Author Topic: Broken paddles and errors on a Blackwater 100 pinball machine.  (Read 1300 times)

We recently received a restored Blackwater 100 pinball machine. This machine was originally produced by Bally Midway.

The guy told us restoring it was difficult, particularly in the case of some paddles. The game features five paddles, the two main ones, two on a second floor, and one on a higher floor near the bottom of the machine. He told us those higher paddles were particularly difficult, because they use unique spindles that were made exclusively for the machine, and are thus no longer in production. I don't know he fixed it, but he did it...or so we thought.

After just a few rounds, the left paddle on the second floor and the elevated paddle near the bottom both broke down. When I press the button now, the regular left paddle works without issue, but those other two don't do anything. The guy who fixed it is a professional, and he'll come back to fix it soon, but I figured I could ask for help here. We already checked the fuses, but we couldn't find any burned out ones. Naturally we checked in the machine, but we didn't open it up or anything. We just opened the door and looked into it, and we couldn't see anything that way. We'd rather not open it up without knowing what we're doing, especially if he's coming to fix it anyway.

There's also another issue. After turning it off and on, it would sometimes get stuck on an error. I don't remember specifically what it was, but it was something with the number 8 (either error 8 or failing of test 8 or something like that). I did check the manual, but I couldn't find anything on this message. Turning the machine off and on didn't solve it at first, but eventually it just started working again. Do any of you know what it means and how to solve it if it happens again?

Besides him coming to fix it, I still wanted to ask you guys whether you know anything about this. Any tips on how to solve these issues? Sorry there aren't any photos, I didn't think of taking them when we were checking it, and I don't think everyone here would appreciate it if I just opened it for no reason.
Huge Nintendo fan and hobbyist Nintendo collector.



Re: Broken paddles and errors on a Blackwater 100 pinball machine.
« Reply #1 on: March 25, 2016, 06:34:52 am »
Never mind, it's working now. My dad found a loose wire. So he soldered it back on and it's working now...how did I miss that cable when I checked it  :(
Well, whatever, it's working now, and the error seems to be gone too.
Huge Nintendo fan and hobbyist Nintendo collector.



tripredacus

Re: Broken paddles and errors on a Blackwater 100 pinball machine.
« Reply #2 on: March 25, 2016, 10:10:45 am »
You are a pinball machine owner, you can call them flippers now. ;)

Re: Broken paddles and errors on a Blackwater 100 pinball machine.
« Reply #3 on: March 25, 2016, 11:00:02 am »
You are a pinball machine owner, you can call them flippers now. ;)
I wasn't entirely sure whether that was the correct word in English, but if it is, then I will :)

Never mind my previous post, now all the flippers on the left side don't work. All three of them don't respond to anything. I guess we'll just call in the mechanic, but if anyone knows any solution please do tell me!
Huge Nintendo fan and hobbyist Nintendo collector.