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Thread: Restoring 3 STAR arrangeball

  1. #41
    Pachi Puro pachiwall's Avatar
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    Default Re: Restoring 3 STAR arrangeball

    Thanks! I was thinking of 1/2 watt, or larger if I can find some. I thought of 2 or more in parallel...wasn't sure if it was a viable option.

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    There's also the chance that there's a residual current that exists once one number is lit. This will cause one or more adjacent LEDs to glow dimly but enough to illuminate the number. Most machines Ive seen didn't have it but some did and prevented LED use even with higher resistor values. There's probably a solution but I wasn't able to solve it.
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  4. #43
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    Default Re: Restoring 3 STAR arrangeball

    Checked my transformer...26.3 volts AC. How can I still use LED's?

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    Default Re: Restoring 3 STAR arrangeball

    you need to measure the voltage at the bulbs. place a ball in a pocket to cause that number's light to come on and measure there. go ahead and light a few more numbers and see if there's any current going to an unlit number. if there is, i believe you'll have the issue with other LEDs glowing when they're not supposed to.
    one of my Taiyo machines has 30+ volts at the number bulbs. i made my own LED modules using the existing silicone socket and 2 resistors of large enough resistance and wattage to dissipate the heat. they still heat up somewhat but it's not directing heat toward the plastic number plate which is my main concern. that and with LEDs, I'll never have to worry about fiddling with the light source for the number matrix again. if you go forward with this, make sure you buy warm white LEDs.
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    Couple of pics of professionally made, custom designed ones for some of my arrangeball machines. These have either 1 or 2 resistors depending on the machine and a diode on them. Not sure what the diode is for. They're mounted to a tiny circuit board. The ones I made are nowhere near this elegant.
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  7. #46
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    Default Re: Restoring 3 STAR arrangeball

    The LED's with the diode...Is the voltage on that machine AC, or DC? he AC voltage is where I have a problem. Could the diode be to limit flow of electricity to one direction making the LED work?

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    It's AC. I'm not sure what the diodes are for, I wish I knew more about it.
    The LED units I made have no diode and they work fine.
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    Default Re: Restoring 3 STAR arrangeball

    So, you have added LED's to machines that are alternating current? I clearly cant test any theories until all the wiring is installed as original. I will try and see what happens. Clearly, I want the electrical modifications to be as simple as possible. Less components look better, Although the cabinet is big enough to carry whatever is necessary. I do want a clean look, and cost to be reasonable! So, now it is time to install he wiring harness. I did not clean it. While it was loose, with cut wires, old solder joints, and masking tape flags...I was almost afraid to touch it! So, I got the main cabinet part installed. DSCF8641.JPGDSCF8642.JPGOOPS! Wrong pic...too much glare!DSCF8643.JPG A bit of soldering was required on the power supply assembly. Wires needed to be cut (or, more correct...unsoldered), in order to remove it. Then, I had to unsolder (desolder?) wires from the fuseholders in order to remove rust from the bracket. Speaking of fusehoders...I had to replace them. When putting them back in, I broke one while holding it with a pair of piers. I bought a pair at Radio Shack, because I wanted them to match. I was surprised that they had them! They have become "Cell Phone Shack" around here...I thought I was going to have to drive 30 miles to Parts Express to buy 2 97 cent parts. They were $2.50 each a RS...but less money in gas!
    I stil have the door to wire!DSCF8644.JPG

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    Default Re: Restoring 3 STAR arrangeball

    my multimeter is auto ranging and so I'm guessing it's correct in regards to AC.
    wire harnesses are a pain to clean but many people throw them in the dishwasher along with circuit boards and then dry them thoroughly. radio shack does suck these days. it's full of people who can't afford or don't want to pay for cell phone contracts. setting up those takes forever so unless i'm in a hurry i get my stuff online mostly.
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    I double checked my multimeter and set it to DC and got a reading. Set it to AC and got gibberish so sounds like its DC actually...
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    Default Re: Restoring 3 STAR arrangeball

    I haven't finished wiring the door yet. When I do, I'll check at the bulb sockets. Hopefully there is a rectifier built into the circuit somewhere that converts the electricity going to the bulbs to DC.

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    Default Re: Restoring 3 STAR arrangeball

    I forgot about this hoe!DSCF8646.JPG When I removed the screw for the pivot of the arm that opened the door...a nut fell down inside. Not a problem...if you remember to assemble the arm before you get this far.DSCF8645.JPG I DO NOT want to remove all the switches and wiring to get the cover off to put the nut on the inside! Here is what I need to achieve.DSCF8647.JPG I could cut an access hole in the side of the cover...but i don't want to! My luck, I would drop the nut inside the cover...and have to remove everything anyhow.

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    Default Re: Restoring 3 STAR arrangeball

    Not so bad! I was able to get the pivot on by simply removing the switchplate and 4 screws that hold the cover on.DSCF8648.JPG I held the cover on with one screw for this pic. Otherwise it would stress the wiring by hanging. Thank I lost the aluminum nails that held the cover on, and used screws instead!

