Mine is simple as I'm just new to working on pins, but if you're installing a Cliffy, remember to remove the protective film before installing

Beer, a helmet and bandaids.

always remember to take the pinballs out before lifting the playfield.
Obvious right?

Take off your metal wrist watch.

Great idea pitching a tent in the base box to catch rogue screws and stuff.

Turn off the power to your pinball machine before you work on it. I know from experience, fried a board. Newb problems!

Boiled it down to one rule . When proceeding with great intent to clean,fix,modify or in any way shape or form mess with a pin.......limit alcohol intake!

The day I realize that was the day I graduated newb school

I forgot to do it on my Shadow, and ended up losing a ball.

Yes, but putting a rag in the shooter lane is even better! This stops the balls from falling out but also prevents you from putting everything back together and forgetting to put them back in.

Mine is to put rubber shooter tips over the tops of the star posts above the plunger on Bally/Williams games. This way, when you lift the playfield into service mode, the rubber tips rest on the backbox and prevent the screws from the starposts from scratching up your backbox.

Using magnetic screw and nut drivers saves a lot of cuss words

nice tip on loosing your balls, must remember to leave a rag in the coin box

Rule #1- POWER OFF!!!

Will try this, particularly next time I'm dealing with eclips. It's amazing how lost things can get in the bottom of the cabinet. Sometimes it takes as long to find them as it did to make the repair. "BUT IT HAS TO BE IN THERE! %$#%#$!"

Don't hold your backglass like a pizza box

And, if you do this, remember to put them back in BEFORE you put the glass and lockdown bar back on.

If you think that works great, you will love this.... Grab a new leg leveler or leg bolt (your preference) and screw it about a 1/4 - 1/2 way into a rubber post sleeve (not a cliffy, those are a little too firm).... Then use that to remove and add bulbs, it works amazing....

Stick loose screws on speaker magnets, you'll never lose them and they become magnetized for future use.

Toothpicks/zip ties work great for filling stripped playfield holes.

If something stops working, check the cabinet connectors under the playfield. Wires move all over the place while you work and sometimes connectors come loose.

Always turn the game off when working under the playfield (duh)

If running a route game and flipper is sticking due to mushroomed stop, filing down the leading edges of the links will temporarily solve the problem until you can rebuild the flippers.

If a display appears to be outgassing, check the high voltage going to it first or swap it with another known good display. More often than not its the 20+ year high voltage power supply failing.

If your game gives you a flipper EOS error, don't blow it off. A wire could have come detached from a switch lug and if that's the case, fix it immediately before it finds its way over to a coil lug and destroys your switch matrix.

If a wedge based lamp stops working, spread the looped wire away from the glass base. It will make better contact when you go to insert it again.

A locking wrench works well for tightening flipper bats. It gives you extra leverage and solid grip.

Foam target pads are basically high density weather stripping, pick up a roll and save yourself some money.

Flaky playfield lamp boards? Reflow the solder joints on the header pins. They become brittle from vibration.

Cut up some spare Mylar to cover worn spots on your playfield.

Have done that before!

With the rag trick, I would probably leave that in when putting the glass and lockbar back

Take reference pics before you take anything apart also number both sides of all wire conectors
Before unplugging ie .. 11-22-33
That way there will be no question on where things plug in upon reassembly

I also use paint pens (in places where they won't be visible, like under the PF) to make sure everything goes back where it should. This was especially useful when doing a Wh20 teardown. I marked the connectors, and then used the same color to make a small mark next to the hole that they needed to be routed through.

Double check the playfield guides are in their slots properly when putting the playfield back down. Can't tell you how many times I've put the playfield down after repairing something and it didn't quite hit those guides, slide the glass on, put the lockdown bar in place...why isn't this lockdown bar locking right? Dang it...playfield glass back out again...

williams games system 4 and others when moving games or replacing boards clearly mark all board connectors and dont remove any more than needed .There are sevral connectors with the same plug configuration . Cant find replacement spacers for ramps etc, buy hex spacer and threaded rod and make your own .

Pull the shooter back before lifting & dropping the playfield prevents tearing the rubber tip.

A habit i do before i even remove the lockbar/glass I will reset the game and leave the ball in the shooter lane and lift the playfield slowly and let it roll in the upper arch ,unless i tilt it back for full service! only then would i remove the ball. Just remember to slowly lower it. <use this on Em s
not sure on newer pins though?

When removing something,putting screws back into where they came out of saves a lot of confusion if you intend not to get back to it for a while.

Labeling your playfield glass with the word >up<(w/sharpie) as read from the lockbar end keeps the outside/dirty side up.

I started using the numbered stickers that you can find in the electrician section of Lowes. I just couldn't bring myself to put sharpie on my pristine connectors. These stickers are much more visible too.

When doing a teardown, I've seen people use Styrofoam to replicate where the parts would be placed on the playfield. It seems like that may save a lot of headache, though I've never actually done it myself (I love headaches).

I will have to try that one for sure. I lay stuff out on the table like that, but as soon as I run into it, stuff is everywhere.

Huh, my glass is doublesided.

Seriously though, clean one side, put it in the game, then clean the top when it's on the machine.

Push the ball-feed plunger from inside the coin door to eject the balls before lifting the pf. Put the balls in your upside-down lockdown bar--you'll never forget to put them back in!

Use a cordless drill/screwdriver with clutch and magnetized bits for quick removal and installation of hardware without stripping.

A butane soldering iron is great for working inside the cabinet.

put the darn balls back BEFORE you put the glass in......I do that so often I annoy myself!

Use the speaker to magnatize your tools.

If it ain't broke don't fix it.

True, but just be careful where the exhaust is pointed if you do use one (I do, and love it). If you don't pay attention, you can fry some things pretty quickly!

When you have a problem that does not an obvious solution (seeing a wire broken off of a coil that is not working is an obvious problem) stop and think.

Problems where really random things happen, like pressing the start button not only starts a game, but also fires a pop bumper. When events like that happen just stop, go read Clay's and/or pinwiki, look on this forum. Make a list in order of things to look at/replace.

Otherwise you will find yourself randomly cutting off capacitors from switches, replacing diodes. Generally doing a shotgun type of fix it.

Worst of all, if you don't get it fixed in that one session and need to stop you will forget what you did by the next time and repeat efforts.