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Bally - Dr. Who - 1992 - Repair & Service Log


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With Funhouse completed and back to the owner, I was able to enjoy the vacant space it left for a matter of minutes before it was filled with the next machine on the list. The next game to receive a rebuild is a Dr Who. Released by Bally in 1992, with over 7700 machines built - it's a great theme and a really fun game to play. In its current state, the game is basically unplayable due to a few issues which I'd like to get sorted first. Overall condition (once you see past the dust) is actually really nice. Cabinet is solid (some fade, but minimal damage) and the playfield is really decent. It's going to clean up nicely and I'm excited to test it once complete!

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_day1.jpg

 

My normal approach is to sort out the game issues first before moving onto the cleaning and rebuilding of assemblies. Dr Who has a few important issues to sort out. The first issue you notice is a display one, where a vertical line appears across the DMD. Putting the game into test mode and running the display test, it comes up with page errors across all 16 addresses on both pages. Not a good start. If it had been a couple of errors, then I'd suspect the ribbon cable, RAM or page select chip. The fact it's across all suggests something else is going on.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_display_page_error.jpg

 

The second issue is with the sound. When you start a game, the music is missing. Putting the game into test mode and running the sound test, there is no speech and the sound effects are not correct for the test. There is audio, but it's certainly messed up and is on par with an early SS title. The third issue (the game breaking one) is the flippers - only the lower left flipper worked. The upper left and lower right flipper failed to trigger. There are a few other minor issues to sort out, but these three are the big ones.

 

The next week was spent researching and diagnosing the separate issues. I started with the obvious things like flipper fuses, which did help activate the flippers in test mode, but still left them broken in game play. The ribbon cables were reseated and also replaced with known working ones. The CPU board was swapped for a know working one. Connectors checked, header pins examined, chips and components looked at for obvious faults. The game ROMs were updated to the newest version too. Not getting anywhere, I decided to look at some of the other issues.

 

When dropping the game off, the owner mentioned that the optos from the Tardis ball popper were missing. In fact, they had just been cut off. This results in an error being shown from the game diagnostics. When the game runs through the diagnostics, it constantly sees this switch as being closed, so the ball popper continues to fire until the game eventually gives up. The error is reported from the self test.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_opto_popper_error.jpg

 

Under the playfield, we can see the wires were cut from the optos before being removed. The bracket was left on the assembly though. Since it's connected via IDC, it would have been just as easy to remove the lot than cut the optos off.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_opto_popper_clipped.jpg

 

The owner came prepared though and had already sourced a replacement opto and bracket which could be installed straight into the game.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_opto_popper_optos_replaced.jpg

 

With the replacement optos installed and connected up, the opto popper was tested and now functioned correctly. The next switch issue to sort out was the trap door. During diagnostics, the trap door would constantly open and shut.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_trapdoor.jpg

 

This resulted in an error being reported after the self test.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_trapdoor_up_error.jpg

 

The cause was the switch, which should be activated when the trap door assembly pulls in. The switch blade was getting stuck in the return spring and not activating correctly when the trap door closed.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_trapdoor_switch_stuck.jpg

 

The blade was bent and needed to be adjusted. The switch itself was found to be faulty too, with the switch being very sticky and not activating / deactivating as it should. This was replaced. Now during self test, the trap door activated correctly and the error removed from the report.

 

Still not making much progress with the board issues, I wanted to keep busy and get on with a few things that I could complete. First up was to go through and clean all the insert lamps and underside of each insert. Switching the game into lamp test mode, I could see a fair few insert lamps not working.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_insert_lamps_start.jpg

 

The majority of the lamps are connected up to lamp boards under the playfield. The lamp boards were removed from the game for cleaning. Most globes had a lining of black dust over them.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_lampboards_dirty.jpg

 

Each globe was wiped clean, along with the pcb itself.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_lampboards_cleaned.jpg

 

While I had the lamp boards out, I wanted to clean up the underside of the inserts to help allow as much light to shine through as possible. The owner wants to stick with original bulbs (no LED's).

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_inserts_dirty.jpg

 

With some Nifti on a soft cloth, a gentle wipe cleans away the layer of filth under the insert. All bulbs were removed from their sockets too and given a wipe down.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_inserts_cleaned.jpg

 

Along with cleaning the insert lamps, I also took the time to clean up the flasher bulbs. Some of them were covered in crap.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_lampboards_dirty_2.jpg

 

With the underside of the inserts all cleaned, along with the bulbs, the lamp test was run again and now all CPU lamps were working.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_insert_lamps_complete.jpg

 

To get to a couple of the lamp boards, I needed to remove the under playfield ramp. This was a good excuse to clean it as it's insanely filthy (or been painted..).

