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In Progress Robocop 1989

strobey

strobey

Site Supporter
10 Years
Joined
Jul 24, 2011
Messages
1,650
Location
Derbyshire
I picked up a Robocop late '99 in reasonable condition but one day, while servicing it, the backglass smashed into a million pieces and we just thought "well that's that"... and broke it for parts.

Criminal to think now, but that was the done thing. I think it only cost £75 but selling all the parts on RGP was a good earner, even after Western Union took their cut.

It ultimately funded my grail pin IJ which I managed to find about a year later.

Anyway I always missed Robocop just because the multiball start is so ridiculously good (if you know, you know...) and so I managed to buy this one off-group a little while back.

In a cruel twist of fate, the backglass was missing and the playfield flasher insets toasted - very common issue - so I feel like this is a sign to repent for my sins of destroying the last one...

Tbc..f26453093f46dbf8a993ea3388b14b9a.jpgd8798e981995a04585cf8abd5427f791.jpg
 
Really like combing the cabinets for gems of history.

Looks like this one may have been a grey import, but I'm not sure if the exports weren't just stickered for the US market and then converted for 240V by the distributer (just re-jumpering the transformer).

Anyone?

I'll make sure to check the line filter etc. f64179cceb9e16bbd7e2745fe41226d3.jpgb71ca88c091bee8369625fc9944cd4f1.jpg
 
I'm a massive purist, but I have to say it's tempting here to replace these two with Xpin boards.

Is it really worth all that effort to end up back at a shockingly bad design, with TIP36C's which are probably fakes, and my smoke alarm getting a workout?

Honestly I think not. It's going to save me a tonne of time and heartache later down the line.

The pin itself cost me £300 and while I know there's a lot more to spend to come, I think it's worth starting off on the right foot.be26902725e286ef3ce65308f30c1f51.jpg02a68280386472ffd867b3b2b19821ec.jpg
 
Great game, mine is playing really good. Quite a few games on it today. Amazing sound, lights and pop bumper mayhem😂
If you need any pics etc get in touch, I have some old plastics if you need any and some new.
All original except the xpin flipper board which has been good. I wouldn’t hesitate to get new boards if I had too.
Good luck.
 
By complete luck I found a replacement glass and collected it in between lockdowns. Cost me £100 which I think was fair considering they're basically unobtanium.

Slight flaking around the edges but only from the original trim.

I'll probably seal this with Krylon Triple Thick which has always been banded as the go-to, unless there's a good UK alternative?

£20 a can but I think worth it to prevent any further paint damage.

This will be my first time using it.

Should I mask off the clear sections? I'd imagine so, with maybe a very slight overlap to tie in the paint edge?

Would appreciate any thoughts on this...24ec870d62d6e8dc3671bba9d167791f.jpg
 
Definitely mask off the clear sections mate, especially if using triple thick, otherwise you'll make them cloudy :thumbs: I've only ever used triple thick myself as I never trusted anything else not to react with the paint. Not the cheapest stuff like you say but not that expensive in the grand scheme of things, especially compared to an unobtanium backglass.
 
strobey said:
I'm a massive purist, but I have to say it's tempting here to replace these two with Xpin boards.

Is it really worth all that effort to end up back at a shockingly bad design, with TIP36C's which are probably fakes, and my smoke alarm getting a workout?

Honestly I think not. It's going to save me a tonne of time and heartache later down the line.

The pin itself cost me £300 and while I know there's a lot more to spend to come, I think it's worth starting off on the right foot.be26902725e286ef3ce65308f30c1f51.jpg02a68280386472ffd867b3b2b19821ec.jpg
Click to expand...
If PS and PPB, I’d repair with parts from RS, those old boards are pretty solid. Replace fuse clips etc, not that big a job
 
M4carp said:
Do you have the red and blue fresnel for the back glass?
Click to expand...

Oh blx good point.. didn't twig that they were missing.

Hopefully they will be an easy find, there must be standard size lenses on the market.

Quick ebay search looks promising. The blue might be trickier! Gel is a good option [emoji106]

22435c879a73ccb89ae7dd3ccf550d61.jpg
 
mufcmufc said:
If PS and PPB, I’d repair with parts from RS, those old boards are pretty solid. Replace fuse clips etc, not that big a job
Click to expand...

