Just to clarify, only the metal legs got wet? The wooden part of the pinball machine, the cabinet and backbox received no water? Should be fine. If you are super paranoid (and you don't have to be) you could wad up a bunch of newspaper and drop it in the cabinet to draw out moisture. If you have an old phone book it would provide the same effect. Leave it overnight then throw the paper out.

Oh hell yes .... work on them unplugged

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If the game has a three prong plug and the outlet and home are wired correctly there is very, very little chance of you getting shocked / electrocuted just playing the game. Assuming you're talking about one of the CGC remakes (MMr, AFMr, CCr, MBr) the odds are even slimer / to non-existent.

Yes, but not simply by plugging in the machine. If there is a short applying voltage to the conductive/metal parts of the cabinet and the metal is not properly grounded you could be electrocuted when you touch it. Especially if you don't have on non-conductive shoes and are standing on wet carpet - doesn't matter if there is a puddle, the wet carpet creates a ground plane. The odds of having a non-grounded short are very small, especially in a modern machine, but why chance it. I'd move the machine with teflon sliders to a dry area, or at least plug it into a ground fault receptacle/extension cord and wear shoes until the carpet dries out.

Absolutely you can be killed by the electricity in your pinball when it's plugged in.

You are in considerable more danger when you are standing in a puddle of water in a basement, making sure you are directly connected to earth ground.

However... the danger is only if there is something (ANYTHING) not right. A plug miswired. A wire that is connecting where it shouldn't be.

The problem is, you won't know for sure that you have every part of your 115V circuit safely wired. Brand new pinballs have had their neutral and hot wires reversed by accident.

Don't fool around here.

The best answer is to have your buddy an electrician check the machine. Your second best answer is to wait until things are dry before plugging things in.

115v kills more people than any other voltage.

"There are old electricians, and there are bold electricians, but there are no old bold electricians."

Don't be bold.

I've been zapped by a few pinball machines that weren't wet...

Me too! And these were machines that I had shopped!

It's easy to miss some previous technician's work-around that now is providing an electrical hazard, even for an experienced pinball tech.

For reference:

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Electrocuted... highly unlikely. Getting shocked… more likely.

There are people that die from home voltage, don’t know official stats, but I’d say it’s a high probability it’s from people working in the electrical panel or with direct line voltage. Not people messing around downstream of a circuit panel that has all kind of breakers like specific circuits and main breakers.

I am an electrical engineer.

It depends on so many variables I would not be so casual with the electrical safety advice.

In this context, 110 volts at your wall outlet is exactly the same as 110 volts inside your panel! Even the smallest electrical breaker (15-amp) is absolutely not going to protect you from electrocution. Why? Because current as low as 20 mA (0.02 amps) can stop your heart, and it's going to take 750 times more current to trip a 15-amp breaker. At that point it doesn't matter if you touch a branch circuit at a wall outlet or one side of the split-phase feeding the main breaker in your panel ... it's all the same kind of danger.

And a GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) is only going to work under specific circumstances; when some current flows to ground, like when an appliance falls into a bathtub or sink of water. Current flowing through your heart is not going to trip a GFCI unless the current path somehow includes ground.

Had a machine that someone swapped the neutral and hot on the transformer.

Was perfectly fine playing it..until I touched the machine next to it. Then I got blasted

Standing in a puddle of water and touching ANY electrical device that's running on 110v is just asking for trouble. Any faults, mistakes in wiring, etc can result in you getting a nasty shock. Move the game somewhere where there is no water. PS Don't even THINK about playing in bare feet!

Also, whoever rented you the machine is not going to be too happy if the legs are in a puddle and have not been dried thoroughly. At the very least, the levelers will rust and need to be replaced, and possibly the legs will rust as well. Additionally, if the room humidity is high enough from standing water, mold inside the machine may occur. The renter's brand new machine might end up a mess. You really need to mitigate the water or move the pin.

If you really want peace of mind, have an electrician or electrical expert inspect the main power connection inside your machine... absolutely verify the hot, neutral, and ground wires are connected to the proper locations.

When I got my machine, the hot and neutral were swapped. At any point in time, anyone replacing the cord or plug can easily get this wrong.

On the lighter side of things..

.. someone 'could' drop a plugged-in pinball right into your bathtub while you're relaxing.. that'd be shocking!

Then again, you could fall headfirst on a James Bond playfield while cleaning it.. that would leave a mark or could poke an eye out!

A pinball is a dangerous thing, indeed!

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I’m not giving advice, just observation and my experience. I’ve been around electricians my whole life and worked in the field for a bit too. Most of this website is opinions and experiences, this is no different.

Nobody should come to a pinball forum for safety advice. When in doubt, call a professional or just don’t do it. I suppose in this day and age you can’t say anything without some “expert” chiming in giving their opinion on your opinion/observations. I should have prefaced my original post with a caveat: DONT DO IT!