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_underplayfield_ramp_start.jpg

 

The ramp comes away from the playfield easily enough via 5 screws and has seen a lot of action over the years. Filth loves to collect in these under playfield ramps and they never get cleaned.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_underplayfield_ramp_dirty.jpg

 

With some Nifti and novus, the ramp cleans up perfectly. The switches were removed and the switch arms cleaned up too. The ramp was put back together and installed under the playfield, along with all the now cleaned lamp boards. Any of the insert lamps that had been marked as non working were replaced.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_underplayfield_ramp_clean.jpg

 

Happy with the status of the lamps and switch tests, I took a look at the coil and flasher tests. Several flashers failed to fire, which turned out to be blown bulbs. These were replaced and retested. With the coil tests, two of them failed to fire - lower pop bumper and left sling shot. The switches were activating correctly, the coils looked fine, the wiring had no obvious issues and mechanically the assemblies moved correctly. So I turned my attention back onto the boards. Looking at the driver board, I could see why these two coils were not firing. Some missing components and what looks like the remains of some burnt ones.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_driverboard_issues.jpg

 

I put my attention back onto the other board issues too. Although the switch tests were passing for the playfield, the EOS and flipper switches were not all activating. After more time diagnosing, reading schematics and trying to pin point the issues, I wasn't getting much in the way of results. I was pretty sure the issue was happening up stream. I knew the CPU board was fine as I had swapped in a known working one. There is a ribbon cable that runs from the CPU board, to the fliptronics board, to the sound board and finally to the display board. Swapping this cable over didn't fix the issue, but I was pretty confident the issue was either the fliptronics board or soundboard. Stumped, I contacted Ken at Ken's Pinball repair and posted off the board set for him to look at.

 

With the boards gone, I decided to keep busy and look at the apron area of the playfield. I knew the assemblies and switches under the playfield are working from my initial tests, so was happy strip the area down for a clean and rebuild.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_apron_start.jpg

 

The apron was removed and set aside for a clean later on. Underneath, I found the area to be dusty with a general layer of filth. Overall though it's not bad as I've seen far worse. There is a little bit of wear around there the apron touches the playfield, but this too is minimal.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_apron_dirty.jpg

 

First step was to remove all the metal trough parts and the assemblies for cleaning. I also removed the drain save post for cleaning.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_apron_stripped.jpg

 

All small metal pieces from the trough and assemblies were put into the tumbler to be cleaned and polished up. The larger pieces were cleaned by hand. All the old coil sleeves were tossed out and replaced with new ones. The rubber grommet from the ball launcher was replaced with a new one.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_apron_parts_cleaned.jpg

 

With all the metal parts and assemblies cleaned up, it was time to clean the playfield. After attacking it with some Nifti and then Novus, the playfield was much cleaner and shiny than before.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_apron_playfield_cleaned.jpg

 

The metal parts were installed back onto the playfield, along with the trough and serve assemblies. The metal post in the drain hole was also installed with a new rubber. Everything in the lower area was now looking much cleaner.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_apron_rebuilt.jpg

 

To finish off this section of the playfield, the metal apron was cleaned up and the metal arm removed for a clean too. New cards were printed up from pinballcards.com

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_apron_cleaned.jpg

 

I received a message to say the boards were all fixed and on their way back to me. I decided to get one last thing in - replacing the playfield glass channel. The old channel was broken all the way along the top.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_glass_channel_1.jpg

 

A replacement channel was purchased, although it needs to be modified slightly as there is a switch that sits on the left side of the cabinet. When the glass is removed, the switch opens and a warning triggers to be careful with fingers around the mini playfield.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_glass_channel_2.jpg

 

So a small section on the left side the channel will need to be cut out to fit around the switch.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_glass_channel_3.jpg

 

The next day, a parcel arrived with all the boards safely wrapped inside and ready to go back into the machine. I was pleased to find out that the fliptronics board had been the major cause of the issues seen through the game. Ken did a great job as always and it looks like the boards are bullet proofed.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_board_set_repaired.jpg

 

Each board was placed back into the game and the connectors checked against my photos to ensure everything was connected back properly. In most cases, the connectors are keyed and easy to tell where they go. In some cases though there are a few possible spots - so it's worth taking photos and double checking when connecting it all back up. The game was started up. I ran through the lamp, flasher, switch and coil tests for the game, ticking everything off as I went. The game was now in a much better state. There are still a couple of flashers that don't fire, but to access them I need to get parts off the playfield and I suspect the issue is simply the bulb. They are flagged for inspection once I get there so won't be missed.

