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Complete Elektra restoration
- Thread starter myPinballs
- Start date
Good game Elektra 
The plastic playfield looks to be in reasonable shape. Are you going to try and replace it or restore what you've got?
The plastic playfield looks to be in reasonable shape. Are you going to try and replace it or restore what you've got?
Nice find! I'm certain there was one at the South Coast Slam last year. Fantastic although it was having a few "senior moments". Looking forward this log...
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Good game Elektra
I actually sourced a new one form marco in the USA. I wasn't sure what the quality would be like as is a repro part, but its fantastic. The edges are all polished and it shines beautifuly now. Better even than when it first eft the factory. I will be uploading all my pics so far, as i'm quite far on now, but starting at the beginning so more before pics next
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More before pics
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Summary of pcb board conditions
Cpu - dead - now fixed
Driver board - ok - 5v & 12v caps replaced
Lamp driver board - ok
Squawk & Talk board - dead, replaced with my new replacement board
Display boards - all good
Cpu - dead - now fixed
Driver board - ok - 5v & 12v caps replaced
Lamp driver board - ok
Squawk & Talk board - dead, replaced with my new replacement board
Display boards - all good
i love all these close ups of pinball playfields, even when they're for a machine that's not from my preferred era. they just set off little joyous explosions of dopamine and oxytocin in my happy brain centres, they are moreish like chocolate or nicotine, alcohol or porno. keep em coming, we loves our pinporn here on pininfo
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My parts order consisted of the following:
All new targets, except the original blue ones, as the colour on those is a much lighter one than is available these days. This is
6 x yellow stand ups, 4 x red stand ups, 4 x green stand ups
1 x middle playfield acrylic covering
6 x flipper rebuilds
100 x 555 bulbs
10 x green, red, blue,yellow 555 bulbs - for experimentation
10 x purple 555 for experimentation
20 x standard length star posts
10 x long star posts
All new post and ball guide screws
All new coil sleeves
2 x new balls
1 x rubber kit
4 x metal mini posts
4 x clear single posts
4 x translucent blue flipper bats
All new targets, except the original blue ones, as the colour on those is a much lighter one than is available these days. This is
6 x yellow stand ups, 4 x red stand ups, 4 x green stand ups
1 x middle playfield acrylic covering
6 x flipper rebuilds
100 x 555 bulbs
10 x green, red, blue,yellow 555 bulbs - for experimentation
10 x purple 555 for experimentation
20 x standard length star posts
10 x long star posts
All new post and ball guide screws
All new coil sleeves
2 x new balls
1 x rubber kit
4 x metal mini posts
4 x clear single posts
4 x translucent blue flipper bats
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Restoration of flipper assemblies (first set of 3!)
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Fitting the new capacitors and diodes to the new standup targets
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Stripped underside of playfield
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Starting the re-assembly
Can't quite work out what I'm seeing in those photos? Does that main playfield have a very thick, e.g., 2-3mm, sheet of polycarbonate on it? It looks as though the holes are glossy clean. You said:
Is this what I'm seeing? But I don't see it around the green targets which are on the upper playfield, right? I thought you'd got a new repro PF from Marco but the upper surface looks original. If that is a PF protector and it is that thick are you going to have to adjust any rollover switches, etc.? Doesn't look like the main PF has any star-rollover inserts, but the upper PF is covered in them. Is this why no protector on the top? Star-rollover inserts are they reason why I went for 0.75mm Lexan on my GOLD BALL.
Nice work on the linear flippers, BTW, and glad to see you're sticking with them rather than ditching them for the classic style. Very shiny plungers so I'm assuming they were part of the rebuild kits rather than tumbled?
Is this what I'm seeing? But I don't see it around the green targets which are on the upper playfield, right? I thought you'd got a new repro PF from Marco but the upper surface looks original. If that is a PF protector and it is that thick are you going to have to adjust any rollover switches, etc.? Doesn't look like the main PF has any star-rollover inserts, but the upper PF is covered in them. Is this why no protector on the top? Star-rollover inserts are they reason why I went for 0.75mm Lexan on my GOLD BALL.
Nice work on the linear flippers, BTW, and glad to see you're sticking with them rather than ditching them for the classic style. Very shiny plungers so I'm assuming they were part of the rebuild kits rather than tumbled?
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Ok, Elektra is a 3 playfield game, so Bally designed the middle playfield with a factory acrylic sheet across the whole area so that it took tare of the window for the lower playfield. This meant they needed to modify pretty much every switch bracket, target, wire form and mech on the middle playfield. Seems like madness to me, when you could have just recessed a normal playfield window in. Anyhow, that's what they decided to do and what i was talking about above was a reproduction piece of acrylic to replace the original one. Its about 5mm thick so pretty substantial. But the new one is of much higher quality with the polished edges etc.
The top playfield is therefore just a standard design with no protection and stock parts etc.
