Spectra IV by Valley
OK gang, here's my newest project. I bought this Pinball at a thrift store and paid $160 for it. Hindsite being 20/20, I probably paid $75 to $100 to much for it. But it is what it is.
What it is... is a very rare cocktail table pinball machine where the actual pinball component rotates under the top glass 360 degrees so that four can play and never have to stand up or trade seats. Really a cool design. What makes it rare is the fact that it was made by Valley which was a subsidiary of the Kidde company that makes fire extenquishers and such.
What really makes it rare is also the nemisis of my machine. Being a Solid State pinball the CPU board has 3 NiCd batteries mounted on the board itself. These batteries leaked and has caused the board to become inundated with corrosion. This is a very common problem and many a machine has been trashed because of it.
So.. I'll post a few photos here to show the condition as bought and my progress on getting it running. Currently I have the CPU board out and looking to determine how to clean. I've tested the most corroded PCB traces and found there is still good continuity through out. There is some corrosion that has creeped up into some of the chip sockets but doesn't appear to have infiltrated the chips.
I have a call schedule this evening with a pinball repair guy up in Wisconsin that is currently working on the exact same problem and will be looking for advice from him on cleaning this crud off.
If anyone has any helpful hints or ideas, I would love to hear them. This is my first Pinball and I certainly picked a challenge!
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