(Topic ID: 223505)

Pinball maintenance in a room with a low ceiling

By uneksija

5 years ago


Topic Heartbeat

Topic Stats

  • 11 posts
  • 9 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 5 years ago by isJ
  • No one calls this topic a favorite

You

Linked Games

Topic Gallery

View topic image gallery

9252bf553898c649397bf6cb9e9a4e2e7976b1b8.pdf (PDF preview)
#1 5 years ago

I just bought a new house (well, new for me - the house is 70 years old). In the cellar there is a room with space for 6 pinball machines, or perhaps even 7, which I think is pretty neat. Now I encountered the following:

The room height is 194 cm (76 inches), which is just enough for my Jungle Lord pinball, which is the only machine I have there at the moment. However, there is one thing: I can’t lift the playfield so that it leans on the backbox, because when lifting, the top of the playfield bumps on the ceiling - there is simply not enough height in the room. This is pretty annoying, because ”leaning on the backbox” repair position is very useful when fixing upper playfield mechanisms etc. Of course I can use the basic ”car hood” repair position with the help of the machine’s metal support thing (sorry, my pinball vocabulary is clearly lacking). Unfortunately this position is pretty bad on my back when fixing upper playfield mechanisms etc.

Has anybody else had this problem? I wonder if there any tricks that could be used that are not so obvious? If I don’t figure out anything else, I’ll probably put a couple of hooks on the ceiling so that the playfield can lean on those in a much steeper position than the basic ”car hood” position. That would probably significantly reduce my problem.

Soon I’ll bring my EATPM into the room. I had to get shortened custom legs, because Elvira needs about 0,5-1 cm more room height than I have… I really hope I won’t have the same problem with Elvira’s playfield as I have with the Jungle Lord’s playfield. Unlike Jungle Lord, Elvira has hinges for lifting the playfield, and it shouldn’t require so much vertical space… But we’ll see how it goes.

Anyways, any thoughts on pinball maintentance in a room with a low ceiling would be much appreciated! Please tell me my game room doesn’t suck because of the height

#2 5 years ago

Well, first of all, your room sucks because of the height.

Other then that...well custom shorter legs is the only useful thing i can think of, if you dont want to dig up the floor and sink the games down some 50 cm's into the floor.

#3 5 years ago

Easy. Pretend you are an op. Done.

You don't have to worry about maintenance then. Just be able to open the coin door to remove money.

LTG : )

17
#4 5 years ago

Put the game on a cart, take off the legs, lower the cart, and then lift up the playfield?

#5 5 years ago

Any chance you have a drop tile ceiling? I had the same problem in my basement until I removed the tiles and painted everything above a flat matte black. Looks great and now have plenty of room.

#6 5 years ago

You can remove the playfield; easy to do on an EM. I don't know how 'easy' it would be for a solid state game. I've never done it. Maybe someone can chime in with an answer to that.

#7 5 years ago

I've also seen two chains attached to the rear of the backbox and then somewhere on the sides of the playfield, one on each side. You don't want that playfield coming down on your head! This would allow you to lift the playfield all the way up to the ceiling.

#8 5 years ago

I have the same problem. I have a drop ceiling, and it does give enough so that I can get the playfield up, though there are scrape marks on the ceiling, but I have extra panels.

Data East machines have a nice feature with a couple eye bolts and a strap between them which you can probably do a similar set up on your other machines. (see top image below)

9252bf553898c649397bf6cb9e9a4e2e7976b1b8.pdf9252bf553898c649397bf6cb9e9a4e2e7976b1b8.pdf
#9 5 years ago

Sega games like Baywatch cannot have the playfield lifted in the main area of my basement. It just does not make it past the apex point. I can take the hangers off of the PF or take the leg levelers / legs off. My shop area has an open ceiling so no problem there. For something major can be wheeled in there... but still PITA at times.

#10 5 years ago

Thanks for the tips!

The ceiling isn't drop tile - it's concrete. Hence I think my best option would be two install those hooks to the ceiling. Then the playfield could lean on those with a much higher angle than the basic "car hood" position. I think then it should be quite comfortable to carry out those repairs that would normally require the "leaning on the backbox" repair position.

I'll report the results here when I get those hooks installed! I became a father two months ago, thus pinball time seems to be a bit limited

1 week later
#11 5 years ago

I have a low ceiling as well and my approach was similar to ForceFlow, but I didn't want to spend the money for a cart. I bought a hydraulic stool and put it under the front of the game so the front legs are off the ground, then, I lower the stool so that the front is lower and I can rest the playfield against the backbox.

It took some measuring, but this stool: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003D6F5SU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00 worked for me. I believe my ceiling is two inches higher than yours.

If in doubt, ForceFlow's answer is the best. Store the cart under the game(s), done.

Promoted items from Pinside Marketplace and Pinside Shops!
$ 42.95
Eproms
Pinballrom
 
$ 12.00
Tools
Nezzy's Pinball Prints
 
$ 65.00
Boards
Pinball Haus
 
$ 40.00
Playfield - Toys/Add-ons
Pin Modster
 
$ 18.95
$ 125.00
Cabinet - Shooter Rods
Super Skill Shot Shop
 
3,950
Machine - For Sale
San Diego, CA
$ 19.99
Eproms
Matt's Basement Arcade
 
$ 36.95
Eproms
Pinballrom
 
$ 20.00
Playfield - Toys/Add-ons
Don's Pinball Swag Barn
 
$ 49.99
$ 70.00
From: $ 1.49
Playfield - Toys/Add-ons
Daddio's 3D Printed Mods
 
$ 299.95
Lighting - Led
Pin Stadium Pinball Mods
 
£ 50.00
Playfield - Toys/Add-ons
PinballToys
 
£ 70.00
Playfield - Toys/Add-ons
PinballToys
 
Wanted
Machine - Wanted
Towson, MD
2,500
Machine - For Sale
Marietta, GA
$ 45.95
From: $ 30.00
2,750 (Firm)
Machine - For Sale
Monrovia, MD
$ 34.99
Rubber/Silicone
NO GOUGE PINBALL™
 
Hey modders!
Your shop name here

Reply

Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.

Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!

Donate to Pinside

Great to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!


This page was printed from https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/pinball-maintenance-in-a-room-with-a-low-ceiling?hl=chas10e and we tried optimising it for printing. Some page elements may have been deliberately hidden.

Scan the QR code on the left to jump to the URL this document was printed from.