Finishing Up on a 1978 Bally Six Million Dollar Man Pinball Machine - Display and Sound Board Repair

[@Gortman1]

Thanks for the info about the capacitors. I thought I knew everything there was to know about pinball but I didn't know that. 🤣

[@MRNBricks]

I bought a 1980 Galaxy recently. Never worked on a SS. Your videos are very helpful.

[@LyonsArcade]

Glad you enjoy them, I've wanted to get a Galaxy in it, it looks like my type of game (trying to make it through all the planets, and I love the Stern stuff). See you on the next video!

[@carl5490]

Ron - I listen to tons of youtube fix it videos (many on pinball) and nobody compares or comes close to your presentation. Sometimes I see interesting stuff but it's painful to hear their drone. You are an absolute pleasure - great voice, great presentation and great teaching.

[@LyonsArcade]

Aw, thanks Carl, we appreciate that! I try not to let the haters get to me :) We'll see you on the next video, have a good weekend!

[@bperkins]

Enjoy all of your videos. Thanks again for making them!

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks for watching Bob, we appreciate it!

[@markjackson1444]

Three cheers for incandescent globes. .... the last time I could really see well when fixing machines was when I had 2 x 60 watt incandescent globes on the same stand. ... never see as well as I did then. LEDs make the game look like it came from Woolworths Supermarket.

[@pezjohnson]

I HATE replacing pop bumper skirts. I've got three more to do on Old Chicago and I keep putting it off. Good repair video, once again.

[@LyonsArcade]

Replacing Pop skirts and cleaning score reels are the two worst parts of fixing one :)

[@Jeroen_a]

Whuut?! i'm always waiting for the play video! Whats the fun in watching a series and never see the plot unfold? :-)

[@LyonsArcade]

It’s a huge pain in the ass man

[@gamefixersvideos]

love the videos! You cracking up at that starting theme was funny. I knew exactly where you were going with it.

[@LyonsArcade]

I love it! I might do a whole video about that theme...

[@TheGnomestead]

Thanks Man! Fine work!! 👍👍👍 Ain't nutin in this world perfect people! Get over ya bad self. Play it! Send it! 👍

[@tcb8295]

Thanks Ron, for the entertaining and informative videos...as always. She's pretty much fully operational.Great job!

[@1980s-fan]

Thanks for the video Ron another informative watch with some good pointers, much appreciated.

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks Chris, we appreciate you watching along with us!

[@angrydove4067]

That star washer will be sitting in the bottom of the back box forever.

[@RetroGamingWithHopper]

It doesn't matter how good you are at playing pinball as long as you fun while playing.

[@carlperkins1452]

Love all your videos Ron. Thanks for all your hard work and effort put into these vids!

[@ocsrc]

I am anxious to see the sound working. I loved the sound in the show.

[@cthlhu]

Such a cool machine. I love the playfield artwork, the font reminds me of the Bally Star Trek font.

[@macdaddyns]

what Ron, You not a playa? Great series, funny thing is I loved playing Night Rider, but not so much Six Million Man. Even though they are so similar. Drastic improvement after the refresh, You are still the Man! maybe $5,000,000 Man, but not quire 6. Now if you could only play Pinball, then we'd up your value. LOL Actually you are priceless to us fans! Have a good one.

[@jumpingjack2605]

Love the sounds of this game, and if I can speak on behalf of your loyal viewers... we love the way you talk Take a hike schnu

[@simonbinni5269]

Thanks for the content, as always great work.

[@williamsudbrink4187]

Beautiful work as always! Love the Peter Gunn theme but I also love the old TV show. If you have the chance, you should go watch a few episodes. They're great!

[@djlamar2]

I'm not good at pinball either but I love it :D

[@Jetrulez15]

18:10 Totally agree, when my machine sounds like a drugged out turkey on boot, I know my sound is working LOL Great stuff, man! I've been learning slowly from these vids. Currently working on a very early WhiteWater (#43 out of 7,008!) and completely restoring it. Once I'm finished with it, I plan on doing stuff like this on other projects I can find. I really want to get in the business out here in Philadelphia!

