YEP, Getaway with a divertor issue, Daytona USA with one side's game board needing fixing (bloody expensive), still trying to find time to resurrect my Super Hang On machine and a couple of niggling errors on STTNG and BOP. It's KAOS theory
If things are going to go wrong it's usually always in pairs (or more) and ALWAYS involves DOLLARS !!

It seems something is always going wrong with a game or two (or more) in my collection. It's nice to keep a whiteboard that you can write issues on or keep sticky notes handy so you can stick them on pins when something goes amiss. The good thing is if you enjoy tinkering and fixing pins, a collection of them will always give you something to do.

I generally won't let them sit broken for long. A few days at most.

Tyler Durden: The things you own end up owning you.

I do the same thing. That way, when I do have time to work on them, I can easily remember all the issues and pick which one is the most important to work on.

It's not different than most things in life. Make a list. Prioritize. Start with the little things and work your way up through the bigger tasks a little bit at a time. Ignoring what needs to be done just creates unnecessary stress and leads to more problems. Sometimes easier said than done I know! But there's nothing more satisfying than playing your pin after you fix it.

That's a good idea. I have a white board out of my wife's classroom stored in a closet not being used. I also agree with the liking to tinker thing. As soon as I get one fixed one breaks. I do enjoy fixing them though.

Me personally it agrivates me to have a machine not working properly. It has to get fixed rt away or i am constently thinking about it.

If you have older games, it seems like 4 is about the sweet spot to juggle repairs vs. play time. I've had a Pinbot playfield sitting here for over a year. I don't want to get into it because my time is limited and I also don't want to let it sit cause I'd like to reassemble everything while its fresh in my mind.

Project paralysis... lol

I'm actually thinking I'm going to unload a couple of the older games and get a Metallica pro. If you told me I'd even be considering buying a new game a year or so ago, I would have called ya crazy.

Good luck getting them all running!

It's a great feeling to have everything working at the same time.

I always have a hard time not "blinging" out my pins and with a large collection, the money really adds up. I'm always wanting to get the next newest mod, side art, mirror blades, Color DMD etc. that comes out for the pins. I bling one out, then something else comes along for one of the other children. I can't spoil one while neglecting the other, can I?

I'm a terrible pin parent!

Ile second that

Same here. I can't enjoy playing any of my games if one is not working. It's just my nature, sadly.

I have the same problem. If one breaks it seems that all the others will soon have an issue. Not sure how that happens but it does

There have been times in the past where I have had half of my collection down at the same time and it can be defeating. As others said, keeping a list of the issues and working your way through them one at a time is a good start. I have found that the longer I have my games, the fewer issues arise, as parts get replaced or rebuilt. Nasty surprises are few and far between at this point. I can't remember doing any repairs through all of 2014 aside from cleaning and battery changing. It does get easier as you go!

Even worse is having four vehicles and having all of them out of commission! Then you can't even drive to pick up a new pin!

My games are out to get me, I just know it. When I leave the room, they conspire and make their evil plans. They always seem to break when I'm in the room but never when I'm watching them, they are so clever. They hate me because I'm always trying to make them better than they are. I think I know which one of them is the ring leader because it's the one that gives me the most problems but sometimes they take turns in this position so I'm never quite sure. I don't know what they expect from me since they never leave a list of demands but I always seem to have a list of parts I need to locate. The only thing keeping them in line is that they know I control the power and will cut them off from it. I'm afraid to leave the house for fear that they'll do something harsh while I'm away and burn down my house so I have to turn them all off when I go out. Owning a collection is sometimes a scary thing.

Steve

I loathe having half-working games. As such, I like to take care of the little things as soon as they go wrong; if I have a game that's working well except for a single switch, that switch gets repaired immediately. If flippers are sticky, they get rebuilt immediately. Gofer or Jackbot visor sitting too low causing stuck balls get adjusted immediately. You get the idea...

I have a couple non-working games that were bought as projects. Those only get worked on once everything else is 100%. Shop jobs wait until all non-project games are working, too.

When it rains it pours. I've found that once you get games going in a home environment they tend to be pretty solid. But when one breaks and gets some attention, the others all seem to want attention too. I just spent a Saturday a few weeks back fixing all the little things that have been wrong on my games for a long time. For example, one of the DIG rollovers on my MB that's been flaky since I got the game. I've had the replacement switch for 10 years and just put it on. Ditto for my RFM. Several bad rollovers on that too that have needed attention for a long time and are finally out of the way for good.

