Mechs

No not that kind.  Mechanisms son!
So I know once ALL my solenoids are firing again, one crucial missing part besides the left return ramp coming off the upper playfield is the route by which the ball gets up there in the first place.  I've really been struggling with this part.  One design I had a guy carrying the ball up the wall, another design I simply had a hidden magnet dragging the ball along the back wall.  At one point I said eff it and just install a VUK.  VUK's are for pussies that like to play it safe.  Plus that doesn't really fit the theme, and certainly not the song that will be playing.  So it's an 18th floor balcony, how do you get up to the 18th floor?  An elevator of course, so why don't I just install an elevator?  Now before you say "Oh nice, stealing Ben Heck's hellevator idea", I did think about an elevator early on but had no idea how to accomplish such a thing.  Also unlike Ben who decided to basically use a rack and pinion system made out of acrylic, I planned on having the elevator supported by a couple screws through a slot in the back wall, and driven up by a threaded rod underneath (driven by a low RPM motor with the matching thread).  Similiar concept, but design-wise plenty different.  Also (and I'm not sure how AMH is designed from what I could see while playing it at pinball show), I plan on making the elevator hidden, and playable over on the back orbit shot.  When you make enough orbit shots in a row, the elevator starts climbing, and the ball should clunk against it until it rises up enough to enter inside, and bring it up.  I have an idea to tilt the bottom platform away from the entrance (so the ball stays inside), and then a way to actuate it to tilt back towards the playfield to release.  Once it hits the top, it'll hit a switch, deactivate the motor.  I may need a solenoid afterall to engage/disengage the motor so that it can fall by gravity alone.

I'm probably going to build a separate mech offline so that in case it doesn't work out, I'm not killing all the work I already did.  It's extra work, but in the end it'll save time.

 

wireform ramp fixture concept

So I thought about this a lot. Wireforms can appear daunting.  Wires moving in various directions in space, but if you think about them 2-dimensionally (one plane at at time), it's not so bad.  Now that's not to say wireform ramps can't move in 2 axis at the same time, but for the sake of simplicity (especially fabbing your own), it's easiest if we stick to this method.  So I started breaking this down in the same way I would model up the wireform in solidworks.  You draw a path on a plane, you create the shape that you're going to extrude along that path, then when you change direction, you typically change the plane you're drawing the path onto.

There's no reason that a "plane" can't be represented by a piece of plywood.  So at first I thought "Sure, 2 pieces of wood, 2 planes.  I can join these two together and simply route out my path.  Then I thought about the actual routing, not so much fun.  Routers are big and heavy, and not easy to keep straight.  If you have a dremel with a router-like attachment, maybe not so bad, but still wavy cuts.  So then I thought why not split up the separation, and the actual groove into separate pieces?  yes, that's it!  Get 1/2" plywood, then I can cut out the path thicknesses out of 1/4" plywood, glue them to the base piece (print out the path on paper as a template), and you've got a nearly perfect fixture to bend your wireforms against.  It would look something like this:

 

This also eliminates the need to own a router.  A $20 harbor freight jigsaw can easily create this fixture, keeping the cost of tools down to a minimum.

FETS happen

So I was all wired up this past friday night, and because of my goof I shorted 5 of the 8 FETS (I think), so I've ordered up some replacements.  I moved the board down to the back of the playfield, thinking that typically the playfield is going to be tilted up (which means the back will be the lowest point).  Even with 6 of 8 solenoids wired up, you can see that now that I've got some wire management, it's still very clean underneath (it will fill up later once switches and lighting is installed).


I've written on the playfield which connection is which with abbreviations.  I should probably label each faston as well so I'm not guessing what goes where if I need to unplug the board.

While the extra channels were working, I got to see how one of the slings and the ball trough worked.  The sling is certainly overpowering (it launched the ball nearly all the way up the playfield), and the ball trough solenoid kicked the ball so hard it almost bounced back into the trough.  The slings can be turned down later with code, and the ball trough can be softened by adding a gate to slow the ball down a bit.

