I've been working on Rollergames and I thought this would make a good thread:

We hear people b**** about ops and other people's shop jobs so, What's do YOU really do in your basic shop job? Be honest now!

Here's what I've done so far and it's what I pretty much do on all my shop jobs.

- change the leg coasters before putting them on.
- Wash the legs with bleche white (also before putting them on )
- replace the leg bolts with new ones
- usually put a new lock since it's 75% of the time missing
- change the balls
- change the batteries
- test all transistors while I'm up there
- strip it
- dishwash all metals and all plastics (ramps and all)
- brush (or sand paper) all metal + wax them.
- tumble all bolts, posts, gates and pop+sling plungers
- novus2 + 2 coats of wax
- rebuild flippers: plunger and link, sleeve, bushing, coil stop, spring, cap, EOS
- rebuild pop bumpers: skirt, sleeve, metal and fiber yoke, base plastic and body, new light socket
- slingshots: new sleeve
- replace the shooter rod sleeve + new spring barrel + rubber
- all new plastic star post ( 0.37$ at bay area!)
- all new rubbers (dhu!)
- all new 47 lights on top, replace burnt ones below.
- vacuum cabinet

I think that's it.

oh yeah: PLAY THE THING

Well..for me it depends...

As a standard:
- 95% top disassembly (some parts might stay on if not broken or excessively dirty)
- Full Novus 2
- Change all bulbs that don't work OR that are 'old' (brown or mirror glass)
- Usually put 44s in my keepers and 47s in my non-keepers.
- Air spray all inserts under playfield
- Change balls
- Change batteries
- If bolts/levellers are in rough shape: tumble them. If not sufficient: replace
- Rebuild flippers (only if needed)
- Clean all ramps with Novus2
- Clean all plastics in dishwashing soap and water with a toothbrush (old one!)
- Change all rubbers
- Sometimes borrow my brother's tumbler for all metal parts
- Replace lock (if needed)

If it's one of my 'keepers', I also do the following:
- Wax the playfield
- Replace ramps if cracke or in rough shape (with nice used ones)
- vacuum the cabinet
- Change the bolts and leg levellers
- If I don't like the aestethics of a certain part, I will try to replace it.

Frosken

Quoted from frosken

Well..for me it depends...
- Usually put 44s in my keepers and 47s in my non-keepers.

you mean the other way around right ?

Quoted from Mrhide

you mean the other way around right ?

Err...no!!!  

My machines are only turned on when I play....and I don't play 2 hours a day, 7 days a week...

Longevity...yeah sure...but for the amount of time I play them, I want 'full brightness'  

Do you actually install 159s instead of 555s?

Same thing

Call me different, but that's my philosophy and I'm sticking to it!

Frosken

Ta pas asser changé de Gi connectors encore ... ca viendra ! Mr.Différent !

44's melt plastics and burn connectors when the machines are on 12 hours a day 360 days a year (couple of days off for holidays)..  

For home use it's 44's and nothing else...  Unless guys are totally paranoid (somewhat likely) or totally uninformed (more likely) and follow others like sheep....  Well so and so said it was better to use 47's...  Whatever...

In 5-6 years, most collectors will not put as many hours of use on a pin that it would receive in six months on location...  Think about it.  10 hours a day for 180 days..  1800 hours of plastic melting heat..  

Regular guy with a life..  5 hours a week on average.. maybe... so 5 X 52 weeks = 260..  At that rate it would take 7 years to equal 6 months of basic bar abuse.  Most important though is that most collectors would NEVER leave their home machine on for hours.

My 0.02$

Mike

C'est pas 20 heures d'usure par mois qui va modifier ton connecteur GI en type 'croustillant'...

Mes deux cennes

Jeez... and all I did was spit on the playfield and wipe it with my sleeve!  

Seriously, what you guys are doing is a little more than simply shopping a pin IMHO... rebuilding flippers and pop bumpers??? Honestly, I follow Murphy's law... if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Of course I clean everything, put in new coil sleeves, but I don't go as far as rebuilding them all.

MrHide, do you actually change all the pop bumper and flipper parts, or just the parts that need to be changed? If you change all, you must keep a hell of an inventory of parts. I find that simply cleaning years of crud and installing new coil sleeves does wonders.

Yeah... you could polish everything, but I think that this is past the "shopping" level, and more into restoring. THAT is what I want to do next. Flash Gordon will get the major treatment soon. I plan on investing a good 500$ in parts and 250 hours of time to get her as nice as possible. Just gotta find a good place to repaint the cab. I don't think that Bally intended FG to be pink...

As for board work, yeah, I will test transistors, easy enough, but I don't touch the MPU, and even hesitate on solenoid driver boards... I simply beg Mindstorm to fix em!

Sparky

Forgot to mention... I use #47 lights as well. I absolutely agree with Mike and Frosken 100%... I don't even play 10 hours a month IN TOTAL on all my machines at the moment, but I learned a big lesson after a while... You guys mention that you use #44 lights on your keepers... well, I have stopped believing in that principle... there is no such thing as a "keeper". You ALWAYS see one pin (or vid) that you dream of having, and end up selling a "keeper". I ALWAYS put on #47 lights, simply to avoid switching them from #44 to #47 lights before I deliver the pin.

