NEW UPDATED LOT OF PINBALL MACHINES

I'm a newbie. I apologize if some of the more experienced people here have seen these before. I hadn't. I just wanted to share my experience with "container games". I bought several from pmWolf. While I know that what I purchased may not have come from this seller it's the same ball-park. Know what you're getting yourself into (caveat emptor). If you don't think you have the skills or resources to call for help then I would steer away from buying these. Don't bite off more than you can chew. I made a (written) log and took some photos. I have yet to actually transcribe that into a post to share with others. I am trying to get these ready for the Northwest Pinball and Arcade show in early June. I am uncertain how much interest there is in this. Anyways ... here's a sample of the photos and some peanut gallery commentary. I hope it iterates the message being put forth by some of the more experienced members.

Just remember though that if what you're looking at underneath all the dirt (or mylar removal) is a good playfield (with little wear) then these games should clean up nicely. Otherwise you'll have to look for a playfield repair or replacement.

IMG_1067 - Whitewater chase lamp boards. Multiple missing sockets and twist sockets used as PCB mount sockets.

IMG_1068 - Whitewater power driver board. GI connectors burned with "Lego" connectors. You can see fast (normal) blow fuses in the fuse holders in the background.

IMG_1072 - Whitewater power driver board. J101 connector.

IMG_1073 - Whitewater "Lite" and "Lock" targets. Screw and washer reinforcement.

IMG_1077 - Whitewater playfield. "I guess I don't have the correct sized rubber. That screw in the playfield seems to stop the ball just fine".

IMG_1078 - Whitewater power driver board. "Who needs a fuse? I'll just connect the two ends of the fuse barrel with a wire and snap the fuse into the socket".

IMG_1079 - Whitewater power driver board. The pins were gone so the wires got soldered to the solder pads.

IMG_1084 - Whitewater chase lamp boards. Closer view after removal.

IMG_1108 - Whitewater ramp. This is NOT a cherry DA3 (or DB3) micro-switch. This was some non-standard switch. Note the rubber being used as a washer.

IMG_1114 - Whitewater mini-playfield lane guide. Not sure why this needed reinforcement. Now there's a permanent hole in the lane guide. Note the non-standard screw.

IMG_1136 - Whitewater jet bumper. Twist socket being used as a jet bumper lamp socket. Soldered with wire to the connector of the original socket that was cut.

IMG_1156 - Fish Tales power driver board. "That IDC connection seems to have come out. Let me solder the wire into the plastic connector".

IMG_1157 - Fish Tales power driver board. Mmmm. Toasty. This connector actually sparked when powered on. Not surprising.

IMG_1163 - Fish Tales CPU board. J210. An additional wire between J114 and J210 was soldered into the IDC.

IMG_1165 - Fish Tales power driver board. J114. This is the other side of IMG_1163.

IMG_1178 - Fish Tales power driver board. These wires were connected to the test points on the power driver board. I thought it was powering some device but a friend came over and saw the device it was connected to. It was a video game power supply. For some reason the video game power supply was connected to the test points. No clue. Disconnecting seemed to cause no harm.

IMG_1179 - Fish Tales power driver board. Note the normal (fast) blow fuse in F108. It's F10. That's right. 10A. "That damn pesky GI fuse keeps blowing. I'll just put a higher rated fuse and that will stop it from blowing".

IMG_1191 - Funhouse CPU board. I don't think I need to say anything about this. Of course, the game actually does power up. While the display is not correct the test functions work.

IMG_1195 - Funhouse power driver board. What is it with the "Lego" connectors?

IMG_1196 - Funhouse power driver board. It's the correctly rated bridge rectifier but not with the correct connectors. This actually works (obviously). It's quite creative.

IMG_1210 - Whitewater under playfield. Rear VUK. It's a creative use of a jet bumper metal yolk.

IMG_1213 - Whitewater under playfield. A perfectly fine Molex 0.062" connector is available but that wire is probably better being stripped and electrically taped over. Speaker wire does get the job done but I never expected to see it in a pinball machine used like this.

IMG_1216 - Whitewater under playfield. Metal fatigue in the rear VUK. Note the VUK cup is also worn. I was unable to get the AE-23-800 coil bracket out and therefore unable to get the AE-23-800 coil out. I bought a new bracket and replaced the coil. Thanks to Kerry @ Mantis Amusements for making these!

IMG_1277 - No Good Gofers slingshot. I found plenty of components in this game greased. This is just a sample. You know ... grease makes everything move better. Even parts that are supposed to be run dry. The grease gets everywhere and traps dirt like a there's no tomorrow. It takes plenty of elbow grease to get rid of the grease. If anyone is interested I can also show you the ultimate detailing tool. Helped me to get rid of the grease. Warning ... requires elbow grease.

IMG_1368 - No Good Gofers playfield. This is the jet bumper area before some elbow grease.

IMG_1387 - No Good Gofers playfield. This is the jet bumper area after some elbow grease.

IMG_1427 - No Good Gofers playfield. After lots of elbow grease. It was probably never cleaned in its 17 years of service.