Quoted from djreddog:Allentown
Quoted from pinhead52:Allentown
Quoted from jrpinball:Pinfest
Quoted from djreddog:Allentown!
Sounds like Nic was the belle of the ball. I even heard from a couple other buddies (not chiming in here) that it was nice to meet him. Looking forward to the update from...
Quoted from beelzeboob:Allentown
Visit #14 – Paul Sbano (@Iamneo) in Asbury, NJ
The subject: Bank Shot
I’d never been to Asbury before and expected city streets and traffic. Instead, as I drove through the darkness to Paul’s place, the road suddenly emptied, took a hard right, and twisted high into a snaking hill-climb. Left, right, hairpin left, up, up, up. The 2D Google Map provided no clue how high the road would go. Finally I encountered a dirt road and wooden fence leading to Paul who was standing in the driveway smoking a small cigar. We shook hands as he said, “Welcome to Pauly’s World”.
If New Jersey is the Garden State, then Paul’s place must be the Garden House. His property sits high on a mini-mountain surrounded by protected woodlands. His neighbors are few in number except for deer, eagles, the occasional black bear, and about eight classic pinball machines. I must say I’m digging this pinball-in-the-wilderness trend.
We began the day with coffee and breakfast. Paul remarked that his hillside proximity offers a natural buffer to city living, yet is still within easy reach of its conveniences. However, it does get a bit colder on top of the ridge. Paul estimated he burns eight to ten cords of wood each winter, plus heating oil. Which I learned is sold by the gallon and isn’t cheap… around $2000-$3000 a year. Another inconvenience is the occasional power outage which might be scary when staring down a four-foot blanket of snow. But hey, life is one big series of tradeoffs... and I'd say Pauly's World is a pretty good deal all things considered.
We began with relay class on Bank Shot. If you are loath to rebuild all of the relays in your machine, you should do all of the score relays at the bare minimum. Think about it… if a game has 80,000 plays assuming a conservative estimate of only 100 clicks on the reels… that is EIGHT MILLION CLICKS! Not coincidentally, the score relays are often the dirtiest relays in the entire game.
Always rebuild your score relays.
Clean the ladders too! It isn't technically necessary, but it looks nice and keeps dust away from your contacts. Also a good visual reminder that it was rebuilt.
Always check the underside of the relay ladder. Oftentimes (especially on score relays) the metal plate is worn away by the coil. If the wear is deep enough, the coil will occasionally catch in the groove and stick to the plate. “Residual magnetism” is often blamed when relays stick, but plate gouging is the more common cause. Use the sanding flapwheel to smooth the underside.
Paul gives the Magic Brush a spin and invokes the “swab, polish, swab” mantra on the relay contacts.
One of the score reels wasn’t rotating well. Our oldest nemesis was to blame: Ancient, caked-on blasts of WD-40. Its lovely patina also covered the return spring, which wasn’t so springy now. Thanks, WD. Thanks a lot.
I replaced the spring with a Harbor Freight equivalent. Springs were springin’ again.
“But Nic, if it’s not an original spring, how will I know it is right?”
Ah, this is where we must pause and delve into a little philosophy. You see, we live in an age of complexity and interdependence. Most of the time we turn to Google or Wal-Mart or call an expert to solve our problems. I do too because modern life is complicated and no one can know everything. However, it is also possible to not know anything! If we do not indulge our curiosity and cultivate knowledge, we may find ourselves shuffling around this earth with only “relative knowledge” in our heads, Googling and referring our way through a life that feels uncomfortably fragile and disconnected from reality.
What I’m teaching you is how to become an expert. You will no longer think of your pinball machine as merely a “Gottlieb” or “Bally” but rather as an interconnected array of parts as the original machinists did. You will know these parts individually and what they are supposed to do. Your fingers will habitually press upon relay ladders and stepper discs and plungers just to know what feels right… even if nothing is broken. You’ll press things just to check in and say hello. And in so doing, your touch-knowledge will grow and ultimately answer your question.
You’ll know it’s right, because you'll know how a spring should feel. And if not, you'll make it so.
Indulge your sense of touch. Train it, and it will guide you.
Next, we moved on to stepper class. The ball count wiper disc wasn’t centered across the rivets. It was a simple matter of loosening the screws, readjusting, and tightening them back down.
The target stepper featured an unusual repair: A switch blade fashioned as a connection point. Of course, this was a poor solution, because the switch blade wasn’t making a good electrical connection with the wiper. Even if it was, the wiper’s vertical travel would have been limited by the friction of the blade pressing against it.
Blade removed, and the proper fix was implemented with flexy-wire.
Paul checked the wipers on another stepper disc. The wipers felt a little slow and sticky.
The wiper was cleaned on one side by pushing it down and cleaning all surfaces with a q-tip and alcohol.
Then, it was cleaned on the other side by pushing it up and cleaning the surfaces again.
A final swab was given to clear any residual grease or dirt from the spring itself.
As for the stepper disc, it was cleaned with alcohol and the Magic Brush was dispatched to polish the rivets. It was then coated and wiped almost clean with the thinnest possible layer of Super Lube (teflon) across the rivet paths. As you can see from the photo, this process gets pretty darn good results without having to use sandpaper.
Stealth time. Bank Shot was given the treatment.
Paul and his wife Zaida are active people who enjoy getting out and about. No shortage of recreational options here.
With only a day to visit, we didn’t resolve every issue with Bank Shot. But we did convey the knowledge to get Paul moving into the fast lane along the EM journey. He’s got enough projects to make all of the deer and bears jealous during the winter.
Next stop -> Lansdale, PA
Quoted from NicoVolta:Visit #13 – Paul Sbano in Asbury, NJ
The subject: Bank Shot
I’d never been to Asbury before and expected city streets and traffic. Instead, as I drove through the darkness to Paul’s place, the road suddenly emptied, took a hard right, and twisted high into a snaking hill-climb. Left, right, hairpin left, up, up, up. The 2D Google Map provided no clue how high the road would go. Finally I encountered a dirt road and wooden fence leading to Paul who was standing in the driveway smoking a small cigar. We shook hands as he said, “Welcome to Pauly’s World”.
