Recently got my first pin, a Data East TMNT. I've thought about replacing all bulbs with LEDs, but I'm leery of running into issues just as you've described here. I'd REALLY like to at least replace the bulbs for the 4 target banks with LEDs that correspond to the appropriate turtle's color.

I broke out the owners manual and started looking at the wiring schematics and was unpleasantly surprised to find that Data East screwed up their own manuals by including the schematics for "Checkpoint" instead of TMNT. Apparently Checkpoint machines were used to make early TMNT protos. Funny bit of history, but it doesn't help me with knowing the wiring on my machine...

1 hour ago, Br81zad said:

Recently got my first pin, a Data East TMNT. I've thought about replacing all bulbs with LEDs, but I'm leery of running into issues just as you've described here. I'd REALLY like to at least replace the bulbs for the 4 target banks with LEDs that correspond to the appropriate turtle's color.

I broke out the owners manual and started looking at the wiring schematics and was unpleasantly surprised to find that Data East screwed up their own manuals by including the schematics for "Checkpoint" instead of TMNT. Apparently Checkpoint machines were used to make early TMNT protos. Funny bit of history, but it doesn't help me with knowing the wiring on my machine...

The conversion to LED is SOOOO worth it. If you color it out correctly, it really makes everything pop, plus the added benefit of not having to change bulbs. Congrats on the first machine, they are a lot of work but once you get everything taken care of, they are so much fun. Data east games are some of my favorites, I hope to have a Data East Jurassic Park one day.

47 minutes ago, SNESNESCUBE64 said:

The conversion to LED is SOOOO worth it. If you color it out correctly, it really makes everything pop, plus the added benefit of not having to change bulbs. Congrats on the first machine, they are a lot of work but once you get everything taken care of, they are so much fun. Data east games are some of my favorites, I hope to have a Data East Jurassic Park one day.

I'm really enjoying it, and learning all of its quirks. It'll randomly drop a ramp switch (yellow or green) and I don't really know what could be causing it. Sometimes it will happen right from start up, sometimes it'll happen mid game after a few plays. Cycling the power on/off seems to fix it for awhile. I've also noticed that the game likes to warm up a bit before being played. If I start it cold and immediately jump into a game, the DMD will scramble and eventually drop out. Again, cycle power and it's fine. 

I've got a new ramp for it and a full plastic kit to replace some broken bits. I'm not planning on tearing it down until I can secure all of the ramp decals. Currently they're out of stock at Macro, and I haven't seen anywhere else that carries them.

A Data East JP would be sweet! I also really like their themes through the 90's. Hook, Back to the Future, Star Wars, Batman all hit me in the nostalgia.

21 minutes ago, Br81zad said:

I'm really enjoying it, and learning all of its quirks. It'll randomly drop a ramp switch (yellow or green) and I don't really know what could be causing it. Sometimes it will happen right from start up, sometimes it'll happen mid game after a few plays. Cycling the power on/off seems to fix it for awhile. I've also noticed that the game likes to warm up a bit before being played. If I start it cold and immediately jump into a game, the DMD will scramble and eventually drop out. Again, cycle power and it's fine. 

Check your connections in the backbox, those connectors get dirty after a while, these data east games also are known to have power board problems. I know some of the fuse holders are paper thin and the holders should be replaced. Some of those connections also get super burnt due to bad connections and cold solder joints, I would make sure they are all in good shape. That might solve some of your "warm up" problems. I've also had to replace caps on a couple of those...

1 hour ago, SNESNESCUBE64 said:

Check your connections in the backbox, those connectors get dirty after a while, these data east games also are known to have power board problems. I know some of the fuse holders are paper thin and the holders should be replaced. Some of those connections also get super burnt due to bad connections and cold solder joints, I would make sure they are all in good shape. That might solve some of your "warm up" problems. I've also had to replace caps on a couple of those...

Oh I'm sure some solder reflow and connector cleaning could do wonders to make it more consistent. But quirks and all I've still put up a score of 32 million on it. 

That damn plunger kicker is probably the most annoying thing about the whole machine. Lol