Whats the playfield condition? Whoops Cactus beat me to the punch by a few seconds.

Haven't made the trip to look in person, but looks pretty decent from the blurry pic--no obvious wear marks. Seller claims it's good but is not a pinball guy.

i think you just need to give your EM or EMs in general more time. it seems you enjoy playing them and once they're set up, they're pretty much trouble free. there's a reason these things are still around and playing as well now as they did when they were first made and that's because they generally don't break. things just go out of adjustment or need cleaning.
now if you have no interest in working on them then i understand but if you're inclined to get under the hood, the basic operation and how things are controlled is pretty easy to understand and there's plenty of help on here in case you need it. you'll also get an appreciation for the genius of the designers and how all the game's logic is controlled by switches,relays, and steppers as opposed to computer chips. really cool stuff.

I think BGresto would be only option

Stange World, Small World (about 10 minutes away).

orangecounty.craigslist.org link

denver.craigslist.org link

He wants $400...

Based on the condition of the head, the cabinet looks like it might be a bit rough. With a Backglass that toasted, I would not put it at $400 unless the playfield were pristine. Looks more like a $250 game or less. At $250-$300 for a BGResto, you still only have a $500-$600 game after all the work to bring it up to standards.

I have no mechanical skills what so ever. So working on them myself is not an option. I usually break everything I try to fix lol.. Just makes it worse.

That's almost exactly what I offered to test the waters if it was worth the drive. He wants to hold out for more, told him I'd check back if he didn't have any other offers.

This guy contacted me about selling this game.. I emailed him he sent pics and then I emailed him again and called he disappeared I thought it was a scam.

If you find someone to do the "fixin" it's usually around $60/hr. I would guess a couple hours to get it running and maybe once or twice a year an hour or so maintenance...plan on $150 a year worst case scenario. I have had games that once dialed in, never need ANYTHING as long as you play them. When they fix it they can show you the absolute basics of how to clean a switch in 2 minutes...that's the most common upkeep item.

I wouldn't give up without even trying...you can always sell these things without much of a loss if any later if you give up.

I would echo the $250ish mark Cactus threw out. If the backglass were better then it may be closer to his asking price. Very hard to tell playfield condition from the pictures they had. If the playfield were in real good shape then a bit more than $250.

+1
plus it's very simple mechanical devices you'll be dealing with. you'll need a couple screwdrivers and something to clean contacts with, that'll cover the vast majority of maintenance.

You don't want a Strange World anyways. It's an awesome looking game, but the playing doesn't match the looks, and it's pricey because of being rare, not because it's great. That's the kind of thing for people with decently sized EM collections, who enjoy having variety and cool art, not a single playing machine.

It is very cool though.

I agree, cool looking game but also suffers the same fate as games like C-37 and Top Card for instance. The game is just too easy and better suited for a machine on a route.

Now, the game you have, Atlantis... I don't think is in this category. Of course, depending on how you had it set up. And even though I wouldn't say it is the nicest example I have 'ever' seen... to me it really doesn't look that bad and think you would like it if you gave it a chance. Hit the Deck is a good game too but the thing is... they're both good games.

I'd probably bite at a C-37 at that price though, I won't lie.

Yeah, and alternated the red and white balls too! Smile and look pretty for the photos!

Can't quite see the asking price on that "Southern Belle". Can you zoom it in on your photo and let me know? That's a Nick Raschilla restoration job. His work is outstanding. As far as the one on CL, it's gone already.

$3500... i wanted it very badly, but was out of my price range...

it indeed is an outstanding restoration... i stood there and looked at it for a very long time...

Thanks Chris. Ack! It looked like $2000 from what I could see on the photo. Yeah, that's a high-rent game, but if you can swing that kind of scratch, I think it's worth it. I know the guy who brought it. I wonder if he still has it.

Lisa,

Don't give up the EM fight. So you had a bad first experience. You should hear about my resored 1976 "Card Whiz" fiasco. It was 18 months ago and set me back to the tune of 1800 dollars after I sold it. (It still stings me) We all make mistakes. Like others have said once the game is up and running the game should be operational for years to come. The contacts clean themselves. Just make sure you start a game or two every few weeks so layers of dust don't take over your machine.