Also, there is the age factor... Take an old Bally like my Flash Gordon for example... the power supply is 26 years old. The less juice the lights take, the better. But you are right... home use will not do much to fry a GI circuit if it is in good shape (clean sockets, new connector...).

Sparky

I think this post proves one thing: 'Shopping a pinball machine'
does not mean quite the same thing for all individuals!

I have seen many hacks, '100% working' and 'shopped' statements
from various sellers (especially non-collectors, private owners, brokers
or dealers) in the past; very rarely this is the case!

In my shopping for any of my machines, I usually do the following.
List below (in no particular order) is typical of my tasks on an early solid-state
pinball machine. I take pride in quality work and proper parts. It shows.

- vacuum cabinet
- clean cabinet with Mr.Net
- check every fuse holder & fuse ratings (I have seen too many fire-hazard, way above values!)
- check GROUND; replace AC plug if ground pin was previously removed
- go through every board, including mods (Clay/Marvin3m) where applicable. Fix.
- replace leg levellers
- replace leg bolts and inside metal leg nut if warranted
- install new pinballs. Always.
- replace faulty or all caps on switches (especially older Bally)
- reflow header pins on all boards/get rid of cold solder joints
- verify all voltages. Where applicable, adjust +5, and lower high voltage for the displays to extend their life
- replace headers/pins/housings (with 0.156 trifurcon) where needed
- clean all PF switches with business card/alcool (solid state machines)
- clean flipper buttons
- file flipper switch and EOS flipper switches; replace if too worn-out
- replace broken parts as required (on pop-bumpers/flippers and other areas)
- replace coil sleeves on flippers, kickers and pop-bumpers, unless recently done
- only install flipper rebuild kit if warranted (part prices add-up!), however verify that EOS switch is not worn-out and properly adjusted, and that bushing not worn-out if no rebuild kit installed
- remove all plastics & every posts, clean playfield, clean posts, re-install (and add toothpick/glue where needed for any screws stripped); clean plastics with Novus1; clean plastic nuts with small amount of water & dishwasher soap
- install new rubber rings
- install #51 bulbs in pop-bumpers instead of #44 bulbs (just started to do this)
- re-lamp all PF top bulbs with #47 and replace all blackened/silvered bulbs under PF and in head with #47 bulbs
(I'll have to get 261s in the future to replace those 555s too)
- fix loose lamp sockets causing dim/intermittent lamps, where needed
- clean underside of lamp inserts with Q-tips/alcool
- adjust every PF switch and ensure all properly score. Also perform switch test, of course
- check that every lamp (GI and switched) properly work
- wax PF (non-mylar) with 2 or 3 coats of carnuba wax
- lube parts inside cashdoor (coin return) and ensure credit on coin properly works
- lube mechanical parts where needed only (kickers, spinners)
- replace battery on MPU with off-board one (older Gottlieb, Sterns, Ballys).
Check battery charging (for off-board ni-cad)
- set options (dip switches, reset bookeeping and set SW options to agree with score/instruction cards)
- ensure all screws for mechs under the playfield are present, proper and tight.
- ensure all wiring is properly soldered and remove any prior hacks and poor solder jobs (esp. inside cab, in head and under PF)
- ensure tilt properly works; adjust if needed
- install new good-quality lock/key if needed
- obtain/supply manual/schematics
- replace ball shooter barrel spring if required
- test quite a few games !

On some games we sometimes need to do more
(such as removing MPU battery corrosion, glue cabinet,
find and replace missing parts, etc.).

Shopping a machine typically takes me 10-40 hours, depending on what is needed.
A lot of fun, however serious amount of labor is required on most machines
to do a proper shop job and make the machine reliable and safe again.

Thank God this is a hobby, the few machines I sell now and then
certainly do not pay the mortgage!

Happy flipping
Cheers,
- Sylvain

Quoted from Moonlit_Knight

MrHide, do you actually change all the pop bumper and flipper parts, or just the parts that need to be changed? If you change all, you must keep a hell of an inventory of parts.

Yes I do. Cleaning is a pain and never brings back "that new shine".
500$ for FG? didn't I sell it to you for LESS then that ?!  
I buy in bulk for these parts when I go to shows.

Let's hear it Sparks, what do you do?

44 VS 47: ta terminator étais toute bruler et il a fallu que je change le connecteur parce que, tu te souviens, le haut de ton backbox ne fonctionnais plus?
Enough said!  

Quoted from Moonlit_Knight

Forgot to mention... I use #47 lights as well. I absolutely agree with Mike and Frosken 100%... I don't even play 10 hours a month IN TOTAL on all my machines at the moment, but I learned a big lesson after a while... You guys mention that you use #44 lights on your keepers... well, I have stopped believing in that principle... there is no such thing as a "keeper". You ALWAYS see one pin (or vid) that you dream of having, and end up selling a "keeper". I ALWAYS put on #47 lights, simply to avoid switching them from #44 to #47 lights before I deliver the pin.

Also, there is the age factor... Take an old Bally like my Flash Gordon for example... the power supply is 26 years old. The less juice the lights take, the better. But you are right... home use will not do much to fry a GI circuit if it is in good shape (clean sockets, new connector...).

Sparky

Unless you're putting your machine on location, why put 47s?

It's the "buyer's problem" if he wants to put it on location with 44's...

The bulbs are the same price...go for 44!!!