My new to me ARENA.

Thanks for that!

I did a brief check and it doesn't look like TNT ground mod was done yet, so I'll need to dive into that.
 
I did a brief check and it doesn't look like TNT ground mod was done yet, so I'll need to dive into that.

I'm gonna swim against the tide here and say that the ground mods that many experienced people consider to be "necessary" for these games are... not really necessary.

With all of the System 80 games, my approach is to get all of the card edge connectors clean and shiny (very fine emery cloth or sandpaper works well), treat each connector with contact cleaner, and then reseat each connector a few times. For added peace of mind, I then ohm out the ground and power circuits from board to board.

Nothing wrong with doing the ground mods recommended by various sources... but I feel the need for them is overstated. In any case, solving issues with the original connections should be your starting point.

Enjoy your game!
 
I'm gonna swim against the tide here and say that the ground mods that many experienced people consider to be "necessary" for these games are... not really necessary.

With all of the System 80 games, my approach is to get all of the card edge connectors clean and shiny (very fine emery cloth or sandpaper works well), treat each connector with contact cleaner, and then reseat each connector a few times. For added peace of mind, I then ohm out the ground and power circuits from board to board.

Nothing wrong with doing the ground mods recommended by various sources... but I feel the need for them is overstated. In any case, solving issues with the original connections should be your starting point.

Enjoy your game!
I'm going to have to respectfully disagree. The consensus of doing the grounding mod is to correct some bad engineering on these boards. Yes, you should make sure the edge connectors are clean. But, part of the problem is that there is only one ground connection between the cabinet ground and power supply. If there is any resistance on that, it may cause the voltages to drift. If the voltage drift, gets high enough, the solenoid drivers can start to conduct and lock the playfield coils and burn them up pretty quick.
If I remember correctly. The ground goes from the power supply through a connector to the MPU board, on only 2 wires to a single sided edge connector. Through the MPU board to another connector to the driver board, through the driver board to yet another edge connector and on to the sound board (and maybe another? Depending on game) Either way, having the ground daisy chained this way is just asking for trouble down the road. For 1, multiple fail points and 2 like above, if any tarnishing or bad connector contact, this will cause the grounds on each of the boards to be at a different potential. Again, may cause the drive transistors to conduct and lock the coils.
Gottlieb sys80 games can be very reliable. Remember, these games were never built to last and to maximize profits, they skimped on some engineering aspects to get them out the door quick. Mistakes were made and there are corrections.
I highly recommend doing the ground mod. Just my $.02 Congrats on getting a pin and enjoy.
 
If I remember correctly. The ground goes from the power supply through a connector to the MPU board, on only 2 wires to a single sided edge connector. Through the MPU board to another connector to the driver board, through the driver board to yet another edge connector and on to the sound board (and maybe another? Depending on game) Either way, having the ground daisy chained this way is just asking for trouble down the road.

The ground connections are not daisy chained through the different boards... each has its own discrete connection back to earth ground. Some boards have one wire, some (control and sound) have two. The driver board has the one main ground connection shown here (A3J5-3), plus a bunch more for the various groups of lamps and coils, all of which go back to earth via A12P3 and P4.

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[This is from the Genesis manual (80B)... as far as I know, all System 80 games are similar.]

The only daisy chaining of ground is between the sound board and aux power supply... but that's a redundant connection, as each board has its own separate wire going to earth.
 
I appreciate both of your inputs. I wanted to share too that Todd T. said there had been a single sevice bulletin on this by Gottlieb BITD. He said that few people acted on it :(
 
There was an old beat up Arena in my hometown movie theater game room. Cabinet was pretty beat up. Most of the G.I. lighting was out, it was dirty as hell, etc.It was still there back in about 2007 or so and I would bet it's still probably up there collecting dust to this day. They closed off the game room about 10 to 12 years ago and no one's been up there since.

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I've only had this pin for 2 weeks as of today, but I'm sure we've played over 100 games on it already. Sadly it has no coin counter so I can't say for sure, but I play 5-10 games of it by myself every time I turn it on. So great to be back in the land of the silver ball!
 
Added 4 purple 1smd bulbs from Comet into the multiplier slots, and I like 'em! Wife wants me to add more like at the LOK location up top, I'll have to ponder on that. They definitely make the rest of the playfield look dimmer than Pee Wee's adult theater, though!

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My new translite also arrived today. I was on the fence about installing it so fast, as the other one still looked nice in my eyes. I decided to put the old and new side by side, and the first thing to smack me in the face was the difference in the Gottlieb logo!!! After seeing that, I quickly swapped it out. The purple hues in the new one also match the new purple leds!!

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I added purple leds to the LOK in the upper left to match those in the multiplier area, and they really look good! There's also some purple in the new translite so it works well. The LOK actually came from the wife. She definitely called it!20250808_112601.jpg
 
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