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Complete Theatre of magic shop log
- Thread starter elrikos
- Start date
It's prob vinyl which like resin is poured resin would be to brittle. Sometimes vinyl has memory when put in warm water and goes back to its proper shape so should be easy enough to reshape
Just listening to Radio 2 Travel News and a "Moonraker" phoned in with some travel news. Is this the same Moonraker I wonder?
The aftermarket repro trunk is always out-of-shape. before I fitted mine I found a box which slipped inside (tight fit), wrapped masking tape round it a couple of times and warmed it all over with a hair dryer and left it overnight.
In the morning it was perfectly square but I still used double-sided tape to keep the corners in shape when I fitted it.
In the morning it was perfectly square but I still used double-sided tape to keep the corners in shape when I fitted it.
Just listening to Radio 2 Travel News and a "Moonraker" phoned in with some travel news. Is this the same Moonraker I wonder?
Nice thought, but it was not me... this time...
Here you go:
http://www.bestofpinball.de/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/13136
You'll get the other clear plastics too though which you'll already have. No problem having spares though.
http://www.bestofpinball.de/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/1132
I'd just buy a new one. Best of Pinball is in Germany and post pretty quick.
I'm thinking of grinding down the hex posts a couple of millimetres to get it to fit snugly. Fingers crossed I don't mash up the ends !
This is probably a tip you know, but if the ends you are cutting will take a nut which can be wound in far enough to still make the grind you want, you can then undo the nut after the cut and it will clean the cut end.
I do all my cutting with my trusty Dremel.
I do all my cutting with my trusty Dremel.
Another update.
The game is now in the house! Lined up beside the tz and afm. I've been trouble shooting.
First issue was a flaky trough opto. Opto 5 was failing to register at all. First thought was the transmitter so off the trough boards came to check them. Transmitter successfully operated other receivers so I discounted that. I then swapped out the reciever. No change. Swapping a known good reciever showed no improvement so after checking the wiring I was onto the opto board. Jumpering the input connector worked for all inputs apart from trough 4. So I suspected the lm339 comparator. First job was to remove the old one. I'm not blessed with a de soldering station so I employed a slightly unorthodox method. Tool a dremel with a cut off wheel and carefully cut the chip free from the legs
I then removed each pin in turn. Used my solder sucker to clear the holes
Then soldered in a socket and installed a new lm339
Cleaned off the flux and reinstalled. All worked nicely.
Next up the trunk opto board. Opto 55 registering flaky. When moving the trunk it registers as open for a split second and then closed immediately. I saw that the plastic hood was broken so I popped a new hood on. No improvement. I ran out of time so next step is a new u opto. Fingers crossed! I've not checked which lm339 controls this so I may end up replacing the other one!
Fingers crossed ill get some more time to tinker tomorrow.
On another plus note the rom from Paul arrived. I had sent him a hacked version of 1.4h (as originally it needed a special u22). The hack allows any wpc-s rom to work with any working u22, rather than the game specific one. Worked first time. I can now report that my tiger saw saws properly!! The only point I've not fully tested is the amount the saw spins. I had used a 12v geared motor to limit the speed to 120rpm. I didnt want it spinning so fast it wasnt visible. I'm hoping that it will spin enough to look right!! If I can upload a video ill get one up soon.
Next issue was the spirit ring. As supplied it has 2 spacer washers between the bracket and the ring to raise it up. Without the washers the ball hits the magnet and stops. I carefully trimmed the cardboard former to clear it. Looks much nicer without the bodge washers and seems to work nicely. Proper play testing will reveal all!!
One pitfall I fell into was with the trapdoor. I had forgotten that the popper had a spring each side of the coil. The idea is that it holds the popper half way up until a ball hits it. Then the weight of the ball pushes it all the way down and triggers the switch. Bit of head scratching and the penny dropped!! It now only registers a ball when there is one on it!!
One quick question for Tom owners. My bottom captive ball switch registers as closed when a ball is sat on it. The single switch test suggests that it shouldn't be like this and should be normally open. Can someone check whether this is the case for me?
The game is now in the house! Lined up beside the tz and afm. I've been trouble shooting.
First issue was a flaky trough opto. Opto 5 was failing to register at all. First thought was the transmitter so off the trough boards came to check them. Transmitter successfully operated other receivers so I discounted that. I then swapped out the reciever. No change. Swapping a known good reciever showed no improvement so after checking the wiring I was onto the opto board. Jumpering the input connector worked for all inputs apart from trough 4. So I suspected the lm339 comparator. First job was to remove the old one. I'm not blessed with a de soldering station so I employed a slightly unorthodox method. Tool a dremel with a cut off wheel and carefully cut the chip free from the legs
I then removed each pin in turn. Used my solder sucker to clear the holes
Then soldered in a socket and installed a new lm339
Cleaned off the flux and reinstalled. All worked nicely.