 

While the boards were away, I went through the machine to look at what needed replacing. Parts orders were placed with Marco, RTBB and PSPA which all arrived safely.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_parts_delivery.jpg

 

That's enough for the first update. It's good to have the game in a stable state now with the major issues resolved. I had hoped to sort the board problems out myself, but in the end, some one like Ken has the knowledge and tools to make fixing them much easier. Some good knowledge was gained though through my investigation, so it's not a complete loss :) Now it's down to cleaning and rebuilding the rest of the assemblies. Next up will be the lower flippers, sling shots and coin door, before I continue to move up the playfield.

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Progress on Dr Who this week moved along really smoothly. Some weeks are like that, where everything comes together easily (which is a great counter to those weeks where nothing goes well at all). I wanted to start this update by giving the coin door a face lift. The coin door has metal panels over the three coin slots which will need to be removed. Because they are pop riveted to the door, I will need to drill them out and fill the holes. Overall the coin door isn't in terrible condition, but has the usual scrapes and scratches from age. Replacing the old foreign pricing cards on the coin slots is on my to do list too. I spotted that the launch button isn't correct. Notice the two small holes (one above, one below) the red button - there should be a larger button that slots in to them and so this needs to be replaced.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_coindoor_start.jpg

 

I managed to source a new launch ball button easily enough. It comes with a new microswitch, which was wired up to replace the old one. It's also back lit, so lights up nicely when time to launch.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_coindoor_launch_button.jpg

 

The three metal plates on the coin door were drilled out and holes filled. The coin door was disassembled and removed. After some sanding and additional filling the coin door was prepped, masked and spray painted with satin black. To get the gloss speckle effect back, I used gloss spray paint with a spit style action (where you just barely hold the nozzle in - this worked really well). This was done for the coin entry plate and return panels too. The coin door bolts were also sprayed and the coin door was looking a lot better already.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_coindoor_painted.jpg

 

I like putting custom pricing inserts for the coin doors of the games I work on. It gives the owner something unique about his game. Since the game has such an awesome Dalek topper, I thought why not run with that and put them on the coin door too. Much better than the original foreign pricing card.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_coindoor_custom_pricecards.jpg

 

The coin door was installed back into the cabinet and it's parts reassembled. The plastic coil slots were replaced as they had been damaged while out on route in the past. The two bolts for the lock bar were also painted with satin black to lift their appearance. There is a small damaged section above the start button, sadly the art colour in this area is mixed due to uneven fade, so will look into what sort of paint colour I can mix up to blend it in. I'll return to this at a later time though. The coin door however is looking much better with the face lift.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_coindoor_complete.jpg

 

Time to look at the playfield again. I wanted to focus on the lower playfield area for this update. This includes the flippers, slingshots and return lanes. I love the sling shot plastics and art on them - the way the daleks blend into those on the playfield art is really cool.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_lower_playfield_start.jpg

 

The lower playfield area was stripped with all star posts, rubbers, plastics and metal pieces removed. Both flipper and sling shot assemblies were also removed, leaving behind a dirty playfield in desperate need of a clean. You can actually see the difference a clean makes where the clean area above the arpon ends (cleaned in the last update) and the dirty lower playfield starts.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_lower_playfield_stripped.jpg

 

The flipper assemblies were set aside for cleaning.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_flippers_old_parts.jpg

 

The assemblies were disassembled and bases cleaned. A flipper rebuild kit was purchased to replace many of the old parts. A new rubber grommet was also purchased for each assembly, along with new flipper bats and rubber. I'm not a huge fan of the 'euro' flipper bats, but I think the lightning bolt works well with the Dr Who theme and so stuck with them.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_flippers_new_parts.jpg

 

The sling shot assemblies that had been removed from the playfield were set aside for cleaning. There were no nasty surprises here, they just needed a clean.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_slingshots_dirty.jpg

 

Both assemblies were disassembled and each part cleaned. The old coil sleeves were tossed out for new ones.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_slingshots_clean.jpg

 

The old flipper buttons were removed and replaced with new ones.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_flipper_buttons_replaced.jpg

 

