Repairs, Restorations, Tweaks and Insights

AAARPinball is where I document work I do on pinball and video arcade machines. I strive to include many pictures when describing the repairs and tweaks I have done while including various insights I've learned. There are details covering many machines including classic 1980s video arcade games, both raster and vector, as well as 1990s Bally / Williams pinball machines. Of course, there's a lot more!

I hope you enjoy it and find it useful. If you'd like to discuss anything, you can contact me here.

... Altan

Pinball Machines

Here are pinball machines I've worked on from manufacturers such as Bally, Williams, Stern, Data East and Jersey Jack.

Video Arcade Machines

Here are vector and raster video arcade machines I've worked on from classic manufacturers such as Atari, Sega, NAMCO, Midway and Bally.

Miscellaneous

Change History

September 3, 2022

Added details about fixing ball sneaking back to plunger for Guns N Roses (here)
Also miscellaneous cleanup to GNR

August 27, 2022

Added Jersey Jack Guns N' Roses Pinball page (here)

May 22, 2022

Addition changes to the website internally
Added brief information about installing LEDs to Theatre of Magic (here)
Added information about removing Pop Bumper Building mod from Dialed In

May 19, 2022

Several changes to the core site have been made over the past few days, such as adding a "Contact Me" to the navigation bar and including the navigation bar on the entry page.

May 14, 2022

Added information about using a ceramic block magnet to help prevent bounce away on the Twilight Zone bridge diverter (here)

May 5, 2022

Added a few ColorDMD LCD pictures to Twilight Zone (here)

May 2, 2022

Added information about ColorDMD LED install on Jurassic Park (here)

May 1, 2022

Added information about ColorDMD LCD install on Road Show (here)
Fixed several typos across the entire site

April 18, 2022

Added instructions for removal of the Indiana Jones Path of Adventure (here)

December 22, 2021

Added pictures of current gameroom (here)

August 2 - 4, 2021

Started a page of Theatre of Magic (here)
Added details about Addams Family G.I. light behind the phone plastic (here)

May 16, 2021

Added details about Addams Family ColorDMD LCD and THING lights (here)

May 9, 2021

Started a page for The Addams Family (here)
Fixed some small typos across the entire site

February 16, 2021

Information about Dialed In! drone repair added to Dialed In

August 2, 2020

After 9 years, I decided to make the configurable 1080p convergence and focus test pattern visible to everyone
As well as the lesser known configurable 4k (2160p) convergence and focus test pattern

July 29, 2020

Added info about fixing diagnostic switch and High Score Save Multi-Pac removing functionality to the Pac-Man cabaret page

July 25, 2020

Started the skeleton of a page for my Pac-Man cabaret

July 9, 2020

Added information about Twilight Zone clock fix (only working in reverse)

January 2 - February 8, 2020

Added information about a Marble Madness Software Exception
Added information about a Dialed In! Pop Bumper fix
Added information about a Dialed In! Trap Door repair

November 9, 2019

Solved a power issue with Dialed In's ball trough (and molex connector)

October 11, 2019

Added info about Dialed In! 1.73 firmware

September 20, 2019

Added some playfield pictures to Dialed In!

September 6, 2019

Dialed In! improvements: dim lights fix, firmware upgrade, cabinet pictures, inside cabinet pictures

September 2, 2019

Started a page covering Jersey Jack Pinball Dialed In! (here)
Made some small modifications to the Pirates of the Caribbean page (here)

April 22, 2018

Added some pictures of the gameroom's current arrangement (here)

April 20, 2018

Enhanced site to support HTTPS

April 18, 2018

Picked up a Stern Pirates of the Caribbean (here)

March 26, 2018

Added info about a General Illumination Bulb not Working in Jurassic Park (here)

February 26 - March 23, 2018

Added info about painting Judge Dredd eagle topper (here)
Added several items to the Jurassic Park page (here)
Added information about Data East Jurassic Park audio hum / buzz (here)

Oct 6, 2017

Picked up a Data East Jurassic Park in August but just got around to adding it to my site (here)

June 24, 2017

Added Asteroids Deluxe multi-game kit
Fixed Asteroids Vector display (here)

August 28, 2016

Fix for Revenge from Mars backbox light (here)

August 14, 2016

Drop target fix for Terminator 2 (here)
Diode replacement for 8x bonus light (here)

August 3 - 4, 2016

Added Deadworld mod (original functionality restoration) information to Judge Dredd (here)
Added information about Marble Madness G07 B+ voltage and jumpy display (here)

