My STTNG Repair Log Videos

SaminVA

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Hello all you STTNG pinball fan's
I acquired my STTNG pinball back in 2003. Wow I just realized I have had this game for 10 years now. My how time flies. When I got the game I gave it a good cleaning, replaced the batteries, blown bulbs, rubber rings and bumpers and for the most part it has been trouble free ever sense with only minor repairs along the way. June of 2011 I rebuilt the flippers, the upper right flipper was sticking so I rebuilt all 3 wile I was at it. Things were going good till a couple months ago. Wile I was playing a game it started doing weird things and seemed to even reset once. I had a sinking suspicion what the problem was, I could not remember when I last changed the batteries on the CPU. Space is kind of tight in the game room which makes it almost impossible to get into the back box. So I moved some games around to make some room so I could get into the back box and my suspicion was confirmed. Battery corrosion damage to the CPU. It wasn't too bad if their is such a thing and the game had also developed a few other problems before it succumbed to the battery damage so it was time for an intervention. I decided to video my findings and repairs and make a video repair log. I have uploaded the first video dealing with repairing the CPU battery damage and will soon have a few more videos ready detailing the other repairs. I also have a new laser cannon mod which is next on the list and I have ordered the new Color DMD kit which should be here next Thursday so I plain an install video of that as well.
Here's the first video, it's long and provably boring to most unless you have a pinball game with battery damage and don't have a clue where to begin so I hope it will be of some help to someone.
More to come.
 
The fourth video shows how to upgrade the CPU ROM from burning the new ROM to installing it.

UPS delivered a package today :)
Color DMD in the house :dance3:
 
Video #5 shows installing a Cliffy Neutral Zone Protector and Laser Cannon kit. As an added bonus wile installing the Laser Cannon kit I discovered both of my sling shot switches had broken the rivets that hold the switch to the bracket. I had not noticed they had broken loose because to my surprise they were still working. The video shows how I replaced the rivets with socket head screws and lock nuts. I think every STTNG should have the Cliffy Neutral Zone Protector and Laser Cannon kit.
The next video will show installing the new color DMD. :D

 
Ok video #6
I received my Color DMD kit and this has to be the best modification for the STTNG to date.
It was very simple to install so I decided to video the process. The color DMD looks and works great and is a must have for any STTNG owner.
Here is the link to the video

Before I installed the color DMD kit I was still having one issue with my game. Sometimes it would lose a ball or fail to divert it to the correct location. I thought I had this problem fixed, one of the diverters was sticking and now it's freed up and working in test. I have checked all my opto's and they are all working. I have also noticed the cannon motors sometimes slow down. It did this before I installed the cannon laser kit and the upper right flipper was weak and sticking but I rebuilt all the flippers and everything seemed to be working except for the lost ball sometimes. The problems seem to come and go but sense I installed the color DMD when the problem shows up it seems to be a little worse with the upper right flipper too weak to bat the ball. I believe this is a 12 volt unregulated power problem which I think supplies the 12 volt power to the opto's, cannon motors and laser mod as well as power for the color dmd. That might explain the problem with the flippers and diverters as they use the opto's. The power driver board is all original so I suspect it could use new bridge rectifiers and filter caps which I have on order. I did a search and found a few other people having power problems after installing the color dmd in their STTNG over on Pinside forums. So I will start with bridge rectifiers and filter caps and go from their. I will post here when I find the cause and solution. Maybe another video?
 
Enjoyed your videos as I'm modding my sttng pin also.

I've added the cliffy protectors for the neutral zone and the catapult, complete noflix led kit for the playfield, custom cards on the apron, transparent button illuminated with blue leds plus new rom.

Cheers
 
Nice vids Sam,

#6 is just what I was looking for. I have my color DMD, just waiting for my LX-7 Rom to arrive.

So far I have replaced 95% of the bulbs with LED's including the back box. I think I have the most colorful back box around.

Lighted Klingon, Romulan and Enterpise mod ships.

Custom Apron cards.

and of couse the color DMD will be installed soon.
 

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THanks for the videos. I am also gearing up to finally start modding my STTNG and i'm sure some of these will come in handy. Did you guys use kits for your leds or put together your own?
 
I bought a bunch of ablaze 4 ways and did my own color scheme. The only complaint I have is the orange inserts come out kinda dull with orange LEDS. I would use bright whites under all the orange inserts.

I did the mission inserts in purple, Borg ship with blues and greens both inside and underneath, green under the romulan and klingon ships.
 

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I bought a bunch of ablaze 4 ways and did my own color scheme. The only complaint I have is the orange inserts come out kinda dull with orange LEDS. I would use bright whites under all the orange inserts.

I did the mission inserts in purple, Borg ship with blues and greens both inside and underneath, green under the romulan and klingon ships.

VideoRob, very cool, I might look into some LED's for the Borg ship if nothing else.
I read some where about LED Ghosting and they have a program patch to fix the problem?
I am kinda new when it comes to LED's in pins. Some love them and some hate them.
I also wonder how the shaker motor mod would be. I have never played a pin with a shaker motor but it sounds cool.
 