If New Jersey is the Garden State, then Paul’s place must be the Garden House. His property sits high on a mini-mountain surrounded by protected woodlands. His neighbors are few in number except for deer, eagles, the occasional black bear, and about eight classic pinball machines. I must say I’m digging this pinball-in-the-wilderness trend.
For people thinking this is Asbury Park, NJ...it isn't (and you can tell by the landscape that ain't no shoreline!). This is Asbury...period, which is in western NJ by the PA border. My daughter lives there (another daughter lives in Washington only 15 minutes away). I'd love to know where this guy lives - looks like it's literally down the road from my daughter's house.
Quoted from NicoVolta:........Always check the underside of the relay ladder. Oftentimes (especially on score relays) the metal plate is worn away by the coil. If the wear is deep enough, the coil will occasionally catch in the groove and stick to the plate. “Residual magnetism” is often blamed when relays stick, but plate gouging is the more common cause. Use the sanding flapwheel to smooth the underside........
You are right about the wear causing an issue. I have however, moved away from this fix method during restores to a more simple fix?
Remove the ladder and drill out the rivet and flip the plate 180 deg. Add new rivet. Done for another 50 years and then you get your flap wheel out. 
I batch fix the plates during a restore so a games worth of plates are done in 10 mins. You may also need to add a brass rivet to the contact point with the relay sometimes too on many games so you need rivets and a punch on hand anyway.
I enjoy your write ups, keep going.
Quoted from RyanClaytor:And nary a challenge? (Did Pauly's world tarnish your record?)
Still lovin' the updates, Nic. See you in a week.
No challenge on this visit, but stay tuned... I got mores!
Quoted from pinhead52:Looking forward to the writeup from the 1974DeltaQueen visit. Early scouting reports 7 and a half games fixed over 2 days, must have been busy!
Yep. Every day is busy. Eating and sleeping right is a must... otherwise the intense schedule would crush me. Fun times but definitely NOT a vacation! I'll need one at the end!
"Nic, it looks like you can buy the whole darned place lock, stock, and barrel!
"33 PINBALL MACHINES FOR SALE - $1200 (delray beach)"
Reply to post #435:
I'd have to backtrack earlier in this thread to see, but I sure hope that was by far the **lesser** of the two places he highlighted in S. Florida. (The apparent ghost town one.) Had to be. The other one sounded great -- like a prime reason for visiting that area.
Visit #15 – Chuck Dietch (@ckcsm) in Lansdale, PA (and the Allentown Pinfest - part 1 of 2)
The subjects: Jacks Open, Abra-Ca-Dabra, King of Diamonds, Quick Draw, Solar City, Sing Along, and Jumping Jack
Crossing back into Pennsylvania led me through the unexpectedly scenic town of Milford, NJ. Beautiful foliage twisted down the hill through a charming Main St. across a white iron bridge spanning a glistening river. Every inch was picture-perfect and a good example of why it pays to travel across the country, one back road at a time. It’s all about finding the hidden gems along the way.
An expansive lawn and cloudburst sky greeted me at Chuck’s house in Lansdale. He is ideally situated with a wide natural buffer around his property to attract wandering deer and wildlife, yet lives close enough to keep the city’s amenities (and problems) at arm’s length. I marveled at the size of his acreage… then wondered how long and often it took to mow it.
Chuck led me into the rear garage house where the pinball machines were kept and pointed toward his epic riding lawn mower: “I spend two hours on that thing, minimum, at least once a week”. Yeesh! Take note, aspiring fortress-builders… if ye want to be king of the castle, ye must maintain thy moat with due diligence!
I suggested the Eclectic Gamers Podcast as a way to keep up with the latest pinball news during those long mows. Tony and Dennis provide genuinely interesting discussions about pinball, both new and old. The podcast is here: https://eclecticgamerspodcast.wordpress.com/
Chuck is a successful and hardworking second-generation business owner in the auto body business, which makes him an ideal pinball enthusiast. Many pinball restoration techniques involve the use of automotive tools and services. Quite convenient to have both hobbies under one roof!
Chuck’s retro-styled Chevrolet SSR truck was finished in a brilliant silver metallic and automotive clear. He applied the same technique to a lockdown bar receiver, coin panel, and coin door… all of which looked fantastic.
His favorite game, Surfer, was repainted using automotive paints and a layer of clear on top. It was dazzling to behold and silky-smooth to the touch. I’ve always been a fan of the automotive approach because the result is extremely luxurious and attractive. However, the difficulty slope is quite steep and requires significant training in proper safety practices, disposal, and application techniques. Not an easily-accessible path for me, but perfect for a guy like Chuck who has already made the investment.
Chuck has a small collection of antique slot machines and pinball ephemera, including a vintage article about the Texas Pinball Festival circa 2003. My, my… how things have changed! TPF is now one of the premiere pinball shows in the world and is easily #1 in the BYOP (Bring Your Own Pinball) category. If you haven’t attended yet, you owe it to yourself to make the trek!
Pinball school begins with a creative twist for keeping q-tips and alcohol handy.
We are beginning to form a pattern: Do the score relays first. Many of them contain bridged switch stacks which require some dexterity to maneuver. Ah, but where there is difficulty, there is learning!
A stepper disc appears normal at first glance.
However, upon closer inspection we find a flexy-wire which had not been soldered to the wiper. Wrapping it around doesn’t count!
It was soldered in place properly.
When working through a new project, it is important (especially on Gottliebs) to tug each and every solder joint to check the connection. This one popped off the lug almost immediately.
Solder to the rescue again.
We doubled up to rebuild the pop bumpers with new bakelites, metal yokes, and plungers.
The spoons, predictably, were full of dirt. Cleaned ‘em out with q-tips and alcohol.
After installation, Chuck checked and adjusted the spoon switch gaps.
