Star Trek: The Next Generation
 |
| Manufacturer | System | Year | Model | Produced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Williams | WPC-xxx | 1993 | 50023 | 11,738 |
Star Trek: The Next Generation Playing Tips and Rule Sheet
Star Trek: The Next Generation Shop Guide
1 Game-Specific Issues
1.1 Diode "Tie Back" missing causes 8-Driver Board transistor to fail
The "diode tieback" connection to the 8-Driver Board is critical for Star Trek: The Next Generation. Without this "diode tieback", transistors on the 8-Driver board WILL be damaged. The diode tie-back wire is purple/green and connects from the coil power side of one of the drop target assembly coil lugs (either coil is fine) to J4 pin 1 on the 8-Driver board. If the solder connection at the coil lug is solid, suspect the wire connection at the IDC connector. Repinning this connection with good a quality crimp-on TriFurcon pin is advised.
1.2 Missing Balls or Extra Multi-Ball
A common problem is broken wires on the trough optical board(s), especially the large 270 ohm resistors. One way to test is to put the machine in switch edge test mode and bang on the playfield just above the flippers to see if any switch edges register. They should not. Replacement boards are available with shock mounts or you can alter your own boards by drilling out the holes and adding grommets.
1.3 Replacing the OEM Starships with Hallmark Ornaments
Hopefully these DIY’s will save you a few bucks over the pre-assembled mods which can run from $50-$100 each. Probably won’t garner me any love with the mod sellers but who cares. The processes are very simple and even if you aren’t that skilled with wiring/electronics you can complete these mods without a problem so don’t be scared!
If you have any questions during the process please feel free to drop me an email.
I looked for the pictures I had taken the last time I did this and couldn't find them (I probably deleted them already) so I took my last Hallmark Warbird and went to town on it specifically for DIY photos/instructional purposes.
Something I noticed while I was paying much closer attention this time is that the lights in the Romulan Warbird aren't LED's. They are tiny "grain of wheat" incandescent bulbs. You can see one in the picture at left.
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f319/jesseawilson/Pinball/Hallmark%20DIY/IMG_4333_zpsd87eb48b.jpg
There is a reason you can hook up the Klingon Bird of Prey directly to
the existing GI bulb sockets and it works 100%.... because that ship only uses LED's to create its lighting effects. If you attempt to hook up the Warbird (or the enterprise for that matter) directly to a GI string, there is virtually no light (if any) emitted at all from the warp nacelles . The current required to run the 4 incandescent bulbs is much more than a circuit already filled with a string of other incandescent bulbs can handle. This realization leaves you with two options and one is more time consuming and complicated than the other.
DIY 1st method:
As far as the Romulan Warbird goes, the first and more complicated
option is to keep the incandescent bulbs inside the ship and remount the
circuit board under the PF. The items required for this install are as
follows: 8 wire male and female Molex connectors/terminals (2 rows of 4
work best), 1 ¼” hole saw, some black and red 22ga wire, 1.5mm heat
shrink tubing, 5mm heat shrink tubing, zip ties:
Instructions: The first step is to separate the top and bottom halves of the ship. You’ll need a sharp razor blade or Exacto knife and cut along the back of the ship as pictured here: http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f319/jesseawilson/Pinball/Hallmark%20DIY/IMG_4314a_zps630fe647.jpg - show quoted text - http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f319/jesseawilson/Pinball/Hallmark%20DIY/IMG_4341_zpsc17f8b70.jpg - show quoted text - http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f319/jesseawilson/Pinball/Hallmark%20DIY/IMG_4283_zps472c4f66.jpg Through the bottom hull, keep going: http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f319/jesseawilson/Pinball/Hallmark%20DIY/IMG_4292_zpsdfc45a94.jpg
If you drilled the hole first then separate the bottom and top halves now. You’ll need a sharp razor blade or Exacto knife and cut along the back of the ship as pictured here: http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f319/jesseawilson/Pinball/Hallmark%20DIY/IMG_4314a_zps630fe647.jpg Cut on both sides of the back metal screw post until all the plastic/glue has been severed. Once that is done the top and bottom will be somewhat loose in the back and you just need to give it some pressure rocking it back and forth to separate it. Once the back has been separated you can use it as leverage to separate the warp nacelles on both sides which also have a metal screw post going down the center of each. The small front piece may or may not be glued in, if it isn’t glued then it has a hook on the end so just back it out of the hole. If it is glued and it breaks off not to worry, in all likelihood it won’t be noticeable once you re assemble it as long as it’s a clean break and you don’t mess with it.
Broken piece which disappeared when reassembled: http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f319/jesseawilson/Pinball/Hallmark%20DIY/IMG_4304_zps99337273.jpg
Now you should be sitting there with a separated Warbird with a hole in the bottom piece. Pull out any remaining incandescent lights/wiring/circuit board pieces (just give the bulbs a tug and they will come right out). Now you need to prepare your 4 LED’s for installation. Solder on your lengths of red and black wire (about 18” will do fine) to the leads on the LED’s using the red for the positive (which is the longer lead). Cut a strip of 1.5mm heat shrink long enough to go from the very end of the LED lead to the start of the insulation on the wire. Do this on the positive wires only, one wire is all that is necessary and if you do it on both you will have a harder time fishing the wires through the small holes on the bottom of the ship. Now you should have 4 LED’s with red and black wires soldered to the lead ends and the positive leads fully insulated. Take them and fish them FROM THE TOP of the hole where the incandescent bulbs were located and run the wires out the old power hole. The LED’s need to be sitting up a little to fully extend into the warp nacelles when you put the top and bottom back together.
