First, the pictures...
A closer, better look at the PCB:
My daughter wanted to "help" me take the pinball machine apart ("fix it," she said):
Here's a better picture of the top of the playfield:
And the same playfield after it has been stripped:
Here's what the underside looks like after removing everything:
Now for more thoughts...
While taking this machine apart, I observed many opportunities for improvement - designs choices and materials that I will be able to improve upon for my project. Don't get me wrong, I can see why all of these decisions were made - they were trying to make a decent quality pinball machine for the home for less than $400 - an impressive feat, considering there are a lot of parts here, and as most of them I haven't seen in the wild, I can bet that a lot of R & D had to go into their creation. I respect that a great deal, but they are things I can fix for my new project.
I have already noted my decision to replace all of the self-contained leaf switches with microswitches - and that is one good example. The playfield and cabinet are made out of MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard), which I am not a huge fan of, so I will be making a new cabinet out of particleboard, and I think I'll make the final playfield either out of furniture grade plywood, or particle board as well. I know, the playfield in a real machine is made from a very special, expensive plywood, but even some good particleboard will be far better than the fiberboard (it resists warping very well, and will be a better surface than a sticker on what is basically thick cardboard).
The flipper bats are a full 3" long, so I'll keep them, and I will try to incorporate all of the ramps, bumpers, etc... into the new design. I think that I will use the plastic rails as a design aid, and then will craft wooden or metal rails for the final playfield.
I have mapped all of the connections from the PCB to the rest of the machine, and will post that file in a wee bit. I will be cutting the wiring harnesses down, and adding modular connectors to them so that I can connect them not only to the new light and switch wiring harnesses, but also allow me to replace the PCB at some point with a different controller if I so desire. With the mapping, I now have a good idea what I have to work with in terms of inputs and outputs, and I will need to design my new playfield to that specification. Part and parcel of that is the ruleset, which means I kinda need to design the rules of the new playfield to match the POTC rules. I will, however, be able to put a new controller in in the future, and then I can expand the rules (and change the sounds, etc...)
I also plan on replacing the plunger assembly for a couple of reasons. First, the existing one was kinda weak, which I think necessitated the design of the playfield that the skill shot was only midway up the field. Second, the ball at the end was two halves that broke apart when I pried them for removal, so I need to replace the ball at the very least. I will be able to fix that with a new, possibly full size plunger. My new cabinet will be taller, a little larger, and heavier duty, so I think that won't be a problem. At worst, I'll get a better spring and fit a large ball onto it so it feel more comfortable.
I still haven't decided on a refined theme - it'll still be Transformers - that much is certain, but there is a big universe to play in, and I want the theme to be pretty specific. Something like Megatron's Revenge, or something like that.
I'll be buying some new parts in the coming week, and I'll have some experimenting to do to see if I can make the flippers stronger (I may have to pump more power into the unit), and to see if I can flip a larger playfield with a full size ball. I am still content to build basically something with the same form factor if that's what my parts require, but wanting to expand things is a good goal too.
It's late, and I had better hit the hay.
More to come...
Larry
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