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Part 6: 1978 Gottlieb Close Encounters of the Third Kind Project. Playfield time!

Pinball Shenanigans·video·20m 53s·analyzed·Oct 11, 2025
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.019

TL;DR

Close Encounters restoration: solenoid issue resolved, playfield cleaned and revitalized.

Summary

Mike Dus documents Part 6 of his 1978 Gottlieb Close Encounters restoration project, focusing on diagnosing and fixing a drop target solenoid issue that was causing fuse blowouts. After replacing a diode, installing a refurbished soundboard from Corey, and switching to a proper slow-blow fuse, the machine powers on successfully. Mike then spends 2-3 hours cleaning and restoring the playfield, including tightening loose posts, replacing worn rubbers, cleaning switches, and refreshing plastics.

Key Claims

  • The drop target bank solenoid firing was causing fuse blowouts due to a combination of incorrect diode orientation and fast-blow fuses being used instead of slow-blow

    high confidence · Mike identifies the issue through systematic troubleshooting; replacing the diode and switching to slow-blow fuses resolves the initial problem

  • A Lizzy board (Gottlieb System One reproduction control board) requires a Raspberry Pi to function, which Mike was initially missing

    high confidence · Mike explains that Bigfoot Bruce pointed out he hadn't installed the Raspberry Pi; the board comes with SD card containing DIP switch settings for game selection

  • Corey offers a trade-in program for pinball soundboards, providing refurbished units in exchange for old ones

    high confidence · Mike trades his old soundboard to Corey and receives back a refurbished unit that was serviced by Brent Butler

  • Multiple playfield posts on the Close Encounters machine were stripped and required toothpick-and-glue repairs to secure properly

    high confidence · Mike reports fixing 6-8 posts using this technique after discovering they were loose during restoration

  • The Close Encounters playfield required comprehensive switch cleaning and adjustment, with several non-functioning general illumination bulbs

    high confidence · Mike cleaned and adjusted all rebound switches and took a Dremel to multiple sockets to clean corrosion

Notable Quotes

  • “I'm a persistent bastard, so I'm going to just keep at it until I either smash my head against the wall or solve the issue or both.”

    Mike Dus @ ~0:50 — Establishes Mike's determination and troubleshooting approach to the solenoid problem

  • “This is not something I'm familiar with working with... I realized I didn't have the Raspberry Pi installed into it and that is required.”

    Mike Dus @ ~3:45 — Key learning moment about Lizzy board setup requirements; demonstrates willingness to learn unfamiliar technology

  • “Uh, we did not get an explosion. H interesting. That surprises me. So maybe the diode was partly responsible. Maybe the fact that I was using fast blow is partly responsible, but something is responsible.”

    Mike Dus @ ~8:30 — Moment of success when the machine powers on without blowing the fuse; indicates progress on the solenoid issue

  • “I can't believe uh that actually worked. Wow.”

    Mike Dus @ ~10:15 — Genuine surprise and satisfaction when the drop target solenoid fires without fuse failure

  • “I've spent somewhere in the neighborhood of two 2 and 1/2 hours working on this playfield and I am pretty much finished.”

    Mike Dus @ ~12:00 — Establishes scope and duration of playfield restoration work

Entities

Mike DuspersonBigfoot BrucepersonCoreypersonBrent ButlerpersonShauny BoypersonClose Encounters of the Third KindgameLizzy BoardscompanyPinball Shenanigansorganization

Signals

  • ?

    community_signal: Strong peer-to-peer knowledge sharing in pinball restoration community, with experienced restorers providing technical guidance

    high · Bigfoot Bruce identifies missing Raspberry Pi installation; multiple community members referenced throughout ('shenanigander' terminology indicates cohesive group)

  • ?

    restoration_signal: Systematic troubleshooting approach: component replacement, fuse type optimization, and mechanical adjustment as restoration workflow

    high · Mike methodically addresses diode orientation, switches from fast-blow to slow-blow fuses, then moves to playfield restoration; documents each step

