Need some info on Mattel Basketball 2

That80sGuy

I purchased two Mattel Basketball 2's off of ebay. They were advertised as non working so I got them to fix up. The only problem is I don't have the right security bit to open them up. Confused

Can anyone tell me what I'm looking for?

I got the box today and was excited...until I realised I couldn't get into them to start diagnosing the issues.

Rik · Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 2:18 pm Post subject:

It's a triangular security bit. It seems very uncommon to get these in those '200 piece security bit' sets, and they seem very hard to find in general, but I have noticed that McMaster-Carr seems to carry them:
http://www.mcmaster.com/#triangle-screwdriver-bits/=5kqkas
About half-way down are the triangles... But I don't know what size Mattel uses... Mattel also did use two different size screws, so you would eventually need two different ones anyway. I think I'll order all 4 and see which ones work...

I originally made my own by grinding down the sides of an Allen wrench. Get a wrench that just barely covers the triangles, and then use a dremmel tool to grind down every other side of the Allen until you have a triangle. It should work (or be darn close) right away.

A 2mm Allen or a T7 Torx might just fit and get you to take them out without making a tool... Just be careful, of the screw resists too much, the tool could strip the screw head.

(Just ordered them, I'll see what they do when they come in...)

That80sGuy · Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 2:29 pm Post subject:

Got it with a T8 torx! The good news on the games is that if I hold the battery in place they both power on. Looks to be an easy fix.

Would it ruin the value to remove the brass contacts and replace that with a standard type 9V connector? The original contacts are worn out..the battery will not stay in place and keep a good connection. Maybe just bending the contacts a bit and replacing the foam on the inside of the battery cover would be enough.

Rik · Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 5:24 pm Post subject:

Check the solder connection between the contacts and the circuit board, that might be loose.

Clean the contacts to get them nice and shiny again. (I have an 'eraser' that's used for cleaning model railroad tracks that works wonderfully, but I'm sure there's other ways).

Bend the contacts out so the battery really has to push them back into place (and don't leave a battery in it when you aren't using it for any length of time, that will just 're-bend' them back in).

That should fix them fine. If there's no corrosion eating through them, they shouldn't need to be replaced (and it might be hard to stuff a battery with a snap-on connector back in that space without cutting out some of the case...)

Rik

That80sGuy · Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 6:34 pm Post subject:

Yeah..after a little bending the battery should fit tight. Especially after replacing the dried out and flat foam. They both seem to power up and play fine.. not bad for the price.

Rik · Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 2:55 pm Post subject:

Wow, +1 for McMaster-Carr's shipping, I got the things in today, less than 24 hours after I ordered them! (Of course it helps that they are local, but that still means they processed and shipped the items yesterday after I placed the order!)

I'll try them out tonight and see how they work (they look right, so just have to figure out exactly what size...) It'll be nice to have 'real' ones. Smile

Rik

That80sGuy · Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 8:21 pm Post subject:

Cool! Let me know what size so I can order the right one.

Rik · Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 8:35 pm Post subject:

Okay, so TA-23 is the one you for most of the games. The other size is TA-20 (the smaller one, Missile Attack was the only game I have with me that has this size, so maybe it's just the older games? Not sure...) But, TA-23 is the most common.

TA-23 is part# 5941A13
TA-20 is part# 5941A12

Rik