Williams Dracula Pinball Repair (Bram Stoker)

Introduction

Got an email wondering if I could repair a Williams Bram Stoker Dracula pinball. Dracula is a game on route for the owner. The owner wanted me to go through the machine and fix any problems along with cleaning and adding new rubbers to it.

Problems and Fixes

Found quite a few items that need attention and thought it would be easier to make a list with the fix. Here were the problems with the machine:

• The batteries on the machine looked good but not sure of date. Installed new batteries and dated. Here’s a reminder to change those batteries yearly.
• Playfield will not lock in the upright position. Removed brackets from the machine and re-bent them. Also filled screw holes and redid screws on the safety brackets.
• LED mod causes connector 116 to come loose. Spliced in the connector with another mod and ran to connector 116. This gave enough extension to raise the playfield without coming undone.
• LED mod installed but not connected. Installed mod in the head of the game. It was an RGB LED strip and needed a new connector.
• Both flippers were missing 2 of the 3 bushing screws. Inspected flippers and removed flipper bats and installed new bushings along with the correct screws.
• Bottom pop bumper not working when activated. The switch on the bumper needed adjusted.
• Switch 56 error and asylum solenoid randomly firing. Switch 56 was missing an opto. Replaced opto and switch now registers and the random firing stopped.
• Left drop target stuck and bent switch. Switch was bent underneath drop target. Made adjustments and drop target now works.
• Missing GI (white brown strand) lights. The fuse had blown and was caused by a loose wire the shorted out. Re-soldered wire and added 5A fuse.
• Missing insert lights and replacing the bulbs did not fix them. This was caused by either cracked header pins or bad IDC connections.
• Capacitor C2 starting to leak. Removed the board and replaced C2.

Conclusion

Got the game up and running and did a topside tear down of the machine. This is a more difficult pinball to shop because the ramps and Dracula toy. I used this guide, which really helped. Game was cleaned, waxed, and re-rubbered. Put everything back together and had to make a few more adjustments. Game is now working great and ready to start making money again!

I personally think Williams Dracula is a great pinball machine and happy to repair it. The Mist Multiball has to be one of the coolest affects in pinball.