Black Hole

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Click to go back to the 1980-1989 Gottlieb® System 80/80A/80B repair guide.


1 Black Hole Solenoid Manual Solenoid Listing Incorrect

Errors in game manuals are fairly prevalent. One such error in the Gottlieb® Black Hole manual lists the solenoid numbers and solenoids pulsed during solenoid test incorrectly. The order shown in the manual vs the actual test order follows.

 Solenoid   Game Manual   Actual 
1
 Lower PF Drop Targets (4) 
 "HOLE" drop targets 
2
 Lower PF Drop Targets (3) 
 "BLACK" drop targets 
3
 Outhole 
 Left Coin Counter 
4
 Upper PF Drop Targets (4) 
 Right Coin Counter 
5
 Upper PF Drop Targets (5) 
 Yellow drop targets (Lower PF) 
6
 Ball Gate 
 White drop targets (Lower PF) 
7
 Capture Hole Lower Playfield 
 Center Coin Counter 
8
 Capture Hole Upper Playfield 
 Knocker 
9
 Kicker Lower Playfield 
 Outhole 
10
 Outhole 
 none 
11
 Ball Gate 
 none 

2 Stopping that Gate Chatter in Attract Mode

Gottlieb made an oversight when they programmed the attract mode for the lamp sequence. They forgot that the right hand side ball gate is controlled by a lamp driver, not a solenoid driver. So when the lamps flash their sequence, the gate moves when they machine triggers what it thinks is a lamp at that location.

Fortunately, its an easy fix, and can be reverted back to factory condition if needed.

In a nutshell, we're going to add a circuit to the Q-Relay (game over relay) so that the gate is only capable of being energized when a game is being played.

The only supplies you will need are a Gottlieb single circuit NO leaf switch stack (available at all the major pinball parts stores), 2 pairs of .062 single-circuit molex connectors with pins and sockets available at pinball parts stores and arcade parts stores), and about 4 ft of 20AWG wire (any color).

  1. Start by locating the Q-Relay. It is on the underside of the playfield, near the left side hinge.
  2. Unscrew the relay from the playfield, and simply move the existing switch stack from the center position to one of the outside positions.
  3. Add your new single circuit NO switch stack to the other side. Now the Q-Relay will activate the existing switch stack and the new one you just added. Adjust the switch now while you have it out.
  4. Now locate the BLUE-BLUE-BROWN wire under the playfield near the right side playfield hinge. It may be easiest to trace it down the playfield from the ball gate solenoid.
  5. Pull the wire out a little to give yourself some room to work.
  6. Cut the wire and put a male molex connector on one end, and a female on the other. This is how you will revert it back to factory condition.
  7. Now run a pair of wires from the switch stack through the harness across the bottom over to where you cut the BLUE-BLUE-BROWN wire.
  8. Put a male molex on one wire, and a female on the other.
  9. To enable to bypass, simply unplug the molex you installed above, and plug each end into the molex on the wires you just ran that lead to the Q-Relay.
Location of Q-Relay


Q-Relay before modification


Q-Relay after modification


3 Replacing Black Hole Lower Playfield Illumination Lamps with #44 Lamps

This modification developed by Steve Charland.

When Gottlieb® designed Black Hole and Haunted House, the designers chose to illuminate the lower playfield with 313 lamps, which are 28 volt lamps. Coil power could be used as a power source, and the lamps are slightly brighter than #44 lamps. However, #313 bulbs are triple the price of #44 lamps and are a unique part to stock.

Converting the power circuit that drives these lamps to 6VDC makes sense and allows the use of the more common #44 lamps.

Overview of the mod


The big picture...
Here's what the final "hack" will look like, just to get you oriented.
Note the use of red wire to indicate this is an "aftermarket" implementation. You may use black-slate-slate wire to have that "factory" look.

Modifications at the "L" relay. Desolder the orange/slate/slate wires.


L relay mods...
Remove the orange-slate-slate wires from the switch stack located on the L relay under the lower playfield. Be sure to cap the wires off so they can't short to anything. In the picture at left, heat shrink tubing was used to cap the wires which were twisted together.

