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SEGA - X-Files - 1997 - Repair & Service Log


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Recently, a new machine entered my line up - X-Files. Release by SEGA in 1997 with 1500 (unconfirmed) made, it's the most modern machine to enter my pinball fleet. As you know by now, I'm not one to just get a machine in and play it. There's always work to be done cleaning, fixing and tuning my machines. I'm addicted to that side of Pinball. This one is no different and I'll be working my way through the machine in typical fashion for a full service.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_day1_start.jpg

 

On arrival, there was an issue to fix before I switched the machine on. One of the pop bumpers was broken. The metal ring was sitting against the skirt and not upright like it should be.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/broken_popbumper_1.jpg

 

I pulled the glass off and could move the ring up and down freely with my fingers. It would not remain upright. With the playfield lifted up, I could easily see the issue. Both the fiber and metal yokes on the pop bumper assembly were broken in two and the spring had fallen out.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/broken_popbumper_2.jpg

 

Luckily, I had some spare yokes on hand that could be used. The pop bumper assembly was removed from the playfield and the broken yokes replaced. I grabbed a fresh coil sleeve for it too. I will be returning the pop bumpers at a later date for a proper service, but for now I just want it in a working state. The yokes I installed for now are second hand ones from other machines - and I had kept them for times like this. When I rebuild pop bumpers I replace the yokes with new ones. They get such a solid work out each game, they are worth replacing outright. So i'll be ordering a few when the time comes.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/broken_popbumper_3.jpg

 

With the pop bumper fixed, I wanted to find out what other functional issues existed before playing a game. After running the diagnostic mode for coils and switches, some additional problems could be seen. The first of which was the magnet, which did not work. Below the playfield is a single coil driven magnet. This lives just before the filing cabinet. Firing the magnet coil in test mode showed it to not be working as it had no effect on a ball rolling around the area. Under the playfield, I could see the fuse was not in a good way.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_broken_magnet_fuse.jpg

 

The fuse was replaced and the magnet tested again. Still nothing. Off to the manual. Turns out there is a second fuse which lives on the power board in the headbox. A visual inspection of the fuse told me it too was dead. But to be sure, I switched the machine off and removed it for testing. It was confirmed dead and so replaced with a new one. I switched the machine back on again and fired the magnet coil - this time it was successful.

 

While running the coil tests, 4 of the flasher lamps failed. The first lives under the trap door. Someone had decided to install a #555 bulb instead of the required #906. This was replaced. One of the other #89's that was failing could easily be reached and was replaced also. In coil test mode again, those two now worked. So I suspect the other 2 failing flashers are just dead #89's needing to be swapped. They are not easy to get to, so will do them when I perform a proper clean of the playfield.

 

Happy with that I was seeing in the coal test mode, I jumped across to the switch test mode. I ran through the matrix of switches and found they registered correctly except for one - the opto switch that controls the magnet. This switch was constantly flagged as being on. I first attempted to adjust the alignment of the transmitter and receiver, without any success. Even perfectly aligned, the switch was still considered activated. There are two opto switches in this area and a visual comparison showed the faulty one was not as bright as the working one (the photo is deceptive as it looks like the LED is not on at all, while it actually is - it's just not captured well).

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_opto_issue_3.jpg

 

Under the playfield, the receiver board has a LED at the base, which turns on when the switch is activated. This LED remains on at all times, hence what I was seeing in the switch test. You can buy replacement transmitter boards, but it seemed like overkill in this instance. A new LED was purchased and installed instead. Visually the difference was obvious.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_opto_issue_4.jpg

 

Back in switch test mode, the switch was now working correctly, solving another issue.

 

The switch tests now all passed, along with the coils (minus a few flashers, which I suspect are just bulbs needing to be replaced). With the very obvious issues out of the way and game diagnostics looking OK it was time to actually play the game. This should hopefully show up any game play issues currently lurking there. Indeed, a few issues did show up which I would like to address before cleaning the machine.

 

After a few games I noticed that the left orbit switch would get stuck once the ball rolled over it. Eventually, it would come free and return to its normal resting position. But something was preventing it from moving up and down freely. With the playfield up, I could see the switch wire stuck. It was being held there by the edge of the hole in the playfield.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_stuck_orbit_switch.jpg

 

The switch arm looked fine and not bent. The two screws attaching the switch assembly to the playfield were loosened up and the switch shifted down slightly. This now allowed the switch arm to move freely when the ball rolled over it and return to it's resting position. No more stuck switch when hitting the orbit - it was good to go again.

 

While looking at this switch, I noticed that one of the wires leading to the microswitch had previously been cut and twisted back together again and the bare wire left exposed.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_broken_orbit_switch_wires.jpg

 

This was fixed up before moving on.

 

The next thing to look at is the VUK (vertical up kicker). There are a few possible ways for the ball to reach this (Shooter lane, Filing cabinet and Trap door). All three lead here at various points of the game and the ball is then kicked up to return it to play. As you can imagine, this assembly gets a real workout. The are a few issues around this, but I suspect they are all related. Looking under the playfield at the assembly, I manually tried to move the plunger. It was incredibly sticky. As you can see, it can't always return to it's normal resting position. The flow on effect from this is weak kicking of the ball and the switch (used by the game to detect there is a ball sitting there) would not actuate.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_vuk_stuck_start.jpg

 

The whole assembly was removed from the machine, pulled to pieces and cleaned. There was a lot of crap built up around the coil sleeve and plunger. Looks much better now.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_vuk_assembly_clean.jpg

 

The VUK assembly was installed back into the machine. The plunger now had unrestricted movement and could freely pass through the coil sleeve. This was a big improvement.