With the assemblies all cleaned and ready to go back into the game, it was time to clean the playfield up. This didn't take much effort as the filth wiped straight off and the playfield was then polished with Novus 1.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_lower_playfield_cleaned.jpg

 

The sling shot and flipper assemblies were installed back onto the playfield, along with new yellow star posts and rubbers. The globes were wiped clean to get them looking bright again. I really wish there was a second lamp on each return lane, just to add a bit more brightness to the area near the flippers.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_lower_playfield_rebuilt.jpg

 

All the metal parts from the return lanes went through the tumbler and the plastics were cleaned and then polished with Novus.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_lower_playfield_plastics_cleaned.jpg

 

While cleaning the plastics I noticed one of the sling shot plastics had a nice crack across the bottom corner. I will be installing clear washers on the edges to minimise / prevent any additional damage. You can still source a replica set online, so will give the owner the option of replacing them if he's bothered by it.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_sling_plastic_crack.jpg

 

The return lanes, flipper bats and plastics were installed back onto the playfield, along with new clear washers, metal washers and lock nuts to complete the lower playfield area.

I still need to clean the two long metal rails (one on each side), which i'll remove once I have the middle playfield section removed for cleaning.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_lower_playfield_complete.jpg

 

Next thing to look at for this update was the topper. The old reflective decal that sits behind the Dalek was wearing away from age, so I wanted to replace it.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_topper_removed_1.jpg

 

Easiest way to work on the topper was to lower the headbox. The topper plastic and Dalek were removed so the surface could be cleaned. The flasher that sits inside the Dalek isn't working and needs to be replaced.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_topper_removed_2.jpg

 

The clear topper piece was cleaned and polished. The yellow holographic type decal behind the Dalek was removed and a new one from Marcospec applied. Some small black sections on the Dalek turret that had been scraped were touched up with model paint.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_topper_cleaned.jpg

 

I decided to repaint the top of the headbox with gloss black. Mainly to give off more light reflection with the topper lit up. Once the paint was dry, the flasher bracket was installed again and the dead #906 replaced. The globes and lamp pcb were also given a wipe down and installed again.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_topper_surface_painted.jpg

 

The six black security screws were sprayed with a fresh coat of satin black paint and the topper installed back onto the headbox. The flasher lamp that had been replaced (which lights up the red eyes and canon tip of the Dalek) was tested and worked fine.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_topper_complete.jpg

 

One final thing for this update was to clean the rear side of the translite. This side can build up a thick layer of dust over time.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_translite_dirty.jpg

 

It wipes off easily enough though with a light spray of Nifti and a soft cloth to leave the surface looking bright white again. It's well worth doing small things like this as they are easy wins to make the game brighter and cleaner.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_translite_cleaned.jpg

 

That's it for another update on the Dr Who progress. The lower playfield area is now cleaned up and looking good, along with the coin door and topper. The rebuilt flippers will give the ball plenty of power to make the ramp and mini playfield shots. Next up is the middle playfield section. I'll be looking at the upper left flipper and Tardis ball popper assemblies as part of the up coming update. There are also a series of stand up targets on both sides of the playfield through this section to clean. I'll need to remove the ramps first though, which will basically take the game offline until I'm done. I wouldn't mind touching up the black paint around the front of the headbox too to lift the presentation a bit, although may put it off since I'll be giving the inner cabinet panels a touch up too.

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  • 3 weeks later...

After the initial hold up (and frustration) with the board issues on Dr Who, progress has been moving along smoothly. Aside from that slow start, the game has been enjoyable to work on. In this update I'll be focusing on the middle section of the playfield. In terms of assemblies, this area has the Tardis ball popper on the right, with the left side home to the upper flipper and trap door assemblies. The popper was mentioned in a previous update as I had to replace the optics which had been cut out. This time I'll be removing the whole assembly for a service. As usual, all plastics, targets and posts will be removed for cleaning and the playfield will also receive a clean. I'll need to remove the ramps for this part, and won't be putting them back on until the end. Time to get started and I'll begin with the right side.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_rightplayfield_side_start.jpg

 

First step, in order to remove the Tardis and ball rail, you need to remove the escape targets plastic. The rubbers are long overdue to be replaced and the playfield and parts can do with a good clean. Any dead globes will be replaced and filthy ones wiped down. The #89 flasher sitting under the plastic here was flagged as not working during my testing in an earlier update. I now have a chance to replace it.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_rightplayfield_side_start_2.jpg

 