The game has 6 flippers, so there are 6 flipper rebuild kits purchased. I don't reuse flipper parts if i can help it. Its a false economy, especially with linear ones. They need to be factory fresh
A-ha! Thanks for the explanation. I didn't notice that about the acrylic sheet on the main playfield even when I played a real one! But looking back at your before and after photos it now makes sense. That acrylic must have protected the playfield really well? It certainly looks like it did. Effectively a 30+ year-old playfield protector. Interesting as I'm making my own in much the same fashion, that is, covering everything edge-to-edge with large holes for bulbs, slingshots, bumpers, etc., and small holes for fixing posts, wire guides. There seems to be concern that dirt would get under a playfield protector and turn into a grinding medium that can't be cleaned away. What was it like underneath the original acrylic sheet when you removed it?
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Under the acrylic sheet was like new. No dirt gets in there. The only thing that happens ( over a 30 year period) is where the posts are screwed down and therefore apply greater pressure on the acrylic and screened wood, sometime the screened art sticks to the underside of the acrylic more than the wood when you remove it. Luckily it's usually not too bad and not noticeable when new posts are fitted
Sweet! I found the same thing can happen on the bottom of star posts occasionally too. If they've really been over-tightened (the ones with T-nuts on the other side especially) and the post has clamped down so hard it started to bite into the screen printing. I'm sure you've also seen staining caused by the dye leeching out of red posts into the white paint in areas such as underneath slingshot plastics. These were particularly bad under a large plastic at the top on my Gold Ball:
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More before and after pics. This time the strip down and restoration of the lower playfield
Nice work again. What do you use to clean and polish the playfield? That lower pf looks to be in great shape. I see you have the same red stains from the star posts as I mentioned last night, but strangely not for the post next to the right-hand 10,000 WHEN LIT. What value/rating caps are you putting across the targets and I assume those are 1N4148 diodes? Sorry, another question: but what's the purpose of the grey foam around the edge of the main pf window? The gap between plastics and acrylic must be too narrow for the ball to fit in there so it can't be providing protection for the edge of the playfield. Is it just a decorative finish?
Whilst I've been looking at these photos I kept thinking the artwork looks really familiar. Quick check on IPDB reveals it was by Tony Ramunni who also did my Gold Ball.
Whilst I've been looking at these photos I kept thinking the artwork looks really familiar. Quick check on IPDB reveals it was by Tony Ramunni who also did my Gold Ball.
I always supposed that Bally used the thick acrylic sheet to restore the strength lost by cutting out such a large opening in the wood. The Gottlieb games with reverse-slope lower playfields didn't, but they were wider (though not as wide as some), and didn't have the lower playfield attached to the main one.
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Finished restoring my lower playfield this weeken and reinstalled into the game. Look brill now it's back in and really creates some depth to the game. The window is crystal clear to
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I see you're using black flipper paddles. D'you think the lower playfield would suit them, if 2" are available in black?
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I'm actually using translucent blue flipper bats from marco, but the pic makes them look black. The red rubbers were part of an original specced rubber kit which was meant for when the game had white flipper bats. I'm now thinking yellow flipper rubbers for the main and upper play fields could be the way to go. Black rubbers for the lower playfield.
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Wow this thing is looking amazing.
I'm afraid I'm gonna have to insist that you clean up that lockdown bar receiver though.
Happy birthday too by the way!
Cabinet restoration comes next after playfield restoration is complete
Nice work, Jim. ELEKTRA is a real looker, I'd be chuffed to have it in my collection. The triple playfield with massive acrylic window is probably the pinnacle of this era of design. But the underside wiring and layout is a work of art too!
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Had my first few games on Elektra now its all back together and turned the volume way up on my new s&t sound board. Man it sounds and plays nice
I had a few lamps out, not working after putting everything back together, which is usually a combination of dead lamp driver scr's, blown bulbs (even though all new - they blow with a white haze sometimes), and bad connectors. Took the lamp driver out to inspect and found some pretty bad try joints on all 4 connectors. Pics below of after i'd sucked the solder off all offending pads, ready for reflowing them
So now, i have all but 1 lamp working Probably the socket 
Also been adjusting a few contacts here and there, slingshots switch spacing and also raising the angle slightly. I was wondering if anyone knows the ofificial pitch level for early 80s games. it is 5.5 degs?
Another question to ponder to. What is the point of using half mcr106 drivers and half 2n5060 drivers? Why have some using a bigger, more powerful device? They are all single lamp, or single feeds to other relay boards. Did bally envisage something more powerful being used in terms of lamps, but never realised???
I had a few lamps out, not working after putting everything back together, which is usually a combination of dead lamp driver scr's, blown bulbs (even though all new - they blow with a white haze sometimes), and bad connectors. Took the lamp driver out to inspect and found some pretty bad try joints on all 4 connectors. Pics below of after i'd sucked the solder off all offending pads, ready for reflowing them
So now, i have all but 1 lamp working
Probably the socket Also been adjusting a few contacts here and there, slingshots switch spacing and also raising the angle slightly. I was wondering if anyone knows the ofificial pitch level for early 80s games. it is 5.5 degs?
Another question to ponder to. What is the point of using half mcr106 drivers and half 2n5060 drivers? Why have some using a bigger, more powerful device? They are all single lamp, or single feeds to other relay boards. Did bally envisage something more powerful being used in terms of lamps, but never realised???