More cleaning
Posted: 12 November 2011 Filed under: Devil Riders, Electronics, Mechanics, Pinball Champ '82, Playfield | Tags: cleaning, inserts, outhole kicker, pinball, playfield, popbumper, power supply, zaccaria Leave a comment »
I’ve received the new fuse clamps and quickly installed them on the Devil Riders’ power board. No more fiddling with the fuse.
New fuse clips installed
Then I took out the sunken inserts.
All sunken inserts removed
After a close inspection I saw that the 3000 hole is in the worst shape. It will need some wood filler and paint touch up.
This one is in the worst shape
I’ve reseated the inserts with some superglue, they shouldn’t move anymore.
Inserts reseated, still need to fill the wood and touch up the paint
I also took apart all the targets at the end of the playfield, cleaned them and reinstalled them. Fortunately, the print on them is still in good condition, so I don’t have to replace any of them.
Targets cleaned and adjusted
With that done, I started on the popbumpers. They were dirty and one is using a wrong coil that didn’t fit very well and was missing some screws.
Rebuilding the popbumper coil assembly
Rebuilding the popbumper
All the popbumpers are now clean and ready to be reinstalled. I kept the one with the wrong coil as I’m still looking for a replacement coil.
I also took apart the outhole kicker, cleaned it and reinstalled it. I noticed that the wrong coil used in the popbumper is the same coil that is used for the outhole kicker. So if I ever find a new popbumper coil, I’ll have a spare outhole kicker coil.
Outhole kicker cleaned and reinstalled
Next up the metal parts and the plastics. Then we can start to reassemble!
Oh and my dad came by for a game on the Pinball Champ…
Dad came by for a game on the Pinball Champ '82
Playfield cleaning
Posted: 11 November 2011 Filed under: Devil Riders, Playfield | Tags: cleaning, pinball, playfield, popbumper, zaccaria 2 Comments »
While dismantling the playfield I noticed that the top flipper bats didn’t have their caps anymore and that the left bottom flipperbat had the cap glued on. I had to break it to get it off. Replacement bats have been ordered.
Also, the metal ramp at the end of the shooter lane is broken. It has a dent there where the ball hits it every time and the front screw holes are broken. I’m still looking for a replacement, let’s hope I find one.
Broken, will need replacement.
So now I’m done removing everything from the playfield and boy, is it dirty!
Dirty playfield
The above picture still shows three of the four popbumbers installed, but they have been removed in the mean time and what I found is that one of them had the wrong coil in it and it was missing two screws that actually fixes it to the popbumber bracket…
Wrong coil for the popbumper.
So now the popbumbers have been removed and I was surprised that the mylar sheets under them aren’t just dirty, but some of them are even torn to pieces…
Popbumpers removed
So now I started cleaning and the difference is amazing! Look at the yellow banner in the picture below, the right side has been cleaned, the left side hasn’t.
Dirty and clean contrast
Now for the rest of the playfield, metal parts and plastics. Then I can start fixing the sunken inserts. That will be fun…
Pinball Champ ’82 as good as done!
Posted: 6 November 2011 Filed under: General, Pinball Champ '82 | Tags: pinball, zaccaria Leave a comment »
It’s finished! The Pinball Champ ’82 has been put together again using the CPU board from the Devil Riders, using David’s freeplay images (see Zaccaria-Pinball in my links) and me and my dad played a few games. It was great!
My first pinball machine
Ofcourse during the games we played I noticed a few more things I need to fix, but nothing major. A light needs to be checked/replaced, the doorframe needs to be repainted and the backglass is missing a black siderail and could do with a new lift rail. Also, the player 2 display has one digit that acts up from time to time. I’ll have a look at that too.
The door
Unfortunately there’s a whole in the paint on the backglass just above a lamp. It’s quite an eye-sore. I’ll have to see if there’s a way to fix this…
Needs fixing...
The machine plays perfectly and I’m really happy with the result. Here’s a little movie with the machine in attract mode. Enjoy…
Driver boards tested and fixed
Posted: 1 November 2011 Filed under: Devil Riders, Electronics, Pinball Champ '82 | Tags: cpu, driver board, electronics, pinball, test program, tools, zaccaria Leave a comment »
So I put together the little address selector tool that Leon designed on his website (see my links) and used it to test both the Pinball Champ ’82 and Devil Riders driver boards.
Driver board test tool
I used a LED to test each input individually for the eight possible addresses.
Driver board test setup
I had to do it on the PC82 since I don’t have an independant 5V power supply anymore… really need to fix that!
The Devil Riders driver board was in perfect condition. This machine is turning out to be just a case of bad switches and dirt, lots of dirt… excellent!
The Pinball Champ driver board was another story. I had intermittend faults on connector CN21 while signal that came for the same SCR’s on CN18 where perfect. After a more thorough visual inspection of the board I noticed this:
Bad connector seating
As the solder didn’t appear broken and I had a very hard time desoldering this connector, I suspect it had been put together this way 29 years ago… So now it’s reseated properly and I replaced four SCR’s that were faulty, this board is now in tip-top shape as well.
I’ve also tested the Devil Riders CPU board with Leon’s test EPROM and it’s also in perfect condition. I’ve also found some discrepancies in the way the Pinball Champ CPU board functions compared to the Devil Riders board. I’ll get into that next as it’s the only thing that needs to be done before I can really get into the Devil Riders.
Wish me luck!
ZM1550 test setup
Posted: 27 October 2011 Filed under: Electronics, General | Tags: display, tools, ZM1550 3 Comments »
I’ve been lucky and was able to buy 27 used, untested ZM1550’s. So I’ve made a test setup to get them all sorted out as fast as possible once they arrive.
