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Complete The Centaur that time forgot

Doing some of the under playfield mechs.

Wanted to get the pop assemblies off but this one bolt just turns in the plastic housing (I suppose this is a downside of this design).
I can't push the bolt far enough back in for it to pertrude enough to grip.

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Any advice?
 
could you not wedge the top of the bolt in place with something,just to tighten the nut up?
 
As Alan said, why bother. I realised most of it can be disassembled without taking that part apart. So I managed to tighten it up with help from the other two bolts. I'll clean it as best I can in situ.

I'm assuming a hot glue gun was a common sidearm for operators in the 1980s?
I imagine the owner of the establishment telling the op Centaur is making so much money! But the drops have stopped working, fix it ASAP!

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Meanwhile the back of the cab has been removed and replaced so it's at least structurely sound now. Amazing quick work by John who fixed my Jurassic Park after its fall😄

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Ive disassembled two drop target mechs for cleaning. Just awaiting a big Bestofpinball order with various playfield parts (posts) and new drop targets.

Anyone know what size C clips for these from the drop mechs? A few snapped due to the corrosion.
(Micrometer on order😄)

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Ongoing thanks to @AlanJ for his advice and parts supply... Got new coin door trim carriage bolts from Alan and looking forward to getting the coin door back on!
 

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Ashbo said:
I gave up measuring c clips and bought this for trial and error replacements.

Rolson 61296 300 pc E-Clip Assortment https://amzn.eu/d/ilrTR8S
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I have that box, I got it two years ago when replacing a few missing clips on James' Pinball Magic. But now it's empty of all the smaller sizes and I'm left with all the giant ones I'd never ever use. If they did a box of only the smaller ones it would be useful!

Ashbo said:
Also these guys have helped me out too

Rolson 61298 150 pc Spring Assortment https://amzn.eu/d/dyT0ph0
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This is amazing, I may grab it😃
 
Started back on the cab yesterday, putting coin door trim on with new carriage bolts (the old ones were rusted and some snapped!)

I'm so badly organised so of course I didn't have enough photos and parts were all over the place😆

If getting the back panel replaced I thought I may aswell have sliders on batons like the wpc games. (Inspired by @AlanJ 's s3xy Centaur).
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The past two weeks I've cleaned and rebuilt the drop target mechs, which was a learning experience 😄 as with most of this project they're clean, not perfect but will be better than these old ones!
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Rebuilt pops ( Or thumper bumpers 😄), new sleeves, body, springs etc. Replaced most of the standup targets with new ones but of course was one short so I tried to clean up the two that hide behind the ORBS drops by soaking the targets in evaporust then cleaning up
Cleaned up and rebuilt the sling mechs and of course new flipper mechs 👌

The rubbers hadn't yet arrived so I hadn't got on with the topside of the playfield yet except the mechs but I had to put the playfield in the cab and see if the game would boot.
Luckily the Bally support line is still live, manned by @AlanJ who made sure I didn't blow myself up. After a few little niggles the game booted!
Obviously a load of lights not working, mostly dead incandescents as I know the lamp driver board is good. But I think the Aux lamp board needs work, I had to cut the capacitor off to get the game to boot ( incredible insight by Alan at Bally support).

The only other issues are a few switches not working, test shows switch 12 closed, which annoyingly is a switch that is actually four switches 🙈
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I tried to look at it but with the annoying playfield pivot it seemed easier to just take the playfield out and have a close look, then I can rebuild the topside (the rubbers arrived in the meantime, cheers @David retro 👍)

I couldn't stop and it was 1am before I felt absolutely spent (I've still got back issues and horrible sciatica)
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So close to being done 😄
 

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I didn't mention it above, but of course the Squawk and Talk board is kaput.

The self test led is just on steady. I am probably going to bite the bullet and get @myPinballs repro as it'll be bulletproof (I'm getting Jims reverb board and a mod expander power board for another game anyway).

I've got some caps for the original S&T and I would like to try fix it but it's way out of my expertise so I'd probably get frustrated and end up bugging people for help when really I want to concentrate on the game and other issues. So it's easy to chuck money at a problem considering I saved money on the cabinet repair.

I will still try to repair it, use it as some practice for boardwork 👍 just want to get the game playing and enjoy it!
 
Well done 👍. Just to get it working, looking at the original photos is a feat, congrats 👏
 
Hello, and well done

In the picture of the cabinet with the playfield out, I see a replacement bridge rectifier on the power supply is fitted above the circuit board. Ideally, it should be below, to make use of the metal frame as a heat sink.

Incidentally, note the playfield prop being on the left, one of only two (or three, if Centaur II is counted separately) such cases I know of.
 
Bobbdobalina said:
Well done 👍. Just to get it working, looking at the original photos is a feat, congrats 👏
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I didn't expect the home stretch to be so straightforward.
There was a few lamp and switch issues but most of them were dodgy connectors or cold solder.

It's still not pretty inside. I had to replace the flipper switches last night and I had to lever out the left one as the screw was rusted into the cab, as well as being stripped 🙈

If it plays properly and the playfield looks nice enough it's good. Definitely has history 😄

Jay Walker said:
Hello, and well done

In the picture of the cabinet with the playfield out, I see a replacement bridge rectifier on the power supply is fitted above the circuit board. Ideally, it should be below, to make use of the metal frame as a heat sink.

Incidentally, note the playfield prop being on the left, one of only two (or three, if Centaur II is counted separately) such cases I know of.
Click to expand...

I have a replacement bridge rectifier for that. It's obviously an operator hack using a new BR that has the spade type legs so won't go through the board.