That seems about right. Always bang on the playfield with your fist afterward. If no pops trigger, it’s good.
After rebuilding the score relays, pop relay, pop bumpers, and tweaking a few playfield switches… Jacks Open was ready for Allentown.
Chuck showed me an old toolbox from one of his pinball pickups. It belonged to the seller’s father who was a pinball operator. The handwritten price list was amusing to see. If only coils were as cheap today! We also found a tube of assorted switch contacts including some nice rounded ones used on Bally spiders.
Abra needed a few tweaks and EOS flipper switches cleaned and gapped. Didn’t take much to get it back into service. We also identified a flaky King of Diamonds score reel and fixed a few issues on Quick Draw before the evening was done.
Bang, bang, bang, bang… four down… three to go!
(part 2 to be continued…)
Quoted from pinhead52:Did you get a chance to play Golden Arrow, thats a game we rarely see?
Did not play or work on that one. Not a favorite of mine... spinner hits smack against the top rail in a rather un-thrilling way. Not sure it awards many points either. Rest are pops and mostly lane-chasing like MIBS, yes?
Quoted from chalkup8:Loving this thread Nic.
Great pictures,you express yourself well.
Very entertaining.
Thank you. I read every comment and like... all of it helps energize me to keep pushing forward.
BTW everyone please take a moment to share the link to this page if you use social media. A lot of folks are only just finding out about this and we have just crossed the 2/5 milestone!
Quoted from NicoVolta:A lot of folks are only just finding out about this...
Color me one of the above...wish I would have found out sooner to host for a day or two.
Put me on the list for Round 2 if you have any stamina to do it again Nic.
Loving the road reports, truly a gift to those you visit and a unique experience for you.
Here's to safety on the road...
Rody
Visit #15 – Chuck Dietch in Lansdale, PA (and the Allentown Pinfest - part 2 of 2)
The subjects: Jacks Open, Abra-Ca-Dabra, King of Diamonds, Quick Draw, Solar City, Sing Along, and Jumping Jack
Day two, and we’re off to the races. Chuck is in the process of building out his upstairs floor of the garage for the arcade. Pictured left to right are Hit The Deck, Centigrade 37, Solar City, Surfer, Sing Along, 2001, and Jumping Jack.
I ribbed Chuck about being a confessed “Gottlieb Guy”, but in truth he’s open to the idea of going beyond Big G. Rancho and Grand Prix are two Williams games on his short list; and perhaps an Old Chicago too if the phase of the moon is waxing Bally.
(I will do everything I can to encourage this) 
Solar City’s massive 10-drop target row was failing to reset after each ball.
An examination of the drop target relay revealed the issue: One of the switch blades was positioned outside of the ladder. The switch stack was removed, cleaned, and adjusted.
The start relay was also cleaned and adjusted. It resets the drop targets at the beginning of the game.
Lastly, the motor switch controlling the drop target coils was cleaned and adjusted. Lots of happy voltage again… KER-CHUNK! The difference was noticeable.
Uh oh… the match light was stuck between 80 and 90 and wouldn’t change. A sinister, familiar feeling crept up my spine. I followed the winged warriors to the culprit…
...behold the dreaded, gunked-up, maladjusted, mis-tensioned, loose brake, double-clutching, gnarled-tooth, one-of-the-worst-things-in-pinball-ever-made… GOTTLIEB AS RELAY!
Nope. No time for you, bub. We got other fish to fry.
Like this score reel circuit board! Polished with Mother’s Mag Polish.
Do not sand circuit boards. Clean them with this, and buff at least thrice until rag/paper is clean.
Like this flipper pawl! The old shaft must have broken off and a screw drilled in its place. However, as the picture demonstrates, it quickly chewed its way through the bakelite. Luckily, I had spares for both.
Like this horizontal kickout coil! Chuck was cleaning the EOS contacts just as a Jedi trainee burst into the room and attempted to parry him. Luckily no body parts were amputated.
Next, the Pinball Tour confronted one of its Top Ten Nastiest Issues on Jumping Jack. The 2p 1000 and 10,000 reels were working during the game, but not resetting to zero at the start.
Unlike some Gottliebs, Jumping Jack doesn’t have a dedicated score reset relay like a Z1. Instead, it is embedded in the player cam unit. Half of the coils go through motor 4A, and the other half (including our suspect reels) through 1A.
It couldn’t be 1A… because the 1p thousands and ten-thousands reels were resetting normally. Since they also use the 1A switch, it had to be OK and the connection wire too.
Could it be a dirty switch in the player cam? After cleaning and adjusting it, no change.
Could it be an issue with the “runout” (zero-position) switches on the reels themselves? Possibly, but two at the same time? Hmmmmm, not likely. Cleaned and adjusted them both, no change.
And then I found the bugger. Cold solder joint at the red X.
Even though the schematic shows the ground line connecting a working reel (1p thousand) between the non-working 2p reels… THE SCHEMATIC ISN’T CONCERNED WITH THE PHYSICAL WIRING… only the circuit logic. And thus, as you can see, the 2p thousand and ten-thousand switch tabs are to the left of the X… isolated from the rest of the working ground connection by a bad solder joint.
Nasty little bugger, that. Resoldered and good as new again.
Chuck’s lineup looks just as good at night as during the day, if not better!
My visit with Chuck coincided with the Allentown Pinfest, so I made it a priority to attend. I’ve visited a number of national pinball conventions, museums, and private collections but this was my first time at Allentown.
Pinbee and the elusive
boilerman were the first to pick me out of the crowd. Always nice to meet Pinsiders in person.
Pinball_Nate was the next Pinsider I encountered. Real nice guy. We joined up with his wife to discuss the show and the tour… luckily my exhaustion wasn’t showing on my face.
Chuck and I stopped for a 2-player game of Williams 8-Ball, the first middle-pop designed by Norm Clark. It is an excellent 2-player and I would say the best overall middle-pop game with 2” flippers. Someday I'll own one!
