Heiwa Lupina Frame guide identify, strip down and cyclic mods

[Drunkenclam]

Or maybe this should be named

"When cel swapping goes wrong"

First a quick bit of background.

Awhile ago I purchased a Maison Ikkoku from Japan, Lovely machine, great theme and fantastic light and music on wins. Whilst searching through YJA I saw a cel for Growing up in the south (Google translation) Beach theme with cute anime girls, Price was great at only 2000yen. Although it didn't have the screen.

On arrival of the cel, matched the boards and the wires from Maison Ikkoku and started to do the swap. Hmmm it doesn't fit, The circuit boards on Maison are mounted directly to the back of the wooden playing field, But my new cel playing field is clear plastic. So the cel went into storage, Couple of months later I see a Lupin III cel on YJA, this one has the screen with it. So again, the cel arrives, Maison gets removed from the frame, Stranger still, there is no where to mount the large LCD screen. After searching for a couple of months and failing to find another frame. I brought another Growing up in the South, but this time a complete machine.

So this brings us to this thread.

What's the point of it. I hope to cover a strip down of one of the frames. Show key points and features, and show the difference between the two (known) types of Heiwa Lupina frame. All data I can find on the web doesn't give each version a name but calls them all Lupina (ルパナス-Lupinasu)

[Drunkenclam]

So where to begin, Just to keep things simple, For the rest of this thread, Lets call the blue frame Type A and the pink frame Type B, due any lack of markings and that Maison Ikkoku was released after Growing up in the South.


The doors and front frame doesn't seem to have anything different between them. Features the same features as about 90% of pachinko machines. Turn the door key right and the machine will open. Turn the key left to open the glass. Then a lever on the bottom right to swing open the lower section.

Two things of interest on the lower section. Pulling the metal rod out releases the ashtray, push the rod back in again to either lock the ashtray open or closed.






The other thing is this lever and photocell, This is the bottom tray full indicator.





Now to the rear. This is where the differences start to stand out. The Type A has the payout motor half way down the right hand side. With the parlour connections in the top right corner. The Type B has the payout motor located at the end of the ball tank ramp with the parlour connections located on the left under the ball tank.

Type A pictured





Type B pictures




This is the way to tell the two apart. If you have a machine in this frame and want to get a different cel. Check the position of the payout motor and if you have a screen built into the cel playing field or a separate monitor.



Strip down.


Type A
Ball stop, ball dump and removal of the payout motor and ball channel.

Ball stop is the yellow lever at the end of the ball tank ramp. Push down to stop the balls reaching the motor.





To dump the balls, slide the orange lever to the right.





To remove the payout motor, disconnect the two leads from the motor. Slide the yellow lever to the left. The other yellow lever down, Then pull the assembly out towards you.




Once removed, slide the ball channel assembly up to remove it from the frame. There is a black grounding lead to disconnect.







Type B

Ball stop, Ball dump and payout motor removal.

All located at the end of the ball tank ramp. The ball stop is a hinged down white plastic stop.





To dump the balls. Press the square button on the top. This slides the whole payout assembly to the right.




To remove the motor. Lift the plastic tab up and slide the motor out.




Removal of the Ball tank and ramp Type A

Unscrew the ramp and ball tank. You can either lift the weights out of the way or unscrew and remove them.






Removal of the lower ball channels and spent ball channel.

The section under the payout motor unscrews from the back of the frame.The spent ball channel is mounted behind the frame processor board. These can be removed in one by pulling out the plastic tabs and sliding the assembly out.








Then the processor can be removed from the channel assembly.




Note: The Type A and B versions of the processor look the same but one of the sockets is different so not interchangeable. Also in the channel assembly the part is a different shape.

Behind the spent ball assembly is the main PSU for the machine.





Cel Removal and accessing the LCD screen

Disconnect the wiring from the frame and the screen from the cel. Pull out the white tabs. Then pull the circuit board away from the plastic backing.




The backing can then be unscrewed and access to the screen.








Made by Toshiba.





Removal of the playing field


Type A

The field is held in place by two twist tabs located on the right hand side of the playing field.




The lower one is hiding under the flap in the bottom right hand corner.






The cel is held in place on the left side by two spring clips.




Type B

These are held in place by the same clips as Type A, The difference is after removal there is no screen left in the frame as its mounted in the playing field.








Once the playing fields out. The black frame has noticeable differences. Type A is cut out along the top above the playing field clamp for the screen to fit.





Type B is solid.





Is it possible to swap the cel for another one, well yes as long as the frame is correct,

Frame rebuilt but now with Lupin III game cel instead

[Drunkenclam]

This frame had been modified to be cyclic. The following parts had been modified.

The spent ball channel been modified.





The section that diverts balls to the lower tray when the top tray is full.




The cover for the selector




The black section of frame.







These will be filled and repaired and put back to normal useage,

[Drunkenclam]

Taking a close look at both machines, None of the cels or ball handling between the two frames are interchangable.
I'm currently working on a list of what games is what frame, As I find them advertised with a picture of the rear. As from the from, There is nothing to tell the difference.
If you have something in the Heiwa Lupinas SS frame please let me know if type A or B


Returned this frame back to normal payout, Been playing with it this morning with no problems, Just got to make sure that it divers the balls when the top tray is full