The right ramp was removed, along with the Tardis, ball rail and plastics. Lots of filth, but it will clean up nicely.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_rightplayfield_side_start_3.jpg

 

Some of the rubbers up around the pop bumper area are cracked and broken. There is quite a bit of dirt pressed into the playfield where the ball has frequent travel. Also a scrap of paper towel from who knows when.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_rightplayfield_side_start_4.jpg

 

All playfield parts were removed from the middle section on the right, leaving a dirty playfield to clean. I also removed the long metal rail that sit between the shooter lane and right outlane for cleaning as I couldn't get to this in a previous update.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_rightplayfield_side_playfield_stripped.jpg

 

The playfield was cleaned up using Nifti and the heavy filth sections had some Novus #2 applied to remove the remaining ball trails. Novus 1 was used to finish. Cleaning makes a big difference.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_rightplayfield_side_playfield_cleaned.jpg

 

The playfield really is in nice condition and the right side has cleaned up great. There is so little wear on the playfield and any insert raising is minimal.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_rightplayfield_side_playfield_cleaned_2.jpg

 

The plastics from the right side of the playfield had developed some warping over the years. Thankfully no cracks and very minimal art scratches, but I was keen to flatten them out.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_rightplayfield_side_warped_plastics.jpg

 

After cleaning, the pieces were heated up and then placed between two sheets of glass to keep flat while cooling. This fixed up the warping, leaving the plastics nice and flat.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_rightplayfield_side_flat_plastics.jpg

 

Meanwhile, all the small metal pieces went through the tumbler. Larger pieces were cleaned by hand. New post sleeves, rubbers and star posts were sourced. The plastics were polished up with Novus.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_rightplayfield_side_parts_cleaned.jpg

 

The dirty ball trails cleaned away nicely, although there is a small wear patch forming just below the stop that the ball is launched in to. I'll put a small mylar patch over this to prevent it getting worse. The dirty playfield area at the top of the photo will be cleaned when I go through the pop bumper area.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_rightplayfield_side_wear_patch.jpg

 

The playfield parts were installed back onto the game and the right side started to take shape again. Looking a lot nicer already.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_rightplayfield_side_rebuilt.jpg

 

The single stand up target had it's decal replaced, and the targets on the escape bank were all cleaned up. For now I have a new yellow bell rubber on the left side of the single target. I've decided to order a red one from Titan as the yellow stands out against the new red post sleeves. I'll swap this over once it arrives. I love seeing reflections in the cleaned playfield when lit up.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_rightplayfield_side_rebuilt_2.jpg

 

There's only 1 assembly on the right side of the playfield in this area, which is the ball popper. The ball then shoots up through the Tardis and is returned to the player.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_tardis_popper_start.jpg

 

The assembly was removed from the playfield for cleaning.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_tardis_popper_assembly_dirty.jpg

 

The popper assembly was disassembled and cleaned. The metal rail was also cleaned up, along with the Tardis. A new coil sleeve and grommet were sourced for the assembly, along with a blue globe for the Tardis and blue rubber pad for the metal rail.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_tardis_popper_assembly_clean.jpg

 

The assembly was installed back onto the playfield, along with the plastics and metal rail to complete the right side. I still need to clean up the ramp, but that will have to wait until the pop bumpers are done. One of the plastics from this side will also remain off as it attaches to part of the pop bumper area i'll be looking at in my next update.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_tardis_popper_assembly_complete.jpg

 

Now on to the left side. First step will be to remove the ramp since it's covering everything. Just like with the right side, the ramp will remain off until the end and so will clean it in a future update.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_leftplayfield_side_start.jpg

 

With the ramp removed, I could now access the parts below. The rubbers around the section below the flipper are completely missing.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_leftplayfield_side_start_2.jpg

 

Above the flipper is a bank of 6 stand up targets. Filthy, but should clean up well. I have replacement target decals which came as a set and will use them to replace the tired decals currently installed.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_leftplayfield_side_start_3.jpg

 

The head of the trap door assembly was removed, along with most of the posts and plastics. Lot's of cleaning to do.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_leftplayfield_side_wear.jpg

 

Some heavy filth has collected around the ball stop area on the left side. I expect this will clean up without issue though.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_leftplayfield_side_filth.jpg

 

With the left side of the playfield now stripped, it was time to look at the flipper assembly. It was removed from the playfield and set aside for cleaning. It's well overdue for a proper rebuild.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_leftplayfield_upper_flipper_dirty.jpg

 