Otaku and
djreddog waved me over for a quick look at Skyrocket… one of the coolest Ballys with the best light show of any EM ever produced. Then I detoured to diagnose DJ’s tournament game, Conquest 200, which had a stuck playfield switch/score relay.
JustageFehler aka George insisted that I take a magnetic retrieval tool as well as a yoga strap from Dolly… she was a witness to our back-crunching work on 4 Roses during my visit. Alas, I have not yet had time to use it, but I HAVE had some back issues lately from NOT using it!
Tomorrow, I shall stretch for the sake of pinball!
Overall, the Allentown show was a good time but not without some issues for an EM-focused guy. On the upside, it was located adjacent to a giant farmer’s market offering all sorts of things to eat and drink. Many affordable pinball projects were available and the deals on spare parts were absolutely outstanding… huge boxes for pennies on the dollar!
On the downside, Allentown was more crowded and had fewer games than TPF. Of the EM’s present, far too many of the ones I played were suffering from basic lack of maintenance issues like janky flippers, pop bumpers, and poor leveling. Modern games seemed to fare a lot better. Also the venue itself was a sort of warehouse/fairground stockyards building which wasn’t quite as cushy or temperature-controlled as some of the other venues I’ve seen… but not a problem overall. It’s all about the pinball and Allentown brought it home.
Time for another EM Home Challenge update! Chuck lent me his digits for my ninth win… now 9-2 after a three-round match on Surfer. He definitely made me work for the win!
Chuck is about two years into the pinball hobby and I predict he’ll take it a good bit further yet. Especially with such an impressive arsenal of automotive restoration tools and techniques at his disposal.
It was a helluva busy trip and my fingers still ache, but we got an epic seven games back on their feet in Lansdale. Any way you slice it, that’s definitely a win.
Speaking of slicing things, Chuck enabled me to figure out what “scrapple” is. I had to ask the waitress at breakfast the following morning, to everyone’s amusement. It was one of those moments when all of the heads turn in your direction at the same time… instantly confirming your status as “not from around here”.
Next stop -> Poughkeepsie, NY (does that city sound familiar?)
Quoted from NicoVolta:Next stop -> Poughkeepsie, NY (does that city sound familiar?)
Snooki from that godawful show Jersey Shore lives there...
Quoted from Otaku:Snooki from that godawful show Jersey Shore lives there...
Completely wrong! She lives in our town...and visits her mother in law with the kids literally around the corner from my house. She stopped by my house trick or treating this Halloween...
And btw, Nic...enjoy your visit to Pinball Resource. Steve is much more charming in person than on the phone. He gave me a full tour last time I was there. Saw all the Gottlieb design sheets and machines from the factory. That place is literally like the Smithsonian of pinball. Funniest part of the tour is seeing Jimmy--who takes the online orders--stuck in a small closet with his computer. Have fun and stock up on parts for the second half of your tour! 
Quoted from beelzeboob:Completely wrong! She lives in our town...and visits her mother in law with the kids literally around the corner from my house. She stopped by my house trick or treating this Halloween...
Hahahaha, that is a classic! Beezleboob and Snooki in one picture. My new favorite.
And okay, my knowledge is outdated. Her parents live in Poughkeepsie, then. I just remembered she lived there back when filming was going on for the show years back. You may ask why I know that - I was 11 and she had rockin' "features", and admittedly the show was pretty cool back then (and it said so on the show, it's not like I hunted her down) but I think it would just give me a headache now. Also that and even though it's been 8 years all the out of state people still ask if the state is filled with spray-tanned Italians...
Also I couldn't believe I was taller than a 20-something year old girl (she was 4' 8", Googled it just now) who I may or may not have had a crush on at 11 years old so I literally measured it and marked it on my wall next to my Jersey Shore poster where it remains today (the poster is long gone, though. Sorry, guido buds)
It was an interesting time
With that embarassing story out of the way that I've learned to laugh about that couldn't not be told, great job Nic. Chuck is a really nice guy (I've met him a few times) and it looks like he has a lot of nice pins!
Quoted from Otaku:I've learned to laugh about that couldn't not be told
Probably the only time when the fake model they used may be more attractive than the intended subject...
(and they spelled her name wrong! Perhaps a "lawsuit avoidance typo")
Visit #16 – Steve Young - The Pinball Resource in Poughkeepsie, NY
The subject: Where Pinball Road inevitably leads
Three and a half years ago, I made my first phone call to Pinball Resource. I still remember the call. If you’ve ever ordered anything from Steve, I bet you can remember your first time too.
It usually goes something like this…
Steve: “Pinball Resource…”
You: “Hi, my name is ___, and I need some parts for my pinball machine. I need the… um… thing on the flipper thing which, um…”
Steve: “Gottlieb flipper linkage? Gimme a part number.”
You: “Um OK I don’t see one on there. It’s a plate and a stick thing whi-“
Steve: “What game is it?”
You: “It’s a Playball, a baseball ga-“
Steve: “GTB-A12047-A. You need two. Anything else?”
You: “OK great. I might as well get four just in case. Could you add two more?”
Steve: “No.”
You: “I can’t ord-“
Steve: “You don’t need two more. A new pair will last a long time. What else do you need?”
You: “But what if it breaks?”
Steve: “It won’t break if you install it correctly. If you do it carefully it will work. Gottlieb made things that work. These games play thousands of games before they need fixing. In a home environment it will be fine for a long time. You don’t need it. Anything else?”
You: “I… yes… I-I think….”
…and thus stammer your way through the rest of the call, ordering a basket of parts you think you’ll maybe-kind-of-need… and quick… or else no soup for you! Who the heck is this guy, anyway?
Then, sometime later down the road after calls two, three, and four, you discover Steve is actually a talkative guy with a wealth of knowledge and helpful tips. Chatty, even. He tells you where to check for issues in your game. Or he talks about the games he has. Or about the pinball business as a whole.
