It's commercial equipment in a home environment so generally it holds up well. Make sure you change your AA batteries assuming your TAF still has them as it did originally.
I'm sure other pinsiders will swoop in with lots of advice.

I wouldn't think so, you are going to know if something isn't working properly, and a home machine will never see enough usage to warrant an annual inspection. I do recommend inspecting your balls regularly and looking over this post for proper care of the playfield:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/cleaning-and-waxing-pinball-machines-vids-guide

Do you wax it?

Which novus do you use? If you're constantly using #2, all you're doing is wearing down the playfield. #2 is abrasive.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/cleaning-and-waxing-pinball-machines-vids-guide/

Taking things apart isn't that scary. Just take lots and lots of photos from all different angles and at every step of disassembly and every time you remove a screw or a nut.

If you're careful, sometimes you can use a vacuum with a micro vacuum attachment kit to reach certain areas.

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When you have the glass off for cleaning look closely for loose posts. If a screw is bent or hole is damaged the sooner you fix it the better. Also inspect all rubber. Cracked rubber makes more dust. If you have to remove a piece plan on cleaning everything you can while it's out.

Go through the switches in test mode every few months to make sure they are registering.

With power off, raise playfield and move your coils by hand, making sure they move freely.

Don't use liquid wax--that's basically just silicone and won't last long. Use carnauba wax, as indicated in the thread I linked to.

I usually just buff by hand.

Seriously just read all of Vid's posts in his playfield maintenance guide. More than anything you seem to be stuck in a mindset of "I can't do it" which is a sure fire way to be unable to do something. Vid's guide is very thorough, especially for HUO.

Basically, you want to use as little "gusto" as you can to get the job done. Vacuum the machine out first and see if that cleans it. If there are trails of dirt from the ball, try a little Novus 1 (not 2) and wipe it down. Then wipe it again with a plain microfiber cloth. Touch the playfield, if your finger can't slide smoothly across it it needs wax. If you used the Novus 1 it'll need wax as well, since the playfield will now be cleaned. As others have said, check the balls too and make sure they're not rusted or chipped at all. If they don't have a shine and look like they've "gone dark", replace em anyway. Ball replacement is like $4 and is cheap enough to be done every 3-6 months depending on how many plays the game is getting.

Unless you're looking at a really banged up route machine or REALLY poorly cared for HUO, you rarely need anything more intense than that.

Do you have fun playing it? That is getting the most out of a pin.

All you really need to do is make sure you're not hurting it with rusty or chipped balls. Clean it once in a while as suggested above, and if something gets lose, fix it, it will just get worse.

At some point you will do a teardown, and yes, the first one is overwhelming. So many parts the fit together. And then they get easier. Take LOTS of pictures from every angle, and then take more. Just hover around the game with a camera, and point to things that look complex in the pictures. Take even more pictures as you take things apart. You will expose stuff that wasn't seen in the first set. As you take things off, hold it in your hand and snap another.

It sounds like overkill, but they will help you put it all back together. After a couple like that, it becomes much easier. You will start to understand how games get put together. And the first one you put back together is a thrill.

You are the steward of the game while you own it. Try to make it better for the next owner, or at least no worse. Then just have fun.

Think the comment by force where he suggested using a mini vac. I have exactly what he has pictures andnuse it regularly. Great way to keep the playfield clean. Highly suggest.
G

You don't necessarily need a shop vac or mini vac....you can use the attachments on a regular house vacuum, as long as it has a hose.

Why were you downvoted for that comment. I'd love to know what the name of that product is so I can buy it. I'd love to do some mild cleaning under the WoZ's mini playfields without having to detach the darn things every time I go to vacuum it.

whysnow probably has some grievance with me again.

It's called a micro vacuum attachment kit. You can find them on ebay, amazon, and hardware stores.

nope, I just disagree with what you said. Thumbs down is a simple way to show you dont agree with a post, not a personal attack. Speaking of, getting tired of your same BS all the time of making digs against me and then touting your mod status.

I bought the same minivac kit on your reccomendation and it sucks (but not literally). Waste of money, does not get anything really clean, and teaches noobs to cut corners rather than clean things up the right way. Sure it can work for general dust in easy to reach spaces, but is poor for a real cleaning.

I just throw a bucket of water and soap over the machine after taking the playfield glass off, and start scrubbing it with the same extension brush I wash my car with. JUST KIDDING.

What everyone else said. Just make sure your balls aren't grinding the playfield down (that didn't sound right...or did it?) Vid's guides cover everything about pinball you need to know, beginning with Moses parting the seas so he could get the very first pinball game ever made out of Egypt.

Get the confidence up to rip it down, because you'll have to do that to access some of the LED's on TAF. If you run into a problem, there's more than enough people on here that can help you if you get stuck. Definitely run a switch edge, illumination and display test occasionally, just to make sure there's no issues.

I use it as a first-pass to suck up any loose dirt & dust. It doesn't replace a wipe-down, just precedes it.

Digs like that against me are exactly why I assumed your downvote was retaliatory.

You really should bite the bullet and remove the ramps and clean the hidden areas, and any subways as well. If those areas are dirty, the areas you're cleaning now will just get dirty again fast as the balls will carry and spread that crap all over the game. In a home environment, that kind of thing probably only needs doing every year or two depending how much it gets played, but once you do that, the rest of the game stays cleaner much longer.

Since you are new to this. Please turn the game off when putting in your new lighting.

Later as you gain in experience, then do it with the power on. Then you can learn all about shorted switch matrix issues on your CPU.

LTG : )

Since I am close by, I can get rid of your batteries in TAF as well as Gorgar by installing NVRAM. Being battery free is a great thing!

Not really. This is something you can do yourself. Use the switch test to test out all the switches and optos and then use the coil test to test all the coils and the lamp test to make sure all the insert lamps are working.

But once you know your game pretty well, you'll notice a problem and you can use those tests to see what you can find out to help narrow down the problem(s).

I generally wax and replace balls with PinballLife super shiny balls every 6 months. On those times I do not do a full tear down and generally wax the parts easily accessible unless there are ball trails are something more obvious.

Here is a related question which I've often wondered: instead of replacing balls is it okay to put them in a tumbler like folks do for smaller metallic parts and let them get all shined up that way? If so, can someone suggest a tumbler to use?

Thanks.

i know people do it ... i have no idea if this really makes them as good as new or not (wouldn't it make them smaller, even if just a little bit?).

you can find plenty of opinions, but i doubt you'll find much objective science on the issue.

They are easy to measure with a micrometer. Accuracy down to the nearest ten thousandth of an inch. I expect you could tumble them in any common media with no significant size change.

If anyone local has a tumbler and wants to test PM me. I have the measuring tools.

Owning a pin is like owning a boat or motorcycle for example. If you are really interested in excellent maintenance you need to take the time to learn more about the machine and get comfortable taking things apart to some extent. The internet is rich with info. Now, if you don't want to take it that far you can do minimal maintenance and for the most part the machine will be fine. This includes cleaning the play field regularly (waxing optional) in all the places you can reach. Changing balls when they become pitted. Changing batteries yearly. Changing rubbers as needed (flippers and slings much more often than the rest). Fixing parts as they break.

If the play field hasn't been disassembled and cleaned thoroughly in years and years, it's really best to do that. Including cleaning subway ramps and things under the PF. if the hidden areas are dirty , he ball will track it all over soon after you clean. If you do one thorough cleaning like that you don't need to do it again for years. But again its all up to you. Enjoy your machine as you want to. But it sounds like you are concerned about the machine so that's my advice.

Jack