The assembly was disassembled for cleaning. A rebuild kit (or half of one) was used to replace many of the parts. A new flipper bat and rubber were sourced, along with a new rubber grommet. The frame pieces were cleaned up to remove all the filth that had collected over the years.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_leftplayfield_upper_flipper_clean.jpg

 

Each of the six targets were removed, cleaned and had their decal replaced. Some of the targets were missing the foam pad behind the target and for these a new pad was installed.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_leftplayfield_new_target_decals.jpg

 

The playfield itself was cleaned up with Nifti and a bit of novus to finish. There's a small amount of wear caused by the metal rail along the blue playfield art. This will be barely visible once the rail and ramp are installed back onto the playfield.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_leftplayfield_cleaned.jpg

 

The ball marks that were originally above the switch were completely removed.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_leftplayfield_cleaned_2.jpg

 

Cleaned up, the target bank was looking much nicer now. Again, nice reflections on the playfield.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_leftplayfield_cleaned_3.jpg

 

Now that the playfield was cleaned, it was time to clean the parts so the left side could be rebuilt. All small metal pieces went through the tumbler, with the larger pieces cleaned by hand. The plastics were polished up with Novus. New star posts, rubbers and post sleeves were purchased.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_leftplayfield_parts_cleaned.jpg

 

Next it was time to clean up the trap door assembly. The pieces had been set aside when the left side of the playfield was stripped down. Everything was disassembled and cleaned. The small metal pieces went through the tumbler. A new coil sleeve was purchased to replace the old one.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_leftplayfield_trapdoor_assembly_cleaned.jpg

 

It was time to start installing everything back onto the left side of the playfield again. The flipper and trap door assemblies were installed, along with the metal and plastic star posts. New rubbers were installed along with cleaned globes.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_leftplayfield_rebuilt.jpg

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_leftplayfield_rebuilt_2.jpg

 

The playfield is cleaning up really nicely so far.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_leftplayfield_rebuilt_3.jpg

 

Finally, the two plastic pieces were installed again to complete work on the left side of the playfield. A clear washer was installed under the plastic (just below the tip of the upper flipper) to protect it from possible damage. At this stage I went into test mode and checked that the switches (especially the trap door) was still working OK, along with the flashers. Everything passed.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_leftplayfield_rebuilt_4.jpg

 

With the middle and lower sections of the playfield now done, that just leaves the top area (with the 3 pop bumper assemblies) and the mini playfield to do. I'm really happy with how Dr Who is cleaning up so far.

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Awesome as usual Andrew with no stone left unturned. Loving the detail on absolutely everything. Looking at your before and after pics makes me want to jump into another restore but common sense gets the better of me. I am loving having more space in the garage and more spare time to really enjoy my machines and time with the kids. Had a cracker of a game on TWD last night after work and Mrs played several games also. She is really warming to pinball and appreciates how much I love it. I reckon there could be another purchase early next year depending on what titles are released. Time will tell.

 

But restoring, unfortunately is an addiction, and another restore will no doubt start by the end of the year, but nothing on the cards just yet.

 

Nice work and keep the posts coming. :)

 

Cheers, Glenn

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  • Administrators

@Jesder another cracking thread, full of detail and info, thanks for posting it on AA. The detail you show in your threads and the photos you add will be great references for people doing work on pins for years to come.

You are an asset to the pinball community :041::023::041:

Dave

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks for the kind words @Noob-A-Tron , @Glenn70 & @furballx - Much appreciated :)

 

 

Progress on Dr Who has continued quite well over the last couple of weeks and I'm now down to the final section of playfield. This update will be focusing on the remaining assemblies at the top of the playfield - the pop bumpers and the mini playfield. My plan is to strip and clean the top playfield area (including the pop bumpers) and then move onto the mini playfield. The area is quite filthy, but nothing a good clean won't sort out. Time to get started.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_popbumpers_start.jpg

 

The left side of the upper playfield has a nice layer of dust along the wood, making it quite obvious where I had already cleaned. There are some heavy ball trails around the top arch, but I expect these will clean away no problems. All parts are here though and nothing broken, so it's a good start.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_upperplayfield_start.jpg

 

First step was to remove the plastics so I could get access to the playfield parts below. Some broken or missing rubbers were found on the right side around the pop bumpers.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_upperplayfield_plastics_removed.jpg

 

The next step was to remove all the metal posts, star posts and rubbers (or what was left of them ;) ).

