Any DMD is going to be similar to maintain. Just get something you like. My WWF has been really good but the upper mini PF can be a pain to remove. Might not be for a new guy unless you want to try one. The upper PF does not need to come off often.

I have very limited experience in the pinball world. I've been a proud owner of a FT for little over a year and recently got a STTNG. The Fish Tales had a few issues with reel motor and loose bulb sockets in the beginning. There was also an issue with me shortening out the switch matrix, but i guess it dosen't count. After that was sorted out, i only do cleaning, ball and rubber change. the thing just refuses to break down.

The STTNG has been working with no issues since may?!? it has a bad reputation but i have a stable machine for now at least.

They are all about the same to maintain. But data east are more difficult to fix for a few reasons. If you really want less maintenance then try finding something home use only or new in box.

It really all depends on a good portion of luck.

But from personal experience i can say try to buy from someone who's machine is in good mechanical condition. For example, i bought a IJ (wms) a while back, it is known for it's fair share of trouble (POA, Idol and a few more). The person i bought it from had completely renewed all the bad parts and wiring. I paid a bit more then the normal price at the time, but it was totally worth it! In the 8 months i owned it, i played many MANY hours on it! Sometimes for hours on end. It worked like new, and never had any trouble with it. It was totally worth the few 100 more. But still even in these cases, luck is still a factor. In the end it still is a machine that can break down anytime. Sometimes small, other times big trouble.

That's right,Stick with williams/bally games WPC systems are solid and not hard to repair like the Data east games.Dirty Harry is a good game I would recommend that over WWF.

No fear = no pops, hardly any rubber, hardly anything to maintain

That's a good choice for a starter.

I guess you could look at some of the newer sterns. Newer machines don't automatically mean problem free, but at least the parts won't have the added stress of being 20 years old.

However, I would suggest just buying the game you like. Maintenance is a huge part of this hobby. From cleaning, to fixing, to adding mods. I think Iv spent more time with the glass off on my machines than actually playing them.

You have either two options in pinball: learn to maintain your machines yourself, or find someone to pay to do it for you. Id be willing to bet many on this forum weren't mechanically inclined before they got into pinball, and now they have shelves full of tools.

Stay away from JD, IJ, STTNG and BSD.

Add TZ to the list of those

Yeah,Grab those titles later on down the road when your more comfortable with tech issues in the future.

Haha! +1, How could we forget thanks Mark.

I agree with No Fear. It was my first pin and it seems very easy to maintain and clean. It's a fun game too!

Very true, but it depends on the OP's money situation and the newer games are spinning way out of control on pricing.Man,When i started in this hobby NIB's were 3500-3700.

My NF has needed next to no maintenance over a year span. I had to fix a switch, and keep it clean. If I could protect that back ramp I would, but since that's impossible, even the ramp hasn't burned too badly from the magnets. Other no-pop-bumper games require more maintenance as I understand, TS has lots of drop targets that can become problematic, NF has 1. I want to say that JD also has no pops but would need more maintenance due to that deadworld.

For cheap and less maintaining, NF is very good for your DMD needs. That said, it's not enough. I need more pins, and a little maintenance is a small price to pay for great games.

Condition matters most.. A complicated game like tz in good condition can be easier to maintain than a worn out simple game like hurricane..
Dont be afraid and buy what you like. Dont skip a title because you fear it can break down.

Get a machine you want to play first of all. If you aren't going to enjoy it, you won't play it.

1. Meet local pinheads by you that can give you advice.
2. Find and download Clay's repair guides.
3. Get topcast videos from repair.com on DMD game repair.
4. Get a good soldering station with temp control
5. Most importantly - if a problem arises ask here at pinside or RGP for advice.

gottlieb system 3's

Guilty on both counts!

Nooo!! not a good starter...Williams/bally is the one.

In my experience Stern, DE and Sega titles have been more reliable than WPC games. They just seem less complex, have less optos, and aren't plagued by problems like "game resets" like WPC games have.

Yeah but run into board problems on these is a real pain and have you chasing your tail in circles,WPC has way more info on troubleshooting than the rest of those systems.

That's true. Maybe I've just been lucky.-knock on wood!

B/W WPCs seem to be quite reliable. I was told pinball machines need constant maintenance to keep them working, but my Dr. Who is running for over a year without any problems (apart from the occasional light bulb, cleaning or changing some rubbers).

(According to Murphys law, after I've been bragging about it's reliability the Doctor will suffer a severe case of spontaneous combustion this evening....)

although I will admit my williams is rock solid (mechanically/electrically), I haven't had issues with my data east, other than an occasional sticky flipper.

T2. Takes a licking and keeps on ticking.

IJ '93 NEVER needs to be maintained.

*chuckles*

Yeah and STTNG too...Ha!

Addams Family. Ours probably has hundreds of thousands of plays and it's a beast that is still going after all these years. Most of the problems I've encountered over the months involve broken solder points on coils and switches, which can happen to any game.

Why no System 3s?

I was thinking about getting a SMBMW...

You may want to consider some of the newer sterns that can be had a decent price. Monopoly, World Poker Tour, Nascar, Rollor Coaster Tycoon, t3(geting a little pricey).

Peope knock stern for being "cheap" but really they just dont have as many complex toys as the B/W games. Also the cabinets wood seems to be a little less solid but thats no biggie End of the day they have less to go wrong, and while the B/W may be more "solid" they are also older and sat in arcades for longer getting hammered away so you run into little problems like looks wires cold solder etc...

Honestly though your best bet is buy something that has been shopped and looked over recently by someone who knows what they are doing and you should be in pretty good shape!

It seems like a lot of DE and Sega issues I hear about aren't game specific but more era specific. Cold solder joints, board connectors and flimsy fuse holders seem to be the usual culprits. These all seem like pretty simple fixes...if you have a friend that will do board work for a 12 pack or 2.

As far as other board problems go....I have heard that Williams machines usually have more board problems than DE/Sega/Stern.

Of all the games I have had, I have never had a game with recurring problems....or really any problems after the initial bugs were worked out. If I did get a problem machine I can't imagine it would last long at my place.

Nothing wrong with system 3 but run into a problem it's not that simple to tackle,Lift up the playfield and take a look on the bottom of the cabinet and you'll see what i mean and fuses located directly on the playfiled

True,but are much easier to locate and fix the issue than DE/Sega/Stern.

Keep in mind there's not much info out there on Stern's because they are fairly newer.

The most problems I see over and over again on WPC are Reset issues and someone shorts out the matrix working on the game with the power on and U20 shorts.Other than that its a Transistor or locked on coil.

Newer sterns are also easy to work on, pick up an avatar, csi, something like that

My system 3 seemed bullet proof. I didn't have a single problem with it and it got a lot of play.