July 29, 2016

Added Judge Dredd Eagle Topper mounting (here)
Added info about confusing RadioShack 276-0143 LED specification to Judge Dredd section (here)

July 22 - 25, 2016

Some small cleanup across various pages
Added information about Marble Madness G07 repair (here)
Added pictures of Judge Dredd eagle topper (here)
Added Judge Dredd 3 ball Supergame repair (here)
Added Judge Dredd broken Sniper VUK repair (here) Added new instruction and price cards to Judge Dredd (here)

July 17, 2016

Started section on Bally Judge Dredd pinball (here)

August 16, 2015

Added Rocky pachinko information about modifying the cabinet hopper to support 1,500 balls (here)

August 9 - 10, 2015

New Rocky Pachinko information including:
Added information about 1500 pachinko balls
Added information about modifying cabinet to capture drained balls
Adding resistors/potentiometers for volume adjustment

August 3 - 5, 2015

I've been making lots of updates to the Rocky Pachinko page. Too numerous to list.
Picked up a pachinko machine! It's a Toyotec Rocky the Movie. I've started a page for it (here)

July 17, 2015

Updated this page to be mobile friendly!
Made many other changes across the site (which shouldn't be noticeable)

July 8 - 13, 2015

Updated Indiana Jones section to be mobile friendly (here)
Updated Getaway section to be mobile friendly (here)
Updated Terminator 2 section to be mobile friendly (here)
Updated FunHouse section to be mobile friendly (here)
Updated Ripley's Believe It or Not section to be mobile friendly (here)
Updated Star Trek: The Next Generation section to be mobile friendly (here)
Updated RoadShow section to be mobile friendly (here)
Updated WhiteWater section to be mobile friendly (here)
Updated Fire! section to be mobile friendly (here)
Updated Simpsons section to be mobile friendly (here)
Updated Creature from the Black Lagoon section to be mobile friendly (here)
Updated Star Wars section to be mobile friendly (here)
Updated Twilight Zone section to be mobile friendly (here)
Updated Daytona 2 section to be mobile friendly (here)
Updated Super GT section to be mobile friendly (here)
Updated RoadBlasters section to be mobile friendly (here)
Updated Asteroids Deluxe section to be mobile friendly (here)
Updated Area 51 Site 4 section to be mobile friendly (here)
Updated Gameroom section to be mobile friendly (here)
Updated Yajikita section to be mobile friendly (here)

July 7, 2015

Added picture of Barry Oursler Dr. Who translite signature (here)

July 2, 2015

Added information about fixing the "Bend" in the Doctor Who Dalek Topper (here)

June 26, 2015

Started Bally Doctor Who pinball page (here)

March 12 - 13, 2015

Added information about the Revenge from Mars / Pinball 2000 driver board (here)
Added information about up/down ramp fix

March 4 - 8, 2015

Started Revenge from Mars (Pinball 2000) page (here)
Added details about Ultimarc Video Amplified
Added details about upgrade to RFM version 1.6
Added original Revenge from Mars VGA wiring to Wells-Gardner 19K7302
Added various pictures of video integrated with gameplay
Added information about Pinball 2000 / Revenge from Mars CPU fan replacement

February 15, 2015

Rewrote Atari Marble Madness page to be more modern and mobile friendly
Added section on track ball rebuild here

February 14, 2015

Rewrote Atari Star Wars page to be more modern and mobile friendly
Added section on Amplifone deflection repair here

February 3, 2015

Rewrote Tempest cocktail page to be more modern and mobile friendly
Added section on dark Plexiglas polishing. Click here

January 24, 2015

Several updates to the Tempest cocktail section including new cocktail glass/art and installation of CPO (control panel overlay). Click here

August 17, 2014

Twilight Zone decal for "Battle the Power" diverter installation (here)

August 9, 2014

Twilight Zone (pre-DCS) sound clicking/popping sound problem fixed (here)

June 4, 2014

Tempest monitor repair for bending vectors near bottom (here)

May 24 - 28, 2014

Added info about Tempest cabinet restoration
Added info about Tempest cocktail artwork vectorization (here)

May 13, 2014

Added information about replacing Tempest's WG6100 HV caps
Added information about installing the LV2000 to repair Tempest's WG6100 low voltage
Added info about Big Blue replacement (here)

May 8, 2014

Started Atari Tempest cocktail page (here)

