STTNG has been my most problematic pin, but it's actually been playing great for a while now. I almost hate to jinx myself.

STTNG has been my most problematic pin, but it's actually been playing great for a while now. I almost hate to jinx myself.

JINX!!!

Picard.jpg

my machines have been pretty trouble free. do need to get a new switch for white water upper area as it only registers sometimes.

Neediest - I had a few transistor problems with Pinbot, but other than that it's been pretty solid...err, now I just remembered I have to look at the ramp..

Most difficult fix - Just getting to some of the things on TSPP is a pain, at least compared to my other 2 machines. I dread having to get under that mini PF again..

Current major issue - TSPP, the TV is 85% out. I'll hopefully get it taken care of this weekend. There are also a few switches that should be replaced..

My machines have been trouble free until just recently. My LOTR had a problem for the first time in a year and a half when the left flipper decided to stop working in the middle of a game a week or so ago.

Haven't bothered to look into it yet, because I've been on Pinside too much.

The saucer eject on my Corvette is a PITA to keep in the sweet spot. It likes to hit the bottom of the exhaust and bounce back in the saucer.

TAF. The ball keeps getting stuck inside the Thing box. Problem is I can't see in there to find out exactly what is causing it.

Need to repair the eye movements in Red and Ted a bit in my RS.

Not really looking forward to working on it as I remember how fun it was on my Funhouse....

My magnets still aren't working on Twister, despite running the service bulletin fixing them.

Where do I start with this one? They are working decent.

1. Minor - TFTC looses count of how many balls are in play sometimes during multiball.

2. JP I tore out the left right motor assy. The motor runs, Dino doesn't move. Going to tear into the gearbox, hopefully a roll pin broke, and not a gear.

3. Harley gives intermittent Motorcycle relay error msg.

4. Hook is beyond repair. Could be fixed, as it's in great shape, just missing too many parts to be cost effective.

5. WWF - Major Gives Slam Tilt. Posted on this in other thread. I've got it narrowed down to a couple switches. No 50vdc. No coils fire, or switches register in test mode. Gives 6 balls missing error, even though it has 6 balls loaded. No Sound. 1 SSFB shot, need new one. (hook's is already gone, was missing when I got it, didn't notice.

Any volunteers to come over and help fix some issues with me?

Forgot to mention that the magna save is out on Goldeneye. Mag board maga save side is fried.

My biggest project so far is bringing this guy back to life... Right now I'm looking for a new cabinet before doing any more work on the playfield:

http://pinballhelp.com/earthshaker-looks-to-have-been-in-an-actual-earthquake/

CV wire ramp can be a tad tricky, but using a washer or 2 and moving the pivot arm on the microswitches to the back (edgemost) pivot helps. Once it is set up, it'll stay fine. No problem with mine for over 13 years now. I had a microswitch break under the Ringmaster. THAT was a bear to disassemble to replace!

My most problematic pin was LOTR LE. Bought it new. In the first 8-9 months, both VUK switches went bad, and Balrog needed a bit of sensitivity adjustment. (I like it not too sensitive so you need a direct hit to register it.) BOTH flipper transistors also fried on separate occasions (taking a fuse with them), each time after holding the flipper up for about a minute. (Once while explaining features during a game, once when having a short talk while I was playing.) That sucked.

My pinball bane is now WWF. Bough tit about 1.5 years ago. Worked fine for a while, then started acting weird with display glitches, etc. Turns out the rom socket was a bit flaky. Fixed that and put it on location. Was generally OK for several months (light play), just a few normal minor glitches. Changed location and things got flakier. Got to the point where it wouldn't start up, and exhibited other weird and changing problems. Checked over al connectors, etc. Changed locations again, and it was working or a while, intermittently. Then the display went out but it played fine 'blind.' Then that stopped working and there were weird symptoms (like the 'coin door open' buzz on startup, with coin door closed and switches checked. I finally sent the cpu and power boards to a repair guy. He said there was some past (non-evident) battery damage and a bad capacitor and socket, all fixed. Boards back in game, and now--no go. And all the GI is out except for the slings and side plastics next to them. The power supply is putting out the right voltages, and the CPU LEDs are lit properly (blanking, 5V). Checked all connectors, wires, reflowed solder joints. No clue what to try next.

