powerflash franken pachi

[mudfud]

well...

powerflash with peeling cell = 1 traded slot machine (? value)
LEDs from IKEA = $50
acrylic sheet = $100
misc screws, broken bits, etc. = $40
EL panels and inverter = $70
quality time with dad = priceless

hours of fun = priceless

[luckydog]

i estimate labor alone will run about

Spoiler

$28,800.00

[mudfud]

here's frankie with the EL panels. they are very cool! bright, thin, even flexible. only downside is that the inverter has a hum.

I bought 2 - 4 x 6 inch panels, but will order a 3rd to put at the lower part of the ball path, so you can see the balls hit the lower solenoid switches.

off to goop the LED bars in place.

[Ikaria]

That looks great! Excellent work!!

[mudfud]

frankie's latest video. shows the blinking LEDs

YouTube - franken10.dv

p.s. if anyone's interested in EL stuff, glowhut.com has been a great vendor. quick to respond to emails, and very fast ship (like 1 day, but I am also in CA). prices aren't super cheap, but EL is pretty expensive still. they have cable and sheets, some for use in cars, too...

[mudfud]

wiring update

the 3rd EL panel came, and that is in place in the lower cell.

I wired up the transformer, sourcing it from the LED power input and tested the solenoid/tulip setup... it works the evil yellow tulips snaps everything shut. the top pocket opens them all like it should.

now, next thing is to wire up the lights, so my options are to just add a 9 volt circuit and leave the bulbs as they are; or, since I already have a cord running to this monster for the LEDs and EL panels, and spare 17 and 20 volt outputs from the transformer, to use a bridge rectifier to make the AC into DC (17 minus 1.4 is 16 volts, a little high) for the jackpot and low ball lamps and change the bulbs to some 12 volt LED screw-in's that I bought a while back. might have to add another resistor to drop current to the LEDs a tad more.

it is also possible to drive the LEDs with AC, where they will only conduct 1/2 of the cycle, but they will flicker at 60 hz, which might not be too visible for the quick jackpot lights.

main things left are the ball in-flow from the top (clear funnel? wooden box with chute out the back into the hopper?) and the ball out-flow at the bottom (was thinking to have angled shelf to catch balls and a round hole with a small door to let them out into a ball box on the side)

hoping to finish this week

[CoventryCat86]

i estimate labor alone will run about

Spoiler

$28,800.00

LOL! Too funny!

Chewy, this is the first time I've actually read your whole thread and as everyone else had already said, WOW, your frankenpachi is absolutely incredible!

[new in town]

My Dear, when it comes to Building a Franken Pachi, YOU ARE ! ! !

The Franken Pachi Evil Woman ! ! !

[mudfud]

getting close to the finish now.

today's adventure was lots of wiring and routing wiring.

I decided to use the already rectified 20 vdc that powers the solenoids for the lights, too. usually this is 10 vac, but I planned on 12 vdc LED screw-in bulbs, so I thought I could get away with a quick flash at 20 volts.

opened the J box up and soldered the plus and minus from the diode bridge to the plus and minus lugs for 10 volts.

added another bulb in parallel to the jackpot bulb, usually the king in the right upper corner, so there will be a flash in the center jackpot mechanism too. there is conveniently located a couple places to tuck bulbs there on nishijin B's. I used the one that is in the center of the circle of balls. wired into the white and orange wires that come from the king light bulb.

cleaned and straightened the leaf switch contacts and at first did not get any power to the lights... the fuse contacts were corroded, so had to clean them and the brass contacts.

the machine is working about 90% now. still bending nails here and there. had to put a small washer behind the green spinners, since they weren't quite far enough out and sometimes were catching the balls.

still occasionally get balls sticking in a couple tulips and behind them on the lever switches, but I can see exactly where they are stuck and work on them.

the flipper was not feeding well, and i have had this issue on other nishijins. seems that the feeder seesaw that regulates the balls flowing in from the tray had a sticky pivot and was not keeping up with me. I cleaned the axle and the brass bushing and it's fine now.

for now, I am using a stainless mud pan (cheap at harbor freight) to catch the balls (a mouse pad to keep it quieter). this flares well with a thin lip so I can pour the balls into the gap between the tray and the acrylic case.

I still haven't decided if I want to make a funnel for the top, or make an acrylic hopper, or what.

