Yeah, sometimes if it isn't too bad you can get away with filing it down. If the goal is replacement, then you can go after it with a hacksaw as well. Might be faster than filing.

From my Route days: For games without Auto-launch mechs, we would carry and use a large file to get rid of the "mushroom". Then bend back the "fingers" on the shooter gauge by 1/8-3/16" to make up for the shortened shooter rod.

Could you push a couple of small washers into the new tip before installing it to take up some slack?

You could, and we tried that along with plastic spacers similar to circuit board standoffs. the problem in a commercial environment is that the weight of the spacers quickly caused the rubber tip to launch into the shooter lane causing a ball jam in the lane or on the playfield. Usually within a week. Again, on location, not in a home environment.

Can't you unbolt the whole housing with rod to take out of the machine? The outside grind that off or cut the rod. Either way definitely get a new shooter rod.

You can, in the shop. You would need a complete assembly. We only carried a spare shooter rod for Bally, Williams & Gottlieb to replace ones that idiot players bent. (IIRC, you could use one of them with Stern machines). We did not carry the shooter rod guides. In order to swap the guides, springs, Washer by the E-Clip, you had to grind away the mushroomed tip. At that point, you could re-use everything. The Route owner was one cheap SOB who watched service part costs closely. Best to file in the cabinet as it acted as a Vise. At a bowling alley, I used their mechanic's shop for certain things like this, But not so at a 7-11, pool hall, Bar, strip joint (Yes, we had pins there) etc.

I've encountered a few of the blown out(mushroomed) shooters. I would remove the playfield and then cut the damaged portion off with a dremel cutting wheel while still place. Much faster than filing. Replace, vacuum, play.

Shawn

Got a dremel, cutting wheels and grinding stones. And an old Wms shooter rod that might just work. One of those with the small tip, but I can tape it before putting on the tip.

Yeah. Who needs a shooter tip! (Posted earlier but became relevant again)

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So, looking at the pics, how long did some owner let that game go without a new tip for it to mushroom like that? The story is it was in a kid's group home.

The tip of the shooter rod looks sort of the way a bullet expands after it hits a target.

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And for the same reasons exactly. But you dont need to repair the bullet

Dude replaced that start button on JP pro because he said the customers didn't like the original one. Why use that when you can just write on the cab?

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coil stop bracket for bally made out of a window shade bracket.

Brilliant!!

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Me too!

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Pics of best friend's mom?

I agree, Brilliant. Should get hack of the day award.

Yes, but this foil has a unique purpose. Most of the time it is to jump around the fuse. In this case I think it is just to create something for the alligator clip to bite on to hold the fuse in place.

Now and then I just come here to cry and laugh simultaneously.

Not too bad, just sharpie a zero next to the 1, for a 10 amp, coil-wire fuse setup....

That brings me back to the good o'l rout days.

Every time I think I've seen it all in this thread, I am amazed yet again at people's ingenuity...a window shade bracket...love it.

That was one thing on the route. NEVER, EVER, bypass a fuse. If the game caught fire and took out a location, our insurance carrier warned us that liability coverage could be void if it was discovered.

I never thought about liability issues when you have a game on location. So, I'm guessing if you had a pin catch fire and burn a place down that the insurance company will be fine tooth combing it as it looks for a way out of contract obligations.

Without a jimmied fuse, is it possible for a pin to spontaneously combust? Could a shorted transformer cause a pin to catch fire?

Yes regarding the transformer, but the obnoxious smell begins to waif for days. Then, usually, it simply opens and the chance of a fire is gone but the machine is dead.
The best I can say is that Insurance Companies are your friend, until something goes wrong.

Can a transformer just go bad without any outside influence, such as a jimmied fuse ? If so, what causes a transformer to just give it up?

When I brought my Nine Ball home it had a different transformer (Bally 122-125) installed. And you could see black burn marks on the side of the cabinet next to the transformer. I also had a burned area under the play field from where a GI light shorted; The socket had been replaced but the burn was obvious.

Well, sure, any component can fail, and transformers are no exception. Transformers have coils of copper wire with an insulating layer (in older transformers, often just some sort of lacquer), and if that insulation breaks down and develops a partial short, they can start heating up and eventually they will overheat enough to melt the potting compound, which will leak out and make a mess (seen that in a number of carcass games). Actually catching on fire is pretty rare, since the line-fuse should blow in that situation.

"Abuse" such as bypassed fuses or hot-tapping can be the proximate cause, but external factors like line-voltage surges can also provoke a failure. Ultimately, transformers are pretty robust, but nothing is forever!

Yes. There are design errors in Williams pins (and others) that could cause a fire. I’m sure all companies have some.

Modern pins are built better with better protection (like MOVs and main fuse inside metal boxes)

Things to avoid:
Insurance companies
The police
The mob
The gov

None of those are your friend

I get a Social Security check every month. Without fail. I like my Govie friend.

You forgot: Forgetting to pay your Pinball Resource invoice on time.

I literally open the box to find the invoice. Write the check and put it in the mail before I even touch the parts lol

Transformers do catch fire...

I've seen stern older games with transformer on the bottom of the cabinet. Overheated gi plugs that are burnt. Paper work and manuals floating around in cabinet. Under right circumstances anything is possible.
Had an operator with hacked gi wiring on a twilight zone. A fire burnt away the lower left corner of the driver board. Couldnt get going due to lack of oxygen.

The classic using god damn rubber bands on posts?

Battery holder, no good, no problem.

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A rubber band is about as temporary as you can get. An easy problem to fix. Yes?

wow soldering on an alkaline battery is like playing with an M80 ...that dude was either stupid or lucky or both

I have some movie props where the builders of the props soldered in alkaline batteries to run some LEDs. I guess they never anticipated ever having to change out the batteries?

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You got me to thinking that it was potting compound stain and not burn marks on my cab.

Well, it says slo blo, and foil would be pretty slo.

when I was in the navy one of the guys was trying to fix a personal radio by doing this...needless to say the battery exploded and left his face disfigured for life

My Old Chicago has one end of a fuse holder clamped down around the fuse with a zip tie. Works for me, until I have to change the fuse.

Transformed !

Bally Star Trek rectifier board with a larger rectifier. It needed a heat sink so someone used a brass plumbing adapter!

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Waste of a good fitting...

An old door knob would have been a better choice.

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