 

One other intermittent issue was the ball launcher. It strikes the ball inconsistently. Since it's located under the apron, I may as well clean the apron and ball trough at the same time. On the apron, the decals have retained their colour nicely. You can buy reproductions of these, but it's not required here. Those old crappy apron cards will be replaced with something that looks much better however.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_apron_start.jpg

 

With the apron off, I could see the area below was relatively clean. I like the use of Sonic and X Files logo printed on to the lower section of the playfield. It's interesting to see SEGA put Sonic on the playfield and also use their Saturn console logo on the flipper bats.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_apron_removed_start.jpg

 

Although the surface looked clean, there was a small layer of dust covering it. Wiping my finger along the top of the ball trough revealed a cleaner surface below. This will be quite easy to clean and well worth doing since I had the apron off.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_dusty_apron_surface.jpg

 

As mentioned, while playing I had noticed something up with the ball launcher. It appeared to be loose and would causes some odd movement / striking of the ball when activated. With the apron off I could now clearly see the shooter assembly and one of the screws that hold the coil retainer in place had come out. The other screw was also loose, although still holding on. The coil sleeve was filthy too.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_ballshooter_loose_screw.jpg

 

Before tightening it all up I wanted to clean the assembly, so the launcher was removed.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_ballshooter_assembly_dirty.jpg

 

Each part of the launcher assembly was cleaned and set aside to be put back together again.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_ballshooter_assembly_clean.jpg

 

The old coil sleeve was long overdue to be replaced, so a new sleeve was installed back into the coil and the assembly rebuilt. No more wobbly coil and plunger. Much better. Now to look at the ball trough. X-Files has a 4 ball multiball mode and in the trough, are 3 microswitches to detect the presence of the balls. The fourth is an opto switch.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_balltrough_start.jpg

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_ball_trough_start.jpg

 

The ball trough cover has been removed, so was cleaned up and set aside ready to go back on.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_balltrough_cover.jpg

 

The ball trough was removed from under the playfield for cleaning. The wires run to an IDC plug to allow for easy removal. The coil frame was removed for cleaning too. All components were cleaned up and the assembly was ready to go back onto the machine.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_ball_trough_cleaned.jpg

 

The plastic apron was cleaned up and new apron cards installed. I printed off a custom set from http://www.pinballcards.com. These nicely compliment the apron and finish it off. I'm not a huge fan of the plastic style aprons Data East and Sega used as I think metal ones look much nicer. But they serve their purpose - and no rust / artwork scratching is a plus. The small plastic over the shooter lane was removed, cleaned and polished. The ball trough was installed back into the machine and the apron over it to complete this area. The erratic ball launcher issue was now resolved and the apron looking much nicer.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_apron_completed.jpg

 

A small mod I've done recently on some of my other machines (Pinbot & LAH) is back lit flipper buttons. For those machines I colour matched the LED to a transparent flipper button. Here though I couldn't find transparent purple buttons, so have had to go with clear buttons. I was tempted to use blue to match the faded side art, but the purple suits the apron decals and cards. I'm going to run with it for awhile - it's easy (and cheap) enough to change to blue if I decide to change. One cool thing about the purple on the right had side button is the LED is located just below a small purple plastic piece sitting over the shooter lane - the button LED gives off enough glow to subtly light this up. With the button LEDs hooked up to the coin door lights, they flash on and off with the GI at certain points of the game, which has a nice effect too.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_backlit_flipper_buttons.jpg

 

When the game boots up, it shows the current display and CPU ROM versions. The machine is running v3.00 for the display and v2.00 for the CPU. A quick check on IPDB showed the most recent ROM for the CPU was out of date, with the latest at v3.03. I reached out to @Skybeaux (Ken) and ordered a new CPU ROM, which was then installed to bring the game up to date.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_cpu_rom_updated.jpg

 

That's enough for my first update on the machine. A lot of progress has been made already towards getting the machine into the state I want it. The feature inhibiting issues were resolved, along with a few small intermittent ones. Some assemblies got a good clean and a bit of presentation work was done on the machine too. I plan to look at the other assemblies for a proper service, along with stripping the playfield for a decent clean. Next up I'll be looking at the two sling shot assemblies, along with the trap door and orbit diverter assemblies. I will also look to clean up the under ramp playfield (that leads tot he VUK). The right return lane plastic is broken on my machine, but I managed to find a place that sells them new (with a set of the sling shot plastics). These have been ordered and will arrive soon. More to come soon :)

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It's time for the second update on my repair and servicing of a SEGA X-Files pinball machine. Less repairs for this installment and mainly servicing what's there. My focus for this update is to work through the remaining under playfield assemblies that need a service. X-Files is a bit thin on coil assemblies compared with other machines I've worked on recently. Outside of the flippers and slingshots, there are only 6 others to service (and three of those are pop bumpers). Once they've all been cleaned up, that will mean I'm ready to strip and clean the playfield. I'll be starting with the slingshots. The assemblies are just like the ones I saw on my Date East Last Action Hero. They get a good work out during play, so have built up a nice layer of black dust around the plunger, link and coil sleeve.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_slingshot_dirty.jpg

 

The slingshot assembly was completely disassembled and each part cleaned. Both sling shots were done at the same time and in similar condition.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_slingshot_cleaned.jpg

 

The sling shots were reassembled and installed back into the machine. The contacts on the two switch blades for each slingshot were cleaned and also slightly adjusted for better sensitivity. I will hold off cleaning the plastic and playfield above the sling shots for now. I plan to strip the playfield and properly clean it in the next stage of servicing, so will deal with those then.

