Episode 422 - Canada Pincon, Backbox Lamp Troubleshooting, 1935 Rockola TNT

For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·16m 16s·analyzed·May 23, 2018

Analysis

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TL;DR

EM podcast covers Canada PinCon, backbox repair diagnostics, and deep dive into 1935 Rockola TNT mechanics.

Summary

Nicholas Backbone discusses Canada PinCon's history of pinball booth featuring rare early games, troubleshoots a Gottlieb Queen of Diamonds backbox illumination issue (likely burned-out bulbs from overvoltage due to incorrect fuse), shares updates on his personal game room maintenance and upcoming guest, and concludes with a detailed mechanical overview of Rockola's 1935 TNT, a 10-ball pre-flipper game with complex kickout features and skill-based playfield design.

Key Claims

Canada PinCon is featuring a history of pinball booth with a 1932 Bally Goofy, 1935 Bally Bumper, 1932 Ballyhoo, 1939 Keeney Thriller, and 1954 Surf Club (Bally Bingo)
high confidence · Nicholas Backbone, citing an announcement on Pinside
Surf Club's double hold feature allows returning only odd or even balls back to play in the same game
high confidence · Nicholas Backbone, discussing Bingo game mechanics from direct knowledge
The most common cause of isolated backbox illumination failure (with working playfield lights) in EM games is burned-out bulbs, often resulting from overvoltage caused by an incorrect larger fuse
high confidence · Nicholas Backbone, analyzing a Gottlieb Queen of Diamonds repair case
Rockola TNT (1935) features 10-ball play with multiple trap holes, a 'forward advance' skill shot hole, and an internal kickout mechanism that feeds side habitrails
high confidence · Nicholas Backbone, providing detailed mechanical breakdown of the game
The hold feature on Bally Bingo games was first debuted on Palm Springs
medium confidence · Nicholas Backbone, discussing Bingo game history

Notable Quotes

“I think that's just a wonderful feature and it's a crime that there haven't been more Bingo games that use that, I think.”
Nicholas Backbone — Expresses strong opinion on the value of the double hold feature and its rarity in Bingo game design
“From a player's perspective, it's extremely challenging because while you can get extra shots to make your numbers, the problem is that you still have to make your numbers.”
Nicholas Backbone — Highlights the skill-based tension in Bingo games despite having hold mechanics
“The simplest explanation is that the bulbs themselves are burned out. Now you might ask how that could happen and the reason is the owner posted and said that the incorrect size fuse was in that particular fuse holder.”
Nicholas Backbone — Demonstrates diagnostic reasoning for EM repair, showing how overvoltage fails the weakest circuit link
“It's been almost a year since I've had the thing fully cleaned uh... meaning every game is accessible and uh... any of them can be played”
Nicholas Backbone — Reveals personal collection maintenance challenges and the space constraints of hobby game collecting
“Very cool mechanism there. There are essentially habitrails built in with one-way gates that allow the ball to travel to those left and right hand sides.”
Nicholas Backbone — Highlights the mechanical sophistication of 1935 pre-flipper game design

Entities

Nicholas BackbonepersonCanada PinConeventRockola TNTgameBally Surf ClubgameGottlieb Queen of DiamondsgameBally GoofygameBally BumpergameBallyhoogameKeeney ThrillergameRockolacompanyBallycompany

Signals

?
event_signal: Canada PinCon organizing a history of pinball booth with five rare early games (1932-1954 range) and soliciting participation
high · Nicholas Backbone citing Pinside announcement about Canada PinCon's history of pinball booth with specific game list
?
operational_signal: Troubleshooting approach for isolated backbox illumination failure: check plugs, verify correct fuse value, and inspect bulbs for burnout from overvoltage
high · Nicholas Backbone walking through Queen of Diamonds case where incorrect oversized fuse caused overvoltage and bulb failure
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restoration_signal: EM collector managing large collection with space constraints; selling games to create working room for restoration and repair projects
high · Nicholas Backbone discussing need to clean up game room, test machines after year of sitting idle, and selling games for space
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historical_signal: Deep mechanical documentation of 1935 Rockola TNT pre-flipper game, highlighting advanced skillshot and habitrail kickout design
high · Nicholas Backbone providing detailed breakdown of TNT's playfield layout, point values, advance mechanism, and kickout system
?
gameplay_signal: Bally Surf Club's double hold feature (returning only odd or even balls) identified as rare and valuable game mechanic that should be replicated in other Bingo games
high · Nicholas Backbone discussing Surf Club's dual-hold capability and expressing regret it hasn't been adopted more widely in Bingo design

