Bowlingo - ME90 pinsetter

Mendes out of Canada was manufacturing the Bowlingo mini-bowling systems, it's a real good earner. Mendes has since gone out of business, however the system was bought up by Qubica/AMF and has been upgraded.

For those of us with the older systems and ME-90 pinsetter, be advised that Qubica is doing a great job supporting the older pieces. In fact, chances are the tech you speak to is the one that probably installed your lanes.

Step 1- READ THE MANUAL

Sega Top Skater- The game went down and I've been dreading taking it apart to fix it. The 'slide' volume went out, and I assumed it was where the curve volume is, down in the deep dark depths of the skate board assembly, where peoples shoes, feet, and everything they've stepped into collects. It's disgusting. Well, I just spent the last hour tearing into the board assy- getting dirtier and dirtier, elbow deep in grunge and crud.
I can not find the slide volume! It's nowhere to be found! So finally, I decided to consult the manual, which Sega has conveniently posted on their website for all us techs. (Along with all other manuals) http://www.sauservice.com/

Well guess what, the slide volume is conveniently located behind a service door, easily accessed by removing several screws. Serves me right, now step one will always be- READ THE MANUAL

3 easy steps to diagnosing a bad sensor on Dog Pounder

OK, if you're reading this, you probably are having issues with the Bob's Space Racers Dog Pounder. The software constantly checks the sensor emitters and receivers for functionality, even when there is no game play. If it finds fault, the game "Barks" and displays "Get Help" on the LED screen. At this point the operator can open the game and press the "Program" button, which will display which sensor is at fault. For our purposes, we will assume the faulty sensor is #1-

3 easy steps-

1- exchange the emitter with the emitter on sensor #2, if the error code changes to Sensor #2- you have a bad emitter. If not, continue-

2- exchange the receiver with receiver on sensor 2, if the error code changes to Sensor #2, you have a bad receiver.

3- Clean the mirror and check continuity of wires to the emmiters and receivers.

These steps should resolve any Sensor problems with this game-

HINT- you can check the functionality of the UV LED's by looking at them through your cell phone camera! Although the naked eye cannot detect the UV light, a digital camera can.

Part pricing-

Sometimes, distributors do things that make me say "What the...?" For example- pricing on game parts. Generally, they're very expensive. And I can see this on a custom made part, for a particular game.

But standard parts, say power supplies for example. I got a quote for a 12v 300a Power supply for a Spyro-mania. The distributor quoted me $652.00- that is NOT a misprint. However, a quick, VERY quick, Google search found the same part for $130.00-

So again, I say- "What the...?"

Bags

There's a new upgrade kit for the IT Golden Tee cabinets- first came the Silver Strike Bowling kit (I prefer the Rock'n Bowl-a-Rama)- now, they've come out with something called 'Bags'. I haven't seen it yet, but I've heard it's very popular in the right kind of venue. Anyway, it's nice to see companies coming up with new ideas, rather than beating a title into the ground.

The SW Trilogy power problem, is apparently a real problem now. See, it turns out thet Sega apparently used non standard connectors in our particular unit, so now the 'standard' harnass adapter does not fit. Soo off the the factory it goes, let THEM figure out the mess-

Sega Star Wars Trilogy

I've decided to replace the power supply on this old game, Sega has introduced a new system that will allow the old huge power supply to be replaced with a new switching PS-  The old PS has been removed, and now I have to figure out how to install the new one.  For the most part, it's fairly simple, but there are a few connections on each side that don't match up-  so now what?