I'd like to set up a "10 Commandments" of things to NEVER do in pinball maintenance. Know any knucklehead that could use one of these 10-commandments hung on the wall of the game room? I sure do, I make repeat mistakes. It's so embarrassing. Can you pitch in a little good advice to save a brother from more bleeding/cursing/'waiting for parts to arrive' purgatory? To make it interesting, instead of making an "always" list, let's make it a "NEVER" list.
1. Post your BEST advice of something to NEVER do that is catastrophic to the well-being of a pinball machine for routine maintenance.
2. Include the word NEVER in your commandment.
3. Post one Commandment at a time so you get votes for each idea. Post as many as you wish.
4. Vote on the ones you like most with a thumbs up.
Have at it! Once we reach 25 commandments, we'll take the top-10 with the most thumbs-up votes for the 10-commandments. All commandments will make the list. Your goal is to be first to write a great commandment, and word it clearly, so that people give it the thumbs up.
I would save your votes for NEVER statements that are: accurate, catastrophic, common occurrences -- and therefore valuable insights to bear in mind while working on your machines. I would assert that circuit board issues should rank over all others, but let's decide that after we see all 25+.
Hopefully, next time you go to work on your machine, you'll remember one of the 10 Commandments and save yourself some headaches.
Have it at!
-mof