Tips When Buying a Machine

Tech Tips Main

Bony Beast Ramp Repair

Make Your Own Bony Flippers

Eyeball Shooter Alternative

Crate LED Source

Coffin Tech Tips

Shipping Tips

What To Look For When Buying A Machine

Parts List

Spider Hole Repair

Home ROM?

• Make sure the spider in the backbox is intact and points to the correct award during gameplay.

 

• Make sure the crate LED's are all functioning and are all a clear LED that changes red when lit.

 

• Make sure the crate door opens when the plunger behind the door drops down and stays closed when the plunger is in the up position.

 

• Check the condition of the crate door decal. Usually these are beat to heck but replacement NOS and reproduction are available.

 

• Check for PF wear in front of the crate from the ball.

 

• Check for spider hole wear and chips from around the opening.

 

• Check to make sure the spring steel flap on the ramp above the spider hole is intact and swings freely upwards but does not swing down below the ramp. Also, a repair kit for this includes a metal stop bracket above the ramp below the bones to prevent the ball from breaking the bones.

 

• Check to make sure the coffin door opens and closes and is able to eject all locked balls.

 

• Check the left plastic ramp (boney beast ramp) entrance where the decal is for heat deformation from a GI lamp directly below. You may need to remove the PF glass and feel with your  fingers as sometimes this is difficult to see.

 

• Check to make sure the sling shot plastics (boogie men's feet) are not broken or cracked.

 

• Make sure you have boney flipper bats and not normal flat smooth ones like on most other machines.

 

• Check to make sure you have all 3 leapers (frogs) and that they don't rotate on the shafts. There should be stops on the shafts under the PF that keep the frogs from falling off should you lift up the playfield.  The frogs *should* hit the playfield glass when you hit the targets during gameplay

 

• Just check on the normal stuff like cabinet, PF and backbox wear. Look for broken or missing plastics. There are enough photos on the web to check other machines to compare to see if you are missing anything. Williams/Bally still has this game on their website for any info or pictures.

 

The tips below were supplied by Scott Edsall -

• Always run all of the complete diagnostic programs. This will make you aware of any program or memory issues/failures, allow you to check the operation of every pixel of the backboard digital display. The diagnostic programs will also verify the correct operation of every incremental step of the spider motor, inspect/verify the operation of every bulb and solenoid, and allow you to verify the proper operation of the crate, coffin & jet poppers.

 

• Inspect the main computer PCB's in the backboard. Look for any repair work done to the PCB's and inspect the quality of any repairs. A machine that has not been well-maintained will also have evidence of neglect in the back-up battery holder as evidenced by dead and/or leaking batteries. Even if the batteries are fresh, look for past acid leaks on the battery terminals and damage to surrounding areas.

 

• Lift the playfield and look for past repairs and the quality of those repairs if any are found. Verify if OEM parts were used for repairs. When you inspect under the playfield, also carefully inspect the bottom-inside of the machine box. Look for loose and/or missing hardware and broken parts. This will also provide tell-tale signs of excessive use and neglect.