Most time consuming fix:
The diverter on the left of TOTAN. It was a combination of a burned out transistor and a wrong coil stop. I ended up chasing my tail tracking down the coil stop issue.

Neediest:
Has to be my TZ. It's due for yet another adjustment of the powerfield ramp diverter.

My most problematic pin to date in my collection has been Johnny Mnemonic. The glove is a great toy when it is running smoothly as it is the only time the ball is stopped and gives you a chance to breathe besides Crazy Bob's kick out hole.

The first issue I had was an unseen broken wire to the magnet causing it to do nothing when the VUK kicked the ball up to the glove. Fixed this by re-joining and soldering the wires together and applied some heat shrink tube instead of electrical tape by the previous owner.

The second issue I had was a credit dot start appearing for the hand switch. I read up on other forums in the past and this is a pretty common thing to fail. I thought mine had finally crapped out but again turns out it was another broken wire after inspecting the switch and doing some continuity tests with my DMM. I guess from all the stretching and compressing over the years these wires get brittle and break internally. Snipped the wires right by the molex connectors and re-pinned and back in business.

I started looking into this hand switch error work around before I found out my problem because I hate credit dots on any of my games. It turns out if the game is running the latest software you don't need the switch to function properly. The switch would function like an EOS using the older software so the machine knows when to cut back the power to the magnet where as the latest software does this automatically. Here is the link in case anyone is interested:

http://coinoplove.com/JM.html

Wait on the gearbox until you check the relay, it is up front near the shaker motor and it might need to be refloated.

I am tackling a firepower restoration. The machine looks like it was left out in the rain. I have the playfield art replaced, now on to the clearcoat and cleaning all the switches and connections.

IMG_9111.JPG IMG_9116.JPG

I've been lucky with my machines and they've all been fairly low maintenance. Well, all for one...my Lord of the Rings is downright evil. I have to constantly work on that thing, and it's always seemingly just a little off.

I guess it keeps me busy, but I'd love for that machine to just calm down and play smoothly for at least a few months.

Upper left ramp switch on TZ is mis-reading as the lock switch. I know where the issue is but for now I'm just having fun getting mutli-ball on every 3 ramp shots
I'll have to pull out the soldering iron sometime this week.

MM had an EOS flipper error for ages. Game played fine and I was sorta lazy so I never bothered looking for the broken wire at the EOS switch until I started playing it more last week. All better now. Left troll was also impossible to beat so I finally adjusted his switch. Not the easiest thing to get at.

TAF right flipper seems week. Can't usually get up the main ramp with the right flipper. Not sure if this is a normal issue for others with this game, but I'm planning a rebuild soon as part of an upcoming playfield swap.

Can't really complain for the most part.

My project list is
Captain Fantastic. In parts
Joker poker . News shopping and new boards
Space Riders. It's smoking. Literally. It boots and then some diodes in the front of the cab overheat

Question. Have you cleaned the board? I know that that fixed all of the problems on my Middle earth. I used a 50/50 rubbing alchohol and water mix, followed by a keyboard cleaner compressed air can and a day to make sure it was fully dry. Worked perfect the first time!

TFTC-Replace/check the switches in the trough.

Thing box is very simple to remove. I think it is two screws on the front and then it tilts and lifts off. Mine was also getting slow/hung up balls. I took it off and after a good cleaning it works much better.

I have also thought about putting a swamp accelerator type mod into the thing box to move the ball through quicker. Has anyone else done something similar.

Stang

I'll give that a try this weekend and report back

Too late, had it out. Opened it up today, and found a broken gear. Anyone know if they sell a gear kit for this? I saw one on Fleabay for a Tommy blinder motor. Wonder if that has the same gears

So far, I had to replace a light that somehow popped out during gameplay on TSPP. I suck at repairing things, but I'm willing to learn to fix up pinball machines.

Well, looks like you called it right. Good luck with the gear.

TFTC: stupid guillotine drop targets. I replaced the target and reset springs...every once in a while they still pop up past their stopping point.

SBM: Getting my brother to finish painting the cabinet.