May 5, 2014

Added information about GI header repair as well as information about Twilight Zone GI dimming (here)

March 30, 2014

Twilight Zone Clock started acting up ("clock is broken") so I made a fix (here)

March 1, 2014

For Area 51 Site 4, added information about replacing lightgun PCB for accuracy. Also added strategy information to defect the alien queen at the end of the game (here)

February 24, 2014

Added information about cap kit for Area 51 Site 4 monitor (here)

November 30, 2013

Added video of gameroom into Gameroom section (here)
Moved an "informal review" of Herg's LED OCD I originally wrote on Pinside to my web page (here)

November 14 - 15, 2013

Added info about converting Area 51 Site 4 from old hard drive to flash drive with an IDE to SD adapter

November 9, 2013

Added a picture of the 74175 chip that assists with high score saving in Asteroids Deluxe.

November 2 - 7, 2013

Started a new page for my Atari Area 51 Site 4 arcade game. Check it out here..

September 3, 2013

Added a few panorama pictures of the gameroom

August 18, - 29, 2013

Fixed speaker hum
Replaced the Twilight Zone clock casing / housing
Adjusted the Twilight Zone gears so that both hands point at 20 o'clock when powered on
Replaced broken ball pop cup on the gumball VUK
Rebuilt the GI connector that was previously soldered directly onto the driver board

May 5 - 18, 2013

I'm back to adding Pinball stuff! I've got hold of a Twilight Zone. Check it out here. I've been updating this page frequently. Here are some of the updates:

• New "enhanced" slot machine target
• Flipper cleanup
• Subway cleaning
• Using #545 LEDs in backbox instead of incandescent #545 bulbs
• Fixed lack of audio when I first got Twilight Zone
• Twilight Zone clock repair
• Twilight Zone modified to use LED lights
• Mylar removal
• Tons of pictures

April 14, 2013

Added some info about the TX-NR818's HDMI EDID handling Click here.

April 8, 2013

Short updated the Sony HW30 projector Onkyo TX-NR818 compatibility section
Also made small update the TX-NR818 clicking noises and solution. Click here.

March 18, 2013

Updated the Sony HW30 projector Onkyo TX-NR818 compatibility section. Click here.

March 3 - 7, 2013

Added information about Sony HW30 projector and (what I thought was the) Onkyo TX-NR818 "power on" fix. It turned out not to fix it.
Also added some info about Lip Sync (AV Sync) for the Onkyo TX-NR818. Click here.

February 9 - 17, 2013

Another off-topic section... I've added information about the Onkyo TX-NR818. This first section attempts to describe how the (confusing?) video output functionality works. Click here.

February 3, 2013

Added information about Data Easy Simpsons GI repair

January 31, 2013

Another unexpected addition. 1080p convergence and focus test patterns with discrete colors (red, green, blue) for monitors and projectors (here)

October 22 - November 6, 2012

Branching out! Got a Japanese Pachislo (Skill Slot) machine called Yajikita (here)

May 27, 2012

Added information about Asteroids Deluxe high score repair
Added another image of restored coin door

May 7, 2012

Atari Star Wars yoke potentiometer swap (here)

May 4, 2012

Added picture of "Atari Wall" to gameroom (here)

April 25 - 27, 2012

Added image of Asteroids Deluxe cabinet almost 100% cleaned up
Added info about coin door and side art image to Asteroids Deluxe (here)

April 15 - 19, 2012

More info added to the Asteroids Deluxe page (here)

April 14, 2012

Added Asteroids Deluxe page (here)

March 18, 2012

Added video of FunHouse gameplay to FunHouse page
Several updates to the Sony VPL-HW30ES / VPL-HW30AES projector page have been done (but have not been listed here over the past month)

February 16, 2012

Surprise! I've written my impressions of the Sony VPL-HW30ES / VPL-HW30AES projector!
Click here to read...

