No lights on a Rollercoaster tycoon playfield...

GameyMcGame

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I'm thinkng about buying a rollercoaster tycoon...I just got back from playing it and the lights on the playfield dont seem to work at all...the lights in/on bumpers do, as do ramp lights etc...I gotta believe that ALL the bulbs on the playfield cant be burned out...Right? What do you think is going on here? I have no idea, I dont own a single pin and dont want to jump into one that has major issues. Thanks!
 
GI = general illumination

It shouldn't be too hard of a fix, and if it significantly lowers the cost of the pin, you might be getting a good deal there.
 
I'd love to have a RCT. If you don't want it or don't think you can handle the repair, then pass the deal on to someone else. If their price was right, I'd buy it and have it shipped.
 
I'd love to have a RCT. If you don't want it or don't think you can handle the repair, then pass the deal on to someone else. If their price was right, I'd buy it and have it shipped.

Well, I guess thats what I'm trying to figure out here...How big is the issue. Best case, worse case. You know?

Also, what do you guys think is reasonable, he wants $900 for it...
 
Let's get clear here:
Do you mean the physical lights you can see? These are called GI lights and provide the basic illumination so that you can see the action on the playfield.

Then there are the inserts. These are the colored circles on the playfield that light up. If none of these are lighting up, then the issue might be more difficult.

Personally, I wouldn't recommend you dive head first into a game that has a main board with SMD devices and is extra complex. I started on a Gottlieb System 1, and the knowledge I gained translates to DMD games. I just didn't have to worry about effing up a very valuable game.
If I would have bought a $1k+ machine to start on, I would have been too terrified of breaking or losing something to even mess with it.
 
I did a bit of looking on RGP, and it appears to be a fuse issue. The same problem was reported on pretty much every Whitestar board revision title.
 
lights on a Rollercoaster tycoon playfield...

I would say you have a loose wire of a cable somewhere or a Main Fuse for those out.

You should be able too run a system test should tell you if something is not working right.

I would still say this is a great deal on a newer Stern .
 
Don't let their tech look at it. It's probably a fuse, but the fuse could have blown because of a short. Around here people will "shop" games for about $300. Just pay the $900 and pay someone to shop it, if you can find someone who'll do it for $300 you have it for $1,200. I just sold one, but I'd jump on this in an instant.
 
I picked up one of these for $600 with the same problem. But I am willing to bet the cause was different. Mine was a reimport, and had a Euro Transformer in it. So, they hacked it up to make it work, but for whatever reason the thing failed for putting out voltage to the GI. I ended up buying a proper Transformer and made the adjustments to change the voltages to the proper US standard and then all my underneath playfield lights fired up.

If you have a chance and the machine is still in nice shape, pick it up for that price. At the very least youll have a machine you can play and also get your money back on if you sell it. If they are in good shape, they can easily fetch $1500-$1750.
 
In other words, you just lost out on the deal because you didn't act promptly. I'd bet money that you have officially blew it.

Right, because I'm an idiot.

Before I explain though, Shardian...How MUCH money would you like to back that bet up with? :)

---sigh----

The owner had no idea the pin had issues when he offered it at $900. I pointed out that it was broken and he said he'd have his tech look at it or I could take it as is.


Deal is locked and loaded. For a grand total of $975, they are going to fix it, clean it and make sure everything is working 100%.
 
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