Has anyone ever taken apart a newer Stern machine to move it? I need to move a machine down a couple of flights of stairs and probably will have very little help. I think if I take the head off, the playfield out, legs off, then I can move the cabinet alone with a basic dolly. A bit worried about reassembly. A pointer to a video for playfield removal for a Spike system machine would be great!
What do you mean by very little help? If you have a helper all you need is to remove the legs and fold the head down to move it.
Quoted from poppapin:What do you mean by very little help? If you have a helper all you need is to remove the legs and fold the head down to move it.
With the machine at over 250 pounds, my helper won't be much help!
Quoted from nicoy3k:There is a YouTube video on how to install art blades for a Jurassic park stern that shows how to remove the playfield
Thanks, I'll check it out! cheers.
https://www.harborfreight.com/600-lbs-capacity-appliance-hand-truck-60520.html
Here’s what I use. The stair climbers on them are to help slow it down going downstairs. Using this I’ve moved all my games down flights of stairs by myself. It was daunting the first time, but after I learned how much they slow movement going down, I’d be comfortable moving any pin downstairs by myself.
Now using this to go up? Don’t do that.
Its simple. This is for spike 1 but the same for spike 2 more or less. To pop off the head disconnect about 6 connectors ( I think 2 from the power area and 4 from the main board, speaker connector too, and 2 ethernet cables. Make sure you mark the two ethernet cables as they must go back in the same spot on the main board in the head. Then you should then be able to pull the head harness into the cab. Then remove( either the 2 hinge bolts on the side ( harder to re-assmble (, or the 4 bolts in the head vertically mounted, easier). Then lift up head.
I also take out the playfield as it takes about 1 minute to disconnect a couple connectors in the cabinet. Do that and lift out. All the connectors are specific so you cant swap them accidentally. You might have to cut a zip tie or two to separate some of the cab and playfield wiring to pull out the playfield.
Good luck! You back will thank you!!
You can rent an appliance dolly from U-Haul. I can move a modern Stern by myself with one. A little help makes it very doable. Just be sure to use plenty of pads to protect your game.
I am considering taking out the playfield and removing the head on my new Stern to get it up the stairs. Tired of lugging my machines and waiting for help to get it done. So......how did it go with the disassemble and moving on the stairs?
I've disassembled games loads of times to get them up and down the narrow stairs with 180 degree turn at my old house. I removed the head, glass, and playfield to make it very easy to get up and down the stairs single handed. Since I also like to fully inspect all my games before I play them for loose connections, fasteners, etc. whether used or NIB, it's a good excuse to disassemble while also saving my back.
pasted_image (resized).pngpasted_image (resized).pngI actually never disassembled. turns out i got a couple of young men to to help me move it downstairs with a dolley. Wasn't that bad really.
Quoted from Pinash:For those who didn't find this in the search....
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/how-to-remove-the-head-off-a-spike-2-machine-solo-in-under-20-minutes
I’ll just say if you are going to take out the playfield, make sure to do it before you take off the head. Makes things a lot easier
Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.
Great to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!
This page was printed from https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/disassembling-stern-machine-spike-to-move-down-stairs-alone and we tried optimising it for printing. Some page elements may have been deliberately hidden.
Scan the QR code on the left to jump to the URL this document was printed from.
Acton, MA