Point #5 - don't buy cheap dollies!

I got a nice USA made one for $250 15 years ago and I still use it to this day.

Not worth skimping on this important tool! As attractive as that $70 Home Depot dolly may seem to your wallet it's fool's gold!

you really need a quality "appliance dolly" with stair treads and a ratchet strap for frequent moving of pinball machines.

To expand on 4 and 5…

You’ve only got one back, and once you wreck it you may never have a good one again. This applies if you’re in your 20’s or 60’s. Use proper lifting mechanics, the right tools and most importantly help when you need it.

#1-- In some instances, it would be best to leave plugged in for the chance of static shock to boards ( solid state dmd etc)

This, 100%. I am using the same dolly that I've had for 19 years. Good appliance dolly with the stair treads and ratchet strap.

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What is most dangerous is that they are asexual. They reproduce. No such thing as only having one.

LTG : )

An aside on point 5: I heard an escalara is a great investment, as long as you don’t send it on autopilot down a flight of stairs.

Be careful working with the playfield raised up, leaning on the backbox.
It's nasty if the playfield falls, especially if it lands on you.

Overkill, but I bungee field when I have it up. Gnr did not go very far past center when raised, always bugged me

The addiction is the most dangerous part.

You discussed voltages and where not to stick your finger(s).

When working on older machines, do not assume that the shields are still there to protect you from high voltage. Check pictures on IPDB first to see where things go on your machine. Or at least should go.

Bally Solid State Solenoid board is a great example. That "protect me from high display voltages" shield might be long gone. Also the cage around the transformer is probably gone as well.

I was working on my NGG and I had the playfield out and resting on the lockdown bar area on its two under- rails. When I set it down, I didn’t notice it was just barely secure and could easily slip off back to its normal resting position. I stuck my hand under the pf for just a sec and the damn thing slipped. I almost yanked my hand out in time but it got caught on the closing pf and lacerated the hell out of two fingers. That is the kind of mistake you only make once.

Someone mentioned stairs. Was moving NIB Wonka down five stairs with wife’s help. Long story short we made a mistake and she got pinned between the box and a storage shelf at bottom of the stairs for a couple minutes. She was not hurt but was scary as hell. Underestimated the weight of that game, it is heavier than many. So yeah never doing that again either!

To add to this, nitrile gloves are not really electrically insulated. You will still get zapped if you touch high voltage.

Be careful when bending over and moving your head under a propped playfield. You're likely to bonk your head on a random bracket that is outside of your field if vision when you come back up if you're not careful.

Not all machines have the same “stops” when pulling a playfield into to farthest service position. So don’t use feel to know when to stop….as you could pull the playfield out too far and have it drop into the cabinet.

Capacitors are components that are used to store an electric charge. In other words, they charge up to a certain voltage, and will remain at that voltage until the energy is released. They look like large black cylinders. Some games will have them on the 50V rail to smooth out power and filter out electrical "noise". And in many cases, they'll retain that voltage even after the game is powered off. Disconnecting the capacitors from the rest of the system is usually a safe way to reduce the risk of shock. That said, you may or may not actually get a shock from 50V. It's certainly possible, but it depends on a few factors, including the conductivity of your skin (sweaty skin conducts far better than dry skin). Probably an even more likely danger that people probably don't realize is if your wedding ring shorts out a power rail, you suddenly have a ring of super heated metal stuck on your finger. I'd post pictures, but they are pretty gruesome. That being said, I've never heard of that happening while working on a pinball machine, but I imagine it could happen.
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And I'll make a special note for P2K systems like revenge from mars, which has a CRT display (old big glass bubble display, like old TVs) (this also applies to video arcade games with the same kind of display); those CRT displays operate at roughly 30kV (thirty *thousand* volts); easily lethal, and they can retain that voltage after being powered off. You can look up videos on how to discharge them safely, but they have a plug on the back of the display tube where the power cable plugs into, typically covered in a rubber boot for safety, however you can actually still get a shock even through that rubber boot, so don't touch it before discharging it. I got zapped by one many years ago, through that rubber boot, before I realized it was even a danger. I was genuinely confused; it was like an invisible horse ran up and kicked me in the chest. I actually looked around for some physical object that I figured must have just hit me at 50mph, before I realized it was a shock from the CRT. A shock from a household outlet is a gentile tickle, in comparison to a CRT.

Of course, working on a machine with power applied also presents risk to your fingers getting smashed by coils, sliced by motors, servos, etc. Had an autoplunger smash my finger between 2 balls in the shooter lane a couple months ago. Yowza, that's almost as bad as hitting your finger with a hammer.