Solder a new 16 gauge wire to the vacant solder tab where you removed the orange-slate-slate wires.

Picking up 6VDC to power the #44 lamps from the black/slate/slate wire


Attaching to the power bus...
Solder the other end of the new wire to the black-slate-slate wire that connects to all of the controlled lights on the lower playfield (pictured left).

Use "zip ties" to secure the new wire to the factory wire bundle. You can feed the wire through the factory "tie downs".

All done...


Let there be light...
All finished with the mod. The bulbs now will light on 6VDC instead of 24VDC. Swap out all of those #313s with #44s or #47s and never worry about looking for the correct bulb again.

4 Replacing the Black Hole "Spinning Disk" Motor

Initial parts list and this particular motor suggestion provided by Ken Huber

Black Hole back box spinning disk motors, having run continuously since 1981 while the game is powered on, often fail.

Various replacement motor options have been used over the years including the Radio Shack hobby motor and the Granger heavy duty motor.

Another simple and inexpensive option is the DC motor sold by Servo City at: http://www.servocity.com/

Parts required:

An alternative to drilling and tapping the above hub is use this hub adapter. It works very well with this application. Extra screws (as listed below) will be needed to mount the hub adapter to the hub.

The following item is no longer available, and the suggested screws are no longer needed.
3472H 6mm (the motor shaft size) bore aluminum hub with 5-40 tapped mount holes
91771A125 5-40 Flat Head Phillips Machine Screws, 5/16" long - $0.23 each, minimum quantity 4 (for mounting the spinning disk to the new hub)

The 638154 2 RPM Servo City motor - $34.99 may also be used . The mounting holes on the motor face are slightly wider apart, allowing two additional screws with washers to "clamp" the motor to the mounting bracket without elongating holes. The motor will, of course, turn 1/3 slower than the 3 RPM motor.

This 3 RPM motor, which is spec'd to run on DC voltages from 3 to 12V, is driven by 6VDC in the game. Since it is not powered at the full 12VDC, it runs slower than the rated 3 RPM at about 1.5 RPM, which looks good and matches the OEM motor speed closely. The shaft of the motor is also the perfect length. When assembled as described below, the spinning disk rides above the #455 flasher bulbs by about 1/4 inch and also about 1/4 inch behind the inner backglass.

Installation:

  1. Remove the spinning disk face and the old motor assembly.
  2. Remove the 3 screws that attach the OEM motor to the mounting bracket.
  3. Use one of the new 3mm x 6mm screws to mount the new motor to the mounting bracket. Optionally, you may "elongate" one of the holes in the mounting bracket so that another screw may be used, but one screw is probably enough since the motor center protrudes through the bracket.
  4. Drill two 7/64" holes perpendicular to the set screw on the new hub. Take caution when drilling these holes, as the hub does not have much meat. Drill the holes as close to the raised center of the hub as possible.
  5. Tap the newly drilled holes with a 6-32 tap.
  6. Mount the new hub to the motor shaft so that it is flush with the end of the shaft. Tighten the set screw with a 3/32" Allen wrench (hex key).
  7. Mount the motor and bracket assembly to the lamp insert board using the two original hex head screws.
  8. Ensure that only #455 blinking lamps are used in the area behind the spinning disk. #44/47 lamps protrude too far and will scratch the back of the spinning disk.
  9. Mount the spinning disk to the hub using two 6-32 black screws that were used to mount the disc to the old motor hub.
  10. Solder the power wires to the solder tabs on the motor. Connecting the Green/Yellow wire to the positive side of the motor causes it to spin counter-clockwise. Connecting the Green/Yellow wire to the negative side of the motor causes it to spin clockwise. You be the judge of the age-old debate as to which direction is correct. Use heatshrink to cover the solder joint and motor solder tabs.
  11. Install a 2-pin .156" ramped housing on the motor pigtails.
  12. Install a 2-pin Z-connector to the .156" connector on the motor, and attach the other end to the old motor connector housing.
  13. Optional: insert a 2-pin Molex connector inline with the power connections.
  14. Optional: If more clearance is needed because the disc is warped, replace the 455 bulbs with LED blinkers from Marco or Cointaker. The LED blinkers allow an additional 3/8" clearance behind the disc. To mount the disc further back, either cut the shaft shorter, or secure the motor to the mount with washers (use 3mm X 8mm screws).