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_upperplayfield_posts_removed.jpg

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_upperplayfield_ball_trails.jpg

 

Next, the pop bumper assemblies were removed from the playfield, leaving behind a filthy playfield to clean. The pop bumper area is mostly covered by a mylar patch, which has protected against any playfield wear. There is a small amount of lift on the video mode insert (large red arrow to the right), but any impact it would have to game play is very minimal.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_popbumpers_stripped.jpg

 

The pop bumper assemblies that had been removed from the machine were set aside to be disassembled. All the metal pieces will go through the tumbler. Things like the bodies, caps and skirts will be replaced.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_popbumpers_assemblies_dirty.jpg

 

All small metal pieces from the top playfield area went through the tumbler. New star posts were purchased, along with new rubbers and post sleeves. The plastics were cleaned and then polished with Novus and the larger metal pieces cleaned by hand. The plastics are all in excellent condition with minimal wear.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_upperplayfield_parts_cleaned.jpg

 

Meanwhile, back on the game, the playfield areas were cleaned up. First the pop bumper area was cleaned with Nifit and then polished with Novus 1. You can more clearly see the small insert lift here. Looking back a few photos you can see the difference a good clean makes.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_popbumpers_playfield_cleaned.jpg

 

Same deal on the left side, Nifti to clean and then Novus 1 to finish. I used a small amount of Novus 2 along the ball trails to remain the last bits that Nifti didn't. This side is looking much better too.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_upperplayfield_playfield_cleaned.jpg

 

All the metal pieces from the pop bumpers went through the tumbler. Each pop bumper was then set up, ready to be rebuilt. New coil sleeves, caps, bodies, lamp sockets, skirts and yokes (metal + fiber) were purchased. I do reuse the body bases though since they sit below the skirts and are never seen.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_popbumpers_assemblies_cleaned.jpg

 

With the playfield parts and pop bumper assemblies ready to go back on to the playfield, it was time to start rebuilding the top section. All the star and spool posts were installed, along with the rubbers. Each globe was wiped down to clean and any broken ones replaced. Red post sleeves were installed along with the metal ball guides around the top arch. Lit up, the game is looking so much nicer.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_popbumpers_rebuilt.jpg

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_upperplayfield_rebuilt.jpg

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_upperplayfield_rebuilt_2.jpg

 

Last step was to get the plastics installed once more. The pop bumper caps were added also.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_upperplayfield_rebuilt_3.jpg

 

With the top playfield area and pop bumpers completed, that just leaves the mini playfield to attend to. The first thing that stands out to me is the lifting decal at the front (where it says "Time Expander" - this has lifted from the plastic and will need to be stuck down again. The whole assembly is attached via 4 screw from the top and install into t-nuts below.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_timeexpander_start.jpg

 

Under the playfield are the second and third levels of the mini playfield. The under playfield ramp has been removed so I have easy access to everything. The rubbers are long over due to be replaced.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_timeexpander_start_2.jpg

 

The connectors were disconnected and the 4 screws attaching the mini playfield to the main playfield removed. The time expander then lifts straight up out of the machine.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_timeexpander_removed.jpg

 

From behind, the wiring feeds out to keep it away from the lift mechanism. It's good that the whole unit removes as one to work on.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_timeexpander_removed_2.jpg

 

The plastic was removed from the top, allowing access to the playfield parts. There are decals on the outside ball rails warning about hands being close to the mini playfield. These decals are worn away and what is left will be removed.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_timeexpander_removed_3.jpg

 

I started removing the playfield components and parts one by one. Then under the playfield, I removed the Dalek and orb targets. These assemblies were then disassembled further so the metal pieces could go into the tumbler.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_timeexpander_dirty.jpg

 

The 5 orbs from the second level of the mini playfield are quite filthy. They seems to be hard to find new, so will have to clean these up the best I can.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_timeexpander_dirty_orbs.jpg

 

With some Nifti, followed by Novus, most of the filth was cleaned away.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_timeexpander_clean_orbs.jpg

 

The left and right kicker assemblies were removed from the mini playfield, disassembled and cleaned. New rubber grommets and coil sleeves were purchased to replace the worn out ones.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_timeexpander_kicker_assemblies_clean.jpg

 

The stand up target was unscrewed and removed so the playfield surface could be cleaned. It's not too dirty and no wear thanks to the mylar.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_timeexpander_playfield_dirty.jpg

 