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    Default Re: Restoring 3 STAR arrangeball

    There are times when you just accept loss of originality. Since I have changed so much, and have electrical change plans ahead...I elected to accept this one. Here is the pic of the wires to the payout button before I started.DSCF8317.JPGThe pink wires had to be cut (or unsoldered) at the switch (a button is a SPST momentary switch) in order to remove the front coin acceptor plate. They barely reach to begin with. As I plan to soldre the wires back onto the switch, I discovered that there is no room to work with. I could have loosened up enough of the wiring harness to get the clearance I needed...but I wasn't going to do that.I decided to add a short piece of wire to each terminal as an extension. DSCF8649.JPG This wire is probably 16 gauge as opposed to 18 gauge used on the machine. It is really stiff! Yes it is stranded...but WAY stiffer than I expected for its gauge. Maybe less strands of wire for the same gauge??? None the less, I used it anyhow. I did not like a different color showing between the original wires and switch...so I shrink tubed the solder connections after adding the extensions. Then soldered the wires on.DSCF8656.JPG Followed by shrink tubing over the solder joint AND the red insulation.DSCF8657.JPG GOOD ENOUGH! As you can see, I used a lighter to shrink the tubes at the switch...and a heat gun to cover the red. I like the results of the heat gun!

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  19. #55
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    At this point on this particular machine I wouldn't be too concerned with originality, especially on the internal components. What most would want original is the cel and that's been changed already and it looks nice. I'm not knocking that, I'm just putting into context in relation to the parts that you don't see.
    I changed the cel on one of my arrangeballs once and it turned out nice. I changed the theme to one that the company also utilized on some of their machines so it was original in that respect I suppose.
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  21. #56
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    Default Re: Restoring 3 STAR arrangeball

    Very well put! I understand what you say...and value the input! I am not particularly worried about originality...that went out with the cell. I catch myself thinking about it whenever I do something that changes the way something looks. Even though I know it is meaningless. Just thinking out loud back there...probably sounded like whining!But not...I am very happy with how things are turning out.
    The cell was a mixed bag! I had to replace it. Part of me wanted to replicate the original pattern...and part of me thought it was an ugly background. Probably would have been tolerable with original vivid colors. I don't have the scanner to scan the pattern, and certainly don't have the talent to restore it to where is should be. I didn't want to wait for it to be done if I farmed it out to someone who could. So I searched members who made replacement backgrounds, and chose one I liked. It was quicker, cheaper, and made me happier.

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    Those are all good enough reasons to change the cel-whatever makes you happy.
    I agree with you on this cel design. Its very uninspired and my least favorite of all cels that I've seen on arrangeballs. I actually had one and it was my 2nd machine and I later sold it. You don't play the art on these machines but the cosmetics are very important to me. Anyway, in the future if you do this again you can remove the cel and bring it to a friend or kinkos, etc and have them scan it in and email the file to you. If it won't fit in a friend's scanner just cut it in fourths or whatever and stitch it back together using software. I've done that several times using paint.net which is free and is an excellent program. Takes about a half hour to learn the tools and then you're off to digitally restoring all the cels you want. Send those files to Signs Now or the like and have them printed. The digital resto part is easy but can take awhile although if you redid the original design for this one it woulda have been pretty quick.
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  24. #58
    Pachi Puro pachiwall's Avatar
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    Default Re: Restoring 3 STAR arrangeball

    I tried Paint.Net once beore. I won't say "I can't learn it"...I just don't have the patience to learn it. I tried to make this cell:hi rez cell 018.jpg I ended up with this. This took me hours to achieve! I had a couple offers to help me, (THANKS PACHITALK COMMUNITY!!!) William at Pachinko Restorations - Home (Cardwwi), did a great job! Not sure if he used paint.Net, or some other softwre...but the results speak foe themselves! He sent it to me on a PDF file. I simply took the easy way out and bought the background from him, instead of trying to take it to the printer myself!
    By the way...Max made a good tutorial on Paint.Net. It is worth sharing again for those who haven't seen it! It starts at post #11 in this thread: cell replacement

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  26. #59
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    It looks like you manually tried to trace around those shapes. There's no need to do that because Paint will do that for you in seconds and do it perfectly. Then a click or two and the colors and orientation of the shapes can easily be changed. However, if you don't know about those tools and go the manual route, you'll swear off using Paint or any other drawing program. When I restored a Taiyo "Big Spin" arrangeball it took me forever on the cel. Along the perimeter were all the signs of the zodiac which repeated. Also certain small sections of the cel were identically repeated around the edge. I was initially manually retracing and fixing each one of those elements which took hours until I realized I could just fix one representative section and then cut and paste it all around the cel. It shaved off many hours and it came out factory original.
    The last restoration I did though I had a local design studio do the digital work. I wasn't up to it and wanted it done quickly. They provided a proof and the file on CD and if tou want to make changes, just pull up Paint and make any changes you want. If I do another one I'll probably go that route again but it depends on the complexity.
    This is a pic of the proof of my "Space Wars" cel done professionally.
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    Default Re: Restoring 3 STAR arrangeball

    Yes, I was trying manually. Max gave me some tips, but i never tried them. The tips from Max in the post I linked were far better than any instructions on their site. I will try to learn it again some day...but net ready to invest the time in the learning curve right now. Paint.Net seems highly regarded, and free...sounds like a good deal.

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