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Brian Hanifin

Space Station: Pinball Repair Log

Original post: June 22, 2009
Updates: ongoing

Update #3: [5/18/2010] Player 3 Display replaced! Added Issue: Left Side G.I.
Update #2: [4/29/2010] Space Station is now 100% playable! All that is left to replace is the Player 3 display! :)
Update #1: [4/29/2010] Last night Space Station became 90% operational, and completely playable!

Space Station is one of two non functional pinball machines I picked up at a Garage Sale in April, 2009. The other is Comet.

ISSUES
  1. Display Power Supply voltage problem (+/- 100v = 120v/-130v).
  2. Player 3 Display is out.
  3. Left Dock Kicker (does not kick).
  4. Shooter Lane: 2 balls at same time.
  5. Top Pop Bumper (does not bump).
  6. Flipper Rebuild:
    • Right Flipper is sloppy.
  7. Right Dock: ball cannot escape.
  8. Stuck switches (x 5).
  9. Rubbers need replacing.
  10. Shooter power barely/not always enough to get ball to top of playfield.
  11. Misc. bulbs out.
  12. General Illumination (G.I.): Left side is completely out.

ISSUE DETAILS
Display Power Supply voltage problem
  • [6/20] I believe I will need to rebuild the +/-100v section of the display power board.
  • [2/10/2010] Rebuilt power supply section to bring voltage down to ~91v.
Player 3 Display
  • [6/20] If the missing display functionality is not restored, with the correct voltage applied I will have to buy a new display (e.g. Pinball Life).
  • [2/10/2010] Player 3 display is still out after the power supply rebuild.
  • [5/18/2010] A new display is installed and works great! It sits about an 1/8" high, but for my first display replacement I'll take it. :)
Left Dock Kicker
  • [6/22] Coil gets 80v of power; does not fire in "coil test" mode nor "in game"; further coil would not fire when shorting to ground. I removed the coil, and it has continuity to both solder points, and it tests at about 4.2 ohms of resistance. I don't know if the coil is bad or not, but I suspect it is bad.
  • [6/23] Ordered new coil.
  • [6/29] Installed new coil. No change. I'm baffled. Shouldn't this coil fire when shorted to ground? Every other coil I have tested this way fires!
  • [8/7] After some advice from John at the Pinball Hall of Fame, I found the related switch was flaky (showed high resistance). On the advice of my dad I sprayed some electronics cleaner into the switch and pushed the button several times, the resistance on the switch read normal and continuity was constant.
  • [4/23/2010] I know the solenoid works as I got the Dock Solenoid to fire by disconnecting the wires, and running jumpers to a known good solenoid. One lug of the solenoid has two orange wires, and the other has a black/gray wire. Both Orange wires when separated each read 37.4 VDC. The black/gray wire has about 1.6 VDC. I measured coil resistance, and its reading matches that of two other working coils (4.3 ohms I believe). The Driver Transistor (Q22) which is supposed to fire the Dock Solenoid also fires the Single Drop Target. The Single Drop Target Solenoid is firing while the Dock Solenoid is not. Does that mean the Driver Transistor is good?
  • [4/24/2010] After a full day of tracing wiring, swapping wires between working and non-working solenoids with my dad, we discovered the relay on the Aux Power Driver Board which switches voltage between the "A" and "C" solenoid lines appears to be bad. After removing the case my dad believes the mechanics of it are defective which does not allow it to switch to the "C" line. So I ordered a new relay from Mouser.
  • [4/28/2010] The new relay fixed the problem. Unfortunately the replacement relay did not fit the circuit board, so I just ran wires from the board to the legs. Apparently this is a failure prone part, it had obviously been replaced before. So, on the plus side, this will make it easier to replace next time it fails. :)
Shooter Lane: 2 balls simultaneously.
  • [6/22] Tested the micro-switch that indicates a ball is in the shooter lane, and adjusted the wire attached to the switch arm. Untested.
  • [2/10/2010] Triggering the left slingshot causes another ball to be sent into the shooter lane! Look for switch matrix problems there.
  • [2/27/2010] I now believe this issue is being caused by the faulty relay discovered when troubleshooting the Left Dock Kicker. When the slingshots are hit flashers are supposed to light. Since the relay allowing the solenoid circuit to switch to the "C" line (where all of the flashers - and the Left Dock Kicker - are located) kickers are kicking at balls when they should be flashing flash bulbs!
    This also explains why a big accomplishment in the game fires off kickers like mad! The flashers are supposed to be flashing. :)
  • [4/28/2010] New relay solved this problem.
Top Pop Bumper
  • [4/29/2010] Replaced Q73, the transistor which fires the Top Pop Bumper (or Right Popper as its known in the manual). The pop bumper is now working great!
Flipper Rebuild / Right Flipper is sloppy.
  • [6/23] Ordered filpper rebuild kit (right & left).
  • [2/9/2010] Finished rebuild of right flipper. Next up, the left flipper.
  • [4/25/2010] 1/2 to 3/4 of the way finished with the Left Flipper rebuild.
  • [4/28/2010] Flipper rebuild complete.
Shooter: lacking power.
  • [6/23] Ordered Shooter rebuild parts: including 3 spring strengths.
  • [6/29] Replaced every shooter part except the rod. Installed the highest tension spring! Now those balls should make it up to the top of the playfield no problem. :-)
Rubbers
  • [6/23] Ordered full rubber kit (from Marco Specialties).
  • [7/11] Replaced rubbers, and cleaned and polished the playfield.

Bulbs
  • [6/23] Ordered 2 sets of bulbs.
  • [7/11] Replaced burnt out bulbs.
Bubble Level
  • [6/30] Installed a bubble level. I choose the Stern version because it was $3, vs. $10 for the Williams style.

Tags: pinball, repair, repair log, space station

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Brian Hanifin Comment by Brian Hanifin on April 27, 2010 at 11:26am
I really appreciate the feedback! Not only are these repair logs a huge help to me, I am hopeful they might help someone else in the future. :)

We will probably sell the Comet when we are done repairing it. My wife hates the guys loud gruff voice who is constantly taunting with "Hey dummy, hit me!" I have to admit I find it pretty annoying as well.
AtariToobin Comment by AtariToobin on April 27, 2010 at 10:51am
Thanks, Brian, for posting trouble shooting logs like this - it's always an interesting read and useful for future reference.

I'd like to get a Comet one of these days - no space for one unfortunately :(
Herbertsmart Comment by Herbertsmart on June 29, 2009 at 5:25pm
wow you picked it up for free? Great deal. I actually have there same 2 pins in my collection.
Brian Hanifin Comment by Brian Hanifin on June 27, 2009 at 2:28pm
So you are saying you enjoy those two pins? Super, I haven't played them before... but it was the kind of deal you don't pass up. ;-)
Brian Hanifin Comment by Brian Hanifin on June 27, 2009 at 2:03am

Here you go Chris! Thanks for reminding me.
Chris Moore Comment by Chris Moore on June 26, 2009 at 9:54pm
Brian are you telling me that not only did you find two pins at a garage sale, but you found space station AND comet? That's nuts. I'm going to search for the pics, did you post them?

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