A bit. Gravity will be working against you. You'll be dropping screws and tiny parts all over the place no matter how careful you are.

A rotisserie isn't that complicated to put together. Some folks keep them pretty basic, while others put together something fairly sophisticated.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/vids-quick-and-dirty-rotisserie-guide
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/post-your-rotisserie-however-you-spell-it
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/my-awesome-50-diy-rotisserie-or-rotezel
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/diy-pinball-playfield-rotisserie-for-90
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/improving-the-black-iron-rotisserie-with-finger-extensions
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/sky-pilots-rotisserie-plans
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/quick-rotisserie-canadian-edition
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/rotisserie-project

I wouldn't do it. You take a chance of damaging the new PF. It's a risk IMO

For years I did several playfield swaps using two chairs as supports.

The best ones had padded arms that held the playfield perfectly and the were on wheels so you could move the assembly around some if needed. It worked pretty-well.

Trying to do one with it still in the cabinet would be pretty-ridiculous. It would be like trying to rebuild an entire engine with it still in the car. It would be next to impossible to remove all the wiring, transfer it to the new playfield and re-staple it all without screwing it up.

For the $100-$200 it takes to build a rotisserie, it is just not worth the risk of damaging a $500-$2000 playfield (or your chairs, floor, feet, back, children, and pets). Also, it makes it much, much easier to do the swap (saving you time) if you can easily rotate the playfield from front to back when you need to.

If you are only going to do one playfield swap though I doubt I would spend the time or money on a rotisserie. They are nice but not an absolute necessity. You just don't want to try swapping one with the playfield still in the cabinet. lol

I was doing so many though that after a few years I finally broke down and bought a rotisserie. The chairs weren't bad though. I would wheel them right in front of the TV and work on it. Then when I needed a break I would just wheel it out of the way and come back to it later. I never damaged a playfield or the chairs but it took more effort to rotate the playfield.

It depends on how many you plan to do.

The biggest issue is when the OP says "4. Unscrew stuff, and (as much as possible) immediately attach to new playfield
5. Take the whole wire harness with coils and lamps still attached and puzzle it back on the new playfield"...which implies that after going through all the work to swap a playfield, he is going to do it without rebuilding or cleaning anything.

Further, the concept that the coils are left on just makes no sense. They are the heaviest parts and will complicate "puzzling" the harness back onto the playfield.

I have done dozens of playfield swaps, some with and some without a rotisserie. Recently, I gave up a lot of shop space to gain gameroom space and I don't use the rotisserie any more. Instead, I do as the OP suggested with the top side in the cabinet, remove all the mechanisms off the bottom, and then move the PF to my work bench with the PF supported by ratchet clamps and remove the rest from the bottom. Like this:

clamped_(resized).jpg

I swapped a firepower without a rotisserie and I don't recall having to flip it back and forth too many times. (maybe mounting the pops?) I put the side rails on and kept it face down on clean towels. Once I had the bottom done I repopulated it in the cabinet.

As for coils, you will know which ones you need to remove. Some will need to be removed just by nature of the wire routing through the playfield. But the rest you can put the harness and coils on foamcore board or heavy cardboard you can slide it off onto the new playfield.

That's what I did for High Speed and plan to do for Pinbot.

One of the most important things to do is get the reese rails installed on the new playfield FIRST THING. You don't want your new playfield flexing and causing clearcoat issues. You want them both screwed and stapled on if possible.

No reason to staple.
Instead of unsoldering coils, clip wires leaving 1/2" or so to make sure of correct wire when reconnecting.

You can get through it by using 8 of these, but a rotisserie sure makes it easier http://m.harborfreight.com/6-inch-bar-clamp-96210.html

I'm doing one now. I just use 8 small pieces of wood.

image_(resized).jpeg

Leave the coils and any unenclosed switches attached and put the whole harness in the dishwasher. Pots & Pan cycle. Working with a spotlessly clean harness is next to godliness.

For one hour of your time and $100, the rotisserie will be the best money you ever spent. It will save you 6 hours of dicking with the playfield, let alone if you are trying to track down a short in the GI upon reassembly. It dissembles flat, or if you don't paint it, you can take 90% of the parts back to the store.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/vids-quick-and-dirty-rotisserie-guide

da4d28fb08e215633ae3e8237ecb34b3120b2cb2_(resized).jpg

I like the dishwasher for cleaning harnesses. What kind of soap, if any, do you use?

Liquid Cascade dishwasher detergent.

Dishwasher soap contains fine sand, so it makes all the switch blades look like new, too. Shake it before you squirt it.