You can tell he genuinely wants to help you understand how your pinball machine works. He understands pinball is meant to be played, because he plays it himself. And what initially appeared as a gruff demeanor gives way to an understanding that he serves the pinball community not so much as a Soup Nazi-character, but more as a careful steward of the available resources to all who would participate in the hobby.
It is at this point you realize Steve’s quirks are actually endearing aspects of his resilience. His stubbornness to use old invoicing and payment methods keeps costs low. His website is antiquated and poorly indexed, but Google search takes up the slack for free at no charge to you. He has a row of woodrails in his office to use as a surface for cutting schematics. Sure, he could buy a new table, but why? The old games work just fine… again, at no charge to you.
Steve keeps a parts library of nearly every game produced.
Each archive contains a detailed manifest listing every screw, washer, and plate inside a game, head to toe, as it left the factory.
All of the drop targets you need are in this row, custom made as needed.
All of the factory dies used for pressing new pop bumper caps and plastics are retrieved as needed.
Every pop bumper body you’ve ever bought came from this spot… individually pressed into service.
Every switch stack assembled by hand and clamped together in this jig.
Every switch blade contact punched in this machine, one at a time.
In the storage room, an archive of factory blueprints outline the plans for everything from flipper brackets to stepper discs.
Three and a half years later, I couldn’t be happier to meet Steve in person and see his humble but proud operation – stubbornly resisting the ravages of time – cranking out the pieces to literally keep our hobby rolling on and on.
What else can one say but thank you, Steve Young!
Next stop -> Andover, CT
Great thread and I enjoy reading it, safe travels out there and I'll be following along!
In regards to the first call to Steve Young, yeah....similar experience but he knows what he's talking about! 
Visit #17 – Bryan Peterson (@1974DeltaQueen) in Andover, CT
The subjects: Kings & Queens, Flipper Cowboy, Ice Show, Flipper Pool, Mayfair, Hurdy Gurdy, Card Trix
Hey. This is Bryan. Nic’s away from the computer, so I got this.
See this Connecticut farmhouse? Nice and peaceful, right? Well that’s not mine. My place is next door with the big-ass driveway.
*BANG* *BANG*
No need to duck. Nobody is shootin’ at you unless you’re a Patriots fan. That sound is coming from the NRA pistol range across the highway. I go there sometimes to calm my nerves.
First of all, my man cave doesn’t f**k around. I like good games in good condition. No beaters in here that some douchebag tried to pawn off Craigslist for top dollar. F**k no… all of mine look and play great. They just have a few problems here and there that need a little ironing out. No big deal. Nic’s gonna get this s**t fixed, Cowboys fan or not.
First, the fixes. See this relay here? The switches aren’t even in the ladder! What kind of bulls**t is this? We took this apart and made it right.
Nic told me to take the score relays apart too, so I did. Looked OK to me until we checked a little closer.
Holy f**kin’ s**t! The contact was falling right out. All three score relays had a loose one... geez.
The metal plate under the ladder was pretty f**ked up too.
We sanded off that s**t smooth with the flapwheel.
We also hit the coil with the magic-up-your-ass-brush-or-whatever… just because.
Then we had a coffee.
Yeah, it’s no secret I’m a Steelers guy, because they’re the best, period. Numero uno.
I don't like many other teams. The Bengals always pull a bunch of unfair bulls**t on the field. And the Ravens suck but not as bad as the f**kin’ Patriots.
I couldn’t figure out why half the lights weren’t working on Flipper Cowboy. Not until Nic pointed out a dozen s**tty solder joints. Most of ‘em snapped right off, what the f**k? But the alligator clip didn’t lie.
We got it lit up nice again.
Ice Show wasn’t starting at all. Turns out some douchebag installed a no-fun-button on the g****mn door. All it did was tilt the s**t. Probably a Patriots fan.
We moved the switches around on the door. Worked nice.
Flipper Pool wasn’t giving any balls and the lights were crap, so Nic cleaned and adjusted every one of these sonofabitches. Got it working again. Gotta have the balls to play pool, yanno.
Nice Hurdy Gurdy, right? Well check out this s**t…
Holy f**kin’ s**t! What is this bull***t?!?
The flippers were too strong. Some f**kin’ idiot installed this piece of s**t. It’s not even the right fuse!
Nic popped that s**t right outta there and it worked again.
My Card Trix was acting real weird. Turns out the frog blades on a score reel were touching. Never seen that before. Nic separated the blades and it got better. We ran out of time for the rest.
I like the Ballys. Delta Queen flips nice and that backglass looks great. Nic rolled 'em both so we played a different game for the showdown.
We played Diamond Jack. Nic won fair and square so that's OK. He doesn't pull a bunch of bull***t like the cheatin' Bengals.
Next stop -> Westerly, RI
Quoted from NicoVolta:Visit #14 – Steve Young - The Pinball Resource in Poughkeepsie, NY
The subject: Where Pinball Road inevitably leadsThree and a half years ago, I made my first phone call to Pinball Resource. I still remember the call. If you’ve ever ordered anything from Steve, I bet you can remember your first time too.
It usually goes something like this…
Steve: “Pinball Resource…”
You: “Hi, my name is __, and I need some parts for my pinball machine. I need the… um… thing on the flipper thing which, um…”
Steve: “Gottlieb flipper linkage? Gimme a part number.”
You: “Um OK I don’t see one on there. It’s a plate and a stick thing whi-“
Steve: “What game is it?”
You: “It’s a Playball, a baseball ga-“
Steve: “GTB-A12047-A. You need two. Anything else?”
You: “OK great. I might as well get four just in case. Could you add two more?”
Steve: “No.”
You: “I can’t ord-“
Steve: “You don’t need two more. A new pair will last a long time. What else do you need?”
You: “But what if it breaks?”
Steve: “It won’t break if you install it correctly. If you do it carefully it will work. Gottlieb made things that work. These games play thousands of games before they need fixing. In a home environment it will be fine for a long time. You don’t need it. Anything else?”
You: “I… yes… I-I think….”