Click here for a YouTube video of the new motor operating.

5 Warped Backbox Spinning Disk

A warped spinning disc after being heated in the oven at low temperature (200 degrees F)


If the spinning disc plastic is slightly warped, do not attempt to flatten it out via the oven method. The plastic is not the same as typical light shield plastics on a playfield. Even after pressing the disc between two sheets of playfield glass while the disc plastic was still warm, the plastic chose to curl up as shown in the picture. The plastic disc in the picture is now unusable.

6 Black Hole Auto Spin Disc Circuit

This modification developed by Ken Huber.

By implementing this modification, the backbox spinning disc
can be set to spin at all times (bypass on) or to only spin
while a game is being played (bypass off).

Parts List
Active Circuit Passive Circuit (optional)
  • TIP102 transistor
  • PN2907 transistor
  • 2x 1N4001 diode
  • 10K resistor
  • 100 ohm resistor
  • 220 ohm resistor (optional)
  • LED (optional)
  • .100" headers
  • Molex pins and connectors
  • Stripboard
  • SPST switch
  • Wire
  • TIP125 transistor
  • 2x 1N4001 diode
  • .100" headers
  • Molex pins and connectors
  • Stripboard
  • SPST switch
  • Wire




7 Pull Up Resistors Added to Remote Transistors (Centrally Located) on Lower Playfield

Factory pull up resistors on lower playfield highlighted


Some Black Hole games already have the pull up resistors added to the lower playfield, while others do not. If the factory did it, the board that was used will be cocked to the side, placed just right of the right flipper, and a black "X" in permanent marker will be located underneath it.

2 of the 3 total remote transistors located under the lower playfield, before pull up resistors were added.
2 of the 3 total remote transistors located under the lower playfield, after pull up resistors were added.


Note: Black hole uses 3 under playfield transistors on the lower playfield and 2 under playfield transistors on the main playfield.

Centrally locating pull up resistors for each playfield is recommended for a cleaner look, but it is not totally necessary. In the case shown here, a switch diode board was repurposed for the 4.7k pull up resistors. The practice of using these boards for pull up resistors is commonplace with System 80B games.

Review the pull up resistor circuitry here. The addition of wires include a red wire tied to the +24v solenoid bus, as seen attached to the non-fused side of the fuse block in the pic on the right, and then connected to 3 parallel mounted 4.7K 1/4 watt resistors. The lines on the opposite side of the resistors are then tied to the base of each one of the remote transistors with red wires. Any color of wire is acceptable. Red wire was used in this application so the modification would stand out.

Pull up resistor applied to single transistor, upper left when mini playfield is in the upright position.
Pull up resistors applied to the two lower transistors.


Using repurposed diode strips provides the cleanest look. But if those aren't available, a variety of other "tie points" for the resistors may be used. In the pictures left and right, wire "ringlets" have been used as convenient connection points.

8 Black Hole Ball Lift Kicker Mod

This modification developed by Steve Charland.

From an engineering standpoint, the upkicker for BH is a simple and direct design but it does have its faults. The first being that there is no way to adjust the power of the "kick" from the lower playfield to the upper playfield. The second is the problem of the ball lift coil getting fried. This happens all too often due to shorted transistors, or failing transistors that provide "trickle" power to the coil, heating it up over time and eventually causing it to short.

The solution(s)

The first problem was to be able to control the speed that the ball would travel up the tube. The simple solution is to add an end of stroke switch and use a flipper coil. Since the switch can be adjusted to open at various "throw" points of the coil plunger, you can control the force of the plunger strike to the ball. Open the switch early, and the ball travel will be slower. Open the switch later and the ball travel is faster. Making the end of stroke switch bracket isn't too difficult to do. Contact Cliffy at Passion for Pinball, and hopefully he'll have them for sale soon.