Butane solder, first attempt

Ok, so I got the butane torch out, brushed on some flux (which held the support rod nicely in place with the stickiness).  I used a 1/2" piece of wood to space them out, taped it down so it wouldn't move, and went ahead and joined two bars.  I'll admit it held pretty nice, until I tried bending one side into place, then one side snapped.  Now I'm not completely surprised for multiple reasons.  1. I only had 2 bars fairly far apart, not exactly distributing force, 2. I'm not sure I cleaned the surface good before I started.  3. I didn't create any sort of recess where the support bar could really get good surface contact.  I might also experiment with doing a zig-zag pattern and solder in multiple locations, sort of like what you see on wire rack shelving.

I think if I took my time and did it properly, brass could potentially work.  Just as a backup I looked at what it would cost me to do in metal.  Not only are the rods the same price (and would be far harder to form), but I'd end up spending at minimum $100 for an arc welder, and that's not including all the safety gear that goes along with it.

Went ahead and did a rough 3d model of the updated wireform ramp, looks a lot cleaner.  I need to verify what my actual height of my upper playfield is (ball gets pretty close to the flipper coil), as well as position (how far back) so I can accurately create a 2d view of the side and top.  I figure I can form that turn in one axis (fixture), then make the dip bends in another fixture.  I'm thinking if I use some leftover 1/2" plywood and cut the shape (maybe cut a groove in the edge to keep it centered) then I can hammer the rod into shape, and each side should come out roughly the same shape.

wireform brass ramp

Nothing terribly exciting.  I formed a couple pieces of rod for the left waterfall ramp by hand.  3 feet is definitely not long enough once you start bending it.  I was going to order 6 foot, but shipping almost doubled.  Anyway, it was a good test to see how well the ball rolls down from a 3 inch height.

wireform ramps

So after seeing Stern's latest release (WWE wrestling), and seeing their minimalist wireform ramps (not 4 wire cages):

I've decided I'm not even going to bother with plastic ramps.  If Stern can build a commercial pinball with minimal ball support, I don't see why my homebrew project can't.  I was trying to find the best solution, I know Ben heck used brass rod.  I looked at copper coated low carbon steel, I even looked into solid copper, but copper is very soft.  The zinc in brass hardens it up, but keeps it soft enough to form easily.  I was going to order a brass wire spool, but realized it would be a nightmare to straighten out, so I opted to order 5 pieces of 3foot length brass from mcmaster.  It ends up being about $1.05/foot.  Brass is quite solderable because of it's high copper content.  So long as I can clamps pieces together, all it takes is a small butane torch, some flux, and solder, and you can build very strong wireform structures.

I may toss in a VUK or two, which will need to be cages for sure, and I'll need a way to fabricate those as well.

Power supply came in, I'm flipping

Flippers are really strong, I'm actually quite curious how far up a ramp it would go now.  One thing I'm curious about is when I'm holding the flippers up, there's a slight whining noise.  I don't know if that's normal for PWM'ing a coil (I used a meter to verify 12 volts), or if maybe a 3-lug coil is not meant to PWM and I need to find a 2 lug coil?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b0VD4zP-nE&feature=youtu.be

Anyway, pretty exciting.  Now that I have flippers, I intend on getting the ball trough wired up, the upper 3rd flipper, a 4th flipper in the upper right, and get the slings wired up.  I also definately need to do some wire management.  My wire tabs came in today, but the re-usable tie wraps are a day behind.

Here's the power supply.  It has a nice shielded case, terminal block (3 for the input cord, 3 each for ground, 3 each for positive 48v output).  It's got an LED for power to let you know it's working, and even has an adjustable pot.  I was able to crank it up to about 68V, but then brought it back down to 52V (doesn't seem like it goes lower than that).  The fan never turned on (yet) which is good.  That means it's not getting hot.

playfield overlay thoughts

So the question was brought up, what's the best way to do the playfield art.  While I haven't actually yet installed my high speed vinyl overlay, I figured it anything I did was better than the condition it's in now.  However, there is the nightmare of getting the cutouts of the inserts lined up.  I've printed small sections of space shuttle to touch up my existing playfield with 8x10 stickers, and even that's a nightmare to deal with.  Also after reading a recent thread on pinside about planetary pinball selling overlays (and people talking about how CNC cutouts varied during production), it makes me second guess myself.

