Author Topic: NBA FB to Medieval Madness Conversion  (Read 9334 times)

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Offline Caveoftreasures

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Re: NBA FB to Medieval Madness Conversion
« Reply #45 on: November 12, 2014, 06:38:20 PM »
 Yep. Great read and great answers all round.

Going to be a sensational pin when finished. Highly prized and
will be like brand spanking new. That's a definate keeper.
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Offline robm

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Re: NBA FB to Medieval Madness Conversion
« Reply #46 on: February 17, 2016, 07:56:30 AM »
Well after a fair break from this project, I have decided to get into it again.

Purchased a new set of gold plated wireforms from MrPinball - they look fantastic

I have now started wiring the switch matrix.  Again - it looks and seems a little overwhelming at first with a huge tangle of wires from the NBAFB wiring harness, however is not too bad - i have just been wiring a row or column or two when i find a spare few minutes of an evening.

The main thing is to refer to the switch matrix in the manual, and start on one row or column and progress through it and make sure all switches are wiring correctly, making sure diode orientation is right.



Opto switches need to go the ther opto board first, so there is another page in the manual that shows this - for example - wiring for switch 31 (trough eject opto) is a white/brown wire, so you can see below i need to go to plug J3 on the opto controller board, and pin 12 (J3-12).  After that, the individual wires for the opto come from other plugs on that board - i am leaving those ones until last.



Another challenge has been since i ordered parts in many stages, there are always things i forgot or missed out. For example - went to wire the catapult switch, so built the mechanism, and then realised i don't have a switch - hopefully i can hunt around, otherwise will have to order one


Another fun part is working out where switch wires from ramps might go - many others who have done this conversion have copied an existing machine, unfortunately i don't have that luxury, so i out the ramps on, and guess where a logical spot for the switch wires to drop through the playfield might be.


I am not intending for my wiring harness to be in the same position as the original - i am just running it where i see fit and what i consider to be logical....hopefully i don't come unstuck!

Offline Boots

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Re: NBA FB to Medieval Madness Conversion
« Reply #47 on: February 17, 2016, 11:09:21 AM »
I am not intending for my wiring harness to be in the same position as the original - i am just running it where i see fit and what i consider to be logical....hopefully i don't come unstuck!

It will probably be better than the original, some of the wire routing on these machines doesn't seem to make a lot of sense

Offline 4_amusement_only

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Re: NBA FB to Medieval Madness Conversion
« Reply #48 on: February 17, 2016, 09:36:08 PM »
Yep I second that. Late Bally/wms wiring harnesses are illogical and messy. Ever seen a Gottlieb system 3 wiring loom? Now that is neat and tidy.

Offline Redback

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Re: NBA FB to Medieval Madness Conversion
« Reply #49 on: February 18, 2016, 06:44:22 AM »
Excellent,

looking forward to the next update,

Red
Found hobby, now need coin

Offline robm

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Re: NBA FB to Medieval Madness Conversion
« Reply #50 on: April 16, 2016, 09:14:54 PM »
Well, had 2 big days spent on this project, with some big progress. First a huge thanks to  a couple of mates who helped out as well. Was a heap of fun mucking about with wiring harnesses and yarning and having a couple of games as well on other machines.

Hooked in and finished the switch matrix, with no errors on testing!  Getting the optos sorted took a bit of time, but was fun.

Then got into wiring the coil harness. I put every coil with a plugged connection, rather than directly soldering to the lugs. Took a lot longer, but makes it a lot easier if assemblies are removed (hopefully there is no need to!).  I had to run one extra coil signal wire, as the NBA FB did not use that wire colour due to less coils being used in it.  Only one minor error in that i got the hold and power lugs mixed up on the diverter - picked this up testing when it pulled it in a lot harder in the 'hold' test than 'power' test. Switched those lugs around and all good.

Our 5 year old absolutely loved it when i got the trolls working and to pop up out of the playfield... and i must say i was equally excited.

Getting the coils in also meant installing all the assemblies that would have been in the road for the previous looms (switch, lamps and GI), so it is looking a lot more like a pinball machine now.

Pics don't really show a huge amount of difference, although there are certainly a lot more wires connected to stuff since last update.

A solid day or so would get this to playable/test state, but don't have a heap of time at the moment, so will see how i go.




