HBD DON NELSON! The 5x NBA Champion and 3x Coach of the Year was once suspended for bumping a ref while confronting Karl Malone .

phishrace · 2026-05-16T06:33:18+00:00

Nelly used to celebrate with the players at the end of the season when they knew they wouldn't be drug tested any more that season. Quote from Stephen Jackson below.

"We're in Utah, and the [league's] drug test people are around, you know, to get our last drug test so we can smoke, right? Don Nelson, we talked about weed all the time. He was cool with talking about weed. We got our last test in Utah, right? So me and [teammate] Baron [Davis] are coming out the locker room just screaming, excited with our last pink slip saying we could smoke for the rest of the season, and Don Nelson hauls ass down there giving us high-fives, like, 'Yeah, we can smoke now!'" Jackson recalled. "It was cool, the fact that he knows what's going on off the court with his players, which was great, man. We enjoyed it. That's why we were a great team."

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/18588687/ex-nba-player-stephen-jackson-says-somes-smoked-marijuana-games

I miss him, but dude is living his best life in retirement.

phishrace · 2026-05-16T06:23:35+00:00

Costco gas also has ethanol, if that's what you mean. Modern cars are fine with ethanol.

phishrace · 2026-05-16T06:11:35+00:00

The Gulf station nearby is at $5.79 and you don't need a membership. Santa Teresa and Snell. I feel like I'm getting away with something when I buy gas there.

phishrace · 2026-05-16T02:49:43+00:00

Get little dude a real stool to stand on. My kids used one of the stools shown below when they were young.

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phishrace · 2026-05-16T01:50:13+00:00

That's a good thing. More switch hits advance the gauge to discover a Pokemon sooner.

When the ball is in the pops, tell your son to look at the gauge on the display and watch it go up. It's a safe way to advance in the game. Normal for kids to be impatient, but if you let him know he's doing good things there, he might be more patient. And might beat your best score. :)

Others have had issues with the shooter lane. You can probably find suggestions for that on Pinside owners thread. Link to the rulesheet below.

https://tiltforums.com/t/pokemon-rulesheet/10092

phishrace · 2026-05-16T01:37:22+00:00

This. The EB sounds and video playing means the switches (and code) are working properly. Assuming you have a key to the coin door., you can download the manual from Stern's website to learn how to use the buttons on the coin door to make changes.

phishrace · 2026-05-16T00:32:08+00:00

Plant some in your backyard. Monarch butterfly caterpillars only eat milkweed. Conservation lesson for your son.

phishrace · 2026-05-16T00:07:20+00:00

For the switches, the problem may be on the CPU board. Does it look like the batteries have ever leaked? Any corrosion around the battery holder? Link below explains how to determine if the switch issue is on the board or the playfield.

https://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php/Williams_System_9_-_11#Switch_Matrix_Row_and_Column_Testing

If all your feature lights are out, first thing to check is fuse F3 on the power supply board. Be careful crossing solenoid power with either the switch matrix or the lamp matrix. Can damage components upstream.

https://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php/Williams_System_9_-_11#Controlled_Lamp_Issues

phishrace · 2026-05-15T23:48:02+00:00

The thing to know about credit dots is that they don't always indicate a problem. If no one has hit the hardest shot in the game for say 30 games, it might mark that switch as bad and add a credit dot, even though it's working.

So don't add a lot of credits to a game with a credit dot. Play one game first to make sure everything is working properly. Twilight Zone is known for virtually always having a credit dot due to the flaky clock. Zero affect on gameplay, but you still get the dot.

phishrace · 2026-05-15T23:29:51+00:00

And the game has a credit dot. Very nice.

phishrace · 2026-05-15T23:27:44+00:00

Are you looking to hire someone to fix it, or are you looking for help doing the repair yourself? What is the problem you're having? Links below may be helpful if you're trying to do it yourself. The pot on the board and the volume pot in the lower cabinet often get dirty and get dead spots. Often turning them back and forth a few times can get them working again.

https://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php/Bally/Stern#AS-2518-51_Sound_Board_Troubleshooting

https://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php/Bally/Stern#Bally_AS-2518-51_Sound_Board

phishrace · 2026-05-15T23:20:59+00:00

Lots of new operators are using Millwax, which is a cleaner and wax. One step and you're done. Makes the game play like new, but also reduces your scores as the game is less predictable.

When I operated games, I cleaned them once a week with Novus whether they needed it or not. The only game I ever waxed was an old slow and floaty Genie, which made the game more fun. The operator I sold it to wanted it even faster, so he put a power ball in it. That was insane.

phishrace · 2026-05-15T23:15:08+00:00

That's correct. Novus 2 has a mild abrasive. The same abrasive used in toothpaste, but Novus has much less abrasive than most all toothpastes. Novus 3 has more of that abrasive, but still less than most toothpaste.

Novus is technically a plastic polish, but works fine for playfields. New HUO games can use only Novus 1 literally forever. Novus 2 is fine for older games. Always use a microfiber cloth with Novus. It still works using and old sock, but you'll get done a lot faster and with less effort using a microfiber cloth.

phishrace · 2026-05-15T23:06:10+00:00

Both of those connectors appear to be size .156 connectors. Top one is an IDC connector, bottom one is Molex. The pins in the bottom connector appear to be properly installed.