 

Just up from the sling shots are a banks of stand up targets, with a set on each side. These targets are used in game to advance the end of ball bonus and multi-ball jackpots. They are quite dirty, so let's get them off the playfield and clean them up.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_targets_start.jpg

 

Under the playfield, the target bank is actually a collection of 3 individual targets. Each target is it's own assembly, held in place by two screws. Each target is connected to the wire trunk via a small IDC connector.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_targets_underplayfield.jpg

 

The IDC connectors were taken off the targets and each one removed from the playfield. Their design is quite simple and they activate a micro switch inside the housing.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_targets_profile.jpg

 

For a comparison, I cleaned one of the targets up with isopropyl alcohol and a cloth, followed by polishing with Novus. It makes a very noticeable difference.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_targets_cleandirty.jpg

 

The second target now clean, shows how a little bit of cleaning can make an impact.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_targets_clean.jpg

 

Once all three targets had been cleaned and polished, they were installed back into the machine. Lit up, they look great - the red on the target plastic much cleaner. I'm looking forward to adding some LED's behind them soon. The targets on the other side of the playfield were handled the exact same way.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_targets_complete.jpg

 

Continuing my journey up the playfield, the next assembly on my hit list is the trap door. This one is made up of three parts (four if you include the plastic ramp).

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_trapdoor_assembly_start.jpg

 

The coil assembly, metal trap, and plastic ramp were removed first. I'll return for the actual trap door shortly. The microswitches are joined to the game via IDC, which means they can easily be disconnected and removed for servicing.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_trapdoor_assembly_parts.jpg

 

The coil assembly was disassembled and cleaned. A new coil sleeve was sourced to be installed.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_trapdoor_coilparts_clean.jpg

 

Under the playfield there is a ramp which carries the ball from either the trap door or the filing cabinet to the VUK (vertical up kicker). This thing is filthy.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_underplayfield_ramp_dirty.jpg

 

Lately I've started relying on Nifty for cleaning as it does a great job. It didn't fail here and really cleaned the plastic up.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_underplayfield_ramp_clean.jpg

 

The last part of the trap door assembly was the door flap itself. Due to the shape, this was tricky to remove.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_trapdoor_door_parts_dirty.jpg

 

The flap assembly was dismantled and each part cleaned. With everything from the trap door assembly now serviced, it was time to put it all back together.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_trapdoor_door_parts_clean.jpg

 

At the very top of the playfield is an assembly that looks very similar to the ball serve & launcher assemblies. This one pushes its post above the playfield and acts as a diverter on the outer orbit shot. It's controlled by the two orbit switches, so only engages for a short time to divert the ball. Some missions in the game disable this though, allowing you to make the full orbit shot, which is always cool to do. This assembly is working fine and just needs a clean and new sleeve.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_diverter_start.jpg

 

The assembly was removed from the playfield for cleaning. Compared with some of the other assemblies on this machine, it's not too bad.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_diverter_assembly_dirty.jpg

 

The assembly was cleaned up and a new coil sleeve sourced. It was installed back into the machine, ready to block my orbit shots.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_diverter_assembly_clean.jpg

 

That just leaves the pop bumper and flipper assemblies to look at. I'll be servicing the pop bumpers once I have the playfield stripped. The flippers I will be putting off for a bit, simply because they are still reasonably strong and are not yet ready for a rebuild.

 

That's all for the second update on my X-files service & repair. More positive progress made, bringing the state of the machine closer to where I want it to be. I have a few small presentation things to do next and I'll then advance to stripping everything from the top of the playfield so I can properly clean it. I'll then clean parts as they get installed back onto the machine, along with installing LEDs and coloured Titan rubbers. At that point, the machine should be in a state I'm happy with - so stay tuned as there is more fun to come :)

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After my last two updates, X-Files is already starting to play better and I'm happy with how the machine has progressed so far. While waiting for a couple of parts to arrive, I decided to get a few smaller things done around the machine. The filing cabinet has two globes pointed directly at it, with lamp shades attached to the socket. These act as spot lights during play and light the cabinet up. The one on the left was missing the lamp shade (also called a reflector).

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_missing_lamp_reflector.jpg

 

These can be purchased and since I didn't have any spares, ordered one to install. I regret not ordering a second to replace the existing one on the right as they newer reflector helps produce a much brighter effect.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_replaced_lamp_reflector.jpg

 

The right return lane plastic on my machine broken at some point in the past. I found a place in the US that sells a small package of the slingshot and return lane plastics together.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_broken_returnlane_plastic.jpg

 

While my slingshot plastics are not broken, it certainly won't hurt to replace them given they came in the set. It's a shame about the average artwork printed on them. I don't plan to install the replacements set just yet though and I'll wait to install them once I've stripped and cleaned the playfield. They have a thin protective layer on top, which will be removed during installation. Along with the replacement plastics, I also ordered a clear piece which sits over the top of the filing cabinet entry. This acts as a shield to protect the plastics in the area. I'm not sure if it's an after market piece as I've seen a number of machines with it fitted. It was not present on my machine, so will add this after the playfield clean too.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_replacement_plastics.jpg

 

I wanted to lift the presentation of the machine a little, so thought I would pretty up the front of the cabinet and the coin door. Sadly, the nice purple colour in the cabinet art has faded over the years from (most of) the machine. Blue still suits X-Files, so I can live with it. I have seen some custom art decals around (or at least discussed), but I don't plan on replacing the original set for now. There are some things that can be done to pretty the front up a little though.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_coindoor_start.jpg

 

I decided to start with the ball launch button - the big X button on the right. This is hooked up to a microswitch inside the cabinet. It is also supposed to be lit at times in the game where the player can launch the ball. Right now the button does not flash, so it's most likely a blown bulb. I saw this on my Last Action Hero recently where both the start and smart missile buttons no longer lit up as the bulbs had never been changed. The launch button was removed and disassembled. Everything cleaned and some novus polish applied to give it some shine - especially the clear plastic at the front of the button, which was looking dirty.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_ball_launch_button.jpg