Now, on to the A-4893 coil getting fried. There is something to note here. The schematic calls for a 6 1/4 amp Slo-Blo fuse for F17. A 6 1/4 amp Slo-Blo passes way too much current to protect the ball lift coil should either the pre-drive transistor or the under-playfield drive transistor short on. No wonder it cooks so often. This coil needs to be protected with a 2.5 amp Slo-Blo fuse, just like the pop bumper coils (so in theory the fuse will blow before the coil cooks).

For this mod, I used a A-20095 flipper coil instead of the stock coil, and an end of stroke switch to turn off the power-stroke winding of the flipper coil. By using an end of stroke switch, if either drive transistors short on, only the hold portion of the flipper coil will be energized, in exactly the same way as a flipper operates.



9 Black Hole Lower Playfield Ball Gate Wireform

The design of the lower playfield ball gate wireform (part # 21161) is specific to Black Hole, and no other game. The ball gate wireform (part # 20604) used on all Gottlieb® multiball games is shown for reference purposes, and will not work for this application. The difference between the two is the extra dogleg, which is needed to "nudge" the ball towards the lower playfield upkicker, after the ball release coil enables.

If the lower gate wireform is missing, and both balls on the lower playfield drain at the same time, the ball release will allow both balls to pass to the upkicker. When this happends, the game will never see the second switch close like it should, and it will never enable the upkicker. Hence, the balls will remain on the lower playfield until the game is turned off, turned back on, and the credit button is pressed to start a new game.

As of this writing (4-4-16), the 21161 ball gate wireform is not available from any typical parts vendors. For what it's worth, the 20604 is not available either.

10 Sound Mapping for Black Hole

The following sounds should be created by asserting signals S1 through S16 as indicated with Black Hole ROMs installed.

Notes:

  • Quoted sounds indicate speech.
  • A "1" indicates a grounded sound signal. "00001" means to ground S1. "00010" means to ground S2.

Sound Mapping

  • 01 - 00001 - Game Over
  • 02 - 00010 - Extra Ball
  • 03 - 00011 - "Tilt"
  • 04 - 00100 - Start
  • 05 - 00101 - Upper PF Random Sound 3
  • 06 - 00110 - Upper PF Random Sound 2
  • 07 - 00111 - Upper PF Random Sound 4
  • 08 - 01000 - Upper PF Random Sound 1
  • 09 - 01001 - Owwwwweeee.....
  • 10 - 01010 - Lower PF Random Sound 2
  • 11 - 01011 - Lower PF Random Sound 1
  • 12 - 01100 - Lower PF Bonus Count
  • 13 - 01101 - Bowwwwww.....
  • 14 - 01110 - Rising tone
  • 15 - 01111 - "Oh No" (Slam Tilt)
  • 16 - 10000 - -no sound or speech-
  • 17 - 10001 - Upper PF Target not in G-Force sequence
  • 18 - 10010 - Upper PF Target in G-Force sequence/lower PF targets
  • 19 - 10011 - Upper PF spinner
  • 20 - 10100 - Background music or Lower PF wind
  • 21 - 10101 - "Lost"
  • 22 - 10110 - Rushing wind (entry to lower PF)
  • 23 - 10111 - "Shoot captive hole"
  • 24 - 11000 - "Complete bank for re-entry"
  • 25 - 11001 - "Enter gravity tunnel"
  • 26 - 11010 - "Re-entry attempt has failed"
  • 27 - 11011 - "Re-entry accomplished"
  • 28 - 11100 - "Extra ball lit"
  • 29 - 11101 - "Shoot for special"
  • 30 - 11110 - "G-Force accelerated"
  • 31 - 11111 - "Captured"

The sound rom internally uses sounds 35 and 36 to generate the attract mode speech (not selectable with the sound inputs). The sound board randomly picks which phrase to say.

  • 35 - "Do you dare to enter the Black Hole"
  • 36 - "No one escapes the Black Hole"


Click to go back to the 1980-1989 Gottlieb® System 80/80A/80B repair guide.