…and thus stammer your way through the rest of the call, ordering a basket of parts you think you’ll maybe-kind-of-need… and quick… or else no soup for you! Who the heck is this guy, anyway?
Then, sometime later down the road after calls two, three, and four, you discover Steve is actually a talkative guy with a wealth of knowledge and helpful tips. Chatty, even. He tells you where to check for issues in your game. Or he talks about the games he has. Or about the pinball business as a whole.
You can tell he genuinely wants to help you understand how your pinball machine works. He understands pinball is meant to be played, because he plays it himself. And what initially appeared as a gruff demeanor gives way to an understanding that he serves the pinball community not so much as a Soup Nazi-character, but more as a careful steward of the available resources to all who would participate in the hobby.It is at this point you realize Steve’s quirks are actually endearing aspects of his resilience. His stubbornness to use old invoicing and payment methods keeps costs low. His website is antiquated and poorly indexed, but Google search takes up the slack for free at no charge to you. He has a row of woodrails in his office to use as a surface for cutting schematics. Sure, he could buy a new table, but why? The old games work just fine… again, at no charge to you.
Steve keeps a parts library of nearly every game produced.
Each archive contains a detailed manifest listing every screw, washer, and plate inside a game, head to toe, as it left the factory.
All of the drop targets you need are in this row, custom made as needed.
All of the factory dies used for pressing new pop bumper caps and plastics are retrieved as needed.
Every pop bumper body you’ve ever bought came from this spot… individually pressed into service.
Every switch stack assembled by hand and clamped together in this jig.
Every switch blade contact punched in this machine, one at a time.
In the storage room, an archive of factory blueprints outline the plans for everything from flipper brackets to stepper discs.
Three and a half years later, I couldn’t be happier to meet Steve in person and see his humble but proud operation – stubbornly resisting the ravages of time – cranking out the pieces to literally keep our hobby rolling on and on.
What else can one say but thank you, Steve Young!
Next stop -> Andover, CT
Great post! I just hope that Otaku and everyone else who bitches about Steve will read this and maybe, just maybe realize what an asset Steve is to the hobby. Pinball repairs were a very hard job before Steve came along. PBR customer #A801.
Quoted from DennisDodel:Great post! I just hope that Otaku and everyone else who bitches about Steve will read this and maybe, just maybe realize what an asset Steve is to the hobby. Pinball repairs were a very hard job before Steve came along. PBR customer #A801.
Thanks for your customer number. Future orders I place will be free for me!
Quoted from Darcy:Ya, but Dennis might notice you hanging out by his mailbox, while waiting for the mailman.
Um...Dennis moved to Jersey. 
Quoted from DennisDodel:Great post! I just hope that Otaku and everyone else who bitches about Steve will read this and maybe, just maybe realize what an asset Steve is to the hobby. Pinball repairs were a very hard job before Steve came along. PBR customer #A801.
Or he who knows it all can just STFU in general . Steve Young is the da man and Nic knows his sh1t.
Quoted from beelzeboob:Um...Dennis moved to Jersey.
Exploding PBR poop package might await ye...
Quoted from BenB:I thoroughly have been enjoying the cross country journey, that has been documented along the way. I love getting a glimps into the collections of fellow pinsiders! Great job Nic! Keep the stops a coming
Thanks! You're getting a three-fer today! Will be ready in a few mins...
It was great to have Nick stop by and get my machines going; most were stored away at my shop and some were just set up a day before he arrived in my new game room, all needed some attention.
I learned alot and will keep reading as it's nice to see other problems and the fix/repairs necessary. It all takes more time than you think, and including the difficult Jumping Jack repair he did, that was after dinner and he wouldn't quit until we found the problem!
The last think I learned was his love for the AS relay, as he said do you know why there is a jones plug on these? - So you can take it out and throw it away! WOW
Keep the updates coming - love it.
Visit #18 -> Mark Carvey (@Therave) and the Flipside Bar in Westerly, RI
The subjects: Mariner and Flip Flop
I am now firmly in New England and everything is different: Accents, faces, foliage, houses, ambient temperature… all markedly different from whence I came. But one constant remains: Pinball! Something which Mark Carvey and his wife Dana (yes, she’s quite used to generating excitement when making dinner reservations) know a thing or two about.
Mark and Dana own Flipside, Westerly’s community pinball barcade. Where is Westerly? It’s that little notch in the lower left corner of Rhode Island. Hence, “west”… aha!
Flipside currently hosts a collection of about 10 pins from 1990 to the present. No hourly fee or entrance fee required… simply two tokens for a dollar (or 12 for five dollars). Each game requires two tokens to play.
$1 per game (or 83 cents with a $5 purchase) might seem high, but that is actually less than the inflation-adjusted amount since the arcade golden years. A 50-cent game back then would be $1.30 today!
The games are regularly serviced and play nicely, so your money is well-spent here (and a legitimate thrill when that replay knocker pops!).
Flipside has been open for approximately six months and is doing well. Weekly tournaments for mixed ages and women’s-only groups are regularly hosted. In the near future, an expansion of the space is planned to include some classic SS and EM games. Which gets no arguments from me!
Mark works hard to support the local pinball community. In this photo, he cheerfully hands a multimeter across the bar as a gift to a new EM pinball owner. Could we be witnessing the first time an exchange like this has ever happened at a bar, anywhere? Es possible!
We begin with Mariner, the four-player version of Bally’s Sea Ray. None of the playfield lights work, but the coils are firing normally. We trace the issue from the fuse block to the jones connectors. One of the pins wasn’t making a good connection. Ah, Bally… you are so great at so many things… but not jones connectors.
After re-seating the connector, the light show resumes.
Mariner isn’t starting or stopping the game properly. A closer inspection of the game over interlock relay reveals a Home Depot plastic screw bag stuffed into the latch. Why? The latch wasn’t allowing enough horizontal travel to trigger the switches.
Whoever did that was a goofball. The bracket screw holes have enough slack to allow horizontal adjustments, see? Which we make, and lo, the game is starting and stopping again.