 

Back on the cabinet, a few remnants of that nice purple that once lived there can be seen. The small holes that appear at the top of bottom of the button line up with small bits on the back of the plastic button to help align the button in position. This also means when reassembling the button components, it's possible to incorrectly align things so you end up with a side ways X... as I found out :)

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_ball_launch_button_removed.jpg

 

Something I like to do on my machines is replace the foreign currency pricing plates. In this instance, no pricing plates existed. The game is set to free play, so I wanted to add some free play decals. At first I was tempted to print up some X-File logos, but it's already in use on the launch button. I decided to get an X-Files font and print up the words free play. The small metal plate is there to prevent coins from being put into the slots.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_coin_return_parts.jpg

 

One of the coin entry housings has a nice crack through the plastic. I rummaged through my spare parts and came up with a matching one to replace it. I love finding perfectly suitable second hand parts in my stash to swap in where required.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_broken_coin_house.jpg

 

I downloaded an X-Files font and printed up some decals. These were installed into the coin reject buttons. The red plastic was cleaned and then polished up with some Novus.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_coin_pricing_decals.jpg

 

The housings were then installed back onto the coin door. One last thing I wanted to do here was to have an X-files keychain for the keys. A quick look on ebay turned up quite a few results, but in the end I settled on creating my own with the translite artwork. As a side note, there are some sets of X-Files slingshot plastics available which include a tag for a keyring - but I decided against buying another set of new sling shot plastics just for the tag.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_keyring.jpg

 

Having had the playfield up a few times recently, I've noticed that the underside of the large X insert is filthy. Before moving on to the top side of the playfield, I'll give this a decent clean.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_xinsert_start.jpg

 

There are 9 bulbs attached to a clear plastic backing, which are used to light up the X as you progress towards "TRUTH" multiball mode. The lamps were disconnected and the backing plate removed. It has collected a lot of black dust, which is heavier towards the areas next to the two sling shots.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_xinsert_backing_dirty.jpg

 

Some Nifti and a cloth made easy work of cleaning it though.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_xinsert_backing_clean.jpg

 

Back on the playfield, the black dust had also attached itself to the underside of the insert. This affects how much of the green light shows through the insert during play. As with the clear backing, the black dust is centralised around the section closest to the slingshots.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_xinsert_underside_dirty.jpg

 

After a wipe down, it's looking so much better.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_xinsert_underside_clean.jpg

 

The green caps on the bulbs were cleaned also. I plan to replace them with LEDs soon. The clear plastic was installed back under the playfield and the lamps put back into place. A little bit of cleaning has made a huge difference.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_xinsert_complete.jpg

 

A similar issue can be seen with two inserts for the agent badges. These also had a nice layer of black dust on the underside of the inserts.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_agent_insert_dirty.jpg

 

With the dust cleaned off, the insert looks nicer and lights up cleaner during play. This was repeated for the Agent Scully insert on the other side of the playfield. When I get around to installing LEDs on the inserts, I will be giving each one a wipe down too.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_agent_insert_clean.jpg

 

One last small thing to clean are the two FBI badges at the rear of the playfield. I've seen a small mod done to light these up from behind by cutting out sections of the rear panel. I won't be going to that trouble.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_badge_plastics_dirty.jpg

 

The two agent plastics were removed, cleaned and polished.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_badge_plastics_clean.jpg

 

That's it for this update. Hopefully my parts orders will arrive in the next few days. I'm waiting on a bunch of LEDs for the playfield GI and also some Titan rubbers. I'll be using a mix of red, blue and green across the playfield, along with a few purple post sleeves. Once they arrive, I'll strip the playfield and clean. The pop bumpers will be rebuilt as part of this process and the metal parts put through the tumbler. There is a broken flasher dome that will be replaced too . Lots of good things still to come.

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Hey @Jesder, which transmitter optos did you use and where can I get some? I have a Maverick with similar problems. Cheers.

 

It was purchased from Ken (Skybeaux) at the same time I ordered the updated CPU rom from him.

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Time for an update on the service and repair on my X-Files pinball machine. After the work done so far, the game has been holding up well. I have really come to appreciate it and going by the audit menu, I've put just over 150 games into it. It's a fun title and I think does not get the credit it deserves. While it's playing well, it can be even better. To get the machine into the state I want it, I need to give the playfield (and all its surface components) a really good clean. I also want to rebuild the pop bumpers and add LED's for the GI. That means it's time to take the machine offline for the next week (maybe two) and give the playfield and it's parts a solid clean.

 

First to come off the machine were the ramps. This then allowed me access to the plastics below. With the plastics off I could then access all the various posts and ball guides. There are quite a few to remove. The plastics all need a good clean and these will get the novus treatment before being installed again. Often, dust and crap attaches to the underside of the plastic too, which can affect how well they look lit up. So both sides of each piece will require a clean. I also removed the sling shot parts and return lanes.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_playfield_strip_1.jpg

 

I continued to remove parts from the playfield, taking more photos along the way until finally it was clear enough for cleaning. The pop bumpers will be first on my hit list and from there I will move onto cleaning the playfield and it's parts.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_playfield_strip_2.jpg

 

The easy to reach places on the playfield were not too dirty. But those covered by ramps or plastics were the opposite and in real need of a clean. To show an example of the cleaning result - here is the outer right orbit shot. Before cleaning, the playfield is filthy and a few lovely "dust bunnies" cling on to the wire guides.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_filthy_playfield_1.jpg

 

After a good clean, the playfield in this area is looking nice again.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_clean_playfield_1.jpg

 

