# SDTM Cary Hardy: Saving Swords Of Fury Pinball PART III

**Source:** Straight Down the Middle  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2019-06-29  
**Duration:** 17m 18s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGn5WnZy9cY

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## Analysis

Cary Hardy continues his restoration of a non-functional Swords of Fury pinball machine (Part 3 of the series). Through systematic troubleshooting using factory diagnostics, he identifies multiple issues: non-functional player 3/4 display screens (determined to be bad displays requiring replacement), general illumination (G.I.) not working due to a loose/burned connector on the transformer connection, and a stuck rubber and improperly installed post on the playfield. Hardy decides to upgrade the machine to LED displays (~$200) rather than source original displays, and plans to continue G.I. connector repair in the next episode.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] The player 3 and 4 display screens on this Swords of Fury are bad/non-functional despite receiving correct voltage — _Cary Hardy confirmed this by swapping the working display from another Swords of Fury machine and observing the problem persisted, then comparing the new display which 'looks much more crispy'_
- [HIGH] The G.I. (general illumination) failure is caused by a loose/burned connector at the transformer connection point — _Hardy demonstrated that wiggling the connector brought G.I. lights back on temporarily, showing 'a pulsating thing' indicating iffy connection; he identified the connector pins as being 'not really all the way in there'_
- [MEDIUM] LED display upgrades for this machine cost approximately $200 — _Cary Hardy stated '$200. It's only mate/man right?' when discussing the cost of upgrading to LED displays_
- [HIGH] Someone previously installed a post on the playfield and drilled under the wood improperly, creating playfield damage — _Hardy discovered during gameplay testing: 'Someone installed a post right here and drilled under the wood. Oh people piss me off.'_
- [HIGH] The machine has been sitting for approximately 20 years before restoration — _Hardy stated 'this thing's been sitting for 20 damn years' when commenting on the crispy display quality difference_

### Notable Quotes

> "All the flippers are working... Audio's working. None of my G.I. is working."
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~2:30
> _Initial diagnostic assessment identifying multiple categories of machine function/failure_

> "Someone installed a post right here and drilled under the wood. Oh people piss me off."
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~5:15
> _Frustration with previous owner/technician damage to the playfield; indicates poor prior maintenance_

> "Do you realize what this means? It means that I have a valid reason to upgrade my Swords of Fury to LED displays. $200."
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~12:30
> _Reframing a failure/limitation as justification for a worthwhile upgrade; practical restoration decision-making_

> "I mean do you blame it I mean this thing's been sitting for 20 damn years."
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~14:45
> _Contextualizing the severity of degradation; explains why original displays failed_

> "If I The Wiggle this connector around... Right there. Oh. Okay. I've got it in there in the position where the G.I. on the playfield's on."
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~18:45
> _Demonstration of the 'WSS method' (wiggle/seat/slide) for diagnostics; shows hands-on troubleshooting technique that reveals the root cause_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Cary Hardy | person | Host of Straight Down the Middle pinball restoration YouTube channel; performing full restoration of a Swords of Fury machine; skilled in pinball diagnostics and repair |
| Swords of Fury | game | Pinball machine being restored by Hardy; appears to be a Williams System 11B game (based on G.I. system references); non-functional when restoration began; has been sitting unused for ~20 years |
| Straight Down the Middle | organization | YouTube pinball restoration and education channel hosted by Cary Hardy; focused on diagnostic troubleshooting and repair documentation |
| Williams System 11B | product | The control system/platform used in this Swords of Fury; referenced by Hardy during G.I. diagnostics |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Pinball machine restoration and repair, Diagnostic troubleshooting methodology, Display technology and replacement options, General illumination (G.I.) system repair
- **Secondary:** Playfield damage and prior poor maintenance, Component testing and voltage verification, LED upgrade cost considerations

### Sentiment

**Mixed** (0.55) — Hardy expresses frustration with prior damage/poor maintenance work ('people piss me off') but remains methodical and optimistic about solutions. Shows satisfaction with successful diagnostics and practical upgrade decisions. Overall tone is problem-solving-focused with moments of exasperation at previous work quality.

### Signals

- **[community_signal]** Cary Hardy producing detailed, methodical video documentation of pinball restoration process for educational purposes; emphasizing systematic troubleshooting approach (confidence: high) — Multi-part YouTube series documenting each repair step; explicit mention of using factory diagnostics menus; showing specific testing procedures and connector inspection techniques
- **[technology_signal]** Original display technology from 20-year-old machine has degraded; Hardy deciding to upgrade to LED displays rather than source replacement original displays (confidence: high) — Hardy confirmed original displays are 'not good' through comparison swap; identified LED upgrade as justified $200 solution; noted original display was 'crispy' due to age

