Hampton, VA
Personally I like to leave mine on most of the time because it make it seem like Christmas every day!
(Topic ID: 3590)
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Unless I have guests over, my machines are always turned off as soon as I'm done playing them. I can't imagine leaving them on 24/7. Not only is it wasteful from an environmental standpoint, but it's simply not good for the machine. Even with LEDs installed, the backbox still gets really hot. Why would you expose the electronics to more heat than you need to?
I wouldn't think of leaving it on either. Would create more work for myself and wear on the machine.
If you have one of the older gottliebs with a system 80 it could be very detrimental to the machine if you haven't done the ground modifications as the coils could very well lock and burn out themselves or some other area of the machine
Always Off unless I have guests over. Sometimes, say on a Saturday I might leave them on for a bit for the atmosphere. I pass by this room when walking through the house. In the winter they do help with the heat too. 
Shut them off. Otherwise heat builds up, connectors get damaged and fail, and component's lives get shortened. As The Dude said, why create work for yourself? Sometimes I'll turn on all my machines for a session and leave them on for an hour or more, but they always get shut off when all playing is done.
OK, if they are that fragile, then how do they survive being routed for years, when they are constantly on?
We're just sayin.I have my machines plugged into a surge protector also,which gets switched off after I switch off the machines.
Mine are off most of the time, but I do turn them on sometimes and leave them while I hang around the house. I try to leave them on if there is a party so people will free to play them.
Quoted from GoneFishinLvMsg:
OK, if they are that fragile, then how do they survive being routed for years, when they are constantly on?
They don't, they generally are beat after being routed for years. And we're not talking normal wear and tear just from being played. Burned connectors, burned wiring, transistors fail, bridges fail, other components fail. Heat takes its toll and you have to spend time and money to repair the damage. Save your self the money and time and turn them off.
OK, if they are that fragile, then how do they survive being routed for years, when they are constantly on?
The answer is...they don't survive. take a look at a machine thats been routed for 10 years. The inserts lift and melt. the connectors melt. Bulbs blow. Back boxes get burnt and yellow...and so forth.
If you had a brand new machine and turned it off every time your done......it would take 30 years to look like a routed one does after 10.
Protect your investment...install Led's and turn it off after use.
Hopefully you properly 'pegged' them donjagra and didn't saftey-pin them like the rest of the Jack(hole)bots!
I still have some Z-Cavaricci's if you want to borrow them... 
Quoted from NimblePin:
Damn wesperron...
You bring that heat! Must be that 'Tapatio' working.
Sorry, little to rough? I get passionate about pinball.
I had ALL 5 on the Other nite.. I went into in the Gameroom Garage and the 1st thing that I noticed was a Bunch of Unnecessary lines from Top to Bottom on the New DMD of BSD .. Damit !!
I turned it off , ( I Turned them All off. ) Went outside a had a smoke.. Came back in and Fired up BSD and the Line's were still there.. I Played a game ---- Today , I got off the Phone with a Guy sell-n his TAF ( should be in the GRG 2-morrow 
) I got behind the Tran's to lOOk at the DMD Driver.. I reset the Ribbon cable's , Pushed on the Fuses. ETC...
It's Work-n Fine for Now.. Musta Got Hotttt !!! It got me some what Hot too !!
For Now on,, If i have company over or if I want to Play,, That's when they will be ON !!!
Mine are kept switched off if I'm not going to play them. I just think of my electricity bill. If I leave the 5 pins switched on in the same room it's like leaving a one bar electric fire on all day, you can feel the extra heat from the pins as you walk into the room!
I won't keep switching them on and off constantly between games though. I don't like the thought of all those surges of power going through the electronics each time on start-up and shut down.
Quoted from wesperron:
... take a look at a machine that has been routed for 10 years. The inserts lift and melt, the connectors melt, bulbs blow. Back boxes get burnt and yellow...and so forth.
Precisely. There is a reason why true HUO machines are so coveted by collectors. It's not only because they have less playfield and cabinet wear, but specifically because they haven't been on all day long, every day for the past 20-30 years.