September 10, 2011

Added Daytona 2 mosaic picture to the Daytona 2 section

September 5, 2011

RoadBlasters thumb trigger repair added to RoadBlasters section
Road Show voltage selector repair added to Road Show section

September 2, 2011

Slight modifications to the RoadBlasters section

August 29, 2011

Started a RoadBlasters section

August 23, 2011

Added more details to the System 1 audio issue in the Marble Madness section

August 21, 2011

Added information about repairing an audio problem with an Atari System 1 Main PCB to the Marble Madness section

July 15, 2011

Updated WhiteWater page with a (much) improved video

July 5, 2011

Added new gameroom video

March 5, 2011

General cleanup to the Atari Star Wars page

March 4, 2011

Added more details of my x2212 settings / high score fix

March 3, 2011

Star Wars / Empire Strikes Back settings / high score fixed!
Moved some of the basic screen shots to later on the page

February 26, 2011

Update regarding Star Wars NOVRAM and crosshair centering
Added info about Star Wars x2212 novram, settings and high scores

February 19, 2011

Added a couple of pictures of Empire Strikes Back running on the Star Wars

February 10, 2011

Miscellaneous updates to Atari Star Wars section

February 8, 2011

Star Wars yoke controller calibration

February 3, 2011

Started Atari Star Wars vid section

January 22, 2011

Added game room picture section
Info about Marble Madness coin door lights

January 9, 2011

Atari Volcano switch repair for Marble Madness

January 4, 2011

Added picture of pretty much complete Marble Madness
Added picture of populated control panel

January 2, 2011

Marble Madness control panel overlay/decal install

January 1, 2011

Happy New Year! Added pics of Atari volcano/cone player buttons

December 14, 2010

Added Marble Madness side art (decal) install

November 14, 2010

Picture from Marble Madness restoration (bondo and paining)

November 12, 2010

Marble Madness side art removal

November 6, 2010

Started Atari Marble Madness page (Marble Madness)!

June 25, 2010

Added information about "Race Leader" relay repair

June 22, 2010

Did some cleanup on the first 20% of the Super GT page... will try and get to the rest soon..

June 18, 2010

Added SuperGT image for link on home page, info about removing the decals from the chairs, info about topper lighting.

June 16, 2010

Finally published some text about taking apart the Super GT

June 9, 2010

SuperGT steering pot ("volume") replacement.
Some more gear shift info

June 4, 2010

Added information about DATA ACCESS EXCEPTION to Super GT section.
Also added more information about gear shift repair.

May 30, 2010

Started Sega Super GT (SCUD Race) page ... very preliminary!

May 22, 2010

Adding information about Daytona 2 Power Edition upgrade!

March 14, 2010

Added relay repair, apron before/after pics, and edits based on quick proof reading to the Star Wars page

March 3, 2010

Added some information and pictures to the Star Wars page

March 2, 2010

Started Data East Star Wars page (here)

December 13, 2009

Fixed email address problem
Added a little more info about the Simpsons alpha-numeric score repair

November 5, 2009

Added information about Simpsons alpha-numeric score repair

August 8, 2009

Updated home page a bit (added sections for pins and vids)
Added link to gameroom video on YouTube

July 2, 2009

Small update to Daytona 2 page (now have the correct casters!)

June 24, 2009

Updated Daytona 2 section with leg leveler info

June 14, 2009

Added info about a video game! Sega Daytona 2..

June 6, 2009

Added video if Indiana Jones gameplay to IJ page.

May 31, 2009

Changed my email address. Too much spam. See note at top for the new email.

May 9, 2009

Something crazy happened! I've added some information about the Panasonic DMC-ZS3 camera (click here)

March 30, 2009

Added a ton of info about my Indiana Jones shop (finally!)

February 15, 2009

Added video of Terminator 2 gameplay to the Terminator page

January 25, 2009

Added video of White Water gameplay to the White Water page

January 24, 2009

Added video of Ripley's gameplay to the RBION page

January 19, 2009

Added video of Creature gameplay to the Creature page

June 1, 2008

Updated Indiana Jones Path of Adventure text to correct mistake about 2nd flipper opto

April 4, 2008

Updated Indiana Jones (IJ) page with right ramp removal

March 28, 2008

Updated contact information

March 23, 2008

Added information about shopping (cleaning inserts, subway, lamp PCBs)
Added (large) picture of playfield bottom

March 13, 2008

Added a bunch of pictures of the Creature Hologram
Added a picture of the slide VUK that broke

March 7, 2008

Updated all pin pages to include links to home and all other pin pages (at the top)

March 6, 2008

Started Creech page! (Creature from the Black Lagoon or CFTBL)

February 7, 2008

Wow! It has been a while. Added story about STTNG battery

June 11, 2007

Added Simpsons 3-Drop target repair

June 9, 2007

Added a ton of stuff to the Simpsons page

June 5, 2007

Updated to Simpsons page

May 31, 2007

Added Simpsons page (my first Data East machine). Go Bart, Homer, Marge, Maggie and Lisa!

