Hope you get your boards back.

Hope it all works out. If he's been doing this for awhile maybe the solder got him.

That shit is toxic and used to be worse back in the day. Hopefully he's still alive or hasn't lost his mind. I completely understand your point of view.

Sorry to hear. This is like closing the barn door after the horse bolted, but it's usually best to ask around to see if someone you are going to send stuff to has a good reputation or not. There are several members on the forums who do repairs, and several more who advertise via their Pinside biz listing.

I have heard of some disreputable folks who take in stuff to repair and just abscond with it and either resell, use it in their own games, or use it in other peoples' games they are called on to repair.

Try calling from another number. He's obviously ducking your calls.

This industry is weird. I have used three different repair techs and two of them had the whole "health/family/personal" excuses going on. Brilliant techs, but too many personal issues. Great service from CoinopCauldron but backed up for months. Sorry, but just buy new boards now.

I already have, so I don't take anyone's boards in for repairs. Good luck, hope it gets resolved.

I live in the Richmond area but do not know any operator with the initials of JT do you know his name?

I hate to harp on this but if you can't repair the boards yourself, these days you should really buy new (from a current manufacturer) or professionally refurbed boards. Nearly every new board I've bought has either had a long warranty, never fails, or has been easily repaired or replaced by the place where I bought it.

I've repaired boards for many years but these days, I will only repair boards from others if it's a local service call or local friend. Otherwise, keeping my own stuff up and running is enough spare time work for me!

Sucks! But at least you didn't pay 50 cents extra for Blu-Ray and later realize that the rental doesn't include the normal extras found on the retail version!

(Not to make light of your predicament. There are rip-offs and then there are rip-offs!)

Or maybe people that claim to repair boards as part of their living should do the job they agreed to. I know of tons of people that are very skilled pinball techs but do not work on their own boards. It doesn't make sense to put new boards into a players condition game and many of these games would simply be dead in a warehouse if not for people repairing them and sending of boards for service.

So how much did you save? Hell, boards aren't that expensive. If you have 5 MPU or power supplies needing repaired, the parts/labor/shipping shouldn't really be that much cheaper than new boards if it's a reputable repair person. If they charge $75 per board (cheap!), that's $375 plus shipping. Buying new boards with a warranty is more like $700. I keep spare boards that fail often on hand. That way, I can replace and diagnose without the burden of a time crunch. It's really the way to go if you have a lot of machines or anything at all on location.

If you can diagnose, you can take it to an electronic repair shop. I found a bad zener diode so I took it to a local shop who replaced it in a day.

I hear you but a lot of times you get what you pay for in pinball. I know many folks in my league and pinball circle (local ops) that just need a reliable game and buy new boards for a $500-$700 game that isn't necessarily worth that cost (beater Eight Ball or beater Flash). Unfortunately, if you are trying to have a game work 100% of the time and and if it breaks down, you need to have a quick test or resolution (league or on location), new boards is the was to go. It's the cost of having reliable pinball.

Another vote for Chris Hibler who does great work and is responsible.

This right here. I send him boards and get them back in a couple weeks. Great price, great work, great service.

I have no problems repairing original boards. They don't usually "break down" if you do the repairs correctly and do the recommended bulletproofing.

Nor do I.

Some people's interest evolves into other aspects and some don't. That's ok. Chris is the guy if you read enough on here for good board repairs unfortunately you didn't find him before this. I hope you get your boards back.

We need a name. GIVE US A NAME!

s6-e10-host-blacklists-elaine (resized).png

Probably a good idea so no one else sends the guys boards.

That user was "last seen" on Pinside last November.

They don't call it Lynchburg for nothing.

Actually...the chemicals used in the newer ROHS solder "lead free" is much more hazardous to the technician working with it than the older lead based solder ever was; it's just safer for the environment.

Oh great I'm screwed. I thought I was part of the environment.WTF. Thanks for the heads up.

IMG_0916 (resized).PNG

No wonder we don't know him. Lynchburg is really far from Richmond.

Just a recommendation for vlive at Yhe Coinop Cauldron. Excellent work!! Answers phone calls!! Knows how to communicate in a timely fashion. Does what he says he will do and offers Express service for a bit more coin. Can’t beat him

I am sorry for your hassles. Truly

I second this. Clive is professional and does an excellent job!

Another endorsement for Master Tech Chris Hibler, top notch all the way and well trusted. Hope things work out for you.

if you where in Australia I would help you out .

I sent Chris Hibler five driver boards for repair. He was very communicative, quick and reasonably priced. I don't agree with replacing boards with new ones. It seems very cost prohibitive.

Yea its a bit strange to send only 4 boards back out of 6 , is he answering your emails or have you tried to ring him .

Have you tried calling from a different phone number?? He may have your number on ignore.....

All my board work has been done by Chris. Great guy and very helpful with questions. Board repair is done at a great cost and also in a timely manner. Highly recommended.

had good luck with http://webpages.charter.net/coinopcauldron/Index.html