[@melanatedprose9134]

Ron, it's hard to ignore slugs who end up pushing buttons. But Bro, your presentation, work, voice, vibe and sense of humor is on point. So don't change anything and keep on pushing on. But to divert from the slug comment. Noise Noise Noise Noise is rapped in the Digable Planets song "Noise," like how the manuel for this game had it four times. The song isn't R& B but came out in 1995 on the "Blowout Comb" album. Great video overall, regardless!

[@bryanh1944FBH]

On my Star Trek machine, the Sound Module Board makes a humming sound, through the speaker naturally, when the lower left hand mounting screw is in AND the lamp driver test is on. I noticed you do not have the mounting screws in. The upper right hand screw is in and tight with no issue. But, for some reason when the ground track on the lower left hand side of the board touches the metal bracket, the speaker humms when driving the digit displays. The board really makes a lot of strange noise if/when holding the cell phone close to the board. So, its an interference / ground issue. My temporary fix: Only in the area of this lower left screw, I put insulation paper between the board and the bracket as well as a rubber O ring on the screw. Installed the screw. Now, the machine is quiet. I don't understand it and would like to make a "proper" fix. So, work in progress .....

[@ocsrc]

It would be nice if the opening scene sounds would play in attract mode and the bionic sounds when roll overs were activated.

[@grlg2]

Hi Ron, hanging out to see how it plays. Cheers.

[@CaptNRetro]

ever had a ghosthunt or tried to do some EVP to talk to George?

[@Kaavoort]

How can I get some of those Minges pads for my own repair work documentaton?

[@Entarra]

Can the pop bumper skirts be turned? could flip it 180 so at least you can't see the chipped side from the player end.

[@LyonsArcade]

You have to take the entire thing apart and unsolder the light socket to turn it, unfortunately you're just going to have to live with somewhere out there in the world is 1 pop bumper skirt that's chipped

[@bhuff123]

What is the pinball machine next to the one you’re showing in the video is it on your list of wants to be fixed

[@LyonsArcade]

Yes that one is coming up it's a Bally Night Rider, we will be fixing it soon.

[@jppagetoo]

That missing cap may not be a mistake. It may just have been eliminated in a later revision of the game but not changed on the printed schematic. I've seen machines that were slightly different from early to later built ones. I always liked the pop bumpers to trigger well, it makes play a lot more fun.

[@LyonsArcade]

why would they remove a capacitor from one rollover button (that lowers the up post) but not remove it from the one right next to it on the playfield (that lowers the up post) ? That seems like a strange revision

[@jppagetoo]

@@LyonsArcade Who knows why? They put in shrink tubing there so maybe they felt that was more important than the cap. Maybe it was a mistake. I was just thinking out loud. I worked on these things 30 years ago for an amusement company. I saw some odd things that were done that made you wonder what they were thinking. Most times our repairs were to get the machines fixed quick and back out to make money. We didn't do anything as thorough as what you do for reselling and customer repair. Back then the number one problem with machines was smoke sludge. That sludge was nasty stuff, I felt for the bar workers who had to breathe it. It would gum up everything.

[@hortonp1000]

I've always blamed George for any strange anomalies, That's great.. Hahahahahahaha

[@allanpatterson7653]

[25:15] very odd little sound board. On some machines +12vdc comes off solenoid supply +43vdc and is dropped down. A problem where the game just stops and does nothing can come from that. CR1 which charges a big orange capacitor with no series resistor starts to leak current backwards and the +43 volts never reaches Zero volts the Z detector on the mpu stops counting and the game will just stop and if you restart it will not give you the 7th flash. [40:15] the little pumpkin seed caps {.05mfd} I was told got cooked with the heavy irons used when they originally wired the machine I just replace good or bad.

