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STAR•TECH JOURNAL/AUGUST 1982
MIDWAY
By Todd Erickson
Summit Amusement, St. Paul, MN
The Goose That Laid The Golden Egg
To be or not to be is the question today about pinballs. This
subject is being discussed at length in many publications.
Without a doubt, the manufacturers are equally concerned
today. If every pin today earned revenue similar to a " Haunted
House" and worked as well as a video, there would be as many
pins as videos on the market. Every pin can't be as new or
innovative as "Black Hole" or "Black Knight". Every pin can't
work as smoothly as a video. No pin, however, should work as
poorly as the pins produced in the last few years. The pins have
made great strides in electronic technology but the mechanics
have stayed basically the same for many years. The coin doors
are as ridiculous as they were ten years ago.
The unfortunate part of this whole process is the fact that the
young people playing games today are playing videos. As they
get older, then tend to play the same games they played when
they were younger. This could mean the end of pinballs. What
can be done? The pinball manufacturers are hesitant to spend the
money necessary to get the job done with the small amount of
games sold today. When they were selling alot of games, they
didn't have the time. The operator doesn't have the time or
people to maintain a large amount of pinballs on his route. As
this trend continues, the new personnel will not be able to
maintain the pins properly. The automobile manufacturers have
been able to go several years with little or no maintenance. The
pins today are lucky to go one week without a service call.
What the pinball industry needs today is a set of proven
hardware. A good example of this in the video field is the Wico
joystick. If it weren't for this assembly, we would all be carrying
a half-dozen more handles, points, etc., with us. We have several
flippers. None of them work well. Some may work better than
others. I have a letter I received from a manufacturer over 18
months ago stating their specific problems have been dealt with
and the improvements are on the assembly line. These improve-
ments, to this day, have never been made! On another
manufacturer's pinball, I replaced the flipper assembly and
slingshots. As a result, the income went up over 5 0% and stayed
there. The replacement parts I used were Wico. Their flipper has
a tungsten point for the End-of-Stroke switch. No one else uses
this. The bearing is a massive molded part of the base. It contains
no screws that could come undone. Nor does it have bearings
that could break. Their nylon flipper has become the standard of
the industry. It would be far better for the industry to have one
flipper for all brands. Their slingshot has worked without a
service call. They have a new feature for the slingshot that will
help playfield wear. I will be testing it shortly. Their pop bumper
has been used by Stem for several years. I have never had a
service call on one of them. One manufacturer has had alot of
trouble with dirty points on multi-ball games. I replaced them
with Wico embossed cross-bar points. The games have worked
well ever since.
Pinballs may never be able to work as well as videos. New
features will always give some trouble. The basic mechanical
components can be modified so they will last most of the useful
life of the game. I am finished purchasing games that need
replacement of EOS points, slingshot parts, plungers, crank
arms, links and even screws. Most operators agree with me.
SERVICE BULLETINS:
"GALAGA", "TRON", "LAZARIAN"
Game: "Galaga"
Subject: Loss of base ship
1. Occasionally, the game may subtract one of the player's base
ships even though the player has not lost in battle.
2. To prevent this condition, change the 7 4LS259 at location 3C
on the "Galaga" CPU Board (P .C. A084-91404-E508). Use
Texas Instruments components only.
Game: "Tron"
Subject: Buy-In Feature
1. The Buy-In Feature allows the player to continue the play
sequence in the next game by adding a coin before the allotted
time expires (all scores reset).
2. The 1/0 Sound Board Dipswitch located at B3 must have
switch #3 in the ON position for this feature.
Game: "Tron" (Serial #101-1200)
Subject: Control Assembly
Condition: Loose Actuating Pin
Modification: Add a flat washer, a periphery washer and a
roller as shown.
Notes:
1. Torque Actuating Pin to 7 5 in/lbs ± 10%. It is suggested to
use a Loctite compound.
2. A light grease (0017-00008-0087) must be put between the
Actuating Pin and Roller.
Game: "Tron"
Subject: Line Fuse
Modification: Change the 2.5-amp Slo-Blo line fuse to a 3-
amp Slo-Blo fuse. This will prevent the line fuse from blowing on
power up.
Game: "Lazarian" (Serial #101 -)
Subject: Lock up condition on power off and on
Modification: Enable the watchdog circuit by moving the
jumper wire near location 13B from position 1 and 3 to position 2
and 3.
Move to here
138
Game: "Lazarian"
Subject: New medium power supply with battery memory
option (A082-90421-BOOO).
1. This medium universal power supply can be used in past and
future games.
2. The medium power supply can replace the A084-90411-
AOOO in "Space Zap", "Gorf', "Wizard of Wor" and
"Robby Roto" (Triple Supply System).
3. The medium universal power supply can also replace A804-
90414-C935 in "Rally X", "Galaga" and "Bosconian"
(Single Supply System).
4. Call the Midway Service Department for any additional
information.