Now when I worked at a company that built OEM chargers for other companies, we did decals for multiple customers all the time using the same plastic housing.  One thing I learned to avoid manufacturing error was to have about 1mm overlap of LED windows.  Let's say in the plastic case you had a 6 x 10mm viewing window where the LED shined through, that would mean the clear window was 4 x 8mm.  That way, even if the window was slightly off, you would never see the edge of the hole in the case.

Now inserts actually sort of suck on their own (exposed).  They swell, they raise out of their holes, they cup, they crack.  They also make printing rather hard to line-up.  Mylar has been brought up, it's even been used.  Mylar however is still very thin, usually .010" (compared to say .004" for paper or vinyl).  I'm starting to toy with the idea of printing a semi-transparent inside window decal.  Think car window sticker, think the decals that are on the bottom of pinball plastic ramps like earthshaker or elvira.  Now imagine instead of a decal being applied to the playfield, you simply apply it to a sheet of thin acrylic plexiglass (1/16") with a sticker pre-applied underneath.  This gives you several advantages:
1. You have complete freedom to get it aligned.  Because it's so thick, you can literally line it up with a couple screws, then hold it down with playfield posts alone.
2. You will never wear down to the artwork, ever.  Plexiglass is super tough, and if it does get worn or fogged up, it can be flame polished.
3. There's no need to separately print waterslide decals (that don't stay on very well) onto each insert, it can be pre-printed on the decal already.
4. Since most store wood is just under 1/2" (and playfield wood is normally 17/32"), this extra thickness will help make up the difference.

So basically you get a clear PET vinyl decal, like this (but reverse the image since it will be backwards):

From a place like bannerbuzz for $29:
http://www.bannerbuzz.com/clear-window-decals.html

Order a sheet of acrylic for $18:
http://www.estreetplastics.com/Acrylic_plexiglass_sheet_s/182.htm

Use soapy water to apply the decal to ensure there are no bubbles (like installing window tint), then install it on your blank playfield.

Also the thicker acrylic sheet is more likely to keep the inserts flush vs mylar (I have a whirlwind that's holding up, but you can feel a slight hump on a couple of them).  This will ensure smooth play for many years.

waiting is the hardest part

So the tracking on my 48v power supply finally shows movement, expecting it tomorrow.  Depending on whether I'm motivated tonight (it's getting below zero tonight), I may get the 3rd flipper and the ball trough solenoid wired up.

One thing I've been reluctant to mess with any more is the slings.  They aren't completely necessary to be powered during testing, but they need to be in the game.  My issue is I'm using sling assemblies from a 1978 Stern memory lane, and it's like 3-4 pieces that all need to be assembled in the right position, otherwise I'll get rubbing, or the arm will stick out too far and the ball will be hitting the arm, not the rubber.  My playfield has been turning into swiss cheese underneath because I can't quite get the position right.  Well I decided to do a search for a sling assembly.  Surely if boutique and hobbyists are building small runs of pinballs, they aren't piecing together sling assemblies.  Sure enough, there does exist a full assembly sling just like flippers, though it's a Data East/Sega/Stern assembly.  Do I care?  Nope.  Pinball life sells them for just $45:
http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=658

The advantage of a sub-assembly is not only does it ensure it works as designed, but it makes it easier to replace in the future, and it also means I only need the 3 holes (1 for the arm, 2 for the switches on each side).  Stick the assembly through the playfield, mark the holes, and mount it.  If I make some brackets, I can also swap out the leaf switches for the cherry switches I have (DEATH TO LEAF SWITCHES!)

Wires shall be my next challenge

I know everyone that is involved with building pinballs talks about wire management, and even those that work on it can imagine.  But until you start routing wires (more importantly wires carrying 48V at several amps), you realize how vital it is to not only manage it, but to make sure wires don't get crossed.

I am very fortunate in that the system I'm running not only allows the positive voltage to be daisychained, but the negative side is tapped into a daughter board mounted to the playfield (firing each solenoid is done by pulling it to ground using a thin wire).  Still, with that said, I would like to keep the wiring down to a single harness running up the playfield.  To help with management, I've ordered some cable tie mounts and re-usable cable ties to keep things nice and tight to the playfield
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008OC2EE6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AUB81DC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This will still allow me to pop wires out as needed.  I know if I keep stapling things, I'll eventually turn the bottom of my playfield into swiss cheese as I'm developing it.

