Quoted from Taxman:If the coil sleeve is that hard to get out the coil might have heated up too much and may need replacing. If the new one does not slide right in then definitely replace since it has deformed.
I was just working on a game that had metal sleeves. They were quite snug, so I got them out with a tack hammer. Nylon sleeves then slipped into the coils with no problem.
Quoted from ForceFlow:I was just working on a game that had metal sleeves. They were quite snug, so I got them out with a tack hammer. Nylon sleeves then slipped into the coils with no problem.
Man I can't believe people are still pulling those metal ones out of games. I have not seen any in years, but some games sit that long stashed away. I hope people are not still using them from their parts bins. I think the last one I found was in a reimport T2 from Germany probably 10 years ago. Those can take the heat so probably just crud wedged them in tight. As long as the new one went in easy I wouldn't replace.
Quoted from Taxman:Man I can't believe people are still pulling those metal ones out of games.
I pulled them out of an unshopped game from 1975.
Quoted from Taxman:Man I can't believe people are still pulling those metal ones out of games....
Working through a row of '60s Williams pins. All of the p/f coils have metal sleeves - flippers, slings, kickers, pops - 10 or so per game. A few tap out easily. Most don't.
A lot of the stuck ones have residue from some sort of long-gone lubricant. Many are so worn that tapping on the end merely mashes the sleeve. Say "hi" to the saw. Wipe the sticky off with some solvent.
Quoted from ForceFlow:... Nylon sleeves then slipped into the coils with no problem.
I found a brass coil sleeve in the drop target assembly for my Shadow, which really surprised me. I wasn't able to get it out without destroying the coil, which was toasty anyway, so I just replaced the whole thing.
I have an old music stand that works for light weight items. And I have two of those hospital tray things a hospital serves you your food on. THey are pretty handy with rolling wheels and the ability to raise and lower from waist high to chest high.
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Quoted from cottonm4:I have an old music stand that works for light weight items. And I have two of those hospital tray things a hospital serves you your food on. THey are pretty handy with rolling wheels and the ability to raise and lower from waist high to chest high.
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Wow, that rolling tray table is a really good idea. 
They aren't too expensive either--this was the first search result on google: http://www.amazon.com/EasyComforts-Rolling-Tray-Table/dp/B00HHB0ZSM
I'm not sure if that's the best or most price effective option, but it's a start.
Quoted from ForceFlow:Wow, that rolling tray table is a really good idea.
They aren't too expensive either--this was the first search result on google: amazon.com link »
I'm not sure if that's the best or most price effective option, but it's a start.
I got mine at the auction for $8.00 each, otherwise I would have done something different.
Quoted from cottonm4:I got mine at the auction for $8.00 each, otherwise I would have done something different.
Good deal.
Zip tie a power strip to it--then you would only have one cord to unplug when you move the tray around. That would basically turn it into a mobile repair station.
Quoted from ForceFlow:Good deal.
Zip tie a power strip to it--then you would only have one cord to unplug when you move the tray around. That would basically turn it into a mobile repair station.
You have forced my hand. My little work station is still a work-in-progress and a lot cluttered. I have a lamp and a pan-a-vise. The wooden toolbox is Harbor Freight. I like your idea of zipping a power strip on.
Here it is raised up.
And lowered.
This is certainly not a homemade tool but like the trays it is "re-purposed" so I thought I'd post it here:
I call it "Coated magnetic tray/screwdriver holder made for toolboxes from Harbor Freight" 
Runs about $10.
It is perfect if I am replacing bulbs or cleaning the playfield and I want a handy spot to put some lightweight stuff. It sticks nicely to older wide side-rails
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and even the thinner Stern rails (matches my AC/DC nicely )
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Quoted from ForceFlow:Wow, that rolling tray table is a really good idea.
They aren't too expensive either--this was the first search result on google: amazon.com link »
I'm not sure if that's the best or most price effective option, but it's a start.
The problem with those things is the wide base.. would make it hard to get inbetween games
Quoted from flynnibus:The problem with those things is the wide base.. would make it hard to get inbetween games
Depending on how tightly packed the machines are in a row, yeah, you'd probably have to drag the machine out of the row a couple of feet first.
Quoted from JeffZee:I posted this a few days ago, but then I remembered this existing thread and realized I should have put it here in the first place... Sometimes I like to pull a Sys-11 playfield off its pivot bolts to work on something at the back of the playfield. I made these U-shaped blocks to support the front which just slip over the side rails. They also work on classic Bally games.
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From your two pics,
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I made up a couple of pairs after reading your post. They fit my Sterns. Very handy. Thanks for sharing.
