Ok, got my first pin (Shaq Attack) now what ?

jacklick

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I just started doing a basement arcade a couple weeks ago and picked up my first pin this week. It is a Shaq Attack. I know, not a great theme and it needs some work but that is part of the reason I got it. I want to learn maintenance / restore activities on something other than a real collector's item or the brand new Tron Pro I am picking up this weekend.

Anyway, the game plays and works but after going through it more throughly, there are some things that need addressing. I probably overpaid by a couple hundred but after doing all this I will be a much wiser purchaser in the future.

1.) spinner doesn't spin or gets hung in position where the ball doesn't hit.
2.) has a couple burn't out bulbs. I actually replaced one already with a spare it came with.
3.) The service menu is acting weird. It appears both the right and left flippers doing the same thing in the service menu. I have to double check but am pretty sure during "Switch Edges Test" I hit left flipper and both the right and left flippers actuate. vice versa for right flipper.
4.) DMD works but has some some leds or lines of color (whatever it is called) burnt/ missing. Probably need new dmd
5.) have 3 solenoids not working (#13, #14, #17) Probably why back three dome lights don't light.
6.) playfield has some wear spots where it looks like mylar would pulled up and some paint with it? I can't tell because this is my first and I have no idea how it should look. I will include pictures of trouble area.
7.) bad splice job behind the speaker panel for back box fan power. Need to investigate this more.
8.) parts of light strip assembly are burnt out.

Is #1 item to clean and wax playfield and new balls? Then start on this list. Any other help is appreciated.

BTW, what would one pay for a non-working DMD 90's pin? All of the above is on a working one?
 
Ok, got my first pin (Shaq Attack) now what ?

I hate to say this but to answer your question I would NOT invest too much into it (time or money) and sell it.

I have owned almost 200 pinball machines, mostly DMD ones. Out of all the DMD games that I have owned (and I owned almost all of them) Shaq Attack is one of the worst.

It is a bad game and a hard game to sell. I bought one about 3 years ago (nearly mint) for $800 and had a hard time selling it for a cent higher than what I paid for it.
 
I hate to say this but to answer your question I would NOT invest too much into it (time or money) and sell it.

I have owned almost 200 pinball machines, mostly DMD ones. Out of all the DMD games that I have owned (and I owned almost all of them) Shaq Attack is one of the worst.

It is a bad game and a hard game to sell. I bought one about 3 years ago (nearly mint) for $800 and had a hard time selling it for a cent higher than what I paid for it.

Understand where you are coming from and appreciate your perspective. However, for me, I am not getting into this to get back my money. One can buy and sell stocks with a lot less effort, just as much chance at appreciation, they weight less, are easier to move, and the wife doesn't bitch about them.

I have a pin that I want to fix as best I can and learn a ton as I am doing it. Any thoughts on how to do that is appreciated.
 
The educational value you get out of this will be the same regardless of the title's desirability - I wouldn't worry about it. But yes, invest time into this one more than money. And enjoy your Tron!

Do you have the manual? Since this is Gottlieb, you have to get it from PBR - pbresource.com. Also other gottlieb-specific parts are going to have to come from him, unless you find used parts elsewhere. Note he puts common GTB Sys 3 parts here: http://www.pbresource.com/Stargate.html also some Shaq-specific things parts here: http://www.pbresource.com/pfplayf.htm

Inspect line cord. Check ALL fuses by pulling and checking for continuity (ohm setting on multi-meter) and inspect that amp ratings match fuse card or manual. I've never bought a machine that had proper fuses.

1 - inspect the spinner. Something (its axle, the frame) probably got bent.
2 - get light bulbs from PBR or anywhere (e.g. pinballlife.com, my fave online pinball merchant))
3 - not sure
4 - New display is $160; consider banging around using the old one. http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=164
5 - Dome lamp bulbs burned out? Try swapping with similar.
6 - not sure
7 - Fan in backbox? Not sure that is stock.
8 - bad bulbs? Try swapping with similar.

prices? I would take a look here for ebay price history and take anything you read there with a grain of salt:
http://bostonpinball.biz/ebay_112112.htm

Where in NOVA?
 
Thanks for the info, mcdefjef
Yes I have the the manual, it came with it. I am out by Dulles Airport.

Going to try and make the Fairfax pinball open tomorrow/Saturday.
 
I will preface this with the fact I am new to having HUO Pinballs.
Picked up my Tron Pro last night and now that I have it side by side w/ Shaq there are definitely differences in the way new and old games are made.