There were several cases of this across the playfield. My approach is to first vacuum up all the loose crap floating around the playfield. I then switch to nifti and a soft cloth. I gently wipe away the filth that's build up on the playfield over the years. I then finish off with Novus 1. Before I get too far into cleaning though, let's look at those pop bumpers. I'm not a fan of the flat pop bumper caps - and I don't think they are easy to come by either if you want to replace them. As you can see there is a lot of dust and general filth in the area. Working on the pop bumpers is one of my least favorite assemblies to look at. However, freshly rebuilt pop bumpers are a sweet sound and are worth the effort :)

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_popbumpers_start.jpg

 

Under the playfield, the pop bumpers are a very standard set up. The lamp wires are soldered onto some near by boards - I really loved how Bally did a connector on some of their machines as it made working on the pop bumpers so much easier. But here I'll have to desolder the wires to get the pop bumper body off the playfield.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_popbumpers_underplayfield.jpg

 

To begin, I decided to work on two pop bumpers first. I do this simply so I always have 1 to reference if need be. The skirts are a bit eaten up at the edges and lots of black dust built up around the base and bodies. The rings are still very serviceable, however I have new ones to install this time. I will run the rings through the tumbler for a future machine though.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_popbumper_bodies_start.jpg

 

The assemblies for the pop bumpers were then removed from under the playfield for cleaning. As always, there is a lot of black dust built up around the spring and yokes.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_popbumpers_dirty.jpg

 

Going onto this machine are new bodies, skirts, rings and yokes. I will also be installing new spoons and sleeves. The pop bumpers get a real work out in any game, so I don't mind putting a little bit of money into them. Plus I'd rather service them once and not have to return for a long time (...ever).

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_popbumpers_ready.jpg

 

With the pop bumper rebuild coming along nicely, I decided to clean the playfield at this point. First up, the wireforms were cleaned with steel wool to remove crap that have become attached to them over the years. The vacuum was then used to suck up anything loose across the playfield. I then hit it with nifti and a soft cloth. This made easy work of the dirt. The pop bumpers were the installed back into the machine and some LED's installed in the area for the GI. I swapped the black rubber for red titan rubbers and also went with red skirts (instead of white). The pop bumpers are looking good and I can't wait to try them out in game once the playfield is back together.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_popbumpers_complete.jpg

 

Something many of us can probably relate to when working on a machine - our other machines become storage / benches for parts. So not only have I got 1 machine offline to work on, but the other three also not able to be used until parts go back onto the playfield. I better keep moving forward then and get X-Files back together again. Or maybe buy more machines? Now that sounds like a solution :)

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_pinball_tables.jpg

 

While I had been working away at cleaning the playfield and rebuilding the pop bumpers, all the small metal parts went for a session in the tumbler. This thing works wonders and I can't recommend them enough.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_metal_parts_tumbler.jpg

 

With the pop bumpers rebuilt and playfield cleaned, it was time to begin the task of installing everything back onto the playfield. This is always a much slower process than stripping it down, as everything needs to be cleaned before going back on. I started with the metal posts and various star / regular posts around the playfield. I decided to swap out some of the black posts with transparent red, blue and clear posts to bling the playfield out a bit with them. I also decided to swap in transparent blue star posts for the clear ones on the sling shots. I am also using Titan rubbers around the playfield (except for the flippers, which use normal rubber). The lower playfield area started coming together first.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_lowerplayfield_rebuild_1.jpg

 

With the effort going in to clean the machine up, I decided to install new flipper bats with new blue flipper rubber. This wasn't really necessary, but fresh white bats looks great on a cleaned up machine (and they don't break the bank to purchase). I find it interesting that SEGA chose to include the logo for it's Saturn console on the flipper bats.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_new_flipperbats.jpg

 

One thing I wanted to do as part of this clean was replace the two mylar patches at the sling shots. These have worn around some parts of the edges and also allowed crap to collect under them. This is a photo from before the playfield strip.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_slingshot_mylar_start.jpg

 

The two patches were removed by applying some heat and the remaining sticky was removed with eucalyptus oil. Once the playfield was cleaned, new mylar patches went on, leaving the slings looking much cleaner. The new flipper bats were installed, and the return lanes also went back onto the machine. The replacement return lane and sling shot plastics were installed. The metal washers used on the slingshots were replaced with clear lexan washers.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_lowerplayfield_rebuild_2.jpg

 

At the top of the playfield, various posts were installed and the large metal ball guides for the orbit shots were cleaned and installed once again. LEDs were installed throughout.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_upperplayfield_rebuild_1.jpg

 

Above the pop bumpers, the red lane posts were installed once again, along with all the posts and new rubbers. This area has really cleaned up nicely. Something interesting on this outer orbit shot is the playfield has an extra switch hole on each side that is unused. I'm not sure why they were included - unless it's a way to increase the difficulty in registering an orbit shot?

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_upperplayfield_rebuild_2.jpg

 

Across the upper area of the playfield, more of the regular posts were installed back onto the playfield. The ones left as black are all hidden under plastics and ramps, so I didn't feel the need to swap in transparent red/blue/clear for them. With a quick clean they were good to go.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_upperplayfield_rebuild_3.jpg

 

That's it for another update. Right now, I only get about an hour to work on the machine each night. That means progress is a little slow - but it's important to keep momentum and do what I can. That way the machine continues to come back together each day. I'm happy with the pop bumpers being done now and also cleaning up the playfield. Getting a playfield back together is always slower since you're cleaning parts as you go, but the end result is always worth it. In my next update I'll have the playfield fully back together and also hopefully sort out LED's for the inserts. These SEGA machines are known for their ghosting issues with LED's, so i'll be looking to the non ghosting variety or an ocd board. More to come soon :)

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  • 2 weeks later...
Hey Andrew, just seen this post & thought that, If you wanted a Purple lit flipper button had you considered a Blue plastic button with a RED led inside it. Blue & Red make Purple, I hope this helps you. :)

 

Interesting idea - I do have purple lit flipper buttons now, with the clear button and purple led - but a blue / red button and red / bue LED combo might give a nice deeper purple colour. If I have any spare blue buttons around I'll give it a try to see what it looks like.

