Total Pinball newbie here, and some time ago I unexpectedly won a NIB Stern Pro. As I have only had extremely limited interactions with Pinball Machines, those mostly being occasionally traveling to the local arcade, I have NO idea what to expect now that I am about to have one in my basement.
I know that most pinball owners here do their research before deciding to purchase a new (or used) pinball machine, and have had some experience with Pinball Machines in their past due to experience owning one or more games. For some context, I am an Undergraduate College student, and this is my first Pinball Machine, so I unfortunately don't have that past experience/knowledge.
I decided to make this post to ask the seasoned pinheads to share any tips, no matter how small or large, what to expect owning one of these machines. I don't know little things like what goes into maintaining and caring for a machine, how to clean it, how to diagnose an issue, room temperature (if that even matters), and everything else I'm not even thinking of. I'm very excited to own my very own Pinball Machine, but quite nervous at the same time. I appreciate any help that anyone here has to offer!
Oh, and the game I chose was Iron Maiden Pro.
EDIT:
It appears that I cannot reply to my own post as it is a Hot Topic, and I am not verified. No idea what that means so I'll post it here instead:
Thank you all for your kind words and advice! I will certainly update this with pictures once the game arrives! To answer Pinballlew 's question, I won this game in a raffle. Pinball_Freak I bought some Marco pinballs about a week ago, a friend told me not to use the regular Stern provided pinballs so I've done this already. pindoc1 and others, thank you for the advice about cleaning the machine, this is what I was most worried about so those answers are very helpful!