How does the lifter work? Is it a car jack?
Here's my version of a rotisserie. It consists of two, Eighteen inch triangles of angle iron bolted to my bench and pieces of an old car roof rack attached on the vertical center point end to hold the play field I'm working on. It's not the most user friendly but has sufficed so far. Best part is having the bench surface underneath to hold the ridiculous piles of tools and parts that I manage to accumulate every time I do something.
Yep. Just a scissor car jack mounted on a 2x4 that fits where the notches are. Made a removable platform with padded 2x4s to go between the machine and lift.
Quoted from shimoda:Power supply disconnects for testing/repairing MPUs at the bench. Basic but very helpful. I like having a label-maker for these types of things.
2016-04-23_13.43.00_(resized).jpg
I find those regulated PS wired into pins all the time!
Quoted from vid1900:I find those regulated PS wired into pins all the time!
I kinda think it isn't a bad idea in some pins!
Quoted from shimoda:I kinda think it isn't a bad idea in some pins!
LOL, I know what you mean.
I always see them in a pin the only needs a single cap or a new rectifier.
Pin power supplies are about the easiest thing on the face of the earth to troubleshoot and repair.
I made a mod for my Big Game you all might be interested in. Since BG is a wide body it has a heavy play field to lift and support. Somewhere a few months ago I read where you should turn the sharp tip of the play field prop stick under as it has a habit of eating the play field and poking thru. I did that but it was not enough.
The play field sags like crazy when using the prop stick and I started using my vacuum cleaner hose wands to prop up the play field. That had problems, as well, so I came up with a permanent solution.
I went the the hardware store and bought some 3/4 inch copper plumbing tubing and came up with this for a play field prop. On the lower end is a unit made of plywood to hold the prop into position. To the under side of the play field I attached a PVC end cap with three screws.
It works like a charm. The play field has good solid support in the center and does not sag. I made it so the play field is lifted up more than with the factory prop. The play field is now lifted up higher and the prop stick is no longer in the way, which makes it easier to do work on the lower side.
It cost me about $15.00 to build. I had to drill two holes in the cabinet cross-support for the plywood and install three screws in the lower side of play field for the PVC end cap. Remove the end cap and the plywood and you will never know it was there.
I put these together with solder and a propane torch but you could just as easily use something like JB Weld to put the tubing together.
This has worked so well that I have made similar props for my two other pins. When they are not in use I just lay them on the bottom of the cab, however, I may make some yokes for them to lay in.
BIG GAME:
IMG_1082_(resized).JPG
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These are pic of my Seawitch I have been working on.
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I'm still experimenting, but with the Seawitch set up, I can pull the play field all the way back and lean it one the prop instead of leaning it forward to rest on the back box. This allows me access to the lower front of the cab without having to be a contortionist.
Note the angle of the Seawitch play field when compared to the Big Game behind it.
IMG_1074_(resized).JPG
IMG_1075_(resized).JPG
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And here is my latest pin I am working on. For this unit, I went with more of the gooseneck setup like I used on Big Game.
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That looks like a lot of work to solve a problem that a hockey stick would, without doing permanent damage to your game.
Quoted from cottonm4:I made a mod for my Big Game...
Looks like you can just slide your playfield forward on the lower rails and rest it on the head (with a little padding). No need for the elaborate prop thingy.
Quoted from jwilson:That looks like a lot of work to solve a problem that a hockey stick would, without doing permanent damage to your game.
Well, as I stated, I was using my vacuum cleaner wands which is probably similar to using a hockey stick, but it presented problems of having to wedge the wands onto a piece of play field hardware or a screw head and stability was lacking.
I'm not sure how installing three screws to the underside of the play field would be considered doing "permanent damage to the game" as I have installed several more plastic wire harness clamps than factory and all of those install with screws.
Quoted from pinster68:Looks like you can just slide your playfield forward on the lower rails and rest it on the head (with a little padding). No need for the elaborate prop thingy.
I have done the resting the play field on the back box stuff. For me, the trouble with that is that I am not a tall person and if I need to work on the flippers then I have to employ the step stool so I can reach them.
Quoted from cottonm4:I'm not sure how installing three screws to the underside of the play field would be considered doing "permanent damage to the game" as I have installed several more plastic wire harness clamps than factory and all of those install with screws.
If someday you sell it, the buyer might take issue with the modifications. Personally I try to preserve machines without putting more holes in them, but it's your machine.
Quoted from jwilson:If someday you sell it, the buyer might take issue with the modifications. Personally I try to preserve machines without putting more holes in them, but it's your machine.
