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Theatre of Magic! My first machine

jack burton

jack burton

Site Supporter
10 Years
Joined
Jan 30, 2014
Messages
427
Location
Waterford
Finally getting around to putting up some pictures of this.

Absolutely delighted to get this machine as its the exact one I played for years in a local arcade

First the good:
Machine is in great nick, plays perfect, small few bits and pieces of wear but nothing too bad ( Only 1 I'd really be concerned with, pictured below)
The PF is great and the cabinet is in great condition, everything dry and no signs that it was ever even damp.
The boards in the backbox all look brand new and the batteries were replaced this April.
So overall very happy with this

Also I found the original promo stickers and keychain, along with some new rubbers and some brand new plastics, under the PF. So that was a nice bonus

Then the bad
The DMD has issues, I didnt take a picture yet but all the bulbs seem to be working ok but just flickering and some not lighting up when they are meant to.
The plastic on the left flipper is cracked badly and needs replacing.
Most of the bulbs are blown so a let kit will be ordered very soon
Its filthy and needs a really good clean


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One of the worse sections of wear that will need some repair

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So should I be worried about someone with a badge from the south of England coming over and breaking in?
 
Well apart from being mighty dirty which you would expect seeing it's been operated all its life, it looks like it's going to scrub up nice and you will have a nice machine there.

Finally this Theatre is put out to pasture after 19 years of service.
Look after her and do a good job on her clean up. She deserves it, or should I say she has earned it.
 
Looking in really good order there...

One thing, I would replace that captive ball, I would be afraid of it. Wrecking my other balls when struck, it looks gnarly...

Also when I'm on, do you know of anywhere near cork or limerick that has some pins onsite ? Going to be down that way on Thursday, don't know the area at all. Going to ringaskiddy :confused:
 
Yeah it is gnarly alright and I figured since it was bolted down it couldn't cause too much trouble. Didnt think of other balls, thanks Ian, I'll get on that

I'm not sure about pins down this way, I know a mate who was down in cork recently so I'll ask him.
 
Replace all balls even the captive one but don't replace untill you have cleaned her up.

Might also be worth checking any of the gi connectors connected to the driver board see if any are burnt bulbs out arnt always dead bulbs
 
RudeDogg1 said:
Might also be worth checking any of the gi connectors connected to the driver board see if any are burnt bulbs out arnt always dead bulbs
Click to expand...

Check the GI fuses also. Whilst its possible , it's highly unlikely ALL the GI bulbs are blown. In fact its good practice to check ALL fuses when you get a game, especially one straight from an op.
 
Looks good! Congratulations on your 1st machine. Think it was about 1 year ago that i did the same, but with a Twilight Zone. It's now had 3 full sized babies. It's a slippery slope. Definitely keep a record of your fixing up progress.
 
jack burton said:
Yeah it is gnarly alright and I figured since it was bolted down it couldn't cause too much trouble. Didnt think of other balls, thanks Ian, I'll get on that
Click to expand...

I've got a used one you can have from my old ToM, not nice and but better than that one. You can still get new ones but think they're pricey. Got loads of other ToM bits too so shout up if you're stuck for something and not bothered about being used (no plastics or ramps though sorry).

Good luck with it, they're pretty machines when refurbed and lit up. Put mirror blades on mine too.
 
JMP said:
I've got a used one you can have from my old ToM, not nice and but better than that one. You can still get new ones but think they're pricey. Got loads of other ToM bits too so shout up if you're stuck for something and not bothered about being used (no plastics or ramps though sorry).

Good luck with it, they're pretty machines when refurbed and lit up. Put mirror blades on mine too.
Click to expand...

Might clean up in a tumbler I put the ball
From my fp tilt mech in and that was just a ball of rust and came out like new
 
The spirit ring insert wear is the clearcoat chipping. These games don't have insert decals. Decals have been produced to repair damage, but we're never used at the factory. I'd make sure that the insert is level first. If it has raised slightly it may have caused the chip. If it's flat, drip some clearcoat into the chip until it's filled, then sand back very very carefully until it's flat.
A decal isn't needed and would make that part look much worse.
If you need any specific advice on toms give me a yell. I did a full restore on mine last year (full details in the shop log section).
Cheers
Rich
 
Thanks for the replys lads.

@JMP I might take you up on that offer for the ball

@elrikos Its flat so a tiny drip of clearcoat will sort it I reckon, looks a lot worse because of the dirt.

I went through some tests last night on it and 2 switches look to be out. 44 & 87, left lane exit and the subway popper. So I need to get them sorted asap, I'll go get a multimeter later on today. Whats the best way to go about testing these?

Tested out some new bulbs aswell and looks to just be the bulbs that are out

Few issues with the spirit ring aswell, its not grabbing the ball when activated, doesnt make too much difference to the gameplay but still needs to be sorted
 
Just let me know your address via PM and I'll send it over. :)

The leaf switch under the subway/trapdoor popper is very tempermental to position correctly. You may just need to adjust it to ensure it triggers when the ball lands onto the popper cup. It really should have an opto switch in there but leaf switch is the way they went with it.... I ended up replacing all the switches in the underplayfield trough and popper to ensure reliability, been fine ever since.

Check for breaks in the wires to the spirit ring magnet and/or a bad connector. Surprising if the magnet is failing but you can get replacements from PH.
 
Just had a bit of a test there and the left lane exit seems to be working fine during gameplay

I'll give a go at adjusting that leaf switch later on, ran it in test mode and its only registering 3 out of the 4 balls when they are dropped and one is getting left in there, but the trap door spits then out no problem when I go to start a game and they are all in there so hopefully all it needs is an adjustment.

Took a look for any loose or bad connection in the backbox aswell and I couldnt find any, I'll have a proper look for the spirit ring problem when I have time later on. Any common problems with that in particular though?
 
Definately a switch not triggering in the trough, may just need adjustment but again, I replaced all mine with new ones as they wouldn't stay reliable. Fine ever since.
 
So that would be the 3 switch setup and the 4th popper one?

Sorry for all the questions but I'm new to all this
 
if its moaning about the popper switch i'd check that one first. It should close with a ball sat on the plastic cup and open without one. The setup is tricky as there is a spring above and below the popper, holding it in a central position. With a ball sat on it it weighs down to popper, causing the switch to close. with no ball, the springs centralise the popper, opening the switch. mine was a bit tempramental to begin with.

Also, i may be wrong (going from memory!) but isn't switch 87 the eddy switch rather than the outlane switch? If so they are a little tempramental too. You'll see a small board near the outlane with a red LED and a potentiometer on it (among other things). The LED should be off. When you pass a ball over the playfield (approx where the grey cloud above the wand is on the playfield is) the LED should come on. You adjust this circuit by turning the potentiometer so that the LED comes on, then back it off so that it just switches off. In this way passing a ball over the sensor will turn the LED on. This switch is used for the hocus pocus ball save. If you're having to continually readjust the potentiometer to make it work have a look at my shop log for the fix. You can also buy self adjusting boards but they're about £40 each.
 
spirit ring, check the wiring under the playfield, at the back, left hand side. There will be several connectors coming from the top of the PF to the bottom. They often get caught up on the playfield hinge mechinism and break (mine did). That will knock out the spirit ring. From memory (again!) the spirit ring is the connector with 2 wires, one red one purple.
 
Cool, I'll check that out right away

In an auto shop at the moment, no novus2 but they have a load of auto glym and G3 anyone ever use that stuff or will I just order some novus instead

edit, I didnt bother, just order some novus tomorrow instead
 
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