I’m in the club! My first two pins were an EM (OXO) and a Gottlieb Sys1 (Sinbad, yearlong resto/rehab project) but I’ve been keen for a more modern machine.
I also tend to be very particular about the kind of theme I would want in a modern Pin, and price was always going to be an issue, so I didn’t realistically expect to get a modern pin for a few years.
Well, an RFM went up on CL two weeks ago, and I could hardly resist, especially at $2500, which seems more than reasonable.
Other than an issue with the coin door interlock switch requiring replacement, overall the machine is running and is a blast!
Seriously, this is a LOT of fun. And funny as anything! Wow!
Here’s some maintenance or replacement checks I’ll be working on (and maybe posting questions about over the next few weeks):
Left flipper gets stuck in “up” position. Need to investigate the issue some more, but I’ve already decided that the flippers will need to be rebuilt and I’ll also add new as this appears to be all original and probably well overdue!
Replace all the PF rubbers. They are all dirty and dry. I’m going to go with the flow in the darks from Titan Pinball. I used these on my OXO and I think they will look even better on RFM
Wax playfield (which appears to be in excellent shape)
Replace all balls with new.
Replace lockdown bar. It appears as if someone was doing handstands on the current one as the right side of this one is really bent to hell, although works fine. If anyone wants a used/bent lockdown for price of shipping, PM me and it’s yours once I get my new one.
Replace ramp flap. Mine is really ragged and worn.
Replace CPU fan. Maybe need to replace my power supply, but I think this RFM might already have a new one. Need to check the model numbers on original power supply to confirm (the reason I suspect this is that PS case screws all have stripped heads, which seems like a clue that it’s been removed at least a couple times, and I don’t know if many reasons anyone would do that except to replace it, right?)
Eventually I need to replace the drop target cushions. Nearly all of mine are fairly worn out.
The plastic up on the scoop is broken. While there seem to be a lot places to get complete plastic sets, most of the single piece options I found are out of stock.
Okay, a couple of questions came up during my overall inspection here at home:
Motherboard capacitors: I breathed a huge sigh of relief once I saw that mine appear to be in good shape. They’re a different manufacturer than the TAYEH brand that are noted as being bad over on Pinwiki. Mine appear to be HERMEI caps. Any thoughts on this manufacturer?
I’m not sure if the flipper coils need replacement. There appears to be masking tape on the end of one. That’s interesting to me! Any ideas on why that would be done? They also have blue wrappers with different marks. The right flipper has the WMS logo while the left is another brand (CMS Torino Italy, also with the tape). They both have correct 50v and coil numbers.
That’s where I’m at today. Let me know if you think I’m missing anything! I’m only about halfway through this looong thread, so apologies if I have questions already answers. Thanks I’m advance for any tips!
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