LED’s fished through: Top: http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f319/jesseawilson/Pinball/Hallmark%20DIY/IMG_4305_zps5f0f10ff.jpg Bottom: http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f319/jesseawilson/Pinball/Hallmark%20DIY/IMG_4307_zps6ccdfe76.jpg Close up left: http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f319/jesseawilson/Pinball/Hallmark%20DIY/IMG_4303_zpse11be707.jpg Close up right: http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f319/jesseawilson/Pinball/Hallmark%20DIY/IMG_4302_zpsd85871f9.jpg
I then used 5mm heat shrink tubing on all the wires leaving the power hole (which fit all 8 wires if you use 22ga). At the end of the run of wire lengths you cut you’ll need to solder them all together to a single black and red wire. I used 20ga for this single run but feel free to continue to use the 22ga. You can solder the 22ohm resistor between the 4X 22ga positive(red) wires and the 1X 20ga red wire. http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f319/jesseawilson/Pinball/Hallmark%20DIY/IMG_4332_zpse12916fc.jpg
Add some more 5mm tubing to finish covering the soldering joint and
use the 1.5mm to cover the single wires and the resistor to protect it from shorting out on something. You can attach your Molex connectors anywhere on the length of the two single wires. On the other side of the Molex connector, solder the other end of your wires to the lamp socket you plan on using and clean up your install with the wire ties up to the Molex connector.
Next step is to test it before you put the ship back together so attach the Molex connectors and make sure it lights up. If not then check your connections because something is loose, if so then you can button it back up. I only had to pressure fit the ship back together and everything closed up just like it was before when it was glued. I prefer this method because if something goes wrong it is very easy to open back up and fix it. If your ship doesn’t stay together just by giving it some pressure than you can superglue it together.
Mine being tested: http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f319/jesseawilson/Pinball/Hallmark%20DIY/IMG_4330_zpse2794e3a.jpg http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f319/jesseawilson/Pinball/Hallmark%20DIY/IMG_4329_zps9edab9f3.jpg http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f319/jesseawilson/Pinball/Hallmark%20DIY/IMG_4318_zps757cc5dc.jpg http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f319/jesseawilson/Pinball/Hallmark%20DIY/IMG_4315_zps75dac6ac.jpg
As far as mounting the ship, you can use a small wood screw (pre drill
the hole first) to attach the back end of the ship to the existing metal
bracket or if you weren’t too sloppy with your hole saw you should have
a very nice snug fit when you slide the ship over the flasher dome. The
slight pressure will keep it where you want it even with the playfield
raised into the vertical position. I prefer this look to that of having
the bracket, it appears to just be floating/flying. You can rout the
wires down the hole in the back left of the playfield under the ramps.
The top ramp has a slight indention just to the right of the bracket
that attaches it to the back board. If you can’t get to it you can fish
the wires out the diverter cut out in the back board as well. Connect
the Molex connector and turn the game on to see your new illuminated
Romulan Warbird.
Finished mod: http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f319/jesseawilson/Pinball/Hallmark%20DIY/IMG_4341_zpsc17f8b70.jpg - show quoted text - http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f319/jesseawilson/Pinball/Hallmark%20DIY/IMG_4348_zps6d242f3a.jpg
Heat up your soldering iron because you’ll be using it in this next
step. You are now going to cut off the wires coming off of the ornament
and solder them onto the terminals of one of the lamp sockets. Solder
one wire directly onto one of the bulb socket terminals and wire the
other to the resistor and then solder the resistor to the other terminal
of the bulb socket. Once you have this part complete you can take it to
the pin and plug it in to make sure it works before moving onto the next
step. For those who are more visual, here is a picture of the wiring
soldered onto the bulb
socket: http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f319/jesseawilson/Pinball/Hallmark%20DIY/IMG_4352_zpsbe631083.jpg
Here is the completed assembly: http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f319/jesseawilson/Pinball/Hallmark%20DIY/IMG_4356_zps19a4492d.jpg
After completing the wiring you now need to work on a way to mount it. After trying a few methods I found the way that works the best for me. You need to take the old mounting rod and open up one of the ends. The best way to complete this is to use a larger flat head screwdriver and just shove it in the gap to widen it. The end goal is a “U” shape. Pictures for reference:
Before: http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f319/jesseawilson/Pinball/Hallmark%20DIY/IMG_4361_zps20eaa1a6.jpg After: http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f319/jesseawilson/Pinball/Hallmark%20DIY/IMG_4357_zps178c41e7.jpg
Once you have the end opened you may have already figured out where it will be mounting onto the ship but for those who haven’t take a look at this picture: http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f319/jesseawilson/Pinball/Hallmark%20DIY/IMG_4365_zpsfe280fcb.jpg Here is a photo of the rod mounted onto the ship: http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f319/jesseawilson/Pinball/Hallmark%20DIY/IMG_4371_zps4dcd8140.jpg
Re-installation is as simple as feeding the wiring back through the hole under the “Targets Increase Spinner Value” plastic, securing the screws, and connecting the Molex under the playfield. Enjoy your new modified Klingon Bird of Prey!
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f319/jesseawilson/Pinball/Hallmark%20DIY/IMG_4375_zps146be7a8.jpg
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f319/jesseawilson/Pinball/Hallmark%20DIY/IMG_4374_zps09e89d6e.jpg
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f319/jesseawilson/Pinball/Hallmark%20DIY/IMG_4372_zpse9396f08.jpg
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