We shall now tell the Tale of the Stubborn Stepper. No other hath challenged me to this degree, yet.
The Tale begins with a slightly mushroomed plunger and nylon sleeve worn down to the thickness of a human hair. No biggie… I retrieve a new ring and begin...
…we sand the plunger edge…
…shape it with the flapwheel…
…and burnish it smooth with the Magic Brush. After attaching the new nylon ring, all is good.
Ah, but what is this? The stepper bracket is worn and has… something… clipped to it?
Uh oh. Never mind the clip-thingy, we got real trouble ahead. The spindle on the other side is wobbling badly because the weld is giving way. Which means the whole thing is unreliable and could break off completely… and would render the entire mech useless.
Mark calls a friend who calls a friend who happens to have welding equipment. Who happens to be free at the moment. Who happens to be only five minutes away. WELDING TO THE RESCUE… YEAUSSS!
Yet the Tale persisted. The flapwheel is used to smooth away the wear on both sides of the bracket.
And persisted. The armature spring was too weak and had no slack left to tighten. A new Harbor Freight equivalent was tested and installed.
And persisted! A Williams coil had been substituted with a thicker plastic housing and slightly longer length, increasing the throw of the armature and thus double-clicking from 1000 to 3000 bonus points every time. ARGH! The plastic housing had to be painstakingly shaved and the coil stop bracket holes enlarged to shorten the travel. This procedure ate through two of our Dremel attachments and lots of time in the process.
AND DAD GUM PERSISTED! Now it was the metal coil sleeve which had registered a complaint about the dead parrot. It had developed sharp edges from the abrasion of the mushroomed plunger and wobbly spindle. It was removed and smoothed with a rotary sanding drum and the Magic Brush.
Finally, we had a working stepper. Damn if it doesn’t last longer than the original after all the work we did!
Mariner was up and running (hooray!), so we had time to fetch a nice Flip Flop from nearby storage. A storage room full of solvent fumes, a long staircase, and no dolly. Whewewww am I feeling light headed or what?
Pictured, Mark uses the head-as-dolly technique to attach the rear legs.
Flip Flop’s motor wasn’t turning except when certain relays were triggered, but everything else seemed to work. I used Mark’s laptop to scan the schematic and trace it to a bad white/red-white connection to ground. Props to Mark for finding it in the coin door. The credit switch wires were dangling in place.
Mark is going to be a pro at EM repairs. He’s got a natural aptitude and lots of experience fixing his modern games.
The story gets a little fuzzy from this point onward. Beer flights were taken and delicious toasted pretzels spread with cannellini beans, pears, arugula, and relish were consumed. Westerly has an awesome selection of walkable bars and restaurants along the main drag.
The bartender recommended a new (to me) beer: Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale. It was OUTSTANDING. Tastes just like it sounds... bourbony and barrelly. Supposedly the maker is having uneven success with the brewing process, but mine was fan-freaking-tastic!
I love oysters, but I don’t eat them in Texas because I’m leery of warmer temperatures (riskier) and pollution levels from the Gulf region. Seafood in the northeast on the other hand is a must!
I asked if any dollar oyster specials might be nearby and was led to this lovely riverside spot for a dozen and a brew. Oh my, it was just the ticket. I was so happy and relaxed.
Too relaxed to focus, apparently! Mark and I went a round on Mariner (I lost) and two on Flip Flop (one win/one loss)… and Mark claimed the third win on the tour.
Tip: Never bet against a guy who literally lives above his own arcade and plays in tournaments almost every night! He blew away my score by almost 100,000 points! My record is now 10-3.
Challenge Mark at your own risk!
Mark and Dana are proud keepers of the silverball. They’ve got a great scene in this little corner of the littlest state in the union. Nice games, drinks, neighborhood, and patrons… Flipside has nowhere to go but up.
Good times. I'll be back.
Next stop -> Warwick, RI
Great work! I am mightily entertained living snippets of your journey from afar. When I see you have updated your thread, I usually wait until I have time to read it in a leisurely, undisturbed fashion so as to really enjoy it as I do with any good story. I feel like I'm learning some good stuff from your descriptions of problems and their solutions, but mostly I absolutely LOVE that you not only came up with this wonderful idea but are actually doing it!
Quoted from ckcsm:The last think I learned was his love for the AS relay, as he said do you know why there is a jones plug on these? - So you can take it out and throw it away! WOW
LMAO god this is so true
Quoted from NicoVolta:Visit #16 -> Mark Carvey and the Flipside Bar in Westerly, RI
The subjects: Mariner and Flip Flop
I am now firmly in New England and everything is different: Accents, faces, foliage, houses, ambient temperature… all markedly different from whence I came. But one constant remains: Pinball! Something which Mark Carvey and his wife Dana (yes, she’s quite used to generating excitement when making dinner reservations) know a thing or two about.Mark and Dana own Flipside, Westerly’s community pinball barcade. Where is Westerly? It’s that little notch in the lower left corner of Rhode Island. Hence, “west”… aha!
Flipside currently hosts a collection of about 10 pins from 1990 to the present. No hourly fee or entrance fee required… simply two tokens for a dollar (or 12 for five dollars). Each game requires two tokens to play.
$1 per game (or 83 cents with a $5 purchase) might seem high, but that is actually less than the inflation-adjusted amount since the arcade golden years. A 50-cent game back then would be $1.30 today!
The games are regularly serviced and play nicely, so your money is well-spent here (and a legitimate thrill when that replay knocker pops!).Flipside has been open for approximately six months and is doing well. Weekly tournaments for mixed ages and women’s-only groups are regularly hosted. In the near future, an expansion of the space is planned to include some classic SS and EM games. Which gets no arguments from me!
Mark works hard to support the local pinball community. In this photo, he cheerfully hands a multimeter across the bar as a gift to a new EM pinball owner. Could we be witnessing the first time an exchange like this has ever happened at a bar, anywhere? Es possible!