Shaq is built "beefier" and appears to be good game for novices. Playfield is thicker and playfield parts are robust; metal wire ramps, metal backboard that has held up well, no cracks or anything, and it was played a lot.
The game play is not super advanced but getting 4 ball multi-ball and completing all the modes is challenging enough that I haven't done it yet. It is easy to get 3 ball multi-ball which is great for the kids and recent vistor. The Shaq art is pretty bad but it has been a pleaser for all that have played it. My son called it Ugly! but enjoyed playing it. I am not regretting the purchase at this point. Maybe later,when I want to sell it, but a year or so of happy faces will be worth discount it sells for.
 
I have a shaq attaq as well and Live in MD Hit me up by pm if you need any help
 
Quick update upon further investigation

1.) spinner doesn't spin or gets hung in position where the ball doesn't hit.
I does appear to be bent. Haven't tried to fix yet but will soon

3.) The service menu is acting weird. It appears both the right and left flippers doing the same thing in the service menu. I have to double check but am pretty sure during "Switch Edges Test" I hit left flipper and both the right and left flippers actuate. vice versa for right flipper.
The tourment switch on Game Control Board doesn't do anything and during Switch Edge Test sw81 an sw82 both get hits when using either right or left fipper buttons. I am thinking it could be the Game Control Board or something corrupt in chips
4.) DMD works but has some some leds or lines of color (whatever it is called) burnt/ missing. Probably need new dmd
going to hold off on this for time being.
5.) have 3 solenoids not working (#13, #14, #17) Probably why back three dome lights don't light.
hmm have to check #17 again but #13, #14 are definitely burnt bulb issues.
6.) playfield has some wear spots where it looks like mylar would pulled up and some paint with it? I can't tell because this is my first and I have no idea how it should look. I will include pictures of trouble area.
Live and learn
7.) bad splice job behind the speaker panel for back box fan power. Need to investigate this more.
I believe what someone did here is use the power for the optional communications board and wire in a fan. Do GTB System3's run hot or something?
8.) parts of light strip assembly are burnt out.
yep lots of # 47 and 67 bulbs.

new things discovered. Wrong/no tip on plunger, missing top of plunger gate (hold for multiball), and I hope just missing a spring on the vari target.

Overall lots of little things but besides the wear spots on the playfield and DMD, everything is seems to be an easy fix.
Thanks for the comments.
 
This pin is driving me a bit crazy but I am learning a ton.

1) I still can't track down what is up w/ the left and right flipper sw 81 & 82. The flippers work fine (IOW the solenoids work and they flip) only when trying to navigate the diagnostics menu or select an in game mode selection, does it cause a problem. you choose left for 10 million and it selects right for extra ball (stuff like that). I think the sensor board is fine but beyond just replacing stuff not sure what else to try. Since both the game control board (tournament switch has no impact) and sensor boards go back to control board, I am leaning towards a control board problem or some short somewhere in the switch matrix returns (not sure how to track that down).

2) I found out why the top of all my LEDs don't work. Check this picture. Resistor 13 was burnt and previous person tried what looks like a terrible hack repair. I hope resoldering correct resistor on the correct side brings back to life.
IMG_20130308_071736.jpg


3) I tried to fix the spinner but no joy yet. It gets stuck in a position where it is horizontal to playing field.

4) troubleshooting Vari-Target. The solenoid release fires but the lever doesn't go all the way back to the start position.

Any suggestions, besides get rid of the game ;), appreciated.
 
Hmm. found this on pinwiki
http://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Gottlieb_System_3#Flipper_Sensor_Board

4.13.3 Flipper Sensor Board
If a flipper sensor board fails or malfunctions, the flippers will not be disabled. However, making selections in game test mode, bookkeeping, changing game adjustments, entering high score initials at the end of the game, and choosing selections during game play via the flippers will not be possible.
The components used on the sensor board are minimal. If a sensor board is suspected as the core of an issue, removing the board and testing the components on the board is recommended. Equally, bad grounds could be the source of why the sensor board is not properly working. Components on the sensor board need a logic ground to function properly. Make certain the ground on the board has continuity between it and the transformer panel's metal case located in the bottom of the cabinet. Pins 5 and 8 of the U1 (MCT6) optocoupler on the sensor board are the ground reference.

going to try test sensor board more throughly next.
 
Dang....pin 1 on connector A15P1 has good ground and so do pins 5 & 8 on U1 Optocoupler.

one thing I did notice is that pins 5 & 6 on A15P1 ( the returns from sensor board to control board) have continuity. In my head, this sounds bad but I am such a rookie am not sure.

to see diagram of the sensor board.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/70518128/IMG_20130308_152333.jpg
 
definitely feels like this is bad as no other returns have continuity with each other. By looking at schematic, I traced this and tested this at the control board connector as well. A1P5 pins 6 & 7 both have continuity and both have continuity pins 5 & 6 on A15P1 from sensor board.

control board schematic showing a1p5
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/70518128/IMG_20130308_164058.jpg

Let me know if I am on the right track and what the next step might be. Maybe find every switch that uses these returns?
 
