Black Hole status display error

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BrewNinja
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Re: Black Hole status display error

Post by BrewNinja »

Great idea on the strips! I cant believe I havent thought of that for the lower field. Im totally going to steal that once I put my BH back together (its disassembled in my basement waiting for playfield touch ups and clear after I finish F14).

By "almost" having multiball you mean you were very far away :lol: That upper lock always releases after each drained ball. Makes it devilishly tough. I always just forget about locking it until I have the lower locked, then lock it. Its a tough game for sure. Though it wont be long before you need 7 digit displays like I did :)
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ralphwiggum
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Re: Black Hole status display error

Post by ralphwiggum »

I was offering the strips to save you from switching the GI over to 6v. :) Keep it simple :)
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Chris K
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Re: Black Hole status display error

Post by Chris K »

Funny, Chateen is working on a F14 restore right now and I'm working on Black Hole. It's like we fell into a real black hole and split ourselves into alternate universe pinball nerds, Star Trek style. :)

I read that the under-playfield GI is 28V from the factory? Wouldn't that burn out the 12V strips?

http://pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title ... 2344_Lamps
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ralphwiggum
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Re: Black Hole status display error

Post by ralphwiggum »

You can overdrive LEDs without issue many times. It all depends on the LEDs. I have overdriven quite a few LEDs to see what they can do, and I have only had one instance where I smoked exactly one LED. You are basically knocking down their 50,000 hour life (or whatever) down quite a bit, but in a pinball machine, it would take quite awhile to burn them out.
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BrewNinja
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Re: Black Hole status display error

Post by BrewNinja »

I was thinking a 24 to 12V step down regulator. They are like $10: https://amazon.com/SINOLLC-Converter-Re ... Bdown&th=1
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Chris K
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Re: Black Hole status display error

Post by Chris K »

Very iiiinteresting! This is starting to look like a plan!

I've got a little bulb test board... I'm going to wire it up inside the table on and see what colors look nice where. With an idea what color I might need, I'll give a 12V strip a chance on 28V. If it dies, I'll either swap the sockets down to 6V and go with bulbs or if I really like the strip look, downconvert to 12V. If it survives, job done!

You guys are a fountain of ideas, thanks a lot!
Our pinball table breeding stock:
Star Trek: The Next Generation, Scared Stiff, Black Hole, Roy Clark, Monster Bash Remake, Future Spa, Big Deal, Top Score, Baywatch, Rick and Morty, TMNT, Sinbad, Guns N Roses
BrewNinja
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Re: Black Hole status display error

Post by BrewNinja »

Whatever you end up using, show us. When I get that far I may want to steal your idea :D
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Chris K
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Re: Black Hole status display error

Post by Chris K »

Oh definitely, I can't wait to start tweaking! Chateen said she'd paint it for me when other projects are done, so it won't look really sexy for a while, but that won't stop me from doing lighting and rubber tweaks while I wait. The table is really solid as is... I only want to strengthen up the lower table eject hole a bit, and then I'm purely into "fun" work!
Our pinball table breeding stock:
Star Trek: The Next Generation, Scared Stiff, Black Hole, Roy Clark, Monster Bash Remake, Future Spa, Big Deal, Top Score, Baywatch, Rick and Morty, TMNT, Sinbad, Guns N Roses
BrewNinja
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Re: Black Hole status display error

Post by BrewNinja »

Are you talking about the VUK from the lower to the upper, or the ball lock eject? If its the VUK, you dont want it too strong. I have a nice chunk out of my playfield from the ball tearing up and slapping the glass then down on the playfield. Cliffy sells a bracket that will allow you to add a cut off for the coil that Steve Charland designed. Its not on his site, but if you email him, he has them. Its the bracket and switch both. Lets you tweak the amount of power of the upkick. When I bought mine it was $27.
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Chris K
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Re: Black Hole status display error

Post by Chris K »

The VUK (would that be a DUK? Diagonal up-kicker?) is the weak one for me. If I don't have the rear legs raked all the way up the ball sometimes takes a half dozen attempts to make it up the tube.

I think the piece you mention is already on my BH. Mike added a bracket and switch similar to the hold voltage switch on flippers, that he said was to prevent the coil from burning up upon failure to eject the ball. I'll check the adjustment on that and reduce the gap a bit to see if I can keep the coil powered for more of its stroke.

Thanks for the tip!
Our pinball table breeding stock:
Star Trek: The Next Generation, Scared Stiff, Black Hole, Roy Clark, Monster Bash Remake, Future Spa, Big Deal, Top Score, Baywatch, Rick and Morty, TMNT, Sinbad, Guns N Roses
BrewNinja
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Re: Black Hole status display error

Post by BrewNinja »

Sounds like its already there. Then yes, it probably just needs to be adjusted a little. Im had a few instances where when moving the upper playfield, a wire gets caught on the bracket and bends it a little.
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MikeS
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Re: Black Hole status display error

Post by MikeS »

Hey Chris,
You can directly adjust vuk strength by adjusting the switch on the bracket. I've had to do it before. It takes a bit of work to get it perfect but it should fix it.
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Chris K
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Re: Black Hole status display error

Post by Chris K »

Just got a multiball and had my best game! I missed the extra ball on ball 2, but on ball 3 got the "2g" and a 2x bonus multiplier and had a decent multiball on the lower playfield. 447K, which isn't quite 7-digit worthy, but almost double my next best score so far. This game is awesome!

I adjusted the "DUK" cutoff so it opens at the very end of travel, and it seems to be working a little more consistently now. I think I'm going to take the coil out and resleeve it to make it as strong as it can be, but I think if nothing else I could raise the legs up to their tip-top to solve the problem.
Our pinball table breeding stock:
Star Trek: The Next Generation, Scared Stiff, Black Hole, Roy Clark, Monster Bash Remake, Future Spa, Big Deal, Top Score, Baywatch, Rick and Morty, TMNT, Sinbad, Guns N Roses
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