We begin with Mariner, the four-player version of Bally’s Sea Ray. None of the playfield lights work, but the coils are firing normally. We trace the issue from the fuse block to the jones connectors. One of the pins wasn’t making a good connection. Ah, Bally… you are so great at so many things… but not jones connectors.
After re-seating the connector, the light show resumes.
Mariner isn’t starting or stopping the game properly. A closer inspection of the game over interlock relay reveals a Home Depot plastic screw bag stuffed into the latch. Why? The latch wasn’t allowing enough horizontal travel to trigger the switches.
Whoever did that was a goofball. The bracket screw holes have enough slack to allow horizontal adjustments, see? Which we make, and lo, the game is starting and stopping again.We shall now tell the Tale of the Stubborn Stepper. No other hath challenged me to this degree, yet.
The Tale begins with a slightly mushroomed plunger and nylon sleeve worn down to the thickness of a human hair. No biggie… I retrieve a new ring and begin...
…we sand the plunger edge…
…shape it with the flapwheel…
…and burnish it smooth with the Magic Brush. After attaching the new nylon ring, all is good.
Ah, but what is this? The stepper bracket is worn and has… something… clipped to it?
Uh oh. Never mind the clip-thingy, we got real trouble ahead. The spindle on the other side is wobbling badly because the weld is giving way. Which means the whole thing is unreliable and could break off completely… and would render the entire mech useless.
Mark calls a friend who calls a friend who happens to have welding equipment. Who happens to be free at the moment. Who happens to be only five minutes away. WELDING TO THE RESCUE… YEAUSSS!
Yet the Tale persisted. The flapwheel is used to smooth away the wear on both sides of the bracket.
And persisted. The armature spring was too weak and had no slack left to tighten. A new Harbor Freight equivalent was tested and installed.
And persisted! A Williams coil had been substituted with a thicker plastic housing and slightly longer length, increasing the throw of the armature and thus double-clicking from 1000 to 3000 bonus points every time. ARGH! The plastic housing had to be painstakingly shaved and the coil stop bracket holes enlarged to shorten the travel. This procedure ate through two of our Dremel attachments and lots of time in the process.
AND DAD GUM PERSISTED! Now it was the metal coil sleeve which had registered a complaint about the dead parrot. It had developed sharp edges from the abrasion of the mushroomed plunger and wobbly spindle. It was removed and smoothed with a rotary sanding drum and the Magic Brush.
Finally, we had a working stepper. Damn if it doesn’t last longer than the original after all the work we did!Mariner was up and running (hooray!), so we had time to fetch a nice Flip Flop from nearby storage. A storage room full of solvent fumes, a long staircase, and no dolly. Whewewww am I feeling light headed or what?
Pictured, Mark uses the head-as-dolly technique to attach the rear legs.Flip Flop’s motor wasn’t turning except when certain relays were triggered, but everything else seemed to work. I used Mark’s laptop to scan the schematic and trace it to a bad white/red-white connection to ground. Props to Mark for finding it in the coin door. The credit switch wires were dangling in place.
Mark is going to be a pro at EM repairs. He’s got a natural aptitude and lots of experience fixing his modern games.The story gets a little fuzzy from this point onward. Beer flights were taken and delicious toasted pretzels spread with cannellini beans, pears, arugula, and relish were consumed. Westerly has an awesome selection of walkable bars and restaurants along the main drag.
The bartender recommended a new (to me) beer: Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale. It was OUTSTANDING. Tastes just like it sounds... bourbony and barrelly. Supposedly the maker is having uneven success with the brewing process, but mine was fan-freaking-tastic!I love oysters, but I don’t eat them in Texas because I’m leery of warmer temperatures (riskier) and pollution levels from the Gulf region. Seafood in the northeast on the other hand is a must!
I asked if any dollar oyster specials might be nearby and was led to this lovely riverside spot for a dozen and a brew. Oh my, it was just the ticket. I was so happy and relaxed.Too relaxed to focus, apparently! Mark and I went a round on Mariner (I lost) and two on Flip Flop (one win/one loss)… and Mark claimed the third win on the tour.
Tip: Never bet against a guy who literally lives above his own arcade and plays in tournaments almost every night! He blew away my score by almost 100,000 points! My record is now 10-3.
Challenge Mark at your own risk!Mark and Dana are proud keepers of the silverball. They’ve got a great scene in this little corner of the littlest state in the union. Nice games, drinks, neighborhood, and patrons… Flipside has nowhere to go but up.
Good times. I'll be back.
Next stop -> Warwick, RI
I will always remember Mark for two things:
1. He kicked my ass at PAPA a few years ago.
2. He sold a Nip It right out from under me at Allentown last week.
Yeah...Mark's a great guy. 
Quoted from NicoVolta:Now it was the metal coil sleeve which had registered a complaint about the dead parrot.
I've heard a lot of phrases, but this is a new one on me! I can only guess that it is referencing the mighty Monty Python (why hasn't someone made a pinball outta the mighty Python?!?!) and that famous sketch?
Got a kick out of the visit with Bryan, typical to find such well-mannered and refined Pittsburgh football fans spread across the E. Coast - 
....but they are the finest of the fine, always well-behaved and polite 
....why not root for your home-team? Oh, I forgot, you don't have one!!!! (-Joking!) Hey, gotta keep one of the best rivalries in football alive - Ravens vs Steelers!!!
Great way to convey the personality of Bryan, innovative touch there! Keep up the good work.
-Nate
Wow! Just stumbled across this thread and couldn't stop reading. Great thread! Keep it up Nic. Looking forward to reading more especially when you get to my home state of Michigan. 
After Nicks visit promoting the wire brush and Dremel technique I have gone through my ice review head I went entirely through my jumping jack and got it running 100 percent.. now I'm going through my dancing lady head the picture shows the difference between the L&M relays . I hate dealing with those lock in switches with that loose wide blade coupled with the jumped switches the old tired fingers have problems but I eventually get it in the slot and moving on thanks Nick
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Holt, MI
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