My five games were working perfectly, but moved them all last week for a plumbing project. We'll see if they hold up to the banging around when I set them up again

I have a newly restored and clearcoated Police force with a bad System 11B MPU sitting here doing nothing until I find a new MPU.

having some guests tomorrow so working on the games. just had to fix the 5x in line drop target for dolly parton. The target snapped. Odd the 5x one that gets the least action broke first. Come to think of it the same thing in Black Pyramid happened 6months back... the 5x target broke. Damn hate working on bally drop target mechs with no disconnect to take it out and it on the bench. Can flip the PF upside down in the cabinet to make it easier to service. Might need a 2x4 so you dont break anything.

Also plasma display died in firepower (again, lost one a month or two ago). I have another glass in the same game I think is damaging high voltage parts on the master display board. I have only got that one display in P3 with P4 empty so if the same transistor burns up in the same circuit spot on MDB before I am declaring it bad. I could probably try and measure current on the offending segment but... hv.

HS2, Only one, the first magnet in the super charger is working. Magnet coil has voltage on both lugs but when I ground the transistor tab for 2 or 3 the magnet does not turn on... For magnet 3 when i ground the transistor tab a few flashers come on dim. I gave up pretty quick on trying to fix this one for more pressing things I need to do. Feel like its going to be a broke wire or something since the magnet has voltage and grounding the transistor does nothing. Connector looked fine and I think the driver circuit is working but.... i didnt verify since grounding the tab did nothing.

Laserball the outlane kick backs get kinda weak and can serve the ball up to the other outlane and the game starts juggling the balls or drain. I probably just need to clean up the mechs.

more i can't think of im sure that is trivial stuff. I read once "if it ain't broke it ain't pinball" somewhere.

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My dirty laundry list of things that have been broken for way too long:

Firepower: Horrible IDC connector that runs to the displays is flaky as all hell. Will all the displays light? Will players 3 and 4 display all the digits correctly? Only for 5 games after I reseat it.

Gottlieb Atlantis: Game down. Score motor just runs and runs the second I flip the switch. Too lazy to work on it means it has turned into a VERY expensive table for holding crap.

Earthshaker: Upper playfield GI connectors fried since day 1. Will I have any GI? Maybe, but probably not.

Thankfully, everything else has been fine.

My game count doubled when I bought out the other half of Tucson Pinball. That included 2-3 games down on location and 7(!) projects of varying levels. I'm trying to work through things, but often hit a wall and move onto another while waiting for parts. It feels like I'll probably finish them all around the same time as I just from one to the next.

2X Silverball Mania. One fixed, the other won't fully boot. Counting blinks on boot makes me think it's bad RAM.

Laser Ball. Bottom panel of head broken (like snapped off) in a transportation accident and sat untouched for a few months before I bought it. Still sitting.

Gottlieb Circus. MPU has an issue. I got a universal one and now it boots and plays but half the switches are out. Repinning that slowly as I get time.

High Speed. Had been stripped waiting for a Hardtop. I put it back together to send on route, fixed a few issues, played it a bunch and then the first day it's out, starts locking up. Still haven't figured that one out.

Jive Time. It has ratchet straps holding the cab together. Needs an all new cab and head. Playfield looks good, but is dusty. I'll likely strip it down and clear it to keep it protected.

Old Chicago. Game used to start, but would advance player after every ball on what should have been a single player game. Now it won't kick a ball when it should. Lots of minor things. Going to a friend's house since he's turning into quite the EM guru around here.

I think that's it. I also got a Stars along the way that had about 20 minor things that needed to have happen before it can go on route. That'll go out this weekend if possible. Prior to all of this I had a few EMs that have a switch or feature not working that I was making slow but noticeable progress on.

Centaur that may or may not kick out Orbs (balls) when it's supposed to from the lower ball trough. I cannot find what's at fault and it's been this way for a long, long time.

Funhouse blows the lower playfield GI 5A fuse about once a week. Everything looks fine. Suspecting bad fuses. See below.

WWater on route keeps blowing the 5A fuse for the topper chase lights/playfield flashers about once a month. Fingers crossed, it's been fine for 3 months now. I'm suspecting bad fuses. See above.

Having an issue with the Orb Drop Target on my GOTG Premium.

The drop target isn't catching on its ledge when commanded to go up.
It will machine gun for about 10 seconds before it gives up and stays down.

I’ve got 3 pins I’m shopping out. Shadow, Last Action Hero, and super mario bros. All three are sitting around unplayable while I work on them. It’s fun!

I got some credit dots here and there... clock on TZ is getting flaky. Got a dead ramp exit switch on ToM. Left ramp enter on Shadow is fiddly. Start button on CFTBL isn't lighting up. Besides that it all seems pretty good.

Oh boy....oh booooooy. A lot of issues.