The test setup
This is just a little test print on which I soldered three 5 pin connectors and one 4 pin connector and then connect all the segments of both digits together (a with a, b with b, etc.). Then I soldered some wires to connect them to the CN3 connector on the pinball display driver. The shield is connected to pin 1 of CN1 and the decimal points and both anodes are connected to the appropriate pins on CN2 in the same way.
Fortunately, the first ZM1550 module I put in worked, so I know the setup was good.
This one works!
Unfortunately, not all the modules I put in worked 🙁
This one doesn't
So the electronics seem OK…
Posted: 27 October 2011 Filed under: Devil Riders, Electronics | Tags: electronics, pinball, zaccaria Leave a comment »
Well, I’ve got the fuse back into the power supply and sorted out the previous repairs. I tried testing the CPU but apparantly the 27C64 doesn’t work as well as a 2764. Don’t know why, it should work. So I just popped in the original game EPROMS, connected the power supply and the displays and that worked.
So I connected everything else and here is the result:
It's alive!
I’ve ran the normal diagnostics and except for some lights and switches here and there, everything seems to work. The little motorcycle in the head moves a little bit, but since there still are some wires hanging there connected to nothing, that doesn’t surprise me.
The biggest job is going to be cleaning up… this machine is VERY dirty.
OMG it still works!
Posted: 26 October 2011 Filed under: Devil Riders, General | Tags: neon tube, pinball, zaccaria Leave a comment »
While putting the new parts I got in the mail today in my work room, I checked the GI on the Devil Riders and…
OMG it still works!
OMG THE NEON STILL WORKS! After 27 years! Amazing…
Me so happy!
First look at the Devil Riders
Posted: 22 October 2011 Filed under: General Leave a comment »
Well, I took a closer look at the Devil Riders. Except for a broken fuse clip the power supply is in good shape. I don’t know yet if I’m going to replace the connectors to the originals or if I’m going to leave the new ones. Depends on how easy it will be to find new ones I guess.
Broken fuse clip
/sad
/cry
The CPU seems to boot as well, at least the LED comes on after a short while. I’ll be getting some 2764 EPROMs next week so I can do some thorough testing. I’ve removed the battery. Didn’t have any vinegar handy, will clean up tomorrow.
In the mean time I started converting one of the 8-digit display drive boards I got from the guy who sold me the ZM1550’s for the Pinball Champ to work with LED 7-segment displays and 5V only (see Leon’s site for a how to). This will allow me to work on the CPU boards outside of the machines as I won’t need the 160V for the original displays.
I’ve also had a closer look at the playfield and noticed that the paint damage around the 3,000 insert is due to the insert having dropped down a few milimeters. This will have to be fixed.
Some playfield damage
Tomorrow I start desoldering the components off the Pinball Champ CPU board… wish me patience 😉
Pinball number 2
Posted: 20 October 2011 Filed under: Devil Riders, General | Tags: condition, pinball, zaccaria Leave a comment »
Well, now I’ve done it! I’ve gone and bought another machine. This time it’s a Devil Riders, also from Zaccaria, and also a 2nd generation. Mechanically it looks in better shape than the Pinball Champ, but the electronics have been “repaired” by an amateur (according to the seller). But for 100€ I’m not too bothered about it. The machine looks complete, except for 2 leg bolts.
Here are some pictures I took.
Head
Playfield
Coindoor
A button, really?
All that work to put that door button in instead of replacing a faulty outhole microswitch... AARGH
Electronics
Why replace connectors if you can solder?
I guess the "Power Fail" signal will be missing
What did you expect after almost 30 years?
Inside head door
If you don't have a connector and can't solder, leave it hanging...
Some playfield damage
Looks quite clean
Transformer box is open. Hope it still works.
I’m going to test the CPU board of this machine in the other machine and make it work. That way I can compare the two boards and see where the problem is with my Pinball Champ CPU board. I’ll also start taking the Devil Riders apart and make a list of things I need to order so I can minimise shipping cost.
As always, I’ll keep you posted!
Humpty Dumpty back together again
Posted: 18 October 2011 Filed under: Cabinet, Pinball Champ '82, Playfield | Tags: cabinet, legs, neck, pinball, zaccaria Leave a comment »
It’s starting to look like a pinball machine agian!
I’ve put the playfield back together and noticed that the left top flipper didn’t work and the right top flipper was weak. A quick pass with some sanding paper between the leaf contacts and they’re both tiptop again.
Playfield completed
Here are some detail shots. Remember, I’m making this pinball playable, not perfect.
Playfield detail
Playfield detail
Playfield detail
Then I turned my attention to the neck. In my previous post I mentioned I was going to use a toothbrush to get the white spots in the black paint, but when I was at the store to get some more ground paint for the legs, I saw a black paint spray can that already had the white spots in it. It’s called “Granit” effect. So I bought a can and here is the result. I used one coat of black and one coat of the “Granit” black.
Neck
Neck detail
Neck detail
I like it!
Next where the legs. I got the two back legs back from the blacksmith and they were perfect (at a cost of an amazing 5€!). So I sanded them down, gave them a base coat, two coats of glossy black and new levelers (with rubber protectors).
Legs sanded
Legs primed
I also had a look at all the ground wires. NONE of them were connected in the transformer casing. That’s fixed now, my hair no longer reaches for the sky when I press the flipper buttons 😀
So I’m almost there, but not quite. The CPU board still needs work and the driver board still needs a thorough overhaul. In the mean time here’s a picture of where I am now.
The result so far.
Flippers.be
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