World Cup 94... Picked up my Grail Need Help

TimmyFnD

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So I finally got my Pinball Grail World Cup 94 today but I am having some issues. I already have replaced the display as there was no picture at all. Now at boot up the display switches from "Bookeeping Totals Cleared" and Factory Settings Restored." It will not allow me to go into test mode or anything else. Please help.
 
Batteries are dead and/or battery holder is crap and needs replaced. Otherwis you should be able to press the left black button on the service panel to get into test mode if needed. After you replace the batteries you'll need to set the time and date and all that jazz.
 
Yeah the batteries looked to be pretty corroded I will include a picture to let you see what I am talking about. Will I cause any more damage by keeping the machine on with the batteries looking like this?
 

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Do I technically need to have this board to play the game? Also what is the best way to clean it? Here is a picture of it without the batteries in it. Finally where would I go to get one of these remote battery holders. Sorry for so many questions this is my first pinball and I am really excited.
 

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remove the batterys and clean up all the acid make sure you get everything. If you don'nt it could come back.

Did buy the game this way? Where you not able too ever play it? Or did the seller have the machine on allready when you got there?
 
I bought the machine as no working, so I really had no idea what problems it had. Like I said this machine is my "grail" its really the first pinball that I ever remember playing and in the Chicagoland area I have never seen one sold for under $1900 working so I took a chance on this machine for $750 and hoped that I wouldnt run into anything to crazy that would cost an arm and a leg. I know its a gamble but thats who I am.

Btw: The other reason why I was willing to take the gamble is that the outside of the art is almost perfect. Only one little area where there is some chipping. I will post pictures later on of the side art.

What is the best way to clean the acid up?
 
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READ THE GUIDE lol, it is the pinball bible, especially for a newbie...it tells you everything you want to know

A battery gone bad on a WPC game. Note the
white "fur" on the bottom of the battery, and
how it has corroded the chip and socket below it.
The battery holder, chip and socket must all be
replaced. Also the board must be washed with a
mixture of 50/50 water and white vinegar (a mild
acid) to neutralize the alkaline battery, and then
rised with water. After drying, the corroded areas are
sanded clean to the bare copper traces, and the
components replaced. If the board isn't washed with
this vinegar solution, the corrosion will return.
 
You got it for a great price. If it boots at all and is partially working, you can absolutely get it 100% with the pinrepair guides, the info here, and especially rec.games.pinball.
 
I'd like to see pictures of that game before commenting on the price you paid. WCS94's are usually $1200-$1500. MAkes me wonder if you got a great deal because it's "non working" or if there's other things not real savy. Post some pics! If you don;t want to that's ok as well. Just be happy with your purchase and enjoy the game. It's one of my favorites.
 
There are probably a few basic things you may want to do to get the game working.

First priority is to neutralize the acid damage from the batteries - as others have said.

Next, I'd find out more about this particular game. Is it an import? Does it have a 2-coin door or a 3-coin door? Does the sticker on the back indicate it ran on 220/240v or 110/120vac? See if you can figure that out - this will give you some insight into how much mileage may be on the machine.

You should take a bunch of pictures and post them for everyone online to see - they can look over the pictures and those more familiar with the game can spot problems and/or missing parts you might not be aware of.

If you're anxious to get the game running what you should try first is:

* check all the fuses to make sure they're good (use a multimeter set on continuity - the best way is to pull each fuse but and test it, but you can do a preliminary test with the fuses in - be careful when pulling fuses because you can damage the solder joints on the board.)

* check all connectors and make sure they're snug. Pay close attention to the lower left connectors for the GI lighting on the main driver board. These are often charred because there's a design flaw that has more voltage going through the GI circuit than is ideal given the type of connectors. You can compensate for this by replacing GI bulbs with LEDs, removing some of them, changing a few system settings to reduce the GI illumination level, and not leaving the machine on for extended periods of time, but first you want to check for damage in that spot - often machines will have wires directly soldered onto pins on the connectors.

The next step is to see what happens when the game tries to start-up. If the machine has seen a lot of activity and varying environments, I'd bet the BRs on the driver board and their associated caps should probably be replaced.
 
Alright as I said earlier in the thread I did purchase this from ebay from one of those Sell It Now stores. Here is a link to the auction as there are a lot of pictures: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230518507429&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT . If anyone would like to see anything else on the machine or a more in-depth picture please let me know.

Now for an update on the machine itself: When I first got it home and turned it on all I got was a few lights but nothing else. The display wasn't showing anything, there was no sound coming form the machine, it would not go into test mode, and it wasn't coining up. I have a friend who has a few pinball's of his own but he doesn't work on them however he had a spare display board so I figured why not give that a try at first. Sure enough the new display worked perfectly fine. That's when I was getting the message "Bookkeeping Totals Cleared" and Factory Settings Restored." I have already removed the battery board so it won't cause any other damage to the machine. Now if I leave the game on for 5 or 7 minutes it will constantly flash between the two messages and finally it will go into game play. As far as I can tell I have quite a few light bulbs out, an extremely dirty playfield, and the spinner soccer ball does not look to be original but not sure. Otherwise the machine plays games perfectly fine.

The game has a two coin door and the sticker at the back of the machine says it's a 120 volts.
Once again thanks for all the help so far please keep it coming. Is there a particular repair guide I should look into getting over the others?
 
The game will continue to come up with that error message until you repair/replace the battery holder. To get by it open the coin door and click the enter button I think. Or just coin up the game and it will bypass it. Since the batteries don't work you wont be able to keep it on freeplay unless you change the settings every single time.
 
Well she's diiiiiiirrrtttyy! The good news is - that playfield was clearcoated so you'll need to tear the metal rails off, plastic ramps off, the pop bumper caps off and all the PF rubbers so you can use simple green to clean the grime off. As long as the major crap comes off then get yourself some NOVUS #2 and extensively clean the playfield with that. When that's done then use NOVUS #1 and once again extensively clean that. That thing will shine like hell.

The ramps you can wash with soapy water. When dry NOVUS 2 the plastic ramps.
As far as the rusty ramp flap - I dunno. Steel wool/brillo pad that thing.

Since you have to tear it down order yourself a full Cliffy protector kit. http://passionforpinball.com

When I did the work to mine the damn wires to optos broke their solder joints and the goalie wouldn't register a shot. Don;t be suprised if that happens to you.

Also fairly common is the gaolie himself doesn't register shots. You'll find a diode behind him will either not be soldered on anymore and/or the wire lead will have broken off. Oddly enough when I turned mine on it didn;t "bong" at me showing an error but yet the goalie was screwed up.

In the pictures it appears "I could be wrong" but it appears the second connector on the bottom left "big board" appears to be burned. Common issue and you need to replace that connector as well.

This game absolutely SUCKS to work on. To change the rubbers out is a major hassle! Lookie what you get to do! lol
 
Alright I feel kind of stupid to have to ask this but I want to make sure I dont damage the machine, am I suppose to be using the simple green on the playfield or on the parts that you said to take off first? I already have used Novus 2 on some of the playfield and the areas that I have done so far are looking better but not awesome.

Once again what Pinball Guide is everyone one talking about that I need to read.

Finally does that protector kit effect gameplay and does everyone suggest to go with that as well?

Thanks again.
 
It's obvious from the rust on the playfield and inside the cabinet on the transformer that the game has been in the rain or otherwise got soaked somehow. That said, I don't see why it couldn't be cleaned up, I don't see anything major wrong with it. Mine was dirtier when I got it and it cleaned up really nicely. I sold it for $1750 so I'd say you got a good deal.

Wade
 
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