Next up the trunk opto board. Opto 55 registering flaky. When moving the trunk it registers as open for a split second and then closed immediately. I saw that the plastic hood was broken so I popped a new hood on. No improvement. I ran out of time so next step is a new u opto. Fingers crossed! I've not checked which lm339 controls this so I may end up replacing the other one!
Fingers crossed ill get some more time to tinker tomorrow.
On another plus note the rom from Paul arrived. I had sent him a hacked version of 1.4h (as originally it needed a special u22). The hack allows any wpc-s rom to work with any working u22, rather than the game specific one. Worked first time. I can now report that my tiger saw saws properly!! The only point I've not fully tested is the amount the saw spins. I had used a 12v geared motor to limit the speed to 120rpm. I didnt want it spinning so fast it wasnt visible. I'm hoping that it will spin enough to look right!! If I can upload a video ill get one up soon.
Next issue was the spirit ring. As supplied it has 2 spacer washers between the bracket and the ring to raise it up. Without the washers the ball hits the magnet and stops. I carefully trimmed the cardboard former to clear it. Looks much nicer without the bodge washers and seems to work nicely. Proper play testing will reveal all!!
One pitfall I fell into was with the trapdoor. I had forgotten that the popper had a spring each side of the coil. The idea is that it holds the popper half way up until a ball hits it. Then the weight of the ball pushes it all the way down and triggers the switch. Bit of head scratching and the penny dropped!! It now only registers a ball when there is one on it!!
One quick question for Tom owners. My bottom captive ball switch registers as closed when a ball is sat on it. The single switch test suggests that it shouldn't be like this and should be normally open. Can someone check whether this is the case for me?
Next update. First things first. The saw. I'm pleased to report that my worries with the geared motor were unfounded. Looks just right. No stupid fast spinning motor that takes forever to spin down. Just right. Ill pop a vid up soon to demonstrate but I'm really pleased.
Next! A few snag fixes. First up the rollover green lamps. Where henrik had touched up the faces on the inserts it had clearly increased its opacity. The standard lamps were not visible at all. Jon mel at 1stoppinball came through with some super bright green LEDs. Perfect. Though I'm usually against LEDs this was the only solution!
Next the proximity sensors. I had the usual wandering adjustment problem. Fixes that other have used seemed to centre around the potentiometers and the connectors. Although pinbits sell a self adjusting version of the board. I thought about why the adjustment was wandering. The only solutions i could think of are the connectors to the inductor and the pot. So. On to replace both!! I found some of the original pots and replaced all. Connectors were also replaced. When I looked at this though I saw a problem. Everyone complained that the connector that connects the inductor to the board causes the problem, but there's a second connector! The one that the inductor is plugged into. I thought of a way to remove it. Here's the guide.
1). Carefully cut the plastic either side of the pin. This will allow the idc pin to slide out and show a "slot" along the side of the connector.
2) solder the wires to the inductor.
Reinstall.
Now works perfectly.
Next! A few snag fixes. First up the rollover green lamps. Where henrik had touched up the faces on the inserts it had clearly increased its opacity. The standard lamps were not visible at all. Jon mel at 1stoppinball came through with some super bright green LEDs. Perfect. Though I'm usually against LEDs this was the only solution!
Next the proximity sensors. I had the usual wandering adjustment problem. Fixes that other have used seemed to centre around the potentiometers and the connectors. Although pinbits sell a self adjusting version of the board. I thought about why the adjustment was wandering. The only solutions i could think of are the connectors to the inductor and the pot. So. On to replace both!! I found some of the original pots and replaced all. Connectors were also replaced. When I looked at this though I saw a problem. Everyone complained that the connector that connects the inductor to the board causes the problem, but there's a second connector! The one that the inductor is plugged into. I thought of a way to remove it. Here's the guide.
1). Carefully cut the plastic either side of the pin. This will allow the idc pin to slide out and show a "slot" along the side of the connector.
2) solder the wires to the inductor.
Reinstall.
Now works perfectly.
Long time no update!
I've had to send the siderails and lockdown bar back. Gold plating was not as it should be. It'll be back in a week.
Managed to get some games in. Plays really nicely! Not 100% its a keeper though!
Ill get final pictures up when the plating is back.
Time to start looking for the next project!! Anyone got a lotr or ij?
I've had to send the siderails and lockdown bar back. Gold plating was not as it should be. It'll be back in a week.
Managed to get some games in. Plays really nicely! Not 100% its a keeper though!
Ill get final pictures up when the plating is back.