Abso-freakin-lutely well said.
~Steveo

The love diversity but don't like that I need five different sets of flipper rebuilt components

If you have large collection and a nonpinball life as well , you have to get used to broken or substandard games . Pinballs develop issues all on their own ( unplugged not being played , new or used ) . The repair work does weigh on your mind but cannot let it become a obsessive issue . My repairs are done when time permits which is unfortunately not often . When the time permits I enjoy the challenge of the repairs . Always good to be learning the different issues the pins can present . Some of the challenge is lesser now that parts supply and replacement boards are easy to find . Parts hunt back when Williams got out of business and Wayne had the rights was worse than doing the actual repairs . Valid bitch about parts cost but its good to be able to get what you need . And yes you need large parts inventory and the ability to organize where you store the parts so you can find them . Enjoy the day Shane

It's almost a full time job looking after my pins. I keep pretty on top of it though, at the moment I have 80 machines set up in the room and only one is down (waiting for a board) That's the way I like it!

The trick is, as soon as you note a fault, if you can't fix it right away, write the fault on some tape on the lock bar and get on it as soon as you can. Otherwise, next minute you have 30 faults to fix and it gets away from you.

I visited two large collections in Germany (150 and 300 machines) and both guys had full time techs employed. I guess I am my own full time tech lol

rd.

It's the intermittent failures that drive me crazy. I go to fix it, and everything suddenly works. Bring a group over, and the pin turns flaky. Finally get time again to work on it, and the problem goes away. Urgh!!!

Just happened this morning, I had two game not boot up and one reset in a middle of there game. The one that reset I have never had a problem with before.

I sit on about twenty games all the time and don't know what your concerns are. If enough fail in a bank set up a slot car set. Finding a pair or readers is the tough part, they are always where you put them, under something else. I could use a flipper button for my HEE HAW and some fresh barn paint, poor girl barely got out of a fire. good luck kids.

I always thought that just keeping a large or very large collection of pins clean would suck up a lot of weekend time. For example if you did a deep (playfield strip sorta) clean and changed the rubbers every two years (depending on number of plays I guess) then that is one every weekend for a collection like RDs, you also have general maintenance and fixing any "shit happens" stuff on top.

Hats off to you guys with double figure + collections that run a tight ship.

What sort of regimes and cleaning schedules do you guys have, if you have them?

In my case, you can't have a schedule for all the machines because some don't get played as much as others. We (me, Danni, Fiona) try and play all the games in a rotation to keep them ticking over, and that's when you notice they need a clean or a tweak. There's no point just cleaning them for cleaning them sake.

I work on a machine pretty much every time I go in there. Even if it's just a quick clean of ball trail marks or a sling adjustment.

Full restores are a different matter. I try and get a few full days to get stuck in and get the job done. If not, it loses steam and doesn't get completed. I have a Fish Tales which is getting the treatment, spent two days on the cabinet, that's done, but the playfield is half done. Very slack.

rd.

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Looks great Dave. I'm tempted to suck it up and redecal my I500. Love the game but not sure about the hassle. Tough to do?

There is always something wrong, and I have to deal with it right away. Annoying, but at the same time, we are mostly men, and like to fiddle and work on stuff, and as much as I hate it sometimes, I know it adds to overall enjoyment of it ( )

Personally, I don't think so ... But it depends on you and your level of ability Id say.

This Fish Tales was a bit rough so I sanded it right back and started from the timber. It took two days. I havent got pics anymore, but search for a thread on Pinside by Bryan Kelly and he shows you how to do a full job.

But better condition BW machines, I have tidied up the cabs and put decals over the original artwork. Still looks great.

I do everything myself except apply the stickers. They are too expensive to stuff up, so I pay my local signwriters $50 and they come around and help me with them. $50 well spent IMO.

This Dr Who and BBBB were decals on the top of tidy (but faded) artwork.

rd.

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Wow, Dave. Would love to see your collection! Do you have any photos online?

I had an AC/DC whiteboard that I was writing any issues with my games down. 14 machines in total at the moment. I thought that was a lot. haha

Majority of my games are in storage in my parents garage while we build a new house (and games room). I haven't turned 10 machines on since August 2014, so I'm expecting gremlins to pop up....

Cheers!
Adam.