[@andymouse]

So cool you had that VFD get it's head together live on KZbin !...ya scared the shit out of it...Its fascinating to see the build on these games as its clear they thought that some switches needed to be 'de-bounced ' with a cap, and some didn't, its like each machine was treated as special, a bygone age of manufacturing !... oh yeah, maybe you could show us some of the more 'Bizarre' comments you get, for a laugh !...cheers.

[@sporehux8344]

Why do I think of "Moon Cresta" ?

[@waynegram8907]

JOE'S CLASSIC, in the switch matrix what are those Diodes on each switch doing and used for? if one of the switches is closed the diode is turned ON, while the other switches are OPEN so the diodes are doing what or to prevent what from happening? If two switches are closed then both Diodes are turns ON while the other switches are OPEN and the diodes on the open switches are preventing what? it doesn't make sense to have all those diodes. If you replace all those SCR's with FETS what will happen?

[@SpearM3064]

I suggest you read this: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboard_matrix_circuit They use a synthesizer keyboard as an example, but they also say "The same matrix circuit approach is also used in many pinball machines." The TL;DR version is that the diodes prevent phantom signals from being sent to the MPU.

[@waynegram8907]

@@SpearM3064 But the Phantom signals would be caused by what? the switches are OPEN so I don't know how any phantom signal would be sent to the MPU

[@LyonsArcade]

@@waynegram8907 If you make a Matrix, then you can have many more switches than you have wires. So you can run the same 'ground' wire to 6 or 7 switches, and the same 'hot' wire to 6 or 7 switches... which means you can have like 49 switches. The reason they use the diode, is because in a situation where you have voltage on the line that was 'ground' (because the switch is touching it).... the pinball machine no longer has the ability to see if you hit another switch on another line, or it thinks you're hitting all the switches on that line. The diodes ensure that the voltage always runs in 1 direction, so it can't 'back feed' another switch on the matrix

[@cristianherrera6526]

Consulta mi máquina tiene como un chicharredo en el audio , gracias q podrá ser

[@LyonsArcade]

Thank you for watching Cristian!

[@ocsrc]

Who is George ?

[@LyonsArcade]

The place is haunted

[@ocsrc]

@@LyonsArcade Cool. Any video of activity on the security cameras overnight ?

[@valkokir]

@@ocsrc George isn't really that kind of ghost. He's more the friendly wheel man type. First I saw him was in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o52VkGWQrp6Iatk&ab_channel=Joe%27sClassicVideoGames

[@mcostafernando]

@@valkokir That's right, George's only wish is spending all eternity playing good arcade games!

[@ocsrc]

I wonder if the socket on the display is dirty

[@memyopinionsche6610]

Looks like you have 50c in the coin pan.

[@ocsrc]

I wonder if they offer a new ROM that has the sounds from the show

[@SpearM3064]

Probably not, because of music rights. There's also the question of _who_ holds the rights. Most likely it's NBC/Universal (who released the boxed DVD sets) and Warner Bros (who holds the movie rights). There's also the limitations of the sound board, which didn't have a lot of sound channels. I'm sorry for saying so, but the theme song for the TV show just isn't that memorable to begin with. I doubt I'd recognize it at all if you stripped it down to 2 or 3 channels.

[@SpearM3064]

@@dangermartin69 I probably could, because it's been more than 40 years since I saw any of the episodes. My memory from when I was 8 years old has kind of faded. :)

[@allanpatterson7653]

Adafruit FX Sound board #[2217] makes a not bad little module ,but honestly I have been down that road looking at sound schemes from the old tv show and there just is not anything to add to that pinball that would improve it. I have seen so many mods that are like the ugly decoration on the Christmas tree for an insane price that clients ask me to put on their game.

[@ocsrc]

48:50 how did that ball stick there ?

[@valkokir]

Looks like it's got a ball save feature. I'm guessing he'll cover that in the play video when he covers all the features.

[@SpearM3064]

The game is from the old days before Magna-Save. So, it has a pop-up post (appropriately called a "Play-More Post") between the flippers that prevents the ball from draining. It's raised by entering the top center saucer or hitting the center target. It's automatically lowered whenever you hit one of two rollover buttons, a ball through either return lane, a ball through the outhole, or a tilt.