ALL Classic Ballys/Sterns have lights/sockets out etc...no shock there.
PM - after LEDOCD install chunk of switches don't work. Think someone suggested a 2 minute reseating tip but hey, that's why we're here.
TZ - Clock doesn't work....for the 7th year
Big Indian - waiting for swap, currently in boxes scattered around the basement.

Fixed my switch 85 problem on bsd, just sticky micro switch. Have ground issue on 1943 arcade not firing on p1. Other than that should be good. Just pm stuff like new bridges for ap and leg support brackets on bsd. Also ordered red speaker lights for bsd.

In chronological order of manufacture date, just like the game room:

Spanish Eyes: Probably could use flipper readjustment. Game is slightly misleveled to the left.

Totem: When it's willing to boot at all, player displays are varying shades of almost blank.

Swords of Fury: Flipper buttons are crap. Considering retrofitting a custom Fliptronics-like system into it. I already have the opto switches. Replacement side rails are too short and look stupid. One translite lamp board is missing.

Black Knight 2000: Horrible cabinet that needs a complete finishing overhaul. Horrible playfield that needs a replacement. Magna-Save is locked on (and thus disconnected).

Rollergames: Some lifting inserts but not too bad. Deep Freeze magnet is locked on (and thus disconnected). Game is slightly misleveled to the right.

Addams Family: On route. One Power magnet is locked on (and thus disconnected). Cabinet is in rough shape; previous owner repaired several joints using drywall screws. Could end up with a cab replacement in the future.

Twilight Zone: Gumball motor is dying. Some lights don't work. Bottom flippers angled lower than I'd like.

Road Show: Playfield has small particles of green tarp all over due to poorly securing the tarp while driving the game home. Otherwise, looks and plays pretty much perfect.

Undertale: Software is incomplete. Wiring might have to be completely redone from scratch before the machine will be reliable.

Wow... that's every machine I own. Pinball budget resets January 1st. It's going to be a busy 2019.

For other people:

DE Tommy: had an issue with a broken wire between the coin door and the first ball trough switch which caused a bunch of other issues in the switch matrix and game logic. Haven't be able to find where the break is, I did a temporary fix and will likely keep the patch as is but make it look nicer. Plays fine now. Waiting on parts to shop it out for a customer.

Captn. Fantastic: had to clean and adjust a bunch of switches and stepper units causing all sorts of weird behavior. Game works as it should now, except for adding/subtracting credits. It's what I'm working on till other parts come in. Fixing it for an operator friend.

My own collection:

Flash: Plays fine, but only two of the slave displays work. Credit/match and players 3-4 displays don't work. Haven't felt like replacing them. Drop targets and power supply was rebuilt, but need to rebuild sound card. Need to replace SCANBE connectors, but they work well enough for now (I'll occasionally have to push stuff back in).

Fire Queen: Game works fine except the score motor will run at the end of the game. Starts a new game fine and turning the game off and on stops the motor. Haven't spent a lot of time looking at it, I'm sure it's a minor issue I've yet to locate

Aztec: An inlane rollover switch isn't working right. I need to rebuild the flippers but have had some issues with stuck screws. I'll probably take a dremel to it since I need to replace most of the parts anyways. Generally plays fine so I've been lazy to fix it.

Recently finished fixing a Dolly Parton (I concur, F the drop target replacement). I took it to some tourneys and it held up mostly fine, save for some more lightbulb sockets getting loose.

Everything else playing great

Right now, Pinbot jet bumper light needs replaced (yeah it’s take off the mini pinfield time), but who needs a stinking light in a jet bumper if it is working and scoring? Fuck it, they’ll figure it out. Screw the players...

Family Guy has a light out on one Fart drop... pain in the ass to get too, but you can tell when you have dropped a drop without a light on it... fuck it, they’ll figure it out. Screw the players...

TM:BOP- Poor girl has a dry eye socket (hard to comprehend when players are shooting their balls in her eyes all the time, but I digress) one of the eye socket micro switches is a little sticky... but if you hit the cabinet on the left real hard, it finally registers. Oh and sometimes the trough kicks a ball halfway into the shooter lane and sits there. If you hit the cabinet real hard on the right, it will finally drop it in the lane. Fuck it- they’ll figure it out. Screw the players...

Comet: Had been my most reliable game, but right flipper failed to fire a few times last time I played. Investigation needed. Also ought to install the new ramps I got from freeplay.
Xenon: Bypassed the flipper relay because it was unreliable...need to replace. Need to finish the display LED kit (currently 2 plasmas, 2 white LED displays, and 1 blue LED display). Need to repin the backbox connectors, as they occasionally flake out.
Dr Who: Ought to install the moving Dalek kit and color display I've got for it.
TZ: Need to replace a plastic that melted; determine why one of the flashers causes a short (only when a bulb is inserted).
Space Station: Need to replace the GI connector, which is currently converting ~10W to heat.
High Speed: Need to adjust the upper flipper so that the ramp can be hit consistently.
Black Knight: Need to widen out the upper left lane to the upper playfield, as slow balls can sometimes get caught there.
Close Encounters: Need to adjust the roto-wheel to make scoring more reliable.
Flash: Need to replace a connector between head and playfield that I ripped off while moving the head. Need to replace the nylon pusher on the lower playfield switch so that the upper flipper will work.