My 48v power supply showed as shipped early this morning, but I haven't seen any movement.  I don't know if this means the seller created a label and hasn't actually dropped it off, or if USPS really does suck this bad at tracking (I had a 2-day priority package take 5 days during christmas, and showed up as on-time).  Now that I have flippers wired at 12v, I'm excited to see them at 48v.

I made this sketch at work today, which will likely make sense to nobody.

I'm also thinking about rethinking the boat.  I don't know that I want a solenoid mounted to a moving boat, nor do I want it flipping the entire time.  I may make the boat slowly rock forward and back automatically, and have separate buttons tilt the boat side to side, and simply make it a (keep the ball from draining) last ditch bonus game with a couple holes in the center of the boat.  It would be more akin to a labyrinth table.

It would also fit the lyrics a little better:

I want to swim away but don't know how
Sometimes it feels just like I'm falling in the ocean
Into the ocean, end it all

Sooooo close

So, I finally got my flippers wired up.

Went to fire it up... nothing.  So I check the voltage on the 48v power supply, nothing.  Well, about 2 months ago when I was trying to figure out the wiring, I accidentally touched a couple pins on the power board with my ring.  It was unplugged at the time, but I think there was enough stored juice in the caps to retain energy (hurt like hell too, had 3 dots on my finger like I had touched an arc welder).  So I figure maybe it's a fuse, run to radio shack, nope.  Then from some advice from the guy supplying the electrical hardware (more on that later), I hooked up a known working 12v supply, and sure enough the flippers fired up (slightly weak, but they moved all the way).

So at this point, I can either:
A. troubleshoot the power supply
B. Order one for $30 on ebay from a guy in wisconsin (has a fan, but he claims he's never pulled enough juice for it to turn on)
C. Pay $60 for a fanless power supply from a place in mesa, AZ
D. Buy a 48v power supply from ebay china for $28, and wait 2-3 weeks

Pretty sure I'm going to go with option B.  It'll be quick shipping, it'll give plenty of juice, and in early development I doubt I'm going to pull enough power for it to get hot.  If it does, I resell it on ebay after I've ordered a replacement fanless unit.

Right now the wiring is pretty messy because I just wanted to get the thing working.  Now that I know what I'm doing, I'm likely going to route things better.. Use shrink tubing instead of electrical tape, use terminal strips.  Actually the radio shack local ran out of them, and they haven't restocked in 2 months (can you say bankrupt?).  The other radio shack that's sort of local was chock full of parts, but I think nobody really shops at that one.  They DID have a 8-position terminal block in stock, so I'm likely going to route the ground into it so I can tap each solenoid easily.

New Years update

So a little more got done the last couple days.  Finished the backbox which means sanding the old F14 art off, painting it black, clearing, applying the decal, then re-clearing.

I removed the GI sockets I had mounted in the inlane (the ones with the L-bend).  They were making the sockets far too low.  Yes they could be seen, but they wouldn't illuminate the playfield much.  The bulbs are now at the level they should be.

The only option seems to be the one that radio shack sells, and unfortunately it doesn't have a boss for adding a screw, so about my only option was to staple them in (AKA sega style).  Also I ran into a sale around christmas.  they normally sell 6 sockets for $2, but they were half off plus a 50% general store discount (radio shack is hurting), so I ended up buying all 4 bags they had in the drawer (24 sockets) for $2.10 (can't beat that!).  Now I realize these aren't easily serviceable, but honestly If I'm using LED I'm already reducing current, and I don't imagine a ton of hours like a commercial pinball.


I decided to mount the 48v supply on the center hump of the bottom cabinet.  I used clear star posts to give it some space underneath.  I figure centrally located is probably my best bet, but I think I want to wire it to a quick disconnect faston so I can remove power when I need to take the playfield out.  I'm also going to want some sort of terminal block to distribute power to all the solenoids on the playfield.  I also realized I don't really have any good wire, so I'm going to pick some up at home depot tomorrow.  It'll probably be overpriced compared to say amazon, but I really want to get this done.