I stuck the parlor expiration sticker and the circular nagoya emblems back on in the corners, so things look more authentic.

last thing I did today was to repair the S in Super Deluxe. it must have gotten knocked off at some point. I used epoxy putty again and formed the bottom S loop. will paint it orange and use a sharpy marker for the black top lettering. (first picture is from my first PF)

I will probably get the paint set out and touch up some plastics tomorrow.

almost there... let's see, it's been 6-7 weeks now? that's not too bad, considering I had to drive up to sac'to to use the milling machine.

once I am done banging around and slipping with screw drivers, I will completely unveil her... maybe this weekend?

[CoventryCat86]

WOW, those have to be some of the clearest, close up photos I've ever seen.

I have pretty nice Sony digital camera and it seems I can never get good close ups like that.

[mudfud]

the latest video is here

YouTube - franken11.dv

WOW, those have to be some of the clearest, close up photos I've ever seen.

I have pretty nice Sony digital camera and it seems I can never get good close ups like that.

hey CCat,

I have to hunt a lot to find camera that will do close macro for my work (in the ER, taking pictures of wounds and such). my lastest find is this canon sd780, was under $200 before Xmas and advertised at lots of places. it's tiny and takes real close macros automatically (don't have to switch modes). for quick closeups, I like it more than my panasonic GH1 (a sorta dslr thing that costs lots of money to shoot HDV through the lens), where I have to back up at least 2 feet and then zoom back in.

I try to keep closeups of all the projects that I do, so later I can review without tearing everything down again.

[mudfud]

visible powerflash unveiled, I couldn't wait.

I took all the paper off, pix from all sides.

the wires showing from the bottom front look kinda messy. anyone have a good cards or royal flush graphic? thought I would print something like that on opaque paper and stick it down there... or maybe pachinko in japanese?

got some good play time in today with only a few more "problem" areas to unstick.

the thinner cell piece means there is not enough room for the tulip boxes in the back. this means that the plastic solenoid cover with the tracks and lever switches is sitting an 1/8 inch away from the cell back. mostly this is OK, except where the long yellow tulip switches are located. the levers are too narrow and the balls get stuck between the lever and the cell back surface. sooo... after pondering for a couple days, I am going to open up the whole back and make wider paddles on the levers, so the balls can't slip by. while I am back there, I will carve off a bit of acrylic on the T bird's left wing (not angled enough for smooth ball flow) and the bottom of the trough to the right of the Tbird body (where in the original they had a metal angle plate, or glue the plate back for authenticity)

I am collecting parts and drawing designs for my next pachi monster. this time an arepachi type machine. will have some serious engineering to figure out for this one. back to the drawing board!

[Moparformances]

can you jsut cut the extra wire and resolder them back together??? just make all that wire shorter?

and if i have not said it recently

freaking AMAZING

[pinball wizard]

can you jsut cut the extra wire and resolder them back together??? just make all that wire shorter?

and if i have not said it recently

freaking AMAZING

yeah ,just shorten the wires
way cool !

[JACKSJE4]

Absolutely OUTSTANDING!!!

You have done an excellent job not only for your vision, rescuing an important pachi and actually completing the project, but also for documenting your progress along the way and making us all feel like we were right there beside you at every step. That is truly an outstanding, unique and AWSOME Pachinko machine you have!!!

I formally nominate Chewy to be inducted into the PachiTalk Hall of Fame!!

Jeff

[Lt Teddy]

Now Chewy that you are done fixing up that old wreck, and it was a wreck maybe you might just mail it back to me.

When I first got that off of a hidden craigs list picture I could not beleive how bad it was originally. Just goes to show that with a little patience, skill, great imagination and work what can be done.

[SphereJunkie]

Great job!!!

[SphereJunkie]

I formally nominate Chewy to be inducted into the PachiTalk Hall of Fame!!

Jeff

I second that!

[takethecastle57]

So what is this pachinko actualy ?? A Vintage, A Vintage Modern, A Omage to a Vintage Power Flash ,Or




Just a Way too Cool and Awesome Pachinko

[JACKSJE4]

So what is this pachinko actualy ?? A Vintage, A Vintage Modern, A Omage to a Vintage Power Flash ,Or

I would classify it as a "Vintage Custom". ShockSystem's cool custom would also fit into that classification (if he ever comes back and finishes it.)