Carnival amusement game highly rare and trying to restore

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Cdm017

Joined Feb 17, 2019
1
Hello all this is a game that I am trying to fix for my business. If anyone thinks they can help me or know who can in NJ please contact me. You smack a mallet on counter and it is pulley driven to a lever that throws a ball into two categories slow or fast. Object races up track I believe it had lights involved so it only like 4 function. Just need help getting this game going, it would be the only game like it in the US I am confident
 

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BR-549

Joined Sep 22, 2013
4,928
Have you got a manufacturer name or any documentation? Do you think you have all the parts?

Otherwise........one has to sit down and play with it in person. Very expensive to back engineer.
 

BR-549

Joined Sep 22, 2013
4,928
I won't take that bet.

Lots of industrial/control electronic repair techs in NJ. Search for Industrial control and repair shops.

I would also suggest a pinball restorer for consultation. They can handle much more than pinball machines.
 

pmd34

Joined Feb 22, 2014
527
It looks like it would be fairly simple to reverse engineer, nice simple easy to follow PCBs. You could get an idea of what it used to do and then simply replace it with an arduino, and some relays I guess.
 

MisterBill2

Joined Jan 23, 2018
18,167
I see the pictures and It is not clear what the electronics is supposed to be doing. Also, I see nothing of any ball, so that part is not clear to me at all. And attempting to hack in an arduino is a very poor idea all around.
Do the cars race each other up the track? The actual operation is not obvious, at least to me. And seeing the electrical stuff, the very first suggestion is to carefully examine it all for broken connections and pins not fully seated in the connectors. Check the easy stuff first, that is.
 

Bernard

Joined Aug 7, 2008
5,784
Just some speculations:
TS has flown the coop? No new answers.
Cars operate like a linear actuator, limit switches top & bottom, one polarity on rails to go up, reverse to go down. First car to reach the top freezes all motion, lights a light & after a pause causes all cars to be reset.
Mechanical ball shooter gives a miss, short hit, or longer hit. Short hit moves car 5 mm, long hit moves car
15 mm. A column light might flash on hit.
Might be easier to redesign than reverse engineer?
 

MisterBill2

Joined Jan 23, 2018
18,167
Just some speculations:
TS has flown the coop? No new answers.
Cars operate like a linear actuator, limit switches top & bottom, one polarity on rails to go up, reverse to go down. First car to reach the top freezes all motion, lights a light & after a pause causes all cars to be reset.
Mechanical ball shooter gives a miss, short hit, or longer hit. Short hit moves car 5 mm, long hit moves car
15 mm. A column light might flash on hit.
Might be easier to redesign than reverse engineer?
The big question stands as to what condition the electronic circuits are in. And the speculation is one thing, the reality may be different. I am hoping for a response from the TS. The results will certainly affect the advice that I deliver.
 

Bernard

Joined Aug 7, 2008
5,784
Ball flipper appears to be just behind the cars in the dark, flipper on bottom, target holes top left?
Electronics appears to be late 1960s.
 

MisterBill2

Joined Jan 23, 2018
18,167
Ball flipper appears to be just behind the cars in the dark, flipper on bottom, target holes top left?
Electronics appears to be late 1960s.
WOW, Bernard must either have far better eyesight than me, and certainly a lot more experience with games than I have. I am waiting for the TS to respond. BUT, looking at the pix of the electrical and electronics, so far I see nothing beyond repair, unless the numbers have all been scrubbed off the IC packages. But knowing how the thing actually works, and what the controls must be making happen will be quite useful towards determining any course of action. Once the sequence of actions is clear then the function of the controls should become obvious.

In the meanwhile, perhaps the folks at Marvins Magical Museum, a fantastic place with old games and stuff, may have a clue ot two. There may be other museums as well.
 
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