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First Pin project. Mr & Mrs Pacman

itsmecurrie

itsmecurrie

Site Supporter
5Years
Joined
Dec 5, 2019
Messages
69
Location
Belfast
Noob joining the restoration party so I'm all ears for any help and advice.

Recently I got lucky and landed my first pin from a gentleman who worked in an amusement park here in N.Ireland back in the day. He was gifted this for his 50th birthday 25 years ago, and it's been in storage since. A fixer upper for sure as I'm told it doesn't power up (I haven't tried for fear for frying anything further). I'm completely new to restoring these machines and understand it's no easy task.

Hopefully it's ok to reach out for some help and advice to the members here?

After years of playing and admiring pins while visiting museums in Poland, Hungry and Washington DC last year I'm extremely pleased to have my own. Fingers crossed over time I can give this machine some love.

Apologies for the mountain of pics. And first think I did was get that battery removed. Next is to remove the MPU and get a full look at that corrosion [emoji58]IMG_20210330_194543.jpg24434ead77f7194a44faa4b411efa588.jpg53fcef7fb78621ddef1a615d703a3223.jpgc416b730227b7c241abb51040dc3c28a.jpgd91198472fc21d6be5b86141f6e2e526.jpg258adda136573ca1d7bbdd0f97b14228.jpg914701ea40632cc25717a898c2af4930.jpg0eacd30f51c20aed7b3c229161ecbf1d.jpg2390df3900f355862f3097e23cac3db5.jpgd32441ef6d209a5bde050fa19b3a85ab.jpg4b1a87131bb0d5e00e3bb0b7bcc8e096.jpgf734722833a50f481785c2b73fd13ed9.jpged824e47b4918a1c51db4d610e0de5fb.jpg9b89ae6c4d1a956c319083b967d063f1.jpg92b6a5a60af8190a31f3fda2eb5a950b.jpg34ffa0076781bc2006cb64fdf7b6bc42.jpgada617558ab8f2b61aea1997c89ebc37.jpg5b27ed5cb040b818c90d52e66e93f317.jpg501170614983b62cfa8aced4a8615652.jpg35fd5976285f64c5260b4fbf169c186b.jpg247897ed0ff5fd3199d57fb347603b3e.jpg87f086dca0be7f771f9c531be30845a5.jpga48ccbc3bfec80b184f111cbb3284b09.jpg6baf733ce508c62c3566bd1500708112.jpg9cd76f43df80e660b2fc21a59164c4e3.jpgde4cd7fa816ebf85b8ea61c36a0c48a9.jpg

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Welcome and we love pictures on a rebuild barn find.
What is your plan, to get what you have working or to replace with working parts?
If you haven’t already, head to the Internet Pinball Database and grab the schematics:

Internet Pinball Machine Database: Bally 'Mr. & Mrs. Pac-Man Pinball'

www.ipdb.org www.ipdb.org
Check what you have as boards are the right ones and determine what needs fixing before you can turn it on.
Ask loads of questions and someone will have an answer.
Good luck.
 
1. Get schematics from ipdb (as per above comment)

2. Follow the advice on these sites:
https://techniek.flipperwinkel.nl/ballyss/rep/index1.htm#top

https://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Bally/Stern

3. Ask for help - plenty of us on here who have been down the same road. Personally I love this era of bally machines.

With these Bally games, the MPU board is the one that is most likely to be an issue due to the battery on the board, which often leaks causing battery damage to the board and components. They are repairable, but a quick and reliable alternative is to buy the alltek replacement board.
https://www.pinballdisplays.co.uk/product-p/alltek-mpu.htm
 
Really I'd say a combination of both. I'd love to learn how to repair as much as I feasibly can before just buying new outright or sending for repairs. Thankfully on a UK pinball FB group a very kind member is sending me some spare play field parts and the manual. [emoji106]

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Well that's a pain [emoji29]. Just noticed on the backglass of my Pacman there were two chucks of paint missing. I'm thinking maybe the metal door came loose and rubbed the back of it when in transport as when I opened it there was no screw keeping the panel in place. It was merely wedged into place. Both scratch marks line up with the back of some screws.

Any pointers on how to resolve this folks? Thanksee9009248b4a4254de1266d132184a6b.jpg7a190ab29669e32d7dc1bd0c2404d2a0.jpg

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itsmecurrie said:
Well that's a pain [emoji29]. Just noticed on the backglass of my Pacman there were two chucks of paint missing. I'm thinking maybe the metal door came loose and rubbed the back of it when in transport as when I opened it there was no screw keeping the panel in place. It was merely wedged into place. Both scratch marks line up with the back of some screws.
Click to expand...
Unfortunate but these things happen, just don't do it again! :)

Regarding touching up backglass see here > http://www.pinrepair.com/restore/index1.htm this is a good page starting you off in cabinet restoration. With the backglass all you can do is touch up to the best of your abilities. If you think you're gonna make a mess of it give it to someone else to do.

As a Pac-Man upright owner, I love the art package on that pin!
 
Dex-Jay said:
Unfortunate but these things happen, just don't do it again! :)

Regarding touching up backglass see here > http://www.pinrepair.com/restore/index1.htm this is a good page starting you off in cabinet restoration. With the backglass all you can do is touch up to the best of your abilities. If you think you're gonna make a mess of it give it to someone else to do.