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

Time to wrap up the servicing on my X-Files machine - I've missed not being able to play it. At the end of the last update, I was working my way through getting everything back onto the playfield. I had already made good progress getting the lower playfield area done and was chipping away at the upper sections. All the posts had been installed, so the next bits to go back onto the machine were the plastics. All plastics were cleaned (both sides) and polished before being installed again. The right side of the playfield came together first.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_playfield_plastics_1.jpg

 

The left side shortly followed.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_playfield_plastics_2.jpg

 

I purchased a clear plastic shield for the filing cabinet area and this was installed also.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_playfield_plastics_3.jpg

 

On a side note, while installing the posts around the filing cabinet area, I noticed that two of them had been bent from abuse over time. The machine came to me with rubbers missing from some of the rebound posts in this area, which no doubt is the cause. One of the first things I did was to put rubber onto them to prevent any further damage. Why you wouldn't install 30 cents worth of rubber on them is beyond me. I had a couple of decent second hand posts available to switch in to replace them.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_bend_rebound_posts.jpg

 

The only thing left to install back onto the playfield now were the two large ramps. While putting them into position, I noticed that the thickness of the post sleeves was preventing the ramp entries from sitting in their correct position. The machine originally had the thin (and hard) black plastic sleeves on these posts. The Titan sleeves I installed in their place are a bit thicker. I decided to purchase some super band sleeves to use instead. There isn't a huge difference in the thickness, but it's enough to allow the ramps to sit correctly.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_post_thickness.jpg

 

The lighter purple Titan sleeves were replaced with the super band variants. I prefer the performance of the Titan rubber over super bands, but I happen to like the purple of the super bands better..

 

As part of the rebuild, I also wanted to replace all the incandescent bulbs with LEDs. Because these SEGA machines are notorious for LED ghosting, I decided to go with the premium non ghosting LEDs from Pinball Life. There are different brands around for no ghosting and only went with these based on a recommendation from others who had used them in their X-Files machine. Another option would be the OCD LED board, but it's pricey. The non ghosting LEDs also need to be installed into the pop bumpers, filing cabinet lights, cabinet spot lights and the alien baby tube as they are all CPU controlled and will ghost. I'm interested to see how they hold up.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_premium_leds.jpg

 

Speaking of the alien baby, I will remove it and give the whole thing a clean before installing it again. It has red covers on the lamps by default, but I'll be replacing them with green LEDs for something different. The baby freak can be removed by undoing the 4 screws.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_alien_baby_toy.jpg

 

Time to get the remaining parts back onto the playfield. The upper playfield area was given one last wipe down and clean, followed by the ramps being installed again. The left ramp went on first, followed by the larger one on the right. Just the thin metal ramp the carries the ball from the right ramp to the left to be installed now.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_playfield_rebuilt.jpg

 

I was going to leave the flipper rebuild for another time, but changed my mind - I'll do it now while the machine has my undivided attention. These flippers are quite filthy, so there will be a performance difference after the rebuild.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_flipper_rebuild_dirty.jpg

 

The other flipper assembly was in a similar condition.

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_flipper_rebuild_dirty_2.jpg

 

The flipper parts were removed and a kit used to replace the worn parts. I also purchased some new rubber grommets for them as the old rubber was hard and cracking.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_flipper_rebuild_clean.jpg

 

The EOS switches were also replaced. Once both flippers had been rebuilt, the flipper bats were lined up to their correct positions and tightened. All done. The last thing to do now was install LEDs under the inserts. The underside of each insert was wiped clean to remove any black dust build up. I was surprised to see how much of the dust had collected under the inserts over the years. Clearing it away will also improve the colour showing through from the LEDs below. The machine was then powered up to see the conversion to LED's.

 

Before the playfield strip:

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_playfield_before_clean.jpg

 

After:

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_playfield_leds_1.jpg

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_playfield_leds_2.jpg

 

Worlds apart! Well worth the errort! The photos don't do the LEDs enough justice. The non ghosting pinball life LEDs are great and really fix the ghosting issues I was seeing with normal LEDs. Having the machine completely clean also helps with the overall look under the lighting too. It's a time consuming process to strip and clean, but well worth it and not something I will have to do again (at least not to this degree).

 

With everything back together and the service basically completed, I wanted to once again run through the diagnostic menu to double check all switches and coils ran correctly. I was mainly interested in the flashers and the switches on the ramps. May as well do them all though. Once all the tests were sorted, I was done.

 

That completes the servicing and repair on my X-Files machine. It's been fun working on and I'm really happy with the result. I'm going to keep my eyes out for a replacement filing cabinet in case one shows up. The current one doesn't bother me too much, but it would be nice to have a non broken one. I think this pin is really underrated - I know I wasn't overly impressed after the first few plays, but I got the hang of it and it's really clicked with me. Another machine serviced - time to look for a new pinny project or machine to service I think ;)

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looking amazing, great work :023:

....with those screw in posts that were bent......if you have room underneath you may consider the same posts but are longer and are held in place with a nut and washer.

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  • 5 months later...

It's been almost 6 months since my last post on my X-Files. I still feel X-Files is an underrated, but you certainly need to have a strong interest in the TV series to get the most out of it. At the time of my last post, all the work I wanted to do was done. Naturally, Pinball always has other plans and a couple of things came up that I wanted to document and share.

