Lexington, KY
Sticky request/ what to look for in a crappy pin
(Topic ID: 28788)
Quoted from alchy999:Went to look at as FT was told on phone by buyer the PF was in mint condition. This is a picture of the actual machine when I got there.
Maybe he meant that it was in "chocolate mint" condition. 
Quoted from TopJimmyCooks:Barakandl - was that stern MPU the one you got from me? For the record I did not do any work on it!
Possibly! I do not remember.
Quoted from ollagynot:I saw drywall screws holding a flipper leaf switch to the cabinetq once. Drywall screws have no place in a pinball machine. Some people just have no business making repairs.
I disagree with your statement;
I worked for a route op from August '79 to June '85. Pinball was big for a good portion of that time. When a service tech had a call, the rule was to get the game up and running bringing in quartrrs. We all carried drywall screws, nuts & bolts, drills and taps etc. We would bypass burnt connectors soldering jumpers to the rectifier board test points splicing into the wiring near the burnt connectors. Heck, Bernie Powers of Bally Field Service mentioned how a jumper to a test point or ground will keep a game earning if you did not have connectors and terminal pins. with you.
Remember, these machines were designed and developed to make money for operators. Tournament play, home collectors and long term durability for a home collector were not high on the priority list.
Quoted from MrBally:I disagree with your statement;
I worked for a route op from August '79 to June '85. Pinball was big for a good portion of that time. When a service tech had a call, the rule was to get the game up and running bringing in quartrrs. We all carried drywall screws, nuts & bolts, drills and taps etc. We would bypass burnt connectors soldering jumpers to the rectifier board test points splicing into the wiring near the burnt connectors. Heck, Bernie Powers of Bally Field Service mentioned how a jumper to a test point or ground will keep a game earning if you did not have connectors and terminal pins. with you.
Remember, these machines were designed and developed to make money for operators. Tournament play, home collectors and long term durability for a home collector were not high on the priority list.
just curious... how many times did you have to go out on route and fix another techs repair?
The idea of a field repair is to return the next time you collect with the right parts, and fix it right... now, how often that really happened...
Quoted from pinwillie:just curious... how many times did you have to go out on route and fix another techs repair?
Hardly ever ( less than 5% of calls ) our "improvising" was meant to last.
Quoted from johnwartjr:The idea of a field repair is to return the next time you collect with the right parts, and fix it right... now, how often that really happened...
We had separate collectors. They did not perform repairs other than clearing coin jams. When parts were ordered, the tech responsible for a geographic area installed those parts such as a flipper base plate. I usually worked nights covering all parts of the Detroit area from Ann Arbor to Flint to Mt. Clemens to Monroe. Back then about 20% of our locations were in the City of Detroit. Bypassed burnt connectors were not considered for follow-up repairs.
Post edited by MrBally : classified.
Table Top
This is a friend's machine. I didn't know him at the time but got to know him well after he had to bring the machine over to my place to get it working. Sold by a guy in Victoria - Australia who imports containers of machines. The buyer was told the machine was all good and had just had $935 spent on it sorting everything out. It took me many many hours getting the machine working reliably.
Both flippers were the same and yes that is a wire being held in place by a nail. You'd think for $935 in repairs they would have at least used new nails wouldn't you.
Didcot
Quoted from alchy999:Connectors cost 50c...
So did the solder. And it didn't require a 20$ punchdown tool or a 60$ crimper.
Quoted from jwwhite15:Ok, I will play...check the first pic first and see if you notice something that is not suppose to be there. The second pic will give it away.
That's awesome.
Quoted from Astropin:That's awesome.
what the hell is that thing? OH it's Christmas lighting box! ahhh good one!
Haha, I totally modded my kid's Zizzle machine with Christmas LED lights for GI. They worked awesome!
Quoted from Prmailers:Very festive, jw...
Quoted from Astropin:That's awesome.
Quoted from castlesteve:what the hell is that thing? OH it's Christmas lighting box! ahhh good one!
I thought the idea was pretty good...better than fixing the problem I guess. The string of lights were in a "dead in the water" Gorgar. Typical Williams System"?" problems. I guess they played it till it wouldn't play anymore...innovative really.
Quoted from beepnutz:Anheuser Busch beer cap nut on flipper button with custom switch and wiring, just replaced this one tonight, perfect timing for this post
was that on a nascar pinball?
while that could be a little cleaner, that's not really a hack as long as the resistance combined is about right. The wattage looks to be ok
Quoted from castlesteve:while that could be a little cleaner, that's not really a hack as long as the resistance combined is about right. The wattage looks to be ok
Well, its missing 2 resistors (should have 4 total) and the Ohm and Watts on the single one is wayyy off.. 
1 month later
Quoted from pinballwiz:Hacked up Twilight Zone coin door from M&P Amusements.
Could I still route this?
Quoted from stangbat:Came across this one today.
Perhaps they had a problem with battery theft.......
Having imported 100 used pins from Europe, I've seen some dodgy stuff!!
But this one is from a local machine I purchased yesterday.
J115 on the main board had burnt ... Instead of just sticking on a new molex for $1 they had gone to a heap of trouble to rig up some 2.5mm power cable and some huge connectors and soldered it all to the board. Then taped the burnt GI molex to their handiwork.
When I pulled it apart, the molex just disintegrated into 20 pieces. It was hot too, a fire hazard probably.
I'm currently doing the job properly.
Sorry, No pics.
Atari Jim shared with me a neat hack a while back.
For the batteries, they took a flashlight, burned a hole at back end with a lighter, and duck
taped wires to the flashlight and then to board.
Of course, the ever popular backbox light hack......a strand of Christmas lights!
I also had a game with stripped leg bolts, a cut 2 x 4 was inside and long nails to hold the legs.
Lastly were hacks on old 1930's pins.
Plenty of years to screw this up.
Dried bubble gum, as a ball stop. Cut beer cans in strips as ball springs, marbles, and a never ending assortment of coin boxes.
Quoted from stangbat:Yes. Beautiful, isn't it?
If he did it with all three he could say he was preventing future board corrosion!
Not sure if someone posted this link: --> http://www.pinballmedic.net/tech-tips/coin-op_catastrophe_collection.html
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