Nugent

All posts tagged Nugent

Nugent – Servicing the Drop targets

Posted by Andrew Burch on February 17, 2014
Posted in: Nugent - Stern (1978). Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 2 comments

The drop targets – one of the final elements of the game to receive my attention. The Nugent playfield has two banks of 3 drop targets. The first set (located on the left of the playfield) control the special bonus (which is an extra ball & 100,000 points). The second is located on the upper right and controls the bonus multiplier (x2, x3 and x5). Both sets are functional, although sometimes it does not detect when all 3 targets have been dropped (more on this later). The blue star decal on all 6 targets is worn and the white has faded over time. There is also some dirt build up on the targets and the assembly under the playfield.

This is how the drop targets looked to start with:

Nugent bonus drop targets
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Nugent – Servicing the pop bumpers

Posted by Andrew Burch on February 15, 2014
Posted in: Nugent - Stern (1978). Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

I’m beginning to run out of things to do on the Nugent now. I’ve gotten into most corners of the machine and sorted out many issues as I’ve gone along. There are two main things left to look at – the drop targets and 3 pop bumpers. I’m going to focus on the pop bumpers and get them serviced.

Awhile ago I replaced the 3 caps on the pop bumpers (seen in an earlier post). Now it’s time to actually remove all three pop bumper assemblies to clean and service them. At this point the only real complaint I could make about the pop bumpers is sometimes they don’t activate when they should. Most likely solved by cleaning and/or adjusting the switch.

There is a bit of work to actually get them out as I found, but once I had managed to do one, the others were much easier. I decided to do one at a time. That way I had two working pop bumpers to use as reference in case I mucked up.

To begin with, I need to remove the cap and also undo two screws that sit inside pop bumper. The two screws attached the pop bumper body to the playfield. But I can’t simply lift it up as the bulb socket is soldered under the playfield and the metal ring is attached to the plunger.

Nugent pop bumper
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Nugent – Apron Redux, Playfield & Lockdown bar

Posted by Andrew Burch on February 11, 2014
Posted in: Nugent - Stern (1978). Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 2 comments

First up for this update is the lock down bar. The condition of the bar itself is OK. It’s a little worn and has a few scratches, but is solid and doesn’t need replacing. The issue it does has however is it’s loose on the left side and does not lock down properly. I can lift the left side up with my hand.

Loose nugent lockdown bar
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Nugent – Under the apron

Posted by Andrew Burch on February 2, 2014
Posted in: Nugent - Stern (1978). Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

I’ve been a bit quiet on my Nugent lately – more playing than tinkering.

I’ve got a batch of parts arriving in a week or so to fix up a few more things, so will hopefully have more work to report shortly.

I have been meaning to get under the apron for awhile and check it out, so decided to do it last night.

The apron itself isn’t in bad shape. There are a few marks across the “for amusement only” text and some very minor scratches around the edges. But overall it’s clean, solid and the artwork clear.

Nugent Apron
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Nugent – Rebuilding the flippers

Posted by Andrew Burch on January 10, 2014
Posted in: Nugent - Stern (1978). Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

I’ve often heard people talk about how important the flippers are on a pinball machine and it makes sense. It’s your primary interaction with any pinball game and if the flippers have issues, then making shots becomes difficult and it can have some negative side effects on the game play. The flippers on my Nugent are in need of some attention. While I can make any shot on the table with them, they often bounce when catching the ball. This sometimes acts as a trampoline by making the ball jump or causing the ball the bounce off in unexpected directions. I’ve seen this described as “doughy flippers” by some people.

Flippers

I purchased two sets of flipper rebuild kits from a local pinball supplier here in Victoria, Australia. They only came in sets of two, so I will have a left flipper kit spare once all three flippers have been rebuilt. First step was to get the play field lifted up so I could get access to the flipper parts below the play field. I decided to start with the left flipper since it was the worst of all three.
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