Transcript

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0:00

What's that sound? It's 4 Amusement Only, the EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast. Welcome back to 4 Amusement Only. This is Nick Baldridge. Since coming back from Allentown, I've been working every night on work work rather than fun work. So, there hasn't been a whole lot of pinball to talk about in my life, but there have been some interesting happenings going on. And I thought I'd mention some of those and give you all a break from a bit of the multi-talk. First of all, there was an announcement I saw on Pinside about Canada PinCon. They say, wanted to give a heads up to anyone that can make it to Canada PinCon. That's at canadapincon.com. They're doing a small history of pinball booth with a 1932 Bally Goofy, a 1935 Bally Bumper, a 1932 Ballyhoo, a 1939 Keeney Thriller, and a 1954 Surfclub. That's a Bally Bingo. And they're asking if anybody can contribute, please get in touch. I would encourage everybody who can to participate. I think these are very important events at these different pinball conventions to be

1:34

able to bring out these unique games or these underappreciated games and get the public to try them, get them to understand what makes them so fun. Surf Club, I mean I don't know if I can think of a better bingo to bring out for the public to play on. Surf Club is amazing because it's got the hold feature which was first debuted in Palm Springs and what makes Surf Club just an excellent game aside from the hold feature there's an ability to get it twice in one game. They call that the double hold and what this feature allows The game is a game that allows you to return only the odd balls back to play or only the even balls. And that is such a powerful thing. You can replay half of the game depending on how you've got your balls trapped. I think that's just a wonderful feature and it's a crime that there haven't been more games that use that, I think. From a player's perspective, it's extremely challenging because while you can get extra shots to make your numbers, the problem is that you still have to make your numbers. So, aside from that, Surfclub has super cards and in fact its rollovers will light the super cards and it's also got something called a super line. This is kind of a, sort of a similar concept to the super line that's on a lot of the six card games where three scores is four, four is five. The difference is that three in a row on the super line scores as five on surf club and two scores as four. The extremely tricky thing about the super line on surf club is that you can only select Other issues that need a certain set of numbers at a time so there six possible numbers that make up the superline and uh if I recall correctly you can only select three I didn give in time so in extremely challenging feet to uh hit that just right but a wonderful game so I hope you than goes really well in the hope to hear some reports about the show and how the history of pinball exhibit goes over Another interesting technical thread a Gottlieb Queen of Diamonds someone posted a question their backbox illumination went out their playfield illumination is still working and they wanted to know why or how that could happen how they could fix it Um, well, without knowing the circuit exactly for that game, I can say generally that the power comes from the transformer on the six-fold line and it winds through plugs up into the head or sometimes down into the playfield. Uh, so, there's already some movement through the plugs and that's a good place to suspect. But another thing is that the fuse. There's typically a separate fuse for the illumination on the playfield and one in the backbox. So making sure the fuse holder is good, that the fuse is the correct value and not blown are important things. The person who had the problem posted the lamp side of the schematic, which is all that's needed. And there's only one switch in there, and of course that's on the tilt relay, which knocks out backbox lights in favor of the tilt light. But I think the simplest explanation in this case, he says the Jones plugs are clean and the fuse is good. The simplest explanation is that the bulbs themselves are burned out. Now you might ask how that could happen and the reason is the owner posted and said that the incorrect size fuse was in that particular fuse holder. So when you get an overage, you know, an overvoltage condition, what's going to happen is that whatever the weakest link is in that circuit is going to give, From The White notre, gear is on Being and all the In those Scott Lee wood rails can be a challenge. Typically

