Board Repair on TDS Pinball Repair

Judge Dredd WPC-89 MPU Repair

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Board

This WPC-89 MPU came out of a Judge Dredd. The game had stopped booting entirely and was showing intermittent direct switch issues before it gave up — two classic symptoms that point straight to MPU corrosion damage.

Diagnosis

On WPC-89 MPUs, battery corrosion is one of the most common failure points. The onboard batteries leak if not replaced often, and the corrosion spreads across the board under the batteries, taking out the switch matrix components and traces underneath. In this case the corrosion had only reached U16, one of the LM339 comparator ICs responsible for the direct switch inputs, which explained the switch issues prior to the full boot failure.

Getaway — GI and input header repair

Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Machine

This Williams High Speed 2: The Getaway (1992) came in with two issues — strings of GI lighting were dead or dim, and the game would occasionally refuse to boot. Both turned out to be related to the same issue — bad IDC connectors.

The Problem

The factory IDC (Insulation Displacement Connector) headers used on WPC games are notorious for failure over time where high current is involved, usually the GI strings and input power to the driver board. As they age, contacts loosen, get pitting or corrosion in the plating, the connection resistance increases, which generates heat. The heat degrades the connector further, which generates more heat — a cycle that eventually ends with a melted, burned connector and dead GI strings or boot/reset problems.

NBA Fastbreak — Minor Restoration

Thu, 18 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The Machine

This Bally NBA Fastbreak (1997) came in purchased from a home owner who had kept it for over 20 years. The game was in great cosmetic condition, but had some gameplay and sound issues that needed solving.

A good starting point, the cabinet and playfield were in great condition.

Battery Corrosion

The game had battery corrosion, though thankfully WPC-95 machines use a plastic battery tray instead of an open frame holder, so the damage was far more contained than what you’d typically see on an older WPC game. Corrosion was cleaned and abated before anything else was touched. Again people, check your batteries regularly! These had expired over 10 years ago!