Quoted from Loupie:
especially during thunder storms pull the plug.
Good call Loupie!
Welcome to the Pinside!
I have been meaning to do that too gweempose...
But I get lightning (on average) only three times a year.
I guess it would help me when I am playing all my pins (simultaneously) and the rolling brown-outs start up again in the summertime.
So many projects!
Kamloops, BC
On during parties. If it is just me or the wife we turn them on as we play them but don't just shut it down if we jump to another machine. I turn them all off when done playing them.
5 years later
Bumping this old thread to ask what everyone thinks about turning pins off/on in short time periods ... I recently got my first DMD games (T2 & LoTR) and my son has a habit of thinking he is done and then heading back for another game 10 to 30 minutes later. LoTR powers off just fine but T2 sounds about like it just blew up every time i power power down.
So do you power down now if you think there is a high likelihood you'll have the itch to play again in 20 minutes? Am I doing a little damage to my T2 every time I turn it off and it makes that agonizing sound?
Thanks
Quoted from DCS:
Bumping this old thread to ask what everyone thinks about turning pins off/on in short time periods ... I recently got my first DMD games (T2 & LoTR) and my son has a habit of thinking he is done and then heading back for another game 10 to 30 minutes later. LoTR powers off just fine but T2 sounds about like it just blew up every time i power power down.
So do you power down now if you think there is a high likelihood you'll have the itch to play again in 20 minutes? Am I doing a little damage to my T2 every time I turn it off and it makes that agonizing sound?
Thanks
If I'm coming back in the next hour or so, I'll leave mine on. Other than that, I turn them off.
Are you talking about the really weird speaker thump when you turn it on? Every Williams game I've ever turned on does that, including my Demolition Man. You get that initial speaker thump followed by the bong. It's normal and has never hurt anything.
I turn mine on when I'm doing work in the room that my pin is in. I like the ambiance. Plus, when I get tired of working, the machine is already on, ready to play.
I think nothing of leaving a machine on during supper if I know I'm coming back for more punishment.
Mike
Quoted from Dayhuff:I get this question a lot. And I always ask back, "would you leave your car running over night?".
What octane do you put in your pinball machine? I use 93. I get a lot more power out of it.
I turn off the lights whenever I leave a room. Same goes for a pin that I'm not looking at or playing.
Only time I ever have all of them on at once is if I have friends over.
IMO, having 5 or more machines, especially when NIB, in the home environment, they will never be on long enough or played long enough to do any damage to them.
I will leave them on sometimes for the ambiance, especially at night. Also when I'm testing repairs to power supplies. But always off before bed, and usually off after I'm done playing.
When I play, and when I feel like cutting them on. The weekends are when mine stay on the most. Usually Saturday night. Unplug when not in use doesn't hurt either. No power surge/lightning worries.To each his own.
I leave them on if I think we will be coming back to them within an hour or so. Typically our games are on up to 2-3 hours on every other weekday and a little longer on weekends.
I actually get a kick out of powering down RFM since it typically seems to trigger a call-out in it's last moment of power. I'm waiting for the day it says "Wait! Nooooo!"
Quoted from jwilson:
I will leave them on sometimes for the ambiance, especially at night. Also when I'm testing repairs to power supplies. But always off before bed, and usually off after I'm done playing.
The Liberal government would like you leave the machines on 24/7... And no more energy efficient led bulbs!
When I get pissed off at the game. Quickly turn it off, go play something else. During a playing session, just leave them on. If taking a break, leave them on. Turn them off when you are all done, or after you wake up (again), in the game room. Use the electricity you will save for future pinball parts.
If you don't leave them on, chances are people will think they are broken and won't put any money in them.
Kind of defeats the whole purpose of having a coin operated machine.
But no reason to leave them on once the arcade closes down for the night.
I've noticed when I have people over who have kids, once kids have learned where the power button is, they start games, plunge a few balls, and then turn it off, and head for a new game.
II can always tell if a kid was on a machine when I power it up later. The machine immediately plunges a ball upon power-up.
I prefer to leave them on until I'm done playing. Then I turn them all off at the end.
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