VideoRob, very cool, I might look into some LED's for the Borg ship if nothing else.
I read some where about LED Ghosting and they have a program patch to fix the problem?
I am kinda new when it comes to LED's in pins. Some love them and some hate them.
I also wonder how the shaker motor mod would be. I have never played a pin with a shaker motor but it sounds cool.

There is a patch to fix ghosting but I just buy non ghosting led's

I'll try and take a pic or two of the entire playfield so you can compare LED vs Reg bulbs....I love led's. They make the game pop and look "clean" for lack of a better word.
 
Video #7
Replacing the Bridge Rectifiers and Filter Capacitors on the Williams Star Trek The Next Generation pinball Power Driver Board
After the last video, installing the Color DMD, I found out my 12 volt unregulated power supply on the Power Driver Board was only putting out 10.5 volts. This was causing slow cannon motors, weak upper right flipper and ball diverter problems all related to low voltage to the opto switches. Everything on the board looked original so it was time to overhaul the Power Driver Board. Even though I only had a problem with the 12 volt unregulated section I figured wile I had it out I should replace all 5 bridge rectifiers and filter capacitors. So here is my video showing the process from start to finish. The new parts restored my 12 volt power supply and all is well again. :D

 
Again a great vid. Do you happen to have a list of caps replaced?

I replaced all 5 bridge rectifiers and filter caps which are all the same. I got mine from Pinball Life but their are many places you can get them from. I ordered the 35 amp 600 volt rectifier bridges which the originals were 35 amp @ 200 volts and 15,000uf 35 volt caps which the originals were 25 volts.
Pinball Life part numbers
Bridge Rectifier - 35amp 600volt - KBPC3506W
Capacitor - 15,000uf 35v - pbl_5040-12313-00
 
Here is video #8 Repairing another Ball Diverter problem
In my 3rd video I fixed a sticky ball diverter which supply's the balls to the left gun and the VUK. The other diverter seemed ok so I left it alone but after cleaning and testing all the opto switches which were all working I still had a problem. Sometimes the game would get mixed up and loose a ball. I noticed sometimes the right cannon would never load a ball and in Battle simulation sometimes the ball would be released from the VUL instead of loading into the cannon. Also after the game was over the game would keep ejecting a ball out of the VUK and launching it over and over. Sometimes it would cycle 5 or 6 balls before one would finally load in the right cannon. When the ball dropped into the subway I could hear the diverter energize and the ball rolling, then the ball would stop and the diverter would cut off and the ball would start rolling again. When this happened the ball would end up at the VUK instead of the right cannon popper. I decided to put a video camera under the play field to see what was happening that caused the ball to stop. Turned out to be the diverter arm was swinging out too far into the subway for the ball to pass though and was catching the ball. When the arm retracted the ball would drift back and roll past the turn straight into the left VUK. The fix was as simple as loosening up the 2 set screws and moving the diverter arm back just enough to give the ball clearance between the subway wall and the diverter arm. You can see video of the diverters and how they work in game play in my video. The game is now working 100% so next it will get a good cleaning and new rubbers.

 
I finally got around to cleaning my playfield and installing new rubber rings and bumpers. No video this time but I wish I had because I found a broken off screw on the playfield, the one on the right out lane, and I did a search to find the best way to deal with this issue but found very little. The best 2 basic methods, one was to punch it thought the bottom and replace with a blind nut and machine screw or drill it out and plug the hole with a wood plug and drill a new hole for a screw. I saw one post that said to drill a hole in the center and drive a small screwdriver in it and back it out. I thought how can you drill a hole in a #6 screw? Well I decided to just drill a new hole next to the broken screw and angle it so it would fit. I got my drill bit set out and it had some very small bits so I thought maybe I can drill a hole in the center of the screw so I first used a .042 bit and used the hole in the metal lane guard as a guide and I managed to get the hole started close to the center. I then switched to a .043 bit and drilled the hole just deep enough so I could drive a T5 torx driver in the hole and I then backed the broken screw out with no problem. I found a new screw and I was back in business.
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I also had the right bumper post at the base of the Alpha ramp that the top screw had rung off. I had a new post and needed to install it so I could put my ramp protector back on. Little did I know what I was getting into. I lifted the playfield up and looked for the nut that holds that post on and I could not even see it. I had to remove the subway and a metal bracket to get to that nut. O well the subway was dirty and needed a good cleaning so off it came.
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I also replaced the 4 red lane guards as 3 had broken sides that would cause the ball to hang up once in a wile.
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So finally here's another video, #9 Replacing a Bent Side Rail and Back Box Hinge
I bought this game back in 2003 so I have had it for 10 years now and when I got it the right side rail and back box hinge were bent. Every time I looked at that bend I told myself man I got to fix that one day. Well that day finally came even if it did take 10 years.
This was the first time removing and installing a side rail so give me a break and don't laugh when I break out the crowbars. It might not have gone according to plain but it worked out in the end. It may not show the best way to remove and install the side rail but it will give you an idea what's involved.
 

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