2) I found out why the top of all my LEDs don't work. Check this picture. Resistor 13 was burnt and previous person tried what looks like a terrible hack repair. I hope resoldering correct resistor on the correct side brings back to life.
IMG_20130308_071736.jpg

Well finally got my soldering skills up to the point to attempt this repair. Since the pads where the resistor would normally be soldered too were completely burned up, I used the "legs"? (terminology alert) of resistor to act like a jumper wire. Gently scraped trace coating to get bare metal solder point. Probably not the best solution but it worked. I now have 10 of the 12 LED displays fully working.

IMG_20131209_140007.jpg

IMG_20131209_140049.jpg
 
Now to fix the DIG5 and DIG12.

I noticed both of the transistors (Q5 and Q12) had continuity between the 1st and 3rd legs which I believe is an indicator that they are bad.

I took transistor from Q10 and moved it to Q5 but no change. Open to ideas on how to proceed. Should I desolder D5 and R5 to test them? Should I try replace the DIG5 with DIG10 (known working)?

IMG_20131209_140911.jpg
 
ok now I am seriously making some progress. I found the switch error. woohoo!!

I saw that coin 2 and coin 3 were on the same returns that I was having problems and since they were easiest to look at, I started there. I disconnected the entire coupling and measured pins 6 & 7 at a1J5. No continuity so I knew the short between returns was somewhere there. reconnected coupler and just kept unplugging individual connectors until I found the culprit. Will go back and figure out exactly what was wrong but time to play my first shaq game with no switch errors.
 
Now to fix the DIG5 and DIG12.

I noticed both of the transistors (Q5 and Q12) had continuity between the 1st and 3rd legs which I believe is an indicator that they are bad.

I took transistor from Q10 and moved it to Q5 but no change. Open to ideas on how to proceed. Should I desolder D5 and R5 to test them? Should I try replace the DIG5 with DIG10 (known working)?

IMG_20131209_140911.jpg

if you have segments out I'd replace the whole digit along with the transistors and resistors. I found the digits on Newark.com. (been too long as I can't remember the part #).

also if you put the transistors on the back of the board you won't have to cut the tops of them off.

Here is a link to the led digits if you need them. http://www.newark.com/kingbright/sa...9Af2kNpD|pcrid|33870213261|plid|&CMP=KNC-GPLA
 
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if you have segments out I'd replace the whole digit along with the transistors and resistors. I found the digits on Newark.com. (been too long as I can't remember the part #).

also if you put the transistors on the back of the board you won't have to cut the tops of them off.

Here is a link to the led digits if you need them. http://www.newark.com/kingbright/sa...9Af2kNpD|pcrid|33870213261|plid|&CMP=KNC-GPLA

Thanks for the clue on where to get these from. I went ahead and ordered a handful of them, resistors and diodes from newark. Cost me more in shipping than parts but still less than $10 bucks, which is great.

Will have to get the transistors from Marco Specialties or Great Plains.
 
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ok now I am seriously making some progress. I found the switch error. woohoo!!

I saw that coin 2 and coin 3 were on the same returns that I was having problems and since they were easiest to look at, I started there. I disconnected the entire coupling and measured pins 6 & 7 at a1J5. No continuity so I knew the short between returns was somewhere there. reconnected coupler and just kept unplugging individual connectors until I found the culprit. Will go back and figure out exactly what was wrong but time to play my first shaq game with no switch errors.

I know I am basically documenting my own troubleshooting but maybe it will help others and t is sad it took me this long to figure it out. The knowledge I am gaining hopefully will help me w/ other games down the road.

Basically, the previous owner had strobe for coin #3 hooked up w/ strobe of coin #1 to left coin chute and return for coin#3 hooked up with return of coin#2 on right coin chute. There is no #3 coin chute on this particular game so the wires 522(green-red-red) and 622(blue-red-red) should not have been connected to anything.
 
if you have segments out I'd replace the whole digit along with the transistors and resistors. I found the digits on Newark.com. (been too long as I can't remember the part #).

also if you put the transistors on the back of the board you won't have to cut the tops of them off.

Here is a link to the led digits if you need them. http://www.newark.com/kingbright/sa...9Af2kNpD|pcrid|33870213261|plid|&CMP=KNC-GPLA

While kids were occupied w/ christmas gifts....
1) went ahead replaced the two bad transistors
2) tested resistor r5 and diode d5 by desoldering one side. Both tested good so soldered back in.
3) replaced dig5 and dig12, both were completely out and associated with bad transistors Q5 and Q12
4) replaced dig10 which had one segment out

this is the result.
IMG_20131225_121439.jpg
 
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