April 1, 2007

Additional text to existing Fire! sections
Added information about battery holder repair
Added information about reproducing plastic targets
Added information about broken ramp repair

March 28, 2007

Added a bunch more Fire! stuff

• How bell works
• Ramp removal and cleaning
• How the cool fire effect works
• Skill shot repair

March 27, 2007

Started Fire! page (my first System 11 machine!)

March 3, 2007

Added information about STTNG cannon's home and mark

March 2, 2007

Added a bit about debugging STTNG cannon problems

February 24, 2007

WCS94 lock and light repair added

August 26, 2006

Added information about Ted's eye installation to Road Show

August 24, 2006

Eyes for Ted!
New WCS Soccer Ball!

July 28, 2006

Added more information to WCS page
Reformatted things a bit across the entire site

July 27, 2006

Started World Cup Soccer 94 (WCS) page
Minor updates to STTNG page

April 14, 2006

Added information about "R" in River repair (WhiteWater)
Added information about Road Show knocker

April 2, 2006

Added information about STTNG hole protector
Added information about Delta Ramp removal
Added information about G.I problem and burnt connector

March 30, 2006

Rearranged STTNG sections and cleaned up some text
Added drop target behavior
Added more pictures

March 28, 2006

Added text about drop target repair, some playfield cleaning, and various updates to STTNG

March 26, 2006

More STTNG updates. Added information about cannon repairs.

March 25, 2006

Cleaned up the formatting of the STTNG page. Added some new content.

March 22, 2006

More pictures added to STTNG page.

March 21, 2006

Started Star Trek: The Next Generation (STTNG) page.

November 20, 2005

Information about second 8-light PCB for White Water added.

November 5, 2005

Added information and picture of FunHouse lamp insert adjustment.

October 30, 2005

Added information and picture of FunHouse subway cleaning.

August 22, 2005

Added information about Waterfall topper to White Water section.

August 1, 2005

Added information about coin door inserts to Road Show section.

July 21, 2005

Updated Road Show with Ted's PCB motor repair.

July 4, 2005

Added information about White Water "lite lock" targets.
Added information about White Water "Insanity Falls / Whirlpool" sign.

June 29, 2005

Updated and added some text to the White Water section.

June 28, 2005

Information about transformer Molex connector added to White Water.
Added information about NOS Big Foot head to White Water.
Added information about new plastics to White Water.
Added information about plunger to White Water.
Added an image of the White Water topper.

June 24, 2005

Added White Water page. It is very preliminary.

June 14, 2005

Added a bit of information about the Road Show shaker motor.
Added information to Getaway regarding Supercharger speed improvement (diverter replacement).

June 5, 2005

Added pictures of playfield chip repair to Road Show section.

May 27, 2005

Added information about chip in Road Show playfield below bumper post.

May 25, 2005

(Road Show) Added picture of Red's hat and Ted's hat with the new decals.

May 23, 2005

Added Road Show decal artwork.
Added information about replacing leg bolt plates on Road Show.
Added information about cleaning left ramp on Road Show.

May 21, 2005

Added information about new Road Show DMD.
Added information about new Road Show City Start sign.
Added information about Road Show "Bob's Souvenir Bunker" sign.

May 17, 2005

Added information about cleaning Road Show right ramp.

May 15, 2005

Added information about FunHouse ramp replacement.
Added information to Terminator section (coin door, Hunter Killer ship).
Added information about Indiana Jones Bi-Plane.
Added a bunch of information about the Road Show repairs and shopping.

May 13, 2005

Minor enhancements to Road Show page.

May 10, 2005

Started Road Show page.

March 25, 2005

Added listing of RBION Odditorium facts.

March 15, 2005

Added information about Funhouse (Rudy) repair.

December 21, 2004

Adjusted text that was added back on 11/6/04.

November 6, 2004

Added additional information about IJ POA stuttering.

May 12, 2004

Added a bunch of images from the bottom of the RBION playfield.

May 10, 2004

Added information to FunHouse section about Rudy's eyeball repair.

May 4, 2004

Fixed typos in Indiana Jones and Getaway sections.
Added "Path of Adventure was stuttering" problem to Indiana Jones section.
Added image of F103 fuse to Getaway section.

May 2, 2004

Started recording changes.
Added image of RBION backglass lighting to RBION machine information page.
Added image of RBION playfield to main RBION page.
Added Funhouse section.
Fixed some typos in the Indiana Jones section. I should really proof read the entire site...