[@garystevens6831]

George: Get Steve Austins coin door out of my face! I'm trying to play me some Night Rider!

[@Mrpinbologist]

I often wonder why the didn't make the game play the theme tune for the 6M$M show instead of the Peter Gunn tune!

[@SpearM3064]

The way they named these games back in the 70s was to design the playfield (the "whitewood") first, and then the marketing department would change the name after it got sent out for artwork. The working title for this particular game was "City Slicker". Tom Nieman obtained the license for 6M$M, and the "City Slicker" whitewood was chosen to be the next license game and the artwork assignment was given to Dave Christensen. Now, I could be wrong, but they probably already had "City Slicker" programmed to play the Peter Gunn theme before they even sent it out for artwork. By that point, all the music, sound effects, and playfield programming had been done. To save time and money, they simply decided not to change the music when they changed the name. At least, that's my guess.

[@pcachu]

So it turns out Steve Austin was secretly Peter Gunn all this time? Ya think ya know a guy...

[@richa9719]

44:38. It’s probably not a factory mistake and probably a schematic mis print..

[@LyonsArcade]

Why would the game have a cap on one switch but not the switch right next to it that does the exact same thing? The schematic shows them both with a cap which makes sense.

[@ocsrc]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZnSze2B3l6imipo This is the original show opening sounds I thought the game would have them, but I guess it was too early to have midi sounds

[@SpearM3064]

Too early by about 5 years. The MIDI specification wasn't presented until 1981, and wasn't ratified until 1983. Furthermore, the MIDI specification calls for 16-note polyphony (that is to say, 16 sound channels)... I'm pretty sure that the Bally AS-2518-50 didn't have anywhere near that many channels. The way they named these games back in the 70s was to design the playfield (the whitewood) first, and then the marketing department would change the name _after it got sent out for artwork._ The working title for this particular game was "City Slicker". Tom Nieman obtained the license for "The Six Million Dollar Man", and the "City Slicker" whitewood was chosen to be the next license game and the artwork assignment was given to Dave Christensen. Now, I'm just pulling a wild guess out of thin air here, so I could be wrong, but they probably already had "City Slicker" programmed to play the Peter Gunn theme before they even sent it out for artwork. By that point, all the music, sound effects, and playfield programming had been done. To save time and money, they decided not to change the music when they changed the name. At least, that's _my_ guess. Or maybe they decided that the 6M$M theme would be unrecognizable on the AS-2518-50. Coincidentally, this was the first (and only) pinball machine to have six score displays. Bally was beginning to transfer to 7-digit displays just then, so the decision was made to make 6M$M into a 6-player game to use up the remaining stock of 6-digit displays, or so I've been told. P.S., Don't confuse the MIDI specification with the General Midi (GM) specification. GM is a newer specification (1991) and calls for 24-note polyphony.

[@sixtoes2313]

Mancini------Gun-------

[@ocsrc]

That is not the right tune. I us d to watch the show all the time. That tune is not any of the times from the show.

[@LyonsArcade]

Ok sorry to disappoint you did you find any other places I messed up

[@ocsrc]

@@LyonsArcade you didn't mess up. The game doesn't have the original sounds from the show.

[@Mrpinbologist]

I can confirm that the sounds are correct for the game, as i own one. I commented above that it would've been good if they'd used the theme tune for the show instead of the Peter Gunn tune.. I guess the technology of the time wasn't up to the task?

[@ocsrc]

@@Mrpinbologist that was my thought. Back then I don't think they had MIDI yet MIDI could have done it It was used to do themes, not that well, but it did it in the late 80s By the 90s they had wav files, but they needed a lot of ROM space 1 meg for 3 seconds of audio There were ways to shave some off that, like they did for game display using 2 colors They really knew how to code back then

[@williamchow1624]

Maybe it is time to invest in a tripod?

[@LyonsArcade]

Maybe it's time for you to watch the videos where I use a tripod?