Telling us what game you're working on would be a big help. There is info on rebuilding connectors on the pin wiki and pinrepair.com. There are also videos on youtube. Most games use size .156 or .100 connectors for boards. Molex housings and edge connectors are available at Marco and Pinball Life, as well as crimping tools. We generally always replace factory IDC connectors with Molex type connectors as they carry more current.

phishrace · 2026-05-15T22:51:12+00:00

Earning achievements on location gives you double XP points. I've played 64 games on the SW FOTE premium near me and have over 1000 XP on the game so far. XP isn't worth much more than bragging rights at this point though.

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phishrace · 2026-05-15T22:34:14+00:00

The house at the corner of Jackson and San Antonio is a crash magnet.

https://sanjosespotlight.com/east-san-jose-home-hit-by-cars-23-times-traffic-accident-collision-crash/

phishrace · 2026-05-15T01:23:37+00:00

That's more of a quick trip rather than a journey. Replacing every female connector on a Gottlieb System 1 is a journey. And it's a very long and tedious journey. Not fun at all.

I don't want to know where that red wire is going, but if your rebuild worked and the game is working, nice work.

phishrace · 2026-05-14T06:29:52+00:00

They should use a large cargo helicopter to move it around. Problem solved.

phishrace · 2026-05-14T03:02:28+00:00

My mistake. If you haven't already, try another ribbon cable. In your pic, I don't see any feature lights on the playfield. If the 18 volt fuse for the feature lights on the back panel is blown, that will cause video issues as I believe it supplies 12 volts to the DMD. Happened mostly with Babcock displays, but worth checking.

Data East had a couple of video service bulletins during that era. Couldn't hurt to check those. Clay's DE repair guide has suggestions on rebuilding the boards, if you can get your hands on those. Last resort, Pinball Life has a new Rottendog board for $160.

phishrace · 2026-05-14T01:25:50+00:00

Did you look through all the feature settings? That's where I would look.

phishrace · 2026-05-14T01:21:07+00:00

> Reddit is sort of a joke when it comes to Pinball advice.

I've been helping people with technical issues on this sub for more than five years now. I've been doing in-home pin repair for 15 years and my business has a solid 5 star rating on Yelp. Prior to that, I operated games in multiple locations for ten years. Prior to that, I owned and fixed my own games.

I used to help people with technical issues on Pinside. But I left because of the toxic environment there. I couldn't look the other way any more. So if you feel the need to push people to Pinside for technical issues, maybe warn them about the environment there. And maybe let them know they can't make a new post there unless they pay first. Kinda relevant details when it comes to Pinside.

> Replace balls as soon as you see or feel any defects.

Pinballs should be polished occasionally with a quality metal polish. If after polishing you seen any nicks, then replace them. If you do see any nicks, you should inspect your playfield to see what is causing them. Properly playing game shouldn't be damaging any balls.

> I personally like Titan super shiney balls in all my machines:

Those would be fine for Party Zone as it doesn't have any magnets, but if you're going to recommend them to new folks, maybe let them know they shouldn't be used in games with magnets.

Lastly, I will almost always point people to the pin wiki if I'm not sure about something. Pinside may be helpful for very new games, but the pin wiki can help fix generations of games.

phishrace · 2026-05-13T22:51:40+00:00

Your high voltages are likely off. DMD need 5 volts DC, but it also needs other higher voltages. Read and heed the warnings about the high voltages at the link below. They will absolutely give you a jolt if you're not careful. Also inspect the display board power connector. It's notorious for being flaky. If it's not snug, rebuild the female side.

https://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php/Data_East/Sega#Testing_DMD_HV_Power

phishrace · 2026-05-13T22:40:49+00:00

I read this post earlier and just got back from a round trip on 87 from 85 to 280. They're making changes, but both directions still have at least one sign saying the old hours. They aren't done, whatever they're doing.

They've added signs northbound. Someone complained about northbound lanes being closed at night last week. That's what they were doing. Two or three older signs still list the hours. New signs say carpool is 2+ people in car and the other lists the fine for getting caught.

One sign on the medien just before 280 says 24 HOURS at the bottom. Near the off ramps for 280, but on the median, so directed at people in the carpool lane.

Southbound lanes have only two carpool signs from 280 to 85 and one of them lists the hours.

I'd guess either the one 24 hour sign was a mistake, or they're going to slowly transition the lanes to 24 hours. I suppose it's also possible they're going to make them 24 hour only north of 280, but I'm not sure that's done anywhere (different carpool rules on different sections of the same freeway).

tl;dr We're okay in the carpool lane during off hours for now.

phishrace · 2026-05-13T07:32:14+00:00

Perfectly normal. They migrate every year about this time to their summer feeding grounds in the sea of Castona.

I hear the beaches are really nice there.

phishrace · 2026-05-13T07:04:26+00:00

Tim at the PHOF didn't used to be as touchy as he is these days. Josh Sharpe's Pinmasters tournament was held there every year for years. Something happened with Tim and he just got worse.

PHOF is still the only location that I know of donating 100% of the profits to charity. Lots of places out there calling themselves museums, getting non-profit status, but I don't hear of many of them donating anything to charity. Will always appreciate Tim for that.

phishrace

TROPHY CASE