  • ?

    restoration_signal: Corey operates soundboard refurbishment trade-in service with external partner (Brent Butler) handling technical service

    high · Mike trades old soundboard to Corey, receives back refurbished unit serviced by Brent Butler with replaced capacitors and volume potentiometers

  • ?

    technology_signal: Adoption of Lizzy boards (aftermarket Gottlieb System One reproduction control boards with Raspberry Pi) as restoration solution for classic machines

    high · Mike receives multiple Lizzy boards from Bigfoot Bruce for System 1, System 80, and BI-35 games; requires Raspberry Pi installation with SD card containing DIP switch settings

Transcript

youtube_auto_sub · $0.000

0:02
Mike's got the moves. Sticky fingers in the groove. Diet Coke in his hand, watching him prove. I'm Mike Dus and this is Pinball I'm Mike Dus and this is Pinball Shenanigans.
0:16
[Music] All right, back at this close encounters for another go here. Going to try and get this uh issue resolved once and for all. If you haven't been following along, the problem with this machine is that as soon as I start a game, the drop target bank solenoid fires and that causes this fuse to blow. So, I've been trying to trace that down and haven't had any luck yet, but I'm a persistent bastard, so I'm going to just keep at it until I either smash my head against the wall or solve the issue or both. But at the very least, I brought some stuff and I'm going to clean up the playfield and rubber it and at least uh make some progress. I'm going to change this weird diode that is not the correct one. This, I believe, is just for light. So, it's not really a big deal either way, but I do have the proper 1 270 diode. So, I'm going to change that. I am going to install the newly refurbished soundboard that I just picked up off of Corey and also courtesy of my fellow shenanigander brother Bigfoot Bruce who hooked me up with this Lizzy board. Um, I was just trying like having some technical difficulties on how it all worked and I realized I didn't have the Raspberry Pi installed into it and that is required. Bruce sent me a few boards. I think I mentioned this one for a BI-35, one for a Godly system 80, and one for this system one. So, I was just kind of picking Bruce's brain and he said, "Uh, yeah, I noticed you didn't have the Raspberry Pi in there." So, I guess that's what this is. This is not something I'm familiar with working with, but So, I guess the information I need is on that SD card. So, I think should be able to pop this in. Dip switch settings for game selection or set for close encounters. So, this Close Encounters may get this Lizzy board if that all checks out. Oh As long as I don't break it first. Here's my one N270 diode. Got a two good ones left. One good one with short legs. Then here is the uh I just did the tradein program with Cory. gave him my old soundboard and he gave me this one that we just got back from Brent Butler. And let's have a look and see. Need my teeth.
3:27
Got to be gentle. All right, so it looks like the volume pots changed. The capacitors are changed. Whatever this component is. Does that look changed? That might have been fine.
3:47
So, we'll install that, get our sounds back, and uh yeah. So, that's the plan. Try and get the thing working and get it chopped up. So, we'll see what happens. Hey, fellow shenanigans. If you are enjoying what you are seeing, why don't you click on these three dots at the bottom of any video and then find this heart. Click on that and hey, look at this. You can buy me a beer. You can use the slider to buy me 500 beers if you really like. But this is a way you can uh send thanks and I very much appreciate your support. If you do so, your comment will be highlighted and also I will give you a shout out. So, thank you for all your support. Okay, I got the new soundboard installed. This one was missing the plastic standoffs for the screws, unfortunately. So, I just made my own like post rubber. Cut it in half with scissors. And uh there you go. Homemade standoffs. So, let's power on the machine here.
4:58
Let's power on the machine here. and see if we got sound. Get my hand on the volume here.
5:12