You can snip all the zip ties and just loosely zip tie it while dishwashing. This will get all the coil dust out between the wires too.

Careful with normal dish soap in the dishwasher or this could happen.

foam-party-2i3i_(resized).jpg

I think they put something in the dishwasher liquid that makes it not foam up like crazy.

Ahhh....so that is what happened......

30000_37000_17407_3700017407CF_(resized).png

That is how every one of my parties end up. . .

Interesting on coils in the dishwasher. I assume with time to dry out they're fine. Ok to put them in ultrasonic as well?

Believe it or not, they come out bone dry straight from the dishwasher.

Since we're off topic on the wiring harness, how do you get the big honkin transformer clean?

Do you use your kitchen dishwasher? If so, is it ready for normal stuff right after?

Yep, kitchen dishwasher.

I clean out the screen trap thing at the bottom for any tiny screws or such and it's ready for dirty dishes.

What about the coil labels? Do you take them off first? Idea of non grotty harness is tempting for sure...wifey won't mind

Classic Bally labels stay on, some Williams stay on. The paper aftermarket coil labels usually don't stay stuck, so I pull them.

If you are guessing, the labels that seem like printed masking tape seem to stay on through the whole cycle.

Thanks, I will try it.
But still think it is best for domestic peace to do it when I am home alone

Exactly my thought.

That's the way to go, just use 4 clamps to keep them in place (wood can be much shorter also) then flip when needed.

Easy, cheap, works fine for me.

You allow the heating element to run? Could that not cause melting or other possible problems?

Plastic cups and bowls don't melt in the dishwasher, so it probably does not get hot enough.

I only use the top rack, so nothing can fall between the rack and touch the heating rods.

-

I remove any relays or other things that could fill with water and wash circuit boards on the bottom rack.

You have recommendations for what kind of dish detergent to use while dishwashing a harness. Is there anything you can't give a recommendation on, Vid?

A coil is just insulated wire, wrapped around a plastic bobbin.

The wire itself isn't going to get wet (it's insulated), and the plastic bobbin is inert.

The dishwasher washes away all the black dust, leaving just a clean coil behind - a pleasure to work with.

Water and high voltage electricity do not mix.

An unpowered pinball circuit board does not have any potential to cause damage.

I remove mechanical things like relays and enclosed switches (those could maybe fill with water).

I remove old IC Sockets (after 30 years those things are garbage, and always get replaced anyway).

I remove old batteries (even if they are not leaking, they are ticking timebombs).

I clean up any battery corrosion and into the dishwasher they go.

Powered up electronics don't mix with water and I would not wash boards with dip switches where water can get trapped but boards are actually washed in the factory during manufacturing process so it's not an issue.

Water and electronics mix fine. As long as there is no power to them and they are properly dried

And take this tip from a fellow Dutchie: Don't try to cheap out on pinball repairs

Everyone cheaps out on their first playfield swap.

Then 30 hours latter, after finding out how much work was REALLY involved, they are sorry that they did not do a better restoration.

It's human nature.

Yup I did my first playfield swap (six million dollar man) with two saw horses and will probably do the other ten playfields I have waiting to be done the exact same way. Can't see spending the money, having to build one and then storing a rotisserie when not using it....but hey that's just me.

John P. Dayhuff
Battle Creek, MI.
269-979-3836

Personally, I use dual black pipe rotisseries.

They quickly breakdown without any tools in 30 seconds and hang flat on the shop wall (or in my van), completely out of the way.

If I'm out on a service call for a sucky job like rebuilding pops bumpers, you better believe that I have a rotisserie with me. Saves mega time, and thus saves my clients money.

Ha, I use sawhorses as well. I also have an irrational fear of putting the harness into the dishwasher, so I give the harness a good wipe down with Clorox wipes.

I built mine so that it was collapsible and could be used as a worktable. I probably use the worktable portion of it more than the rotisserie and put clip-on lights on the angle irons.

Nothing, just personal experience

I did one with my buddy Aeon on his ToTan. We used his kitchen table and found it really easy, took us a weekend. Both of us have pretty good short term memories and the new PF was dimpled.

Would i build a rotisserie? Probably not. We laid his PF on the side and had 0 difficulty

Way too much fear mongering in here. It's honestly not THAT bad if you have a fair amount of pictures and a way to sit the game sideways for the top stuff, we used the rails and it held fine. Everything else, just assemble the bottom as best you can, flip it over do the top... done...? But maybe ToTan is a little easier than most?