 

One thing that is common to many X-Files pinball machines is they often have a broken filing cabinet plastic. The cabinet takes a real beating during play since it's used to unlock one of the two multi ball modes. The plastic doesn't have much protection and over time it begins to crack and shatter. Sadly, the part is almost impossible to replace. If you do manage to find one, they are often several hundred dollars. There is a guy on Pinside who had reproduced them, but it's not cheap. When I purchased my X-Files machine, it's filing cabinet was broken in the lower section. It wasn't too bad though and I was happy to live with it.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_playfield_plastics_3.jpg

 

Unfortunately, after rebuilding the flippers during my service, it made them quite powerful again and this resulted in further damage being dealt to the filing cabinet. It developed a large crack along the face of it. I wanted to do some strengthening to help prevent further damage. That required the filing cabinet plastic to be removed. The plastic attaches to a metal frame with several screws. These were removed and the metal frame wiped down.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_filingcabinet_frame.jpg

 

The newly developed crack runs all the way from the entrance at the top to the break at the base.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_cabinet_damaged.jpg

 

I purchased a thin piece of steel bracket and cut it down to size. The inside surface of the filing cabinet was cleaned up and then the metal bracket installed using a super strong liquid nails glue. This was clamped and left for a week.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_filingcabinet_braced.jpg

 

With the inside of the filing cabinet now braced and incredibly strong, I filled the hole on the front of the cabinet with a silicone filler. I opted against using something like bog since it will possibly chip as the ball slams into it.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_filingcabinet_filled.jpg

 

I purchased some hobby figurine paint (Hombrol #127) and painted the patched up section. It's not perfect, but won't stand out when installed.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_filingcabinet_painted.jpg

 

The cabinet plastic was installed back onto the machine and the game switched on. It doesn't look too bad. The crack along the front is still slightly visible, but I can live with it. My main concern is having the plastic strengthened to prevent additional damage. The hole that was once very obvious is now well covered and the paint matched well enough that you have to look hard to spot it.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_filing_cabinet_repair_complete_2.jpg

 

Looking back, I wish I had of strengthened the filing cabinet during the servicing. I had been concerned about how well that metal bracket and glue would hold up over time. In the 4 months since I did this, I've put in at least 3 games per day and the filing cabinet has developed no further damage and remains strongly reenforced.

 

A small issue began to appear in my X-Files machine recently and I wanted to share its cause since it's something that can easily be over looked and maybe is not something the occurs often. One of the playfield insert lamps was becoming intermittent. At the base of the playfield, where the ball drains, there are a set of 7 inserts which light up and animate during play. One of these would occasionally not light up as part of the sequence. Then it became more frequent, until eventually it stopped lighting up at all. Given I had changed all the bulbs to LEDs as part of my rebuild not too long ago, I figured it wasn't as simple as a blown globe and a quick swap over to solve.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_lowerplayfield_inserts.jpg

 

With other machines requiring my focus and how minor the fault was, it was an issue I left alone until I had time. The time finally came. I lifted the playfield and inspected the socket. Nothing looked out of place and the wires appear to be making good contact. I found if I moved the socket, the LED would come back on, but when I put the playfield back down, the lamp would no longer work again.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_lowerplayfield_inserts_sockets.jpg

 

Since the LED came back on after adjustment, I assumed it was OK - it must be the socket or wiring to the socket. Something isn't making contact as well as it should be. I spent some time with the socket out, examining the contacts and double checking the wires were in fact not broken. I have heard the style used by SEGA as known for reliability issues. Everything looked good though. After some more time spent investigating, reading the manual, googling and looking at what controls this particular lamp I was none the wiser as to the cause. I had made a very silly mistake, right back at the start, with the assumption the LED itself was OK.

 

These LED's are the non flicker kind from Pinball Life. The SEGA machines cause regular LEDs to flicker like crazy, which is why I ended up with these. Each leg on the LED is a resistor which runs to the LED.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_faulty_led_1.jpg

 

On this particular LED, the resistor leg that connects to the LED had broken off inside and was now loose. When I had been adjusting the LED and found it working, this was pushing the resistor leg back into position for a short period of time, before it slipped away due to movement of the playfield being put back into place. The leg is now very loose and moves around freely - which is how I finally discovered the cause once I looked closely at the LED.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_faulty_led_2.jpg

 

As luck would have it, I happened to have a spare from PL to replace it with. I could have saved a bit of time if I had not made any assumptions up front and inspected the LED itself before hurrying off to find the more complicated cause (which didn't exist). An excellent reminder to not make assumptions and always check the quick and easy things first. Not every pinball problem has a complicated solution :)

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  • 9 months later...

With all the work I put in to my X-Files last year, it bugged me that the cabinet art was all faded.

 

Thanks to the wizard like creative efforts of @stuzza and the printing excellence of @MamePatrol (and my In laws for an early birthday gift) - I have a new set of cabinet decals to install. An excellent project over my Xmas break :)

 

I'll be reviving the thread with progress along the way.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_new_cabinet_decals.jpg

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  • 2 months later...