Yeah RS is the way, you're right. I don't know about solid though, those PPBs have caused me serious headaches in the past with the TRs and 10 ohm (?) resisters failing in a spectacular way.

I sometimes wonder why they bothered with fuses in the design!

Xpin PPB out of stock anyway so might rebuild that and just replace the power supply as the board looks a bit hacky.

I'll see what the solder side looks like.

Voice of reason, cheers :-)
 
Seems to be common that the tracks/board are pretty burnt up around the special circuits area due to the switches not being computer controlled but direct from switch, switch closed=coil locked on. Mine was a mess and whoever repaired it shouldn’t have bothered. Looks ok once in the backbox though😂
If your displays start fading out after being on for a while there are a couple of diodes and resistors on the power supply board that you can upgrade that cause it. Sorted mine. Was like putting new displays in.
 
M4carp said:
Seems to be common that the tracks/board are pretty burnt up around the special circuits area due to the switches not being computer controlled but direct from switch, switch closed=coil locked on. Mine was a mess and whoever repaired it shouldn’t have bothered. Looks ok once in the backbox though😂
If your displays start fading out after being on for a while there are a couple of diodes and resistors on the power supply board that you can upgrade that cause it. Sorted mine. Was like putting new displays in.
Click to expand...
Special solenoid fuse board will sort that:
https://nvram.weebly.com/wms-sss.html

Glad I put one in my Cosmic Gunfight - as I blew a fuse yesterday on it!
 
AlanJ said:
Special solenoid fuse board will sort that:
https://nvram.weebly.com/wms-sss.html

Glad I put one in my Cosmic Gunfight - as I blew a fuse yesterday on it!
Click to expand...
It’s had the extra fuse board fitted which looks old but probably after all the damage was done, it’s on the right side of the backbox.
Thanks for linking that though, good to know you can get that.
 
strobey said:
Yeah RS is the way, you're right. I don't know about solid though, those PPBs have caused me serious headaches in the past with the TRs and 10 ohm (?) resisters failing in a spectacular way.

I sometimes wonder why they bothered with fuses in the design!

Xpin PPB out of stock anyway so might rebuild that and just replace the power supply as the board looks a bit hacky.

I'll see what the solder side looks like.

Voice of reason, cheers :)
Click to expand...

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there was some poor decision making in the original circuit design, I know it's basically a copy of WMS stuff but I've had too much weird stuff happening on DE games over the years that makes little sense as to why certain components have been taken out, whereas I've always found B/W stuff to be logical. The boards themselves seem to soldier on, might not look pretty but as Rottendog have proved, new isn't always better, the only thing I really hate about the DE stuff is the lack of slots in the screw holes, that was the worst decision they could have made
 
M4carp said:
Do you have the red and blue fresnel for the back glass? I only had the blue so put a red and blue gel there and looks really good.
Click to expand...

strobey said:
Oh blx good point.. didn't twig that they were missing.

Hopefully they will be an easy find, there must be standard size lenses on the market.

Quick ebay search looks promising. The blue might be trickier! Gel is a good option [emoji106]
Click to expand...
The fresnel lenses are impossible to find but I found a workaround...

Search on eBay for Prismatic Diffuser - you can buy it in A4 sheets for about £8 and cut with a hacksaw. One sheet will give you many lenses for Robocop's backglass.

Then to get the red or blue, either dye them with Glass Stain or just stick your gels on top. I did mine with glass stain to get a totally original look but the gels will work just fine too, except they might fall off at some point.

27956747766_737ebed9f3_3k.jpg
 
I used gels with baking paper behind to smooth the light and it hides seeing the lamps through the gel.
That prismatic diffuser looks pretty good.236E012A-B879-414E-A7E5-C3FB3B8343F4.jpeg
 
Game that saved DE - set them on the path to all licensed themes. Love the way its licensed from Ocean software
 
This is the game I play the most, I don’t know what it is but it’s one of those just another game pins and great for brainless quick games. Probably why I like it!
Plunge, ball goes into pops, bounces around for a bit then goes sdtm. Try again😂
Sound and lighting are brilliant, looks good too.
 
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