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Thread: Nishijin Circuit Racer Restored and running

  1. #1
    Fever Hunter MagicDan's Avatar
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    Default Nishijin Circuit Racer Restored and running

    Finally! My Circuit Racer is finally complete. Restored and fully functional. Many thanks to Carl Wegman for all the hard work he put into designing and building a new set of electronics!

    When I first acquired the machine I was told the transformer was no good. It wasn't, but once I put a new one on, I found out I had bigger problems. The original circuit board had a very specific relay built for the machine. Unfortunately, it was shorted out. They are very hard to come by and I had no luck trying to locate one. Enter Carl Wegman. Carl designed and fabricated a 5 circuit board system controlled by an Arduino Micro Controller. The machine now plays as it should!

    I've included a YouTube video link that shows the machine in details and in play.

    DSC_0003.JPGDSC_0002.JPGDSC_0004.JPGDSC_0001.JPG

    https://youtu.be/TQknLExPOhI

    I have a Power Flash Thunderbird and UFO. I am looking for a Roulette and Piranha(?) machine. Anybody got one??

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    Pachi Puro Moparformances's Avatar
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    Default Re: Nishijin Circuit Racer Restored and running

    its amazing how much materials it took to replace what seems such a small circuit board..

    may i ask what the sell price would be for another?? Carl?
    Never Doubt that a small group of thoughtful, .......... /........ If your not going to stand behind our troops
    ...committed people can change the world. ............. /.................Please, Please stand in front of them
    .....Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has............./
    .........................................Margaret Mead

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    Kungishi Spyder138's Avatar
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    Default Re: Nishijin Circuit Racer Restored and running

    Quote Originally Posted by MagicDan View Post
    I have a Power Flash Thunderbird and UFO. I am looking for a Roulette and Piranha(?) machine. Anybody got one??
    I am not looking to part with my Roulette, but I think I may have 2 piranha machines. Let me dig around and see if I can locate them among the 3 rooms and half a garage I have packed with machines. I know one was fully working. I don't think I ever attempted to play the other machine, so I'd want to make sure that one was operational too. If you're looking for all of the vintage non-"Special Elec" machines (Roulette is a Special Elec) that used power, you may want to add a railroad machine to your list. If I am remembering properly, RailRoad, Piranha, UFO, Powerflash, and Circuit Racer were the best known of this bunch. Hopefully someone will add to the list if I have missed any.

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    Kungishi Spyder138's Avatar
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    Default Re: Nishijin Circuit Racer Restored and running

    Oh, and the machine looks great!

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    Stuey - The RADministrator MrGneiss's Avatar
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    Default Re: Nishijin Circuit Racer Restored and running

    Very nice!!

    "Blowing smoke rings at the moon."

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    Fever Hunter Baseballguy247's Avatar
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    Default Re: Nishijin Circuit Racer Restored and running

    There are definitely more special machines than just the brief list provided above. I know I’ve seen a battleship machine, a surfing machine with surfers that move, and the railroad machine.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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    Fever Hunter MagicDan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Nishijin Circuit Racer Restored and running

    Let me know. I'm always on the lookout for special machines!
    Thanks

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    Kungishi Spyder138's Avatar
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    Default Re: Nishijin Circuit Racer Restored and running

    I found one of the Piranha machines tonight. I was actually very accessible. No love on the second one yet. I have some cleaning and rearranging planned for the next few weeks and plan on thinning out some machines. I will let you know what I find.

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    Kungishi CarlW's Avatar
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    Default Re: Nishijin Circuit Racer Restored and running

    Quote Originally Posted by Moparformances View Post
    its amazing how much materials it took to replace what seems such a small circuit board..

    may i ask what the sell price would be for another?? Carl?
    It was about $40 in parts. It was fun for me. Using the MOS FET boards in lieu of relays was a new thing for me.
    PACHINKO - Nishijin Model A, 2005 Newgin Cutie Honey, 2015 TAKAO Queen's Blade 2
    BUBBLE HOCKEY - SUPER CHEXX PRO | MAME - 4 Player Entertainment Center
    PINBALL - Williams Grand Lizard

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    Pachi Puro Moparformances's Avatar
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    Default Re: Nishijin Circuit Racer Restored and running

    if your looking for cool vintage that require power add "super don" (airplane theme) to the list..

    https://www.pachitalk.com/forums/sho...ight=super+Don
    Never Doubt that a small group of thoughtful, .......... /........ If your not going to stand behind our troops
    ...committed people can change the world. ............. /.................Please, Please stand in front of them
    .....Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has............./
    .........................................Margaret Mead

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    Kungishi Spyder138's Avatar
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    Default Re: Nishijin Circuit Racer Restored and running

    The good news is I have found both of the "fish" machines. The bad news is that one of them is missing the timing motor so the center feature will not work. I must have bought it as a parts machine and forgotten that it didn't have the motor. Sorry I can't help you.
    20200711_153943.jpg20200711_153834.jpg

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    Kungishi Wayne-Ooo's Avatar
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    Default Re: Nishijin Circuit Racer Restored and running

    That's a beautiful machine and it is amazing what it took to get it working. That's way above my pay grade.

    I did watch your video and noticed that you have made some modifications to how the pockets were intended to play. Changing the Start pocket, by letting the center hole open the tire is not bad. The 2 green pockets, (on either side of the tire), continue the game, instead of stop it.
    For me, that is a major modification to the gameplay of the machine. Google translates the writing on those stickers as "RETIRED" and the picture shows someone working on the car.

    To me, that means you had trouble while going around the track. Just a part of racing and the gameplay and you lost.
    By not having that and having them continue the game, makes playing the game less exciting.

    I've noticed on other videos, there machine was also setup like yours. Personally, I think that is where nail bending comes in. On those Retired pockets, I have the nails bent a little tighter and the Start and Win pockets are opened up. The machine is now playing in my favor and lowered the possibility of losing and retained the gameplay, as it was intended.

    Please don't take my thoughts as any kind of criticism. It's your machine and you can do whatever you want to it. Just maybe something to consider.
    What if...​the ​HOKEY POKEY, is what it's all about?

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    Fever Hunter MagicDan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Nishijin Circuit Racer Restored and running

    "Please don't take my thoughts as any kind of criticism." No problem. Always glad to see a different take on things!

    When I started to do the restoration on this machine, I had no idea of how it was supposed to step thru the progression. I only knew of one other owner and he wasn't even sure how it was supposed to go!
    So when it came time to decide how I wanted the progression to work, I just decided the more wins, the better! Had no idea the sticker meant "retired".

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    Kungishi Wayne-Ooo's Avatar
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    Default Re: Nishijin Circuit Racer Restored and running

    I did redo my Start Pocket, after watching your video, for all 3 holes to open the tire.

    Mine was setup just for the left and right holes, not the center hole, to open the tire.

    For myself, there is a sense of accomplishment, making all the way around the track, without hitting a retired pocket.
    What if...​the ​HOKEY POKEY, is what it's all about?

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