I'm swapping a NOS playfield into my Jurassic Park machine. I figured I'd document the process here in case anyone is interested. I'm making no guarantees on how long this will take, this is the first time I've done this.
I'm keeping track of what I've done, when, and how much time it is taking. I figured it would be nice to know at the end how long this took.
What I plan on doing:
-Playfield swap and cleaning of all items above and under the playfield.
-Interior cabinet cleaning, including all wires and components. The exterior is in nice shape and doesn't need work other than maybe a few small touch ups.
-Patch and repaint the inside cabinet area above the playfield. It is scratched from lifting the playfield.
-Remove, clean, and repaint the coin door
-Cleaning inside the backbox, but no removal of PCBs or other components
Time for pics.
The old:
The new:
Inside the cabinet:
What I've done so far:
You can pretty much see what I've done from the pics, but most of the upper playfield items have been removed. The main things left are the posts and rubber, and a few electrical connections for some lighting. There are a couple of coils that need to be unsoldered and removed.
Of course the playfield has been removed from the cabinet.
I also cleaned the wiring that goes up and into the backbox. Talk about filthy. This took an hour and I probably still have more work to do. And I haven't cleaned any of the wiring under the playfield.
Some thoughts:
One thing I didn't realize is that there isn't a simple way to disconnect the playfield wiring and remove it. I had to unplug the connectors from the boards in the backbox and snake everything out. I guess now that I think about it, that makes sense. Putting in extra connectors is an added expense, more labor, and another thing that can go wrong.
It is also amazing how dirty the inside of a cabinet can get. All the wiring, everywhere, is also filthy, so I'm cleaning it because it stinks to have your hands get black every time you need to move something. Then you have to go clean up your hands before you work on something else.
The underside of the playfield is intimidating. I imagine that after I get in the midst of it I'll not have any problems. But there sure is a lot of stuff to unhook and move.
Any tips or words of encouragement are appreciated!
Total time to date: 4 hours
I'm keeping track of what I've done, when, and how much time it is taking. I figured it would be nice to know at the end how long this took.
What I plan on doing:
-Playfield swap and cleaning of all items above and under the playfield.
-Interior cabinet cleaning, including all wires and components. The exterior is in nice shape and doesn't need work other than maybe a few small touch ups.
-Patch and repaint the inside cabinet area above the playfield. It is scratched from lifting the playfield.
-Remove, clean, and repaint the coin door
-Cleaning inside the backbox, but no removal of PCBs or other components
Time for pics.
The old:
The new:
Inside the cabinet:
What I've done so far:
You can pretty much see what I've done from the pics, but most of the upper playfield items have been removed. The main things left are the posts and rubber, and a few electrical connections for some lighting. There are a couple of coils that need to be unsoldered and removed.
Of course the playfield has been removed from the cabinet.
I also cleaned the wiring that goes up and into the backbox. Talk about filthy. This took an hour and I probably still have more work to do. And I haven't cleaned any of the wiring under the playfield.
Some thoughts:
One thing I didn't realize is that there isn't a simple way to disconnect the playfield wiring and remove it. I had to unplug the connectors from the boards in the backbox and snake everything out. I guess now that I think about it, that makes sense. Putting in extra connectors is an added expense, more labor, and another thing that can go wrong.
It is also amazing how dirty the inside of a cabinet can get. All the wiring, everywhere, is also filthy, so I'm cleaning it because it stinks to have your hands get black every time you need to move something. Then you have to go clean up your hands before you work on something else.
The underside of the playfield is intimidating. I imagine that after I get in the midst of it I'll not have any problems. But there sure is a lot of stuff to unhook and move.
Any tips or words of encouragement are appreciated!
Total time to date: 4 hours
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