As a Pac-Man upright owner, I love the art package on that pin!
Click to expand...
Ok amazing. So I should be able to simply spray some triple thick clear coat on the reverse and then spot touch up using a water based acrylic [emoji1696]

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Just wondering would this do the same as krylon triple thick clear coat? 4379747bd62d3f99e803eedbe859c3e5.jpg

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The lacquer is more to seal and stop flaking with flakey backglass but yes you'll need it to seal paint done in acrylic. Not used that myself so I couldn't say but you'd get a UK equivalent from somewhere.

I've sealed paint with automotive 2K (2 Pack) Paint myself with a brush. Not nice to use if you're spraying it but OK if you're just applying with a brush. The lacquer is one part & is activated with the hardener.
Peeps also use it to seal repaired playfields. It's glossy, hard, protects and seals.

The more you do of this stuff the more confident you'll feel to tackle more.
 
That pinrepair guide is excellent. I followed it to patch up a knackered backglass to an ok standard. The translucent areas are easiest then just block over with a silver layer once done. Personally I wouldn't laquer it unless it showed evidence of lifting.

Here's my effort, actually looks better lit than the pics do justice.
https://www.pinballinfo.com/community/threads/rocket-iii-backglass.37812/
 
Well we are off to a great start [emoji85] started cleaning the mpu with 99% IPA and a toothbrush. All we going ok until I noticed a transistor with a broken leg, and then I tried to remove a chip to clean the legs and snap. Whoops b09af6ee15981f81e133ad559be96f3b.jpg15ff6fc49992f72e16cf0ecf489789e5.jpg623c7be19d462eb7e8ff40271a976ec4.jpg

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Looks like you’ve battery damage on that board, were the batteries still in it and furred up? If so they may have leaked acid that’s eaten through your board and components.....
 
Think it’s the green thing above T5 and the “PASS” sticker, AlanJ will know what it’s called!
 
Yeah I ripped the battery out but it certainly has leaked all over the place. Even with scrubbing with ipa the corrosion still looks bad [emoji58]ddd36f6d99f47804e773ce986f51deb6.jpga8486bac9f793aeace06eb0e5ce9aac6.jpg9e2c9d9fc0a1d5e741d2f05dfdbd2669.jpgc7a81bcc71837f7828f6d4a576ca627d.jpg

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Think you’re looking at a replacement board really, as a lot of those copper traces in the board with be corroded through. I think the price you paid allows for this though, hopefully.
 
@itsmecurrie you've 2 options

1. Buy a new replacement MPU such as an altek like this https://www.pinballdisplays.co.uk/product-p/alltek-mpu.htm
2. Strip the board back of all corroded components, sand any traces that are dull grey or green then treat with 50% water 50% white vinegar solution before repopulating. It is doable (he says as an electronic engineer and having done exactly this in the past) but will take many, many hours which is why I recommend option 1 over option 2. https://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Bally/Stern#Repairing_Alkaline_Damage
 
Moonraker said:
@itsmecurrie you've 2 options

1. Buy a new replacement MPU such as an altek like this https://www.pinballdisplays.co.uk/product-p/alltek-mpu.htm
2. Strip the board back of all corroded components, sand any traces that are dull grey or green then treat with 50% water 50% white vinegar solution before repopulating. It is doable (he says as an electronic engineer and having done exactly this in the past) but will take many, many hours which is why I recommend option 1 over option 2. https://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Bally/Stern#Repairing_Alkaline_Damage
Click to expand...
@Moonraker there's a part of me really want to try and keep the board by cleaning and repairing as I'd love to learn more about the workings. But as a novice I totally get the easy option of a full replacement is inviting.

I may try option 2, and if I fail least I can just replact it.

Thanks so much for all the help and advice it's greatly appreciated

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Moonraker said:
Easy, perhaps but still very time consuming. Particularly if you need to find out why it's still not working after completing the repair...!
Click to expand...
Sorry I meant "easy for this guy in the video, as he knows how to do it" but you are 100% I could clean it all up and solder everything back in place... And not have a clue how to test for more issues. But might as well try. Might stop me breaking something else for a while [emoji28]

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And the first thing to replace is the LED ;) It's doable but as has been said before time consuming, a dremel (wear goggles) gently along the tracks will get most of the crap off just be careful..
 
Suppose before I go removing any components and cleaning the mpu I'd be best learning how to identify each effected component (need to learn how to read the schematic), and where to purchase replacements. Crawl before I run into a wall [emoji28]

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itsmecurrie said:
Suppose before I go removing any components and cleaning the mpu I'd be best learning how to identify each effected component (need to learn how to read the schematic), and where to purchase replacements. Crawl before I run into a wall [emoji28]
Click to expand...

Many are listed in that pinwiki article...
 
In all honesty it's worth just buying an alltek board anyway - the beauty is that you know it works and can use it to accurately test the rest of the game. if you then get the old board working, you have a spare alltek board - always handy if you decide to do more bally SS projects, or can sell on and probably only lose £20-30 on it.

If you do go down that route - make sure you test the voltages out of your rectifier board and solenoid driver boards before plugging in a £195 board! How to do this is all covered in the above mentioned repair guides.
 
Amazing that's a great idea. I honestly must say the pinball community is something else. The amount of great advice I've received in such a short space of time is fantastic.

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