And slightly less dangerous, but always be mindful of sharp metal edges inside a machine. Never got any bad gashes, but my hands definitely get nicked up pretty good after working on a machine all day.

To answer the title of this thread: Someone who hasn’t educated themselves before opening a machine, that’s the most dangerous thing in a pinball machine.

The weight of a pinball machine feels much heavier going down stairs and around landings. Dollys plus people, please!

I’m scared of retained voltage. I unplug everything before servicing mine but know there are still electrified components. Watch out!

Be very very careful with this type of pinball lift mechanism. This is the one that I used to move my Alien, became too top heavy started to tilt and then came crashing and fractured my leg.
I dont use it anymore obviously.

If you are going to use it , dont do it alone. and dont use it on carpet. YOu have been warned. Easiest thing which I wish I had read about/known earlier are carpet sliders. Makes moving machines on carpet so damn easy. Could have saved me an ER visit!
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I also avoid these antique torture contraptions. New style Hydraulic lift carts are much easier and more precise to use.

Some stuff

http://www.xsvtoys.net/pinball_safety.htm

Alligator clips to connect mods. Please, take some time and learn to solder.

Warning! Keep hands away from mini playfield!

Wildlife.

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Never use electrical contact cleaner on a pinball machine.

Lessen learned - around 1985.

Check the screw that's holding the prop rod on your old Em machine. Luckily I noticed mine was barely holding on !
That would have really hurt my feelings if that gave out while I was under the play field.

Check your EM schematic for what's running at line level voltage -- and take care! Ensure if you rewire the power cord that the hot wire is on the correct side (fused/power switch).

Good thread!

Because Capacitors can hold a charge and when connected to the 50v circuit (it says 50v, but reads about 78v), the board manufacturers always put a resistor that will fairly quickly 'bleed off' the voltage.

The problem is that that resistor frequently isn't working! So when the resistor isn't doing it's job, you can pull a board (WPC boards have caught me a couple of times...) and if your fingers cross where the capacitors are connected, it will shock you!

I don't want to minimize this because electricity is tricky, and a VERY small amount of current if it catches the right cycle of your heartbeat can kill you.

In my experience, I've caught the coil voltages on the bottom of playfields and boards more often than I want to say and getting shocked is painful. The serious injury of the 'I got shocked' experience has always been when I jerk my hand/arm away from the source of the shock and something sharp cuts me open. Then I'm bleeding. Again.

It was drilled into me as a young electronics technician to NEVER allow voltage to go from one hand, across your heart to another hand. If you are anywhere NEAR the Mains voltage (110V AC) you make sure that you are not working with a live circuit, and you make double sure by working as if that circuit was live, with properly insulated tools and careful attention to what you are doing. Work with one hand in your back pocket they said, and I still find myself doing that.

"There are old electricians, and bold electricians, but there are no old bold electricians."

One more note.

Power plugs are frequently rewired in this hobby, and particularly EM's if the power in plug is wired wrong and there isn't a third wire to your plug, a terrible possibility exists that the metal side rails can be electrified.

My first amusement technician boss was a guy named Gary, and every machine that went out of his shop had the ground wire installed, and all outward facing metal parts were connected by a ground strap to earth ground. On kiddie rides and older stuff this involved quite a lot of wiring, but we always did it.

Gary, when he was a kid at a swimming pool watched a wet kid squeeze between the metal rails of two pinballs, and because one of them wasn't wired correctly, the metal on one pinball connected to ground, and the other pinball was hot. Gary watched that kid die right in front of him.

Ground plugs and ground straps matter. Electrical plugs being correctly wired matters. This isn't an optional safety check.

I think the prop bars in almost all games are worthless and do not recommend anyone actually use them.

I stopped reading after this

On older William's games make sure the rectifiers are fused for the feature lamps and coils.

Also just because the game has a ground plug doesn't mean it's good. Verify by doing a continuity check from coin door to ground plug.

Check new purchases for proper fuse ratings.

The biggest advice to avoid danger is not telling your better half how much you spend on the hobby.

Outlet checkers can be had for around $10. Get one and plug into the games service outlet. That will let you know if the wall outlet and game are wired right and working.

Any error, then unplug the game and check the wall outlet. If that is good then move onto your games' wiring.

LTG : )

I would imagine a cat would be dangerous in a pinball machine. ( Not my cat, not my pic)

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