Quoted from PantherCityPins:It’s not really reasonable to expect a pinball machine to take the amount of abuse they get at a show (especially since that game was in the featured display right at the front doors) and not have an issue.
I respectfully disagree with this.
I have rebuilt many machines and supplied them to the Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show in the last few years when there was actually a show. Every machine that was rebuilt properly (completely torn down to the screw of each assembly) lasted the entire three days with an average of 500 plays for that period of time. "Shopped" games lasted but not as well. My definition of shop is a quick go over to make it play properly with minimal work done. One of my shopped games lasted two years and in the third year it required constant maintenance for it to make it through the three days. That game has been pulled as it needs a full rebuild.
There is only one instance where a game needed a rubber replacement after two years. I rebuilt a Safe Cracker and brought it to the show with special 10 year anniversary tokens that could be won. That machine was never idle the entire three days of the show and had a long line of people waiting to play it. It needed the rubber replacement the second year it was brought to the show. No other maintenance was required.
Definition of maintenance excludes cleaning and waxing. I am referring to mechanical maintenance.
Quoted from PantherCityPins:Heck, the rethemed Addam’s family was beautiful but it had a flipper broken literally a few hours into Saturday. I shudder to think what one of my games would look like after that kind of abuse.
The Addams Family I rebuilt has lasted four years in a row (average 2,000 plays) and has not needed any service. The last time I played it (at a friend's garage) it still looked great and still played great. At a show a few years ago one attendee personally thanked me for supplying the game to the show. It was the one game he looked forward to each time he came to the show each year. He clearly noticed the difference in the way it played compared to others he had played in the past.