3 machines (LoTR, Gorgar, AFMr) with no issues!

Then there are 2 playfield swaps and 5(?) other project pins in the queue....

SM - Doc Ock opto not always recognizing. Don't know if cliffy around magnet lifts ball over opto, or if opto shakes at Doc Ock impact.
Congo - WPC double flip issue on 3rd flipper. GF thinks she can fix as she had same issue on a previous Congo.
Gorgar - Double button press reset issue. I guess I have to check my 5V?
Fire - One of the one way ramp switches isn't registering, but you have to remove the PF to access it which is a pain.
Disco Fever - Need to replace 2 drops but they're impossible to find with the horseshoe contacts replaced.

As all are minor and still allow for 95% playability, I just play it until that issue happens enough to enrage me, and then I switch games. I've been lazy this fall.

TSPP flippers acted weird last time I played it, that was a couple months ago. I guess I should work on that

On all of mine the balls keep draining way too fast. Sometimes out the left, right, or even right down the middle. I suspect software bugs.

Got a list of 6-7 games from the party still that I have yet to touch. Working on a couple of games that will be coming up for sale soon. Kings of Steel, College Queens prototype and possibly a Blackwater 100.

John

Turns out there was one minor casualty. When I powered up Maverick, I had hardly any volume and no bass whatsoever. I thought something may have blown in the amp at first, but on investigation I found that the cab speaker wasn't working. Turns out the center channel speaker wire must have been a little too short and pulled out of the connector when I folded the head down.

Because if you played them, they'd take up valuable work time, right?

Oooo, winter is coming. I think I need to mod some games

so this happened

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I will admit I do have credit dots for not setting date and time-flipping Slacker!

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Tell us there's no playfield damage..

Gads...how?

I think the playfield (full mylar) is going to be OK. It happened Friday night and i have not touched it yet. Sounded like rice crispies for hours. Most of the glass caved and fell in by now.

My buddy was pretty innocently putting the lock bar back on after freeing a stuck ball. The glass may not have been pushed all the way into the channel at the back of the game. This glass already had a chip / fish scaling type spot the entire 8 years or so i have had it.

I'd say if your tempered glass has a nick, fish scaling, chip, etc... consider it extremely fragile and probably should not be used.

If my glass has a tiny corner chip missing, should I be considering a new piece then?

I had two pieces of glass break on me this month after never having an issue before. Both glasses were likely at least 40 years old. The edges weren't perfect, but I hadn't thought of it much before. One shattered while trying to put the glass back in, and the other in my hands while picking it up. I'll be picking up little glass pieces for years now. Honestly, I'm paranoid to touch the glass on some of the other games that came from the same find.

Well, in two days I broke a flipper spring on my BK2K and now Rollergames has a stuck switch on the VUK.

Definitely need to get things back in order before I think about adding anything new, huh?

~person who is about to go pick up a Police Force

I currently have 14 games working properly and yes my collection is up to date on pinside .

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Story of my life.

"I need to sell down, get my collection managable."

*sells a game*

"Oh yeah, headed in the right direction!"

*buys 2 more*

"DAMMIT!"

You should let me take Getaway off your hands to lighten your load

Gilligan's Island - dead driver board with garbage on the DMD - can't be bothered to look at it

C37 - sticking 10's score reel - I know what I need to do, just need to do it

Indiana Jones - fighter plane not installed, bad switch on the POA - have the parts, just need to get the work done

Road Show - needs a PF swap and new cab decals - I've had the parts for 2 years now

High Speed - still packed up, hasn't moved from where I put it 6 months ago

Frogger, Pac-Man, Make Trax - all in various stages of restore

Just sold the 2 that had issues, the rest are perfect.

I dont have a list, all of mine works nicely, i never leave a problem alone long enough to let me start collecting them LOL

I currently have 14 games working properly and yes my collection is up to date on pinside .

“LMAO emoji here”

Apparent I didn’t know until now that emojis don’t work on pinside.

5 games total, two working. Jungle Queen and Surf Champ getting more than their usual share of love.

Addams - definitely haunted. Currently the left flipper will not work. Hesitant to look at it, because as soon as I fix that, something else will break. All of this as I am trying to put the finishing touches on a playfield swap.

Black Knight - summer project that became a fall project and will become a winter project in another week or so.

Stern Dracula - Working project that I picked up last year, tore it apart to do a PF restoration on. I'm about 60% done with PF restore, then a couple other things (see above) caught my attention.

do you put the glass down on concrete... cause i have seen that twice now, where it is set on concrete, you pick it up and half way to the machine it shatters... super wierd,.