(Topic ID: 18786)

Where did that stupid screw go?!!?!?!

By Nuclear_Waste

11 years ago


Topic Heartbeat

Topic Stats

  • 43 posts
  • 37 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 11 years ago by MrWizzo
  • Topic is favorited by 1 Pinsider

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    #1 11 years ago

    Where, oh where, did that little screw go?

    I know we've all been here, right?:
    - I had the playfield vertical.
    - I removed a screw from the bottom of the playfield.
    - I dropped it.
    - I cursed.
    - I heard it pachinko its way down through everything on the bottom side of the playfield.
    - I heard it land on the bottom of the cabinet.

    Now...it has vanished. (And no, it's not stuck to the speaker )

    I ran a magnet all over the cabinet...no luck. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarg!

    #2 11 years ago

    My TZ has a lost screw and washer I never have found... Been a month... Debating pulling the PF to flip it upside down! I normally keep all magnetic tools around but that one time!

    #3 11 years ago

    Been there, done that!

    #4 11 years ago
    Quoted from Spudgunman:

    My TZ has a lost screw and washer I never have found... Been a month... Debating pulling the PF to flip it upside down! I normally keep all magnetic tools around but that one time!

    Probably lost in the zone.

    #5 11 years ago

    Look in the wire harness along the edges of the cabinet.
    Look inside the speaker.
    Some pins have air vents in the bottom, like Gottliebs, and the screws will find that hole.
    Are you certain it hit the bottom of the cabinet and not one of the playfield mechanisms?

    Another Pinsider recommended laying a white towel on the bottom of the cabinet. Works wonders.

    #6 11 years ago

    Check the clothes dryer. It's probably wrapped up in the missing sock.

    #7 11 years ago
    Quoted from SealClubber:

    Another Pinsider recommended laying a white towel on the bottom of the cabinet. Works wonders.

    So simple, yet so brilliant. Sold!

    #8 11 years ago

    Looking for dropped screws is the biggest frustration in my repair sessions. I have had a few vanish into the void over the years.

    #9 11 years ago

    I lost one yesterday working on Baywatch. I looked over everything very carefully and didn't find it. I don't think I heard it actually land on the cabinet but I wanted to make sure it wasn't shorting against anything before turning it back on.

    #10 11 years ago

    I can relate. I feel your pain.

    #11 11 years ago

    White towel is the way to go for sure but doesnt always stop the screw from vanishing

    I had one screw that wedged its way under a EM Jones connector and caused the machine to blow fuses on power up. Took almost a week to find that one

    #12 11 years ago

    I love finding stuff in the bottom of a cabinet when I do a full restoration. It's crazy how it just hides down there. I've found some pretty random junk... sounds like an idea for a new topic

    The towel works great!

    #13 11 years ago

    I had one get stuck in an insert between the lamp and the plastic. I didn't find it until I switched to LED's

    #14 11 years ago

    ....has happened more than once.

    Nightmares of a lost screw causing a short forces me to look until it's found. The worst hunt was at least 2 hours!

    One of the best pin tools...magnetized drivers.

    #15 11 years ago

    +1 on the magnetized tools. Best gift I've ever received from the old lady!

    #16 11 years ago

    I bought my HS2 with the flasher circuit (tied into the beacon motor/light) not working. It would work when you replaced a fuse for a few seconds and then blow. When I took it all down to clean it and LED it, I found a hairpin clip in lamp socket wedged in the socket and was the greatest fix ever. Got lucky and I was really green to the hobby. Glad it was so simple.

    But can agree that I’ve lost my share of screws. I’ve wasted more time looking for stuff because of this. I finally wised up and stopped using the front lockdown bar area when the lock down bar is removed to store screws during a tear down. I now use a magnetic bowl there. White rag is a great idea. Will be using that one for the future!

    #17 11 years ago

    Or, just have yourself some fun with it:

    #18 11 years ago

    Great thread, we can all relate! If you don't have magnetized nut drivers, get some, they're worth their weight in gold (they are at least worth your sanity)

    #19 11 years ago

    White towel = genius idea.

    #20 11 years ago

    Its sitting in the pop bumper bracket. Be careful not to break the spoon!

    #21 11 years ago
    Quoted from mkgort:

    Or, just have yourself some fun with it:
    » YouTube video

    Oh man...that is FANTASTIC!

    #22 11 years ago
    Quoted from SealClubber:

    Another Pinsider recommended laying a white towel on the bottom of the cabinet. Works wonders.

    great tip!

    #23 11 years ago

    When I drop a screw and it does the pachinko down I pray I hear it hit the cab. When it doesn't i cringe. Ugh, time to start looking.The other day I looked for 30 min. The wife walked up and said " what are you looking for"

    "A screw"(insert joke here)

    She said "that one in the wiring harness"
    Took her a mill. second to spot it.