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## Transcript

What's up guys and welcome back to another episode on Straight Down the Middle. My name is Kerry Hardy and I talk and do everything pinball. So if that sounds interesting to you then hit that subscribe button down below. So here we are now on part 3 of Saving Swords of Fury. This episode doesn't really need that much narration from me so we're just going to let it play. I don't know if the power switch is currently on so I'm just going to plug it in and we're going to see what happens. All right. Three, two, one. Adjust failure is common because there's no batteries. So, so far this is a good sign. We'll skip past that. All the flippers are working. There we go. Alright, so it looks like so far my control lamps are working right here and over here. Audio's working. None of my G.I. is working. Let's start a game and see what we can do. Well, let's add some quarters. I'm gonna do four players if I can. I can to see if that four player screen works at all. So player three and player four screens are not working. So all those switches work. Spinner works. Go to the tunnel. That switch doesn't seem to be working. I'm not going to be able to light up the line, man. There's a rubber that's stuck up in here. Love the soundtrack. We going to try to start a multiball Thank you Iron Man Defeat the power Got the jack on! The rubber is so swollen up and messed up right there that it just catches the ball. Well that's actually kind of messed up. Someone installed a post right here. I didn't even see that. Someone installed a post right here and drilled under the wood. Oh people piss me off. Frickin'... Ugh. Alright, so... Third player and fourth player screens are not working. This could be just a good... Wigglesome shit... fix. Or it could not be. I've already reseated these connections, so... Those displays could be shot. I haven't got a closer inspection on them yet. But hey, the game is working. So, there we go. Your clothes are black. Alright. So, let's go over all what is wrong when it comes to fixing this machine. because before I go doing anything cosmetic, I want to make sure that the machine is 100% functional. Then I can take it all apart, get everything all cleaned up, and do cosmetic stuff before I go any further than that. So let's take notes of what all needs to be done to this game to get it 100% functioning. so get past this factory settings all right so control lamps are working here and here and going over the footage from what I saw earlier when I was watching back these are working too so my GI is not working on my back glass area and the GI is also not working on the plate built okay So, sound was all working, all my solenoids were working. It was the switch for the EGI players 3 and 4. I think that was it. Let's go into solenoid test and let's fire all the solenoids including the knocker to make sure that works. about that and there's my display test obviously top two rows are functioning no problem but nothing on the bottom two are going sounds good there's all my lamps These are 555s aren they I saw a blank It works, it's just got a real lousy connection. I saw a blank. Alright. Coil test. Knocker's all working. Alright, so switch edges if I wanted to then, But I already know that every switch is working except for that E, so I'm not going to bother with the switch test. Alright, so as far as the flashers go, chances are those are all burnt out. Let's get back into this. Alright, so let's work on seeing what we got going on with our displays here. I'm going to start from the main source and that would be my power supply. I'm going to check to make sure I've got my plus and minus 100 volts. Yep, plus and minus 125. So got voltage there. Let me check the actual connector instead of just my resistors that I have here. So the connector should have my 5 volts. I'm getting 4.8 but that should be enough. As long as I got 4.75 or better I would be pretty good on that. And my connector is all good. So let's get this pulled down. Let's go through this. Well, I've got the appropriate voltages going to the displays, but I do not have any display. So that leads me to believe that those displays are not good. Sucks. So I can confirm this by pulling my working display off of my working Swords of Fury, and that should confirm or deny whether or not these displays that I have in here are bad. So let's do that. All right. Alright, let's see if these displays are going to go. I'll tell you right now, even though I only see the top two, mine looks a lot crispier. I don't know, that could just be me. Come on. Uh See Uh huh See So these displays are not good. On to the next problem. Of course, now that I think about it, what this means... Do you realize what this means? It means that I have got a valid reason to upgrade my sword to fury to LED displays. $200. It's only money right? Alright, so display issue has been at least the solution has been found. So the next one was that switch, but more than likely that's under the play field. I'll mess with that last. Let's mess with general elimination or GI. So let's cut this thing back on. yeah my display just looks much more crispy I mean do you blame it I mean this thing's been sitting for 20 damn years. Alright. So. GI. System 11B. So, yeah, the GI is not going up to the power supply. It's going to here. Okay. Alright, so. this is the connector for my gi this is where all of it's going so this is the first culprit that you want to check for because this is going directly to the transformer so this is uh where i'm going to go to first now there's many culprits for a gi issue but chances are this is my issue because connectors always get burned up back in the day especially when they were all incandescent chances are this is a location pin they got road pretty hard actually honestly this isn't that bad I mean yes I just want to see what it looks like when I get it all cleaned up so I don't like how already these connectors are not really all the way in ah see got half of my GI figured out already do I have anything on the play field no they're gonna GI bulb right there let me see if I good old WSS method here I'm just gonna push this stuff in wiggle oh yep Yep. See? Look at this. If I wiggle this connector around... Right there. Oh. Okay. I've got it in the position where the GI on the playfield's on. Ah! Look at that. It's like... It's got a pulsating thing going up. That's like it's gone. That connection is very, very iffy right here. So I'm going to pull this board, check this connector, and see what we've got going on. On the next episode in the series, we will continue that GI repair, as well as other repairs that need to be made. That's it. So if you like what you've seen here and you learned something, maybe give me that thumbs up to let me know. And if you haven't already, do not forget to hit that subscribe button down below. That way you can be notified whenever we upload something for your viewing pleasure. Until next time, guys. Peace out. We'll see you next time.

_(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 813de16b-8709-49ee-8f00-94b3c2886814*