The dust and filth on the playfield surface cleaned away easily with some Nifti, which was then finished up with some Novus one. The factory mylar has protected the surface well over the years. No insert lift either.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_timeexpander_playfield_clean.jpg

 

Meanwhile, all the small metal pieces went through the tumbler. Larger pieces were cleaned by hand. New red posts were purchased, along with blue post sleeves. Originally I was going to use the same red sleeves I used elsewhere on the machine, but I saw another Dr Who with blue on the mini playfield and thought they worked well with the blue on the art. New decals for the targets will be installed and a replacement #906 flasher for the old broken one.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_timeexpander_parts_cleaned.jpg

 

Piece by piece the mini playfield was rebuilt until ready to go back into the machine. The decal was stuck back down onto the plastic.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_timeexpander_rebuilt.jpg

 

The time expander was installed back into the game and all plugs connected back together. The game was put into test mode and the mini playfield put through it's tests. It's cleaned up nicely and has the nice shine a clean playfield produces.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_timeexpander_complete.jpg

 

Getting close to the end now. The two ramps are up next to finish off the playfield, along with some fresh gloss black on the inner headbox and cabinet panels. I'm looking forward to putting the game through its paces once back together. Shouldn't be long now :)

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  • 1 month later...

Time to wrap things up on Dr Who! First thing for this update is to clean up the two ramps, so I'll start with the smaller one. The ramp has protection at its entrance which has prevented any damage over the years. The decals are pealing a bit along the side, but the ramp is otherwise in great condition (if you look past the filth).

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_small_ramp_start.jpg

 

The large ramp is also in great condition. Just like with the small ramp, protection at the entrance has prevented any damage and the decal along the back is pealing and will need to be stuck down.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_large_ramp_start.jpg

 

Both ramps were disassembled and cleaned. The small metal pieces were put through the tumbler for cleaning. All plastic pieces were cleaned with Nifti and then polished with Novus. The pealing decals were stuck back down with some craft glue. Both ramps were now looking much cleaner.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_ramp_set_cleaned.jpg

 

Before getting the ramps back on I painted the inside panels of the cabinet with a fresh layer of gloss black. It doesn't take much effort and gives excellent results with the cleaned up game.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_side_panels_painted.jpg

 

The headbox also was given a fresh coat of gloss black with some small damage spots patched up.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_headbox_painted.jpg

 

Looking back at where the game started, it was filthy and also unplayable with flipper, coil and lamp issues. So much dust.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_insert_lamps_start.jpg

 

Now, Dr Who has been given a new lease on life and has come up looking great!

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_completed_1.jpg

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_completed_2.jpg

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_completed_3.jpg

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_completed_4.jpg

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_completed_5.jpg

 

 

With the game back together I was able to put the game through its paces with some testing. Two issues showed themselves during play. The first was an extra ball being served up on occasions. The problem with this sort of issue is it only happened on a couple of occasions, making it hard to track down. Finally it started happening almost every ball - now I had something to work with. The issue was the assembly used to serve the ball up. The arm would fire up, serve the ball into the shooter lane and then become stuck, preventing the other 2 balls in the trough from moving forward.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_ball_serve_stuck.jpg

 

After a few seconds it would eventually pull back down. During that time though the game would fire the ball into play automatically and then serve up a second ball. There was a cable under the playfield that the arm was getting stuck on. Clearing the out of the way resolved the issue. The arm now had free movement and no longer got stuck. No more second ball and issue solved.

 

The last issue that showed up during testing was with the small ramp on right. There were two situations where the ball could get stuck (if travelling at a slow speed). When installing the ramp again, I noticed that the metal spacer it connects to seemed a little high. After some ramp adjustments I was able to eliminate one of the stuck spots, but the other remained. On further investigation I became convinced the spacer used to support the ramp was a bit too tall as it was pushing the ramp up towards the end in an awkward shape. Installing a slightly shorter metal spacer eliminated the problem entirely. Both are shown in the photo and there is about a 7 - 8mm difference between them.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/drwho/drwho_ramp_post_replaced.jpg

 

That's it for Dr Who. Once those final issues with the ramp and ball serve are were sorted, the game has held up really well. The owner was kind enough to let me keep the game for a couple of weeks once work was complete, so I've posted up a few nice scores for him to beat. Dr Who is a fantastic game to play and has the 'just one more go' factor which keeps you going back for more. I absolutely love the W-H-O 3 shot combo! This machine is in really nice condition and will look great in his line up. No time to rest though, another 12+ months worth of machines in the queue to look at - so stay tuned :)

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