Keep the stepper units (player, ball count, credit, bonus, etc.) as clean and "Gunk-free" as possible.

Best advice I have ever heard is play them - all the time. The switch contacts "clean themselves" as you play, and that seems to keep things working well.

I have even had some machines that I get semi-operational (playable) and as I begin to play, have had features and lights all of a sudden begin to work just from the playing iteslf.

-scott

I find them to be the same as single player games, but with more score reels and a player advance. The GTB's seem to be the most troublesome, but if you really clean them up and adjust them right on the money, they keep working. Like the DR. said, keep playing them. EM's need played or they will start to fail.

sell some so you can play the ones you have left more...

seriously, as the other guys said, once you get them going, PLAY them... once an em is "fixed good", it should pretty much remain fixed good as long as it is played regularly...

+1 on playing them, sometimes when they get a little temperamental forcing a couple games has brought a couple back for me, especially my Zac Combat.

You have 35 of them... I expect you know more than I do! I do my best to keep them clean and appropriately lubed...

Couldn't agree more. Playing them is what they need.

I have seen the same thing.

The main problem I see it that we usually only play single player.

Since the other score reels and switches get out of adjustment and contacts dirty.

So when someone does play a multiplayer you have issues.

Or when you try and reset the games the 2nd player reel won't reset.

Other than that its all about the steppers.

Service the coin unit and player unit steppers once a year. At minimum remove the rotors, remove the year-old lubrication from the disks, along with the accumulated dirt. Clean the shoes and brass rivets till they shine and then re-apply a very thin layer of white lithium grease. Put a drop of 3-n-1 oil or teflon oil on the metal to metal stepper pivots. Good till' next year.

Also do the other steppers while you're at it.

Another thing to consider-
Suppose you are going to play solo on a 4 player game and you know you're going to be there for a while enjoying it. Don't (always) choose a 1 player game. Choose a 4 player game. That way the steppers stay active across their entire range and the wear load is spread across all 16 score reels not just 4.

Just because it's a multi-player game doesn't mean it shouldn't be reliable.

White lithium grease? No wonder you have to service them every year. Use Teflon super lube & it won't solidify, extending the service life.

Both white lithium or Teflon grease works well.
There's other reasons to service a EM pin yearly. Lubrication is only one part. It is always a good idea, at least once a year to go through the machine and clean any accumulated dirt out of the cabinet & lightbox/head, clean and wax the playfield and check for any screws/bolts/nuts which have worked themselves loose, particulary from solenoid mounts and stops.
Dust and dirt will accumulate in the grease no matter what type it is. It's reasonable to clean off the old grease along with the dirt during the regular maintenance routine.

If a person does not keep a regular maintenance routine but only gives attention when grease solidifies then lubrication will only be one of many other problems.

Agreed. As usual, good advise from Steve.

I agree, Gottlieb Multiplayers are a pain to keep running 100%. I also agree with the cleaning most have mentioned already, but I believe you are looking for more so here it is.

I guess I can tend to go a little overboard with a Gottlieb Multiplayer such as my Target Alpha and Spirit of 76 as I have found that the Huge stack of Switches that activate functions on player 1-4 located in the Backbox are a problem with Switch contacts spinning/loose on the Switch itself causing poor intermittent electrical contact.

So I take the whole thing apart clean everything well with 90% alcohol and get out the Solder Gun and put a bead of Solder on the back of EVERY Switch Contact on that Drum. Sure it requires readjusting all the Switches and is time consuming and a PITA but I never have any problem in that area again. It should be noted that I do not unsolder any wires while doing this. Now it's Bullet Proof in that section anyway!

Ken

My Cleopatra needs attention every couple of months.

But the Spirit of '76 has been absolutely bullet proof for going on two years. Not one issue.

Go figure.

My Big Top is rock solid but when I refurbed it I tore everything down and built it back up

--Jeff

35! Hire a full time guy!

First off you got to repair all the problems including flickering bulbs and also get all moving parts flowing freely when shopping/restoring any EM game to go into your collection and make sure you spend the correct time fine tuning your EM once completed with /restoration/repair/shop job/.

You do not want to have to pull the game from the line up and fix things. Next comes the most important thing to do when you have any type of EM game especially multi-players pins or single players is PLAY the GAME! If you don't play them problems will turn up for sure,especially if you didn't spend the correct amount of time fine tuning.

If you can't play them for any reason the next best thing to do once in a while is to slide the glass off, put up all 4 players and let your finger work the machine through a complete game on all 4 players exercising the entire machine with rapid fire action.

Que up a 4 player game. One game play the 2 player score reel. One game play the 3rd player score reel and then the 4th player score reel. On Card Whiz (2 player) I try to play the 2nd player score reel 2-3 times a week to keep it cleaned and working. A few times a week on any game I will force myself to play the game to keep it fresh, clean and parts moving. If 35 games is too many for you to keep up with then you should sell off the games that don't keep your interest. I am sure you have some games that haven't been played for 2,3, even 4+ years. I would only keep 2 or 3 in storage if I only had room for 10 and had 12 or 13 machines. I would figure that if I had 20 machines there would be 4 or 5 that wouldn't get enough love and should be in someone's collection that will give them the love they need.