Good volume. Good sound. Perfect. Okay, so I got this uh diode installed. Let me turn off the strobe light effect. And uh like I said in the last video, the orientation is not exactly uh intuitive. We're used to like, you know, the banded side of the diode, but usually it's black or white. I guess the banded side in this case is red. But for me to just figure it out, I just check the orientation and you know with the black lead on top, red lead on the bottom like so I'm getting a reading of about 300. So then as long as my diode reads the same way, then we know we got it oriented properly. So that is done. Okay. So I changed out this diode even though the original one tested fine and I measured it again when it was completely out of circuit and sure enough it tests fine. But it's brand new 1 N4004 in there. And then um this diode that was here, it needs to be geranium or something and not silicone. And I thought it was some weird 7852 diode, but if you turn it a little bit, it's actually a 4004. So that means that this one here that I thought was a weird 7857 is actually probably not weird at all. Yeah. 4004. Looks like this diode's been um replaced though at some point. So probably just check the orientation on that. Make sure that is correct. But uh I don't expect that's going to solve my problem. But uh did it anyways. Okay. I guess it is also important that I'm putting in a slow blow fuse. I was using 2 amp fast blows. So there's the proper um slowb blow. So all I've really done is just kind of change this diode, look over some wiring. So I highly doubt my problem's going to be solved. But if this fuse blows, then I'm going to move on to uh cleaning up the playfield and then kind of address this after cuz I want to make some progress. I don't want to spend two hours fighting with this one issue. So, let's fire on the machine. Keep an eye on that thing.
8:18
Wonder if we can still hear the radio. Last time it was when I touched the volume pot. No, no radio today. Okay, soon as I hit the start button, prepare for explosion. 3 2 1
8:39
Uh, we did not get an explosion. H interesting. That surprises me. So maybe the diode was partly responsible. Maybe the fact that I was using fast blow is partly responsible, but something is responsible. And uh I think you know the initial fuse that was in here, I didn't really check if it was slowb blow or not, but okay. Well, let's uh put the playfield down and see what happens. Okay, throw the ball in. No, let's not do that. Let's just plunge straight to the lanes. And no, let's do drop targets. Okay, ready?
9:43
Okay, question is, did that cause the fuse to blow? Okay. Well, I think our spinny wheel should finally work now, too, then.
10:07
Wow. Okay. Let's try and hit the target and see what happens.
10:14
How about roto spin? [Music] Wow. Cannot believe it. It didn't really rest into the proper place.
10:27
Not sure what that's all about, but I'm not going to be complaining just yet cuz uh fact that thing is working at all.
10:36
Whoa. What's happening there? It's spun like five times. So, it's having a hard time finding home, I guess. But that should be a lot easier of a problem to resolve. Just like cleaning switches, I imagine. But that is good news. I can't believe uh that actually worked. Wow. So, time to um tear down this playfield, clean it up, and uh add some fresh rubbers. Oh, yeah. We're gonna have to check this out in slow-mo.
11:11
Can you see what's happening there? Well, if not, here's the slow-mo version.
11:23
Okay, I got the plastics removed. Going to have to address some loose posts. I've got some toothpicks and wood glue. And these look like they were replaced, too. So, I got some uh original just as patina used white posts. So, I will clean up all the switches, adjust them all, and deal with the loose posts and also the broken light bulbs and non- workinging light bulbs. Clean up this playfield. I got some novice. spinner doesn't spin all that great, but that's kind of a gotly thing. And just work my way around the playfield. But, uh, little dirty, but should clean up nicely. Okay, I've spent somewhere in the neighborhood of two 2 and 1/2 hours working on this playfield and I am pretty much finished. As expected, turned out pretty nice. I pretty much removed all of the star posts, gave them a little cleaning, and tightened them back up. A lot of them did require some toothpick and glue in their old holes, which were stripped. Probably had to do that to like six or eight of them, but worked out well. They're all in there nice and snug. Like this was loose. This was loose. These guys at the bottom corners were loose. And as you can see, I did replace the crappy old yellow ones, the old flipper rubbers. Some of the other Playfield rubbers were ancient. We got the uh silicone got style flipper rubbers installed there. Cleaned up the bats a bit. I went over the playfield with a magic eraser and water basically and just scrubbed it and I got rid of a lot of the dirt. And then I uh went over it with Novvice 2 to kind of polish it up. Cleaned up the spinner. You can't really rub that too hard. The art may come off. And I did super lube it. So, it's a little more spinny now and pretty smooth actually cuz again, some of these were loose. So, that was probably not helping. I did clean and adjust every single playfield switch.