6:43

to remove the glass where you can pull the entire panel back but that's a bit of a chore and uh... you always risk damage to the glass in both those instances uh... it's best to be you know very careful with that I have a guest coming over tomorrow night and uh... in preparation I've cleaned up my game room. Now that may sound pretty boring to most of you but it's been almost a year since I've had the thing fully cleaned uh... meaning every game is accessible and uh... any of them can be played I've had stuff on just about every game For quite some time now and uh... It's been driving me a little nuts uh... In fact that's why I'm selling some of my games is just so that I have room uh... in order to work. Uh... the thing about making games is that requires an awful lot of space and uh... space is at a premium uh... when you love buying old beater games and fixing them up so uh... it's been uh... a bit of a challenge for me to I think you know I come to terms with that and it was excellent to be able to get down last night and test everything It was not excellent to realize that, you know, leaving the game sitting for about a year is not going to be great for how well they work. I do have a couple of units that are either acting sluggishly or just not acting appropriately in a couple games, but I'll get those problems fixed, unfortunately not before company arrives tomorrow. It's just interesting being a person that kind of takes pride in having all their stuff working properly when something doesn't work. It's very glaring to me, but you know, it's totally fine. I'm just one of my many, many hangups. So, bit of a short episode today. I apologize for this, but I do need to get back to work. And time waits for no one. But before I go, we're closing in on the end of the year of Flipperless. And as part of the year of Flipperless, I've been trying to highlight these games which are very interesting or have unique rule Sets or cool mechanics from the pre-Flipper era. And tonight's game is no exception. It's Rockola's TNT. This game was manufactured in August of 1935 and it features 10-ball play. There are multiple trap holes on the playfield. The pinballducts are the most common in the playfield, as is common for a game of this era, and the point values range from 500 points all the way up to 2500 points. What makes this game extremely interesting is the advance feature. There's something labeled forward advance. It's a hole kind of in what I like to call the skill shot area right off the plunge, right in the center of the playfield, down below the lane where the ball is going to arc back and forth. Kit evil Winter Capital Где Forgive clearly 돈까 가자 tha다 충 SNUHL ussy toажи 자 캐�rett� stim Entonces Raffalli Nyarekio The game has a war theme and the forward advance is advancing on the enemy. The playfield graphics are pretty violent. There's a group of soldiers which are shooting another group of soldiers right at the center of the game and underneath the forward advance hold there are clouds labeled TNT so there's The title of the game. On the left and right side of those soldiers, they're separated by a small chasm and on either side there are two trap holes. The top is 2500 points and the bottom is 500 points. Below that is a fairly elaborate looking structure which contains those kickout holes which actually advance the ball. So the first The first value is 500. You can nudge it around that down to the 1000 point value. Nudge around that, you can get down to the 1500 and below that is the 2000 point value.

12:03

Once the ball is kicked out of there it will arrive down below the center area Right the center there is a hole marked for 2500 It the highest point value on the playfield Below that, if you happen to miss it, the opening is a bit larger than that hole and it would be possible for the ball to go careening past that. There is a larger hole that is 2000 points. Arrayed on the bottom left and bottom right hand side, assuming you missed this entire area and the center of the playfield and just go down the edges, you have a chance to ricochet off some pins for 500 points, down a little farther for a thousand. Towards the center again you get 2000 and right at the very bottom you get a consolation 100 points. In the center, this mechanism that has the kickouts is a bit more complex because what I haven't told you about, those kickout holes feed the left and right hand sides, but right in the center there is a larger area labeled TNT and the ball will kick either to the left or to the right and then feed those kickout holes at the top. Very cool mechanism there. There are essentially habitrails built in with one-way gates that allow the ball to travel to those left and right hand sides. And you have two soldiers, guns out, bayonets pointing forward, running towards, I assume, one side of the conflict, but who knows, maybe they're on opposite sides. Down below this kick-out area labeled TNT, there is another hole. And if you manage to miss this TNT area, which is huge, I mean it would take some pretty skilled nudging to miss it, there's a way to return your ball back to play. And there's a free play hole right there on the playfield. Very cool game. Looks very interesting as far as mechanics. You know, I think the ball movement on this must have been pretty captivating for the time. There had been other kick-out games at this point. Pamco's Contact that we talked about in the past and various other games that use that feature because it's a cool feature. It's great to see the animation as you're playing It gives you something to look forward to especially if you really miss a shot badly but you manage to land in something else of value and really start building and with ten balls you certainly have time to build a pretty excellent game this features the rockola tilt indicator which is a little Knapp, a piece of verbiage down by the shooter rod that says tilted. And it's got a slug viewer on the left hand side down in the apron. Here's another one I'd love to play one day. Well, that's all for tonight. Thank you very much for listening. My name again is Nick Baldridge. You can reach me at 4amusementonlypodcast at gmail.com or you can call me on the bingos line. That's 724-BINGOS1-724-9000. at bingos1 724-246-4671. You can listen to me on iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, Google Play Music via Facebook. You can follow me on Twitter at bingopodcast. You can also follow me on Instagram also at bingopodcast. Or you can listen to me on my website which is foramusementonly.libsyn.com. Thank you very much for listening and I'll talk to you next time.