    Guess ill call her over next time.lol

    Every driver I own is magnetic and the screw drivers have insulated shafts. Wouldn't buy anything else. Are magnetized tools bad around board chips like rom? I know a mag can erase things. Probably not strong enough.
    White towel is nice. Ive used it a few times. When I use it I never drop a thing but when I don't im sure to drop everything.lol

    #24 11 years ago
    Quoted from Eskaybee:

    I can relate. I feel your pain.

    We can ALLLL relate!

    I still haven't found the C-Clip to my shooter rod anywhere yet (it's been 2 weeks)

    #25 11 years ago
    Quoted from fattrain:

    I still haven't found the C-Clip to my shooter rod anywhere yet (it's been 2 weeks)

    I hunted for one of those for about a hour, finaly found it hanging upside down on the wires right under the rod.

    #26 11 years ago

    I'd always check the drop target assembly, good chance it acted like a bucket and scooped it inside there as it fell. I had lost a PF switch cap (its tinier than a screw obviously) that got lodged inbetween the spring for the drop target, couldnt get over how it got stuck there. Replacing the PF components has been the worst of the rebuild job here (4 hours)

    #27 11 years ago

    "...that's been suspended under the chaise lounge for several weeks!"

    Name the artist and song.

    Dan

    #28 11 years ago
    Quoted from tonymiddendorf:

    +1 on the magnetized tools. Best gift I've ever received from the old lady!

    You can also buy a magnetizer and magnetize your existing tools. Cheaper and easier than buying a 2nd set, etc.

    I like the white towel idea. Never tried that!

    #29 11 years ago
    Quoted from MrWizzo:

    "...that's been suspended under the chaise lounge for several weeks!"
    Name the artist and song.
    Dan

    tom waits
    step right up

    #30 11 years ago

    I'll 2nd possible wiring harness. COuld be stuck in a coil set up also.

    #31 11 years ago

    put your playfield in an MRI machine.

    don't forget to leave you credit cards at the desk...

    -jon

    #32 11 years ago
    Quoted from the_pin_family:

    tom waits
    step right up

    Nice.

    #33 11 years ago

    Two worst:
    1) Dropped an E clip into Sopranos while fixing the safe. Took hours to find it.

    2) While giving a Twilight Zone I was selling a quick clean, dropped a screw that bounced and rolled into the exit of the gumball machine. Ended up having to strip the entire back end of the game.

    #34 11 years ago

    Nothing worse than the pachinko sound of the screw falling, although the profanity that follows is usually just as bad.

    My worst was a nut plate for a switch. Couldn't find it, and didn't have any others, so I couldn't get the machine back together. Finally found it stuck to the magnet on the cab speaker, perfectly positioned so that it was invisible. Only found it by running my fingers around the magnet.

    #35 11 years ago

    I've used compressed air at a low setting in the cabinet to find dropped, lost hardware.

    #36 11 years ago
    Quoted from tonymiddendorf:

    +1 on the magnetized tools

    Yeppers, and you can even leave your normal ones on the speaker magnet, and it will magnetize them for you.

    #37 11 years ago

    I use flexible magnetic strips in spots I think I may drop a screw and slide them in just below the spot.
    When I drop the screw it usually sticks to the strip.

    #38 11 years ago
    Quoted from tracelifter:

    I use flexible magnetic strips in spots I think I may drop a screw and slide them in just below

    Never thought of this, good idea.

    Robert

    #39 11 years ago

    Thank goodness for this thread. I felt like a bananahead. Got my AC/DC and the first thing you have to do is remove three nuts to open the lower playfield and insert that ball. On the third one it slipped and vanished. No kerplunk or bouncing around just vanished. Searched all day and finally gave up.
    Going home tonight to look in the back of the dryer to see if its stuck in a sock...

    #40 11 years ago

    Hey, it happens to everyone. I found a washer in my bra once. What's worse, to me, is when you finish, and there is a nut left over. And you check every part 3 times, and there's no nut missing. Where do they spawn from?

    #41 11 years ago

    I lost a screw in my WCS94 months ago. Searched and searched but never found it. The machine hasn't caught on fire yet, so I guess that's a good sign that it landed in an innocuous location.

    #42 11 years ago
    Quoted from mkgort:

    Or, just have yourself some fun with it:
    » YouTube video

    Hank's plinko. Hilarious.

    #43 11 years ago

    I do this all too often. Often it is laying in a coil bracket or some other assembly or lodged in a wire bundle underneath the drop point.

    Dan

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