Trust me. 2 years ago I was very, very green at this. Now i own 5 EMs and I am slightly intermediate. I know my limitations and I learn something new everyday about the mechanics inside. Just be patient. Your Atlantis might sit for a week or two until someone local can find the time to get out there to help you out. Maybe a steak dinner will entice someone to get out there sooner. At this point you could hire someone to go through the game and get it up to snuff and playing.

After you play the game solid for a month then you can decide if you are going to keep the game or not. There should be several local people that can replace the bottom of your game. Gottlieb was notorious for having horrible bottom wood on their games in 1975. If you were local here to Dallas Texas we would have this guy Adrian rebuilding the bottom of your cabinet. A friend(s) or a few hundred dollars should have your game running and ready to go.

I guess what I am trying to say is don't make any hasty decisions.

i'd agree, i thought it was "worth" it, but i couldn't spend that much money... if it had been 2k, it would have been VERY VERY difficult to not buy it (read: it would be in my house right now)...

i hope that if he still does that it will be at the show again... not that i can afford it this year either, but i sure would like to see it again...

yup...

and sometimes, they even "fix themselves"... when i took that shooter lane pic, i hadn't fired up the jacks open in over a month... i've been wearing out the target pool and pro football these days, plus my "standing" time is still somewhat limited...

turned it on, pushed the button... startup sequence failed... pushed the button 3 more times, still failed... pushed it a 5th time, and it completed, and played faultlessly for several games before i shut it back down (even beat it a couple times )....

this isn't the first time i've had something similar this happen (which is why i tried repeatedly pushing the button before resorting to actually debugging it)... sometimes, stuff just needs to be exercised a bit to get the kinks worked out...

Everything seems to work fine except the right side the number 1 is lit at start up but then no other number lights up. I have changed the bulbs made sure they were in good. I just looked at the fuses they seem fine.. My uneducated guess would be soldering needs to be done on where the wires connect to the light sockets. Wish I knew how to solder lol

Sounds like the stepper may be gummed up. It resides on the bottom side of the playfield. There are two coils on it. One should ratchet increment the numbers one at a time when actuated by hand. The other should reset the wiper back to the starting position when actuated by hand. Does this mech function as I have described when manually actuated?

From memory only number 1 lights up at start of game? Then you collect number 1 and number 2 lights up and so on until 9! Then it's specials time.

Does the game advance the sequence though? (hard to tell, if the numbers simply don't light). It may be a simple adjustment on the advance stepper unit. If this is greek to you, check out clay's pinrepair guides. The best first source on info imo.

Only live once, life not a dress rehearsal, all that kind of stuff. Personally I don't get why woodrails aren't the highest price of all em's as they are older, less around/rare, and have the best artwork and some of the best gameplay.

Anyways, the upside is that when they come up for sale, there isn't an 'Atlantis' like Q for them!

I do not see the lights visually advance because they are not lit but number 1 does go dark so I am assuming it is advancing just not lighting up..

With the glass off and a game started, wipe over the #1...does #2 then light up? If not this is just the stepper being either dirty and or misaligned slightly---not lighting issue or solder--much simpler. Confirm this and it's very easy to walk you through it.

You are aware the lights only light up 1 at a time...correct?

No it does not.

A pic of a stepper from pinrepair--not your EXACT unit but same idea:

STEP.jpg

Take rubbing alcohol on a Q-tip(s) and wipe all those rivets off until you get no gunk coming off them. That's about as basic a cleaning as you can give it but it'll help. The "pegs" that stick through the outer disc "wipe" across the rivets on the larger square piece. That's the issue with yours I'm guessing--they are dirty and don't line up.

If it doesn't advance number still(which it probably won't) then you can move on to the slightly more scary for a beginner task of barely loosening the 3 screws on that triangle and gently rotating the disc a FRACTION until the rivets line up---which if done with the machine on you can easily see the number light lighting up as you BARELY adjust the stepper.

Just make sure you don't loosen the screws all the way or rotate the disc too far in either direction...it makes it more involved to line back up(still no big deal).

Since I sold my Atlanti I can't remember but I think the 1-9 Stepper unit is on the right side towards the top of the playfield--attached to the playfield and not in the bottom of the game.