I didn't realize you screwed things into the cabinet earlier.
I'm with fantasy goat--I try to keep thing original. Unnecessary holes are ugly. I don't even like it when folks drill holes for free play buttons.
A better idea might have been to make a base that fit exactly inside the coinbox area that didn't shift around. Maybe even make it expandable to fit in different machines.
Again, not so much as made, just repurposed.
It was originally a mat used in operating theatres to stick instruments to, so they don't end up on the floor (or in a patient). As it's magnetic is ideal for placing on the playfield, or neighbouring table so that items such as screws, nuts, washers, even tools can be easily found and won't roll away. Being rubber it also won't scratch the playfield or glass.
While not actually a pin tool, I made a handy storage case for my multitude of jigsaw blades. I repurposed the inside of my dad's old syringe case with mirror tape as backing, then stuck magnetic strips over them. To prevent the blades from sticking to each other when closing the case, I place trimmed card stock (from one of the jigsaw packages!) in between. I ran out of magnetic strips, so the blades are bunched together like sardines until I get more. I placed it upside down as a test, and so far it holds great!
Quoted from Curbfeeler:My color matching spreadsheet.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/16294011/color_mixing.zip
I downloaded this but the spreadsheet makes no sense to me. Could you possibly offer a How To on using it?
I just slapped this together last night.
A stand for taking off the rear legs of a machine.
I was picking up a game from a basement, and I really didn't want to lug my lift cart down there.
It's not really a new design--I've seen a few folks at shows using this and similar designs. I just couldn't find any reference photos for one anywhere.
It's just a 2x4 cut down and nailed together into a capital "I" shape. It easily handled a Gottlieb System 3 machine, and those things are beasts.
Are you ready for this one?
Have you ever needed a new plastic washer to help your spinner get better rips?
You can make a new one in a few minutes... but how?
1. Grab a used plastic acorn
2. Drop it in a wrench
3. Turn on your belt sander -- buzz the top away
4. Smooth out the corners and edges
5. Finish sanding by hand
6. Make sure center hole is how you want it. I cleaned mine out with a few "diamond-coated" drill bits
Enjoy...
-mof
Quoted from mof:Are you ready for this one?
Have you ever needed a new plastic washer to help your spinner get better rips?
You can make a new one in a few minutes... but how?
1. Grab a used plastic acorn
2. Drop it in a wrench
3. Turn on your belt sander -- buzz the top away
4. Smooth out the corners and edges
5. Finish sanding by hand
6. Make sure center hole is how you want it. I cleaned mine out with a few "diamond-coated" drill bits
Enjoy...
-mof
BeforeAfter
Would the washers PBR has work?
My Bally Display tester:
IMG_0728 (resized).jpg
Controlled by a Microchip controller. I want to make another one to test Zaccaria Displays. Note: there was still a bug when I took the picture. Now it shows 1 2 3 4 5 6 (7) as well as 5 other test patterns.
One of my board testers, also based on a Microchip controller. This one is for testing Gottlieb driverboards. I made similar testers for Bally boards as well.
IMG_0727 (resized).jpg
Some tools I used for repairing Atari Gen 1 CPU boards:
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And this is a brilliant one when removing the legs at the back.....
One of my biggest pet peeves is when all the bottles of Novus, or playfield wax I use, the squirt caps get clogged due to dried up product.
I always need to find a small piece of wire, which if not sturdy enough can't break the clog, and if sturdy enough, tends to be too big.
Then one day I was shopping out a game, and had a broken wedge base lamp socket from a pop bumper I was fixing. I realized the remaining leg was just the right size, so I cut a the end to a point, and voila! No more clogged bottles!
Don't have a name for it, open to suggestions though.
Plug buster
No fuss Novus bottle reamer
the WEDGIE
I call mine "dental floss"
A little mean great and Works great for cleaning the gunk from pivot points on EM stepper units.
Built a Bally/Stern lamp driver tester and a Solenoid drive tester based on a write up from Leon Borre. I modified the solenoid driver tester to test the flippers - the 43 volts is supplied by 5 - 9 volt batteries, and I used an old computer power supply to provide the five volts. The LED boards are made from stuff I had around, same for the LEDs.
The cables are made from spare connectors and crimp pins, and store in the boxes when not used. Switches were Radio Shack, who did not have enough of the same style, but they work.
Very simple build - only thing I should have done differently is use a better box. These were pretty cheap - the box lid flexes when using the pushbutton.
Next step is to figure out how to test the high voltage circuitry on the solenoid driver boards -once done, then I would have a way to completely test that board.
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