Offline Redback

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Re: NBA FB to Medieval Madness Conversion
« Reply #51 on: April 16, 2016, 10:01:55 PM »
Excellent,

looking forward to the video of it being played,

Red



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Offline swinks

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Re: NBA FB to Medieval Madness Conversion
« Reply #52 on: April 17, 2016, 12:32:17 PM »
nice work Rob,

have you got all your parts or still need to chase some down?
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Offline robm

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« Reply #53 on: April 17, 2016, 02:12:35 PM »
Pretty sure i have everything now. The last big purchase was the wireforms. I was going to make them but ended up buying them.

I guess there will be a few minor things during assembly that i have missed ordering but hopefully not too many!

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Offline Steevsee

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Re: NBA FB to Medieval Madness Conversion
« Reply #54 on: April 17, 2016, 05:40:06 PM »
Looks amazing.

Fantastic work Rob.

Offline Strangeways

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Re: NBA FB to Medieval Madness Conversion
« Reply #55 on: April 17, 2016, 10:36:00 PM »
Looking good Rob.  #*#
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Offline robm

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Re: NBA FB to Medieval Madness Conversion
« Reply #56 on: April 23, 2016, 07:04:13 AM »
Have spent a few hours in the evenings the past week working on this, not a lot of progress and one hold up.

Thought i would power the drawbridge up with a battery and see how it looked with a few more things installed.  As is turned out, i had either the drawbridge a mm to far to the left, or the moat a mm too far to the right (or a combination of both) and the arm of the drawbridge caught on the side of the cutout of the moat, and stripped a gear of the drawbridge.  So have to wait a week until that part turns up.



Also, there is a lot of time spent adjusting things when you do not buy each part exactly, but try and customise a few things from existing spares.  For example - the blade angel, height and throw of the catapult switch was a real pain to get right - too high, and the switch was constantly on, too low, and it wouldn't actuate, if the angle was wrong, the ball would get stuck, or the catapult would return back on top of the switch! Anyway, its working fine now.



Ramps are all wired up now, just need to terminate the wires on matching plugs to what i have under the pf


Offline Redback

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Re: NBA FB to Medieval Madness Conversion
« Reply #57 on: April 23, 2016, 07:18:03 AM »
Nice seeing more progress.
Thanks for sharing,

Red
Found hobby, now need coin

Offline robm

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Re: NBA FB to Medieval Madness Conversion
« Reply #58 on: April 25, 2016, 08:38:21 PM »
I'm pretty excited right now!!!!, but lets start a few hours back.

Spent time finalising assemblies and wiring plugs etc for a while, then a mate came over and had some ideas on how to fix the stripped gear. Ended up glueing some nylon from a under playfield wire holder onto the stripped area, then filing them back to the correct shape.



Worked an absolute treat, and functioned perfectly.

In the meantime, i hooked up a dodgy launch button....



Started installing the drawbridge, and discovered that the actuator arm was not only rubbing on the moat, but also the side of the playfield - from what i have read elsewhere, most repro playfields require some minor adjustments. Had to put a small sanding drum on the dremel and sand a bit out to the right of the drawbridge so the arm wouldn't rub.

After that, it was time to assemble the ramps and wireforms and rest of the castle. A few minor issues such as some posts needed to be shimmed up, minor bending of wireforms and had one lane guide (right at the back, under the ramps!!) that had to be bent so the ball didn't get stuck.

It all came together pretty quickly then!











So it was with great anticipation that I hit the start button for the first time.......and......the ball rolled into the shooter lane and fell into the bottom of the cabinet!!!!  No post installed below the ball trough exit - so put one in, then handed over to our 5 year old for the first go.

Hit the button, and no flippers!  Plugged them in, and it was off - see results of the first game here.  He is pretty stoked with the whole thing!!

A few switches needed adjusting, and the ball sometimes got stock between the moat and the left popper if rolling slowly. Still have plenty to sort out of the minor issues, but on the whole it is playing at the moment and i am one happy camper!

Still obviously plenty to do, such as wire all flashers, finsh installing plastics, translite, tidy wiring and all the cabinet work.

But at the moment, i'm just going to enjoy playing it for a while before doing anything else.


Offline Redback

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Re: NBA FB to Medieval Madness Conversion
« Reply #59 on: April 26, 2016, 07:18:52 AM »
Hi Rob,

Very inspirational.

Thanks for sharing,
Thread that show what and how things can be done add so much value IMO.

Red
Found hobby, now need coin