14:17
Um, not not the standup targets yet. Actually, I still have to do that. But I did all like the rebound switches, this guy, and then of course I made sure all the general illumination bulbs were working. There were several that were not. had to take my Dremel to many a socket just to clean them up. Uh clean the shooter uh gauge and shooter zone, shooter lane I guess one would call it. But I see a little bit of old wax there that I missed from someone else. I don't use wax. I mean, novice is basically wax, so I guess I do. Cleaned up all the lane guides, these guys up there, and of course, new rubber throughout. This is a big 4-in rubber. I'm down to one, so I need to order some more 4-in rubbers. More 2 and 1/2 in rubbers. Vacuum to playfield a few times throughout the process. But have a look at that.
15:37
That is looking pretty darn good. I might have to clean up pop bumper areas a little bit more. I kind of briefly went over the skirts, but they're not perfect. Hey, don't stick.
15:55
But yeah, not too shabby. Uh, anything else? Oh, yeah. this um nail was missing, but when I was cleaning the cabinet originally, I spotted that and I saved it. And sure enough, I found a home for it. So, got that back to its original home. And I think that's about it. Like, pretty much covers everything I did. I said it could have been two to three hours. I'm not really sure. Haven't been paying attention to the time. Just been listening to podcasts and you know schlogging away. So, uh I think I'm going to wrap up this video. You know what? Actually, I should at least clean the plastics and install them. So, one moment. Uh there's probably about 47 years worth of dirt and grime on these plastics. Nothing a half beaten to death magic eraser can't resolve. All right, there we go. Much better. Oh, yeah. Another thing I've been listening to is uh someone also known as Shauny Boy seems to have discovered AI music and has uh sent me like five variations of pinball shenanigans songs that uh he's created. So maybe for SMGs at the end of this video I'll include one of them. Oh, I stand corrected. Shauny Boy did write the lyrics of this uh Pinball Shenanigans AI song that he's been sending me multiple variations on. So, I will uh include this song. I'll pick my favorite variation uh at the end of the video. But, as you can see, plastics are installed. And usually we're missing a few of these metal acorn nuts, but I was literally only missing one. Well, two, but I found one in the cabinet when I was initially doing my cleaning, and I had another one on me. So, it is looking good. So, the next episode will be me dialing in all of the mechanics. Cosmetics are more fun. Mechanics, not so much. But it's all got to get done. But this thing is definitely coming along. So, I dig. Do you dig? If so, we can shovel together.
18:51
Shny boy flips the flippers of style. His girl E got his heart by a mile. Mike's got the moves. Sticky fingers in the groove. Tie a coke in his hand. Watch him improve. Pinball shenanigans. We're the best. Lights are flashing. No time to rest. Anyone, anyone step up to the test shenanigans at its finest. No jet. No chest.
19:22
Two steps up. The wizards in town flipping like magic. She'll never back down. Jay grabs the flippers, but food's on his mind. He'll take the high score, then he'll dine. Cory's laughing. Fork river in sight. Things go down, but he's ready to fight. Chitchat with John. John stories ignites involve shenanigans. I'm the best. Lights are flash and no time to rest. Anyone, anyone step up to the test involve shenanigans at its finest. No just no. [Applause] So he's laughing. Fork river in sight. G, but he's ready to fight. She chat with John stories ignite pinball shenanigans. We're the best. Life's a blasting. No time to rest. Anyone, anyone step up to the test while shamanic at its finest. No chest. No chess. Robel walks in. Redo on his lips. Tilts the machine. Let the ball do flips. The room's alive. The neon buzz. Pinball fever. That's what it does.
20:45
No chess. No chest.