Time to start looking for the next project!! Anyone got a lotr or ij?
Have you been able to play this though? Sans lockdown and side rails. Does it play well?
we had one in the van we picked up for a mate,on the way back fro the Slam,but I was not allowed to drop it as Roger would have been unhappy-mind you my incessant wrong name saying made him muck up and say Theatre Of Tragic once
Yours lools nice and polished witihin an inch of its life,kudos
Yours lools nice and polished witihin an inch of its life,kudos
Finally complete!
I got the rails and lockbar back from Bill last week. They had a job workingo ut the best process to use but i think its was worth it in the end.
Here are a few pictures. Please excuse the poor iPhone pictures!
It plays really nicely. Only thing i haven't quite figured out yet is the outer loop. Sometimes when shooting the outer loop the ball bounces around a bit an won't fly through the loop. It gets hung up in the vanish hole. I think its just something that needs a little finessing to get the stainless guides just right.
I got the rails and lockbar back from Bill last week. They had a job workingo ut the best process to use but i think its was worth it in the end.
Here are a few pictures. Please excuse the poor iPhone pictures!
It plays really nicely. Only thing i haven't quite figured out yet is the outer loop. Sometimes when shooting the outer loop the ball bounces around a bit an won't fly through the loop. It gets hung up in the vanish hole. I think its just something that needs a little finessing to get the stainless guides just right.
I'm not usually a fan of gold, but I have to say on TOM that looks MINT!
My God that's blingy 
Finally complete!
I got the rails and lockbar back from Bill last week. They had a job workingo ut the best process to use but i think its was worth it in the end.
Here are a few pictures. Please excuse the poor iPhone pictures!
It plays really nicely. Only thing i haven't quite figured out yet is the outer loop. Sometimes when shooting the outer loop the ball bounces around a bit an won't fly through the loop. It gets hung up in the vanish hole. I think its just something that needs a little finessing to get the stainless guides just right.
Very nice, surely gold flipper buttons and flippers..... Sorry if I missed it but who did your gold plating? I have been thinking of doing some in mine.
Love the look of the legs, lockdown bar and side rails, really suits. Being honest though, the matching coin door is a bit much for me.
Did it cost a lot to get these done? I'm looking forward to getting my ToM back on Thursday.
Did it cost a lot to get these done? I'm looking forward to getting my ToM back on Thursday.
Hi all,
sorry i've not replied sooner. Moving house which has become a massive pain (ever bought a house with subsidence? i nearly did!)
Anyway its holding up pretty well. The trunk mod with the dynamat has held up beautifully. Not a mark on the trunk. I ended up buying a pinbits auto trunk board. Its pretty good. About 1 time out of 50 it will misadjust though and start randomly awarding trunk hits. A power cycle resets it and its all fine again. I think i've got it isolated to iff you turn the game off with the trunk in anything other than the standard position. The board readjusts as the trunk resets itself, causing misadjustment.
The plating isn;t looking so good. Its going back to the plater again. Some of the nickel on the rails is showing through the gold a little. Not too bad but will only get worse. Bill is still fine tuning the lacquers he uses so he's going to have another go. No cost to me of course. He is very good. Not fast at all but the result is worth the wait.
Bill has a mini website here. http://www.metal-polishing.my-aylesbury.co.uk/ with his phone number. give him a call. He mostly does bike parts but dave the taxman and i use him for pin stuff. He's getting to learn what the common parts are called!
I should really fit gold buttons. One day i'll get round to it. At the moment the addams is sucking all my funds!
sorry i've not replied sooner. Moving house which has become a massive pain (ever bought a house with subsidence? i nearly did!)
Anyway its holding up pretty well. The trunk mod with the dynamat has held up beautifully. Not a mark on the trunk. I ended up buying a pinbits auto trunk board. Its pretty good. About 1 time out of 50 it will misadjust though and start randomly awarding trunk hits. A power cycle resets it and its all fine again. I think i've got it isolated to iff you turn the game off with the trunk in anything other than the standard position. The board readjusts as the trunk resets itself, causing misadjustment.
The plating isn;t looking so good. Its going back to the plater again. Some of the nickel on the rails is showing through the gold a little. Not too bad but will only get worse. Bill is still fine tuning the lacquers he uses so he's going to have another go. No cost to me of course. He is very good. Not fast at all but the result is worth the wait.
Bill has a mini website here. http://www.metal-polishing.my-aylesbury.co.uk/ with his phone number. give him a call. He mostly does bike parts but dave the taxman and i use him for pin stuff. He's getting to learn what the common parts are called!
I should really fit gold buttons. One day i'll get round to it. At the moment the addams is sucking all my funds!