I am forever tweaking, adjusting, tuning and upgrading my machines. Some updates are minor, such as a new shooter rod or ramp. While others, like new decals, are much bigger :) It's X-Files turn to receive some attention. Applying new decals on my X-Files has been on my to do list for at least 12 months now and after organising a new set in November, it was time to get them installed. These are a reproduction and although close, are not 100% accurate. They're pretty damn good though. So following on from my last post, it's time to begin :)

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_new_cabinet_decals.jpg

 

The old decals were very faded and had large patches of black paint covering up wear and scrapes. On the front panel, black paint had been used across the top section above the buttons. While that section is normally black anyway, the uneven brush strokes over the original art always annoyed me.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_new_decals_start_1.jpg

 

The state of the cabinet was really good overall though. Not much in terms of holes or chunks missing. A few small gouges that were mostly on the right side of the cabinet (towards the rear). More paint had been applied around the flipper buttons where wear often occurs.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_new_decals_start_2.jpg

 

First step was to tag up the wiring in the headbox. A number of photos were also taken to ensure everything would go back in the correct spot. Once the connectors were all tagged, they were fed through to the cabinet so the headbox could be removed.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_new_decals_wiring_tagged.jpg

 

From there the headbox, playfield, coin door, side rails, buttons and cabinet bolts were all removed. Various spots still had some remnants of the old colour.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_new_decals_old_colours.jpg

 

On the left side of the cabinet, paint had been used to touch up to both the black and purple from a previous owner / operator. I'll be glad to see this gone :)

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_new_decals_crap_paint_touchups.jpg

 

Last to be removed were the legs. Finally, everything was off the game and the cabinet ready to have the old artwork stripped.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_new_decals_cabinet_stripped.jpg

 

The old art was painted on and had to be sanded off. I started with 80 grit and then moved to 120 and 180. Lastly, I sanded by hand using 800 grit. I found that several of the cabinet bolts had been so tightly installed in the past, it had pulled the surface of the side panel in around the bolt. These sections were patched up with bog and sanded to have the area flat.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_new_decals_cabinet_sanded_1.jpg

 

The front and right side also received the same treatment. Any other scratches and holes were patched up and sanded. This process took much longer than I had expected. Sanding, filling, and repeat until happy.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_new_decals_cabinet_sanded_2.jpg

 

Next the cabinet was vacuumed to remove all paint & dust fibers from the sanding. I know some people like to paint the whole cabinet, but I didn't feel the need to. Since the entire panels will be covered by the decals, it felt overkill. I used gloss black spray paint along the edges though as the decals will be trimmed back 1 - 2mm to ensure they don't get caught and peal. Gloss black was also used on the inner left/right panels.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_new_decals_cabinet_painted.jpg

 

Due to the hot weather lately, I moved the cabinet inside for the decals to be applied. The decals had been removed from the postal tube the night before and flattened out.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_new_decals_install_ready.jpg

 

I started with the front panel and then moved to the left and right sides. After each decal was installed, the holes were cut and and excess vinyl trimmed back. After that, the edges needed to be trimmed back 1 - 2mm. I used a slide lock tool used in quilting / craft as it's spring loaded and has rubber bits that press down onto the panel to prevent it from moving while cutting. A wheel blade was used to trim the edges back. This made the task simple and prevented any possible wrinkling or catching of the vinyl during cutting.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_new_decals_trim_tool.jpg

 

The decals went on really well and the vinyl was good quality. All three panels were completed.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_new_decals_installed_1.jpg

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_new_decals_installed_2.jpg

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_new_decals_installed_3.jpg

 

With the new decals now applied, it's time to get everything back together. I'm hoping to have that done in the next couple of days to get it back online and playable again. So far though, so good! Thanks again to @MamePatrol for the excellent quality decals and @stuzza for the artwork!

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Well mate, great job. I am thinking your favourite colour is purple with the purple themes and colours of these recent restores. I actually love the colour of these decals and will look great in a line up. Just make sure it's on the end of the row so they can be seen.

 

This just goes to show that there are several methods and ways to achieve the end goal. You have done well and the cab has turned out really well. Thanks for sharing.

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With my holidays just about over, I was keen to complete the last steps of the new side art for X-Files and have the game back online before I returned to work. In the last update, the big tasks were done and it was now a matter of getting everything back onto the cabinet and have the game running. With the cabinet still inside, I installed the side rails, headbox support brackets and buttons next.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_new_decals_cabinet_rails_installed.jpg

 

All the bolt heads had been cleaned, sanded and resprayed with satin black to freshen them up. I had been worried about causing wrinkles in the side art when installing the bolts. I went slowly and was relieved to find the artwork survived without issue.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_new_decals_cabinet_no_wrinkles.jpg

 

Next up the glass channel and cover were installed.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_new_decals_cabinet_glass_channel_installed.jpg

 

I was down to the final things, so the cabinet was moved back outside to get the last components installed again. Next up was the coin door. Now the coin door sticker more closely matches the artwork colour :) The door wiring was reconnected, along with the LED wires for the flipper and start buttons. I swapped the start button over to an LED back lit button.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_new_decals_coin_door_installed.jpg

 

I installed the headbox next and connected up the support arms. Then the playfield went back into the cabinet and everything connected back up again. The connectors were all double checked and everything looked good - so the power switch was flicked on. The game lit up and booted successfully.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_new_decals_completed_1.jpg

 

Looking back at the state of the cabinet before I began this process, it's a huge improvement.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_new_decals_cabinet_stripped.jpg

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_new_decals_completed_2.jpg

 

The legs were sanded, primed and then received two coats of hammer tone black. The legs were installed with felt protectors to protect the cabinet and also nylon washers to protect the legs from the bolts.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/xfiles/xfiles_new_decals_completed_3.jpg

 

Overall I'm very happy with the process and result. I learnt a few new things and will roll that knowledge into the next redecal I do (which will be BoP later in the year). It's certainly time consuming but the effort is well worth it! Big thanks to @Glenn70 too for giving up some of his time for a chat about his process and answering a few questions I had. Much appreciated :)

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  • 1 year later...

Thanks for the kind words - Good to know people still find this thread :)

 

I think restoring and overhauls are an evolving process and we get better with each machine we work on. There are always good lessons learnt each time that we can then build on for improvement with the next game to work on. There are people out there who are doing work that's levels above mine that I look to for inspiration and ways to improve my results too. It's one of the reasons I put a lot of time in to my write ups so others who come along after me can learn and use it as reference.

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  • 3 weeks later...

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