthy projects i decided to do a quickie on this game, just a very basic clean up, some rubbers and repair a couple of boards.. just enough to be able to play it for a while til i get around doing the full resto.

So first thing i did was to rebuild the power supply, new bridge rectifiers, and pin headers, plus all mods needed as per Clays repair guides. Rather than test it in the game i decided to make up a test lead to plug the board in on the bench... a good idea as it turned out, because when i tested the voltages, the voltage for the displays was low, like about 90 volts instead of 170 or so. i had neglected to replace the diodes for the high voltage so these were replaced.. one actually disintegrated as i removed it from the board  :lol I retested with four new 1n4007 diodes, and all good!! Next i had to replace the missing connectors for the power supply, with new housings and pins, for the connectors that had been cut and soldered directly to the board pins.

after that was done and reinstalled in the game and i put the game into test mode to check the coils, a couple of coils weren't working, traced to a couple diodes feeding the driver transistors for the coils in question (rh slingshot and one drop target pulldown coil), replaced the diodes, and all good. while the board was out i replaced the main filter cap for the 5 volts, replaced the pin headers for J3 and J4, and performed all the necessary mods, to see the board fully functioning.

Oh and one other thing i had to do was to insulate the wiring harness where it had been cut in the middle and soldered!! (4th pic) this was the wiring that goes up into the backbox boards! I simply unsoldered each wire and put some heatshrink over each one in turn.

Offline Mr Pinbologist

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Re: Stern Cosmic Princess
« Reply #10 on: June 06, 2011, 10:22:26 PM »
Next job was to repair the sound board which wasn't working. after some searching with a logic probe i found the main tone oscillator IC for the scoring tones was only outputting one tone instead of three. so i replaced the IC (LM324 which i didnt have so i substituted a TL064). i replaced the ceramic caps as well for good measure. When it still wasnt quite right (one score tone still not working), and after some more tracing i replaced U8 and U9 as well which fixed the board.

Next i had to repair one display which was out, which turned out to be a faulty 4543 decoder IC.

All this had the game pretty much up and running  #*# i still have to remove the drycell battery pack from the MPU and remote mount it (the batteries were soldered to the board)! but i need to buy a battery holder so that can wait until i can get a chance to get one.
« Last Edit: June 06, 2011, 10:58:16 PM by Mr Pinbologist »

Offline Mr Pinbologist

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Re: Stern Cosmic Princess
« Reply #11 on: June 06, 2011, 10:36:16 PM »
Then it was time to remove the plastics and old rubbers and give the pf a quick clean.

have a look at the 3rd pic,... Hmmm... having trouble with a loose wire guide??.. just bash a nail in beside it!!!!! NICE  @.@ i havent done anything with this as yet.. i'll leave it for now and fix it later when the pf is being restored properly.

Anyway the PF was given a quick clean with Nifti and a cloth, (not yet done in thes pics) and all loose post screw holes filled with bamboo meat skewers before refitting the posts. the Pf is mylar (or contact) covered and has no wear to speak of in the actual artwork, apart from some damage to the mylar which will be eventually removed, so the result should be a nice clean and bright playfield when i get around to doing the full resto!!

« Last Edit: June 06, 2011, 10:52:49 PM by Mr Pinbologist »

Offline Mr Pinbologist

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Re: Stern Cosmic Princess
« Reply #12 on: June 06, 2011, 10:43:06 PM »
And now IT LIVES  :D

I replaced most of the rubbers, but i ran out of 5/16" post rubbers and 1" rubbers  @.@ so thats why there are still some old rubbers still on there, will order some new ones soon. anyhow at least i can now play a few games on her  $#$

Also i gave the BG a coat of Triple Thick, as it had a bit of cracking in the art, so it shouldnt get any worse now (i hope) Its still nice n bright in its colours. but i will eventually do some touchup work and tidy it up a bit where possible. But for now the game can stay as it is.
« Last Edit: June 06, 2011, 10:45:19 PM by Mr Pinbologist »

Offline goodolddays

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Re: Stern Cosmic Princess
« Reply #13 on: June 06, 2011, 10:46:53 PM »
Great stuff Mitch . You make it all sound so easy
I need more room ! and more $$$

Offline Ballywannabe

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Re: Stern Cosmic Princess
« Reply #14 on: June 06, 2011, 10:51:42 PM »
Nice work - that is going to turn out one nice CP!

Not a bad player either, only let down by the corny electronic sounds  !!!  If only the SB300 had come out a few years earlier...

cheers
Ian