Okay I see how it rotates from number to number but not that I have touched it #1 doesn't light up so I am confident it's this device that's the problem.

You can, with the game on, rotate the disc slightly by hand---no loosening screws etc.--and watch the number light. You should be able to manually nudge it into position to get the light on just to give you an idea of what you want to do....unless it's so dirty it's not making contact at all.

Not sure what I am nudging here are photos

image.jpg
image-801.jpg
image-979.jpg

Last photo, the big round brown disc with silver triangle and 3 screws on front. That circular piece rotates around clicking through your 1-9 lights until it maxes out. With the game on, grab the circular disc and manually rotate/twist it a quarter inch or so--just a bit to see if it gets it lined up...while at the same time craning your neck so you can see the 1-9 rollovers.

It won't stay when I rotate it

Alternately, you can look "between" the circular disc and the square it is attached to and rotates on. You should see ?pairs of bronze-ish looking rivets on the face of the square piece. The "pegs" that stick through that circular piece--the little spring loaded bronze looking things---the ends of those pegs should be resting on the rivets that are stationary on the face of the square piece. As it clicks to the next number/position, the pegs need to be touching the rivets...they may touch one set but be "off" a little on the next--which is where the easy adjust comes in--OR the face of the rivets could be dirty so no contact.

So you can just look and see if it's lined up and touching those rivets as well.

Okay I see what you are talking about how do you line them up and make it stay

It "clicks" to the next position--you can see the big gear with teeth on the back.

You don't need it to stay--or even go to the next position just to check if this is the problem. You move it slightly--just a little--and watch the number light. So if you move it forward a little and hold it in place when the number light comes on this will tell you that it's out of adjustment.

If you want to see it move a full space and check if it clicks in on the next number you can swipe the rollover on the playfield or manually push in and release the plunger on that coil on the backside.

IF you were able to get the numbers to light up by moving it slightly then it is out of adjustment. Take a sharpie and make a mark on the edge of the round disc AND on the stationary square plate--lining them up(this is in case you freak out and rotate the disc too far or it falls off while loosening--gives you "home" position). I would restart the game so it goes to the home/#1 position for you(before you make the marks maybe), then you slightly loosen those 3 screws on the triangle without taking them out. Loosen just enough until you get that round disc to move---the screw holes have a gap on either edge so you can rotate the disc a little either way to adjust. Hold on to the disc while it's loosened a little, rotate it(a FRACTION) until the correct number lights up/makes contact. Hold it steady in that exact position and tighten those screws. Then run through the numbers and see if it lights all of them...it may get a bit off in later numbers which just means you'll have to try again with adjust--no big deal.

image.jpg

Okay I was able to get number lined up and lit up but when I roll the ball over number 1 the stepper isn't moving the back of it is the coil and what not but not the front part

That is why it won't advance past the "1" position.

There are two arms that need to pivot freely that allow this unit to advance properly. They allow it to ratchet one position at a time. If they are not engaged the unit will free wheel as you are seeing.

Refer to the image in the previous post. The pivot positioned where A-1059 is pointing needs to pivot freely. If it doesn't, get some Tri-Flow teflon lube in a 2oz squeeze bottle at a bicycle shop and apply it to both sides of this member using the tube and work the pivot action back and forth until it moves freely.

Then, the member that A-517 spring is attached to (the small tab end) also needs to pivot freely. you can see the pivot position of that member at the circle on the side of it. One of these are probably the reason your stepper unit will not advance properly. Apply more lube here and work them loose and you should be good to go in terms of the normal operation of this unit. The rivet plate still needs to be scrubbed with a scotch brite pad and then some SuperLube applied for longevity. Get SuperLube at Harbor Freight. About $7 a tube.

Does it spin around--the round disc--and not click in to place at all?

If you manually press in the plunger on that coil and release it quickly, does that gear ratchet a position?

Okay I manually helped these levers and the number advanced. If I lube it as stated and it still doesn't move freely is there something that causes it to move that's not fire right? Just trying to cover all bases.

Getting these arms to move freely should fix this issue. The arms have to move freely so the unit will function properly. It ratchets one step at a time to advance the numbers. Then it rotates all the way back at the start of the next game. the fact that you can move it forward and it swings back shows it will function correctly when you get these two pivots working freely.