It works so I left it while getting the rest of the game done and haven't got around to it🙈

When I saw centaur had a pivot and prop I was filled with hope but my god the pivot is next to useless as the location of the pivot is so far back the playfield can't be left upright to work on🙈. Not to mention you have to lift the pf off the hinges and put it onto those brackets which is terrifying as the playfield scrapes on the cab if it's even only slightly not square.
I'd rather have the pieces of wood to side it on from the older games!

I started using a piece of wood or a cardboard tube to prop the playfield if I need it more upright than the prop😄
 
Cheers guys!
We played it a lot without sound or speech and it was still addictive and great fun. Now with sound and speech it's another level!

Huge thanks to @myPinballs for his repro squawk and talk and reverb boards.

I'm still going to try repair the original board when I've got time. I don't like to chuck something that can be repaired... I was just being lazy and wanted to enjoy the game 😄

A few little niggles I need to resolve...

Sometimes "release" is lit with orbs lit. Hitting release doesn't release the ORBS/balls but I know it's not the release switch as the magnet grabs the ball. Going to double check trough switches.

The left thumper bumper activates randomly in game, but not a full coil fire. It's not the switch as I reproduced the issue with the switch held open.
I believe these games can be prone to interference from other coils? It's not a huge issue as it doesn't score but is distracting 😄 Going to try changing the capacitor on the pop bumper switch as it's 30 years old.
 
David_Vi said:
Sometimes "release" is lit with orbs lit. Hitting release doesn't release the ORBS/balls but I know it's not the release switch as the magnet grabs the ball. Going to double check trough switches.
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I might be mis remembering but i think @DRD explained that you need to do something to make the release work (as in its part of the game rules) he knows Centaur backwards so can hopefully chip in and explain that I'm an idiot and I've got it completely wrong!!

Looking forward to playing it soon. 😃
 
DanLewell said:
I might be mis remembering but i think @DRD explained that you need to do something to make the release work (as in its part of the game rules) he knows Centaur backwards so can hopefully chip in and explain that I'm an idiot and I've got it completely wrong!!

Looking forward to playing it soon. 😃
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I've done some more tweaking, adjusted the standup and added a new capacitor (I'd put the wrong ones on the 4 new targets I installed🙈).
Now, so far, I can't reproduce the issue. Maybe the game has to see it closed for longer to do everything.

For example I believe the pops can pop but not score, the switch has to close for a fraction longer, another cycle(?) Maybe the release target is similar as I can't explain why I could hit it with release lit, the magnet grab the ball, Centaur says "release power orb" but no balls.

I don't know the words for what I'm trying to explain and might be totally off the mark.
 
one thing always worth checking is the connectors to the boards inside the backbox on these old ballys,if they are still the originals they can be a bit flakey at times,and header pins can have dry joints if the boards are originals
 
My Centaur is running a vintage MPU board and also does funny things with multiballs.

There are a variety of multiball options listed in the manual that are either controlled by the dip switches or the menus. It is worth fiddling with these as they have a big impact on game play. The 4 outlane/ inlane guardian targets set a multiball going for example but you can choose whether you just get one per ball or whether you get repeated multiballs per ball this way

My suggestion would be to take the glass off and prompt multiballs during game play to see how they are triggered.

My specific weirdness relates to the release standup target above the magnet. If you have captive orbs ready for multiball and take the right 1,2,3,4 drop targets down in order that arms the standup - it should start a multiball when the release orbs is lit. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. I have messed with the switch to make sure it works OK.

I just see it as a feature of the game now!

If anyone knows what the problem is and how to cure it, I'd love to know !!!
 
DRD said:
My specific weirdness relates to the release standup target above the magnet. If you have captive orbs ready for multiball and take the right 1,2,3,4 drop targets down in order that arms the standup - it should start a multiball when the release orbs is lit. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. I have messed with the switch to make sure it works OK.
Click to expand...

That's what I was experiencing. I changed the cap on the standup and didn't experience it once last night.

My pop firing issue has worsened how. Before it would activate but not score, now it's scoring too. I changed the cap on the pop switch so maybe it's that. But it's the correct cap, 0.047(?) I double checked and they've worked wonders on other switches.

I've googled it and found it's a common issue and people go to extreme lengths trying to fix it🙈 but sometimes it's a simple issue. So fingers crossed!

I'll try removing the new cap next.
 
The last few days have mostly been fettling, switch adjustments and figuring out that phantom pop issue. I'm tolerating it for now, it doesn't score and doesn't happen often.

I'm forever tweaking my games, I think a game needs a few weeks or months of play to be "run in" if you like. Especially a game that's been stored 30 years and had various parts rebuilt.
Switches seem to take a while to settle after suddenly encountering loads of activity after years of nothing.
For example the first in line drop stopped registering yesterday, just a small switch adjustment required, but now it's working every time.

Star rollovers are particularly troublesome for this.
The top left one I'd adjusted and it was working great, then it started being set off by the pop bumpers.
Now its a real task to get it sensitive enough for fast balls without it being set off by vibration, a real headache considering it's near impossible to get to due to the drop mechs and harness over it.

One issue I'm discovering is the first in line drop sometimes goes up a little too high and is extremely hard to drop. It looks like the link pops to side out or the slot slightly.
Any ideas?

Lastly, I need new carriage bolts and nuts for the playfield pivot on the right hand side of the cab.
The threads see stripped so I had to hammer them out.
Temporarily replaced with machine screws and washers.
I binned the broken carriage bolts last week and didn't measure them and I'm not going to mess with removing the left hand side ones as they'll probably come out damaged.

I've seen carriage bolts on @pinballmania but the description reads as if they're for WPC games so I'm not sure if they were the same as used in the earlier games?

I'll try get photos later.
 
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