A few weeks back I put my pride and joy, my very first machine that I restored on a location in a pub 5 minutes away from my house. The machine is a 1978 "Queens Castle" by Zaccaria.

I'm so happy knowing that other people are enjoying the machine like it was supposed to be enjoyed however on so paranoid about something happening to it. The old girl has been taking a steady flow of 50p's (62¢ a game) since it's been on the location and I was pleasantly surprised with how much it's been taking.

I've had a few callouts so far for strange issues and when I've arrived there's never been anything wrong and I plan to fully LED the machine next week to stop it from getting so hot, even though I prefer the look of incandescent bulbs.

Was just wondering if anybody else has put any of their EM games on location and whether these old machines are capable of running for 11ish hours a day anymore as I'm so concerned about mine.

#2 7 years ago

WEN

jrpinball

Pinside+ Addict

10y 115K 10,722

OP
Quoted from JReedie:
A few weeks back I put my pride and joy, my very first machine that I restored on a location in a pub 5 minutes away from my house. The machine is a 1978 "Queens Castle" by Zaccaria.
I'm so happy knowing that other people are enjoying the machine like it was supposed to be enjoyed however on so paranoid about something happening to it. The old girl has been taking a steady flow of 50p's (62¢ a game) since it's been on the location and I was pleasantly surprised with how much it's been taking.
I've had a few callouts so far for strange issues and when I've arrived there's never been anything wrong and I plan to fully LED the machine next week to stop it from getting so hot, even though I prefer the look of incandescent bulbs.
Was just wondering if anybody else has put any of their EM games on location and whether these old machines are capable of running for 11ish hours a day anymore as I'm so concerned about mine.

I'd cut out a piece of Perspex (that's what you call Plexiglas, I believe) the size of the backglass, and mount it over the front of the backglass just in case someone hurls a bottle. LEDs for an on-location game are perfectly understandable, even in an EM. Always thought about running some games, but in my area, you might wake up next to a horse's head if you know what I mean.

#3 7 years ago

HNS

ahanson

Pinside member

St. Louis Park, MN

11y 45,050 301 14

I really like the Comet frosted 8mm Warm White Bullet bulbs for a close match. They're not too bright and the frosted ones diffuse nicely.
https://www.cometpinball.com/product-p/8mm-led.htm

The 10mm seem a bit too tall and while the retros are good too the frosted 8mm ones seem just about right and are a bit cheaper. I also tried some of the 2 led ones and they're nice and bright but I had a hard time fitting them in some of the sockets and backglass holes that weren't quite wide enough. If they fit your game and you want the look of the modern games they'd be a good option.

Comet has a nice chart on brightness options too.
http://www.cometpinball.com/Brightness-Chart-s/1825.htm

I do like the natural whites in the backglass though to make the colors really crisp but that's personal preference.

#4 7 years ago

JAM

JReedie

Inactive member

Chelmsford

7y 33,300 143 9 8

Quoted from jrpinball:
I'd cut out a piece of Perspex (that's what you call Plexiglas, I believe) the size of the backglass, and mount it over the front of the backglass just in case someone hurls a bottle. LEDs for an on-location game are perfectly understandable, even in an EM. Always thought about running some games, but in my area, you might wake up next to a horse's head if you know what I mean.

That's a brilliant idea about the Perspex I never thought of that! Yeah sadly I know exactly what you mean. The croud this location draws seem to be a decent bunch so fingers crossed the machine will be safe there. I went to empty the cash box the other day and a waitress ran over and had a go at me because she thought I was breaking into the machine, only when I explained I was the owner emptying the money did she apologise. But it reassured me that they're looking out for the games welfare.

#5 7 years ago

B P

1974DeltaQueen

Pinside member

12y 75,300 1,597

OP
Quoted from JReedie:
That's a brilliant idea about the Perspex I never thought of that! Yeah sadly I know exactly what you mean. The croud this location draws seem to be a decent bunch so fingers crossed the machine will be safe there. I went to empty the cash box the other day and a waitress ran over and had a go at me because she thought I was breaking into the machine, only when I explained I was the owner emptying the money did she apologise. But it reassured me that they're looking out for the games welfare.

I'm sure they are normally a decent bunch, BEFORE 4 pints of IPA..... good suggestion on the Plexiglass. A buddy of mine put a Target Alpha or a Card Whiz in a local bar in NH, he was amazed how many quarters were in the coin box. I think we forget this is what the games were designed for.. Zaccaria was way ahead of others with the near indestructible playfields.

#6 7 years ago

???

Mopar

Pinside+ Member

Unknown

7y 80,050 4,180

I've had EM machines out since the mid 90s and so far no problems..
Repair happens now and then, but after a total gone through, they hold
up well. I put out Man-Run-the-Bases Pitch and Bats where Kids hang out
(my local Community Center, Pizza Shop, a Buddy's Restaurant) and they get
played quite a bit. The old mechanical Skee Ball gets played very much from
all ages.. (T)
BTW - Thumbs up to the waitress that interacted when you were coining out..

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