Looks like that digital torpedo level is going to be on sale for 30 bucks (instead of 60) at crappy tire this weekend.  Looks like a great tool for checking the level on your pins:

http://www.canadiantire.ca/bro.....;bmUID=1278592791859

The email alert thing that they have set up for items going on sale is pretty neat actually.  I'm kind of surprised that they have it.  

i've got one, nice and small, and perfect for making sure your machines are level, and if you put them on the playfield, the digital pitch meter is great for
setting the perfect pitch for your games.

Definatly a good tool for any pinball guy

Eric

Agreed. I got one for Christmas and I love it. It's infinitely better than those silly "analog" inclinometers like this:

Quoted Text

Agreed. I got one for Christmas and I love it. It's infinitely better than those silly "analog" inclinometers like this:

Yeah, that's what I have now, and it's a pain in the a** waiting for the needle to stop moving.  

I use the digital one from Cantire as well.  It's nice because you can set it so that it will "beep" when you hit the required level (either zero horizontal or 6+ degrees vertical) which makes it easy to level from under the pinball (which is how I normally do it, I get under the machine and use my (aching) back to lift the machine while I rotate the leg levellers.  (One day I'll get arund to building a more mobile pinball lift.)

I'm on this, thanks!

this is great thanks for the info

The only level in the flyer I see is an all-in-1 laser level for 34.99. Maybe it isn't in Ontario?

Canadian Tire deals now change from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and flyer to flyer.  If they advertise the deal online then you can be assured it is applied across the line.  But I have found, in the past, that sometimes something that isn't advertised online is on sale in the flyer, and sometimes, by the time they ring it in, something that isn't marked on sale at the floor level is discounted at the cash.  SO it's worth going into the store and asking.

I picked one of these up yesterday in Mississauga, but they hadn't been marked down in store yet.  It rand through at 29.99 though, so the price is good.  They probably just hadn't gotten around to moving stock around yet, since it was around 8:30 on Friday morning.  

Just got mine this morning too...

They had about 5 on shelves.

Also picked-up a few boxes of Magic Eraser which they had for $1 each.
(...oh, and some lawn fertilizer, but that's another story ! )

Steph

Bought the damn digital level...great, now I can be even MORE anal about the pitch of my games  

Can someone remind me what is the proper slope for an EM pin and then for an early SS pin please. I know it can be changed based on preference but I can't remember what the factory setup was.

interesting, My T2 and Stargate had pitch of 8.5 degrees, so I lowered the T2 to...heck, I forget what it was but it plays better again! Dont seem to remember setting it up that steep. And the Stargate, I had it the set up basically the same slope as when I bought it, the other week I lowered the pitch by quite a few turns of the ol leg levelers and its still at 8.5! Wow, must have been well over 9 degrees then, no wonder it plays so fast and vicious! Genesis at 7.4, Wof at 7.4...funny enough, HS at 6.4, gonna raise it up slightly, havent checked the other pins yet.
Playing with my new digital level!

Thanks for sharing this!
I'm gonna get one today

When does the sale end?

Quoted from Pinballed

Bought the damn digital level...great, now I can be even MORE anal about the pitch of my games  

How can you be anal about the pitch when other than the standard 6 degrees, when pitch is often tuned by the play of the game (and need to shorten game times) and the state of the flipper strength?  

Quoted from igorsr

When does the sale end?

Usually on for the week and the new flyer comes out on Friday.

anal about the pitch?...easy...first of all, every house I've lived in has crooked floors, front to back, side to side, whichever....
And, when you set up a pin, get it all levelled out, have some play, it WILL shift slightly, legs will spread, the level wiill change...have a half degree or more to the left or to the right and you tell me it doesnt affect your gameplay? Now the same gameplay with that half or whole degree fron front to back, same thing.

However, without checking the exact pitch of my T2, it played nice and sharp, was great for me, now that I find out its two whole degrees steeper than intended, I'll roll it back and see what that feels like...then I'll put it back because I know it'll play too easy

Anal about pitch?...my friend, its simply a matter of how well you really know your machines. I can tell if my HS isnt sitting right, whether its left or right, or too steep, or not enough, but now I can not only find that perfect pitch, I can go back and readjust it to that pitch when it goes off and theres no guessing....it doesnt quite feel right...I hate that feeling...it MUST be perfect, that way the ball rolls true and it hits those ramps and comes down to the flippers just right...its all about the feel man.
And I guess thats my point, certain games the pitch isnt determined by gameplay...thus all the dolts who go back legs all the way up and front all the way down disproving that arguement, and theres alot of machines set up that way. I love it when I see guys saying, oh yeah, back leg levelers all the way up, front all the way down...couldnt be more wrong. Absolutely not the way they were designed.I could have that Stargate set up two degrees higher or lower, either way it'll still play, just one will be harder and faster, and one will be for girls and small children etc...

But the true piece of mind is knowing your machine is set up perfectly for gameplay and it it shifts, you can go back and have it right at the exact specs you need for optimum performance, and thats what its all about for me and this level thing

Quoted from Pinballed

And I guess thats my point, certain games the pitch isnt determined by gameplay...thus all the dolts who go back legs all the way up and front all the way down disproving that arguement, and theres alot of machines set up that way. I love it when I see guys saying, oh yeah, back leg levelers all the way up, front all the way down...couldnt be more wrong. Absolutely not the way they were designed.

Sheesh, Stan, that's harsh.

I like my games cranked and I could really care less what the designers think. I like to my games to be fast. I'm not waiting 5 minutes for the ball on my '53 Quintette to meander its way down to the flippers. Cranked levelers on wooden legs and 'yellow dot' coils to give the 2" flippers enough mustard to shoot back up. The back legs on my Spirit are sitting on a piece of 2x4. The flipper power is kept very juicy. I plan on swapping the legs out for 31"-ers (but not leveled up any more than it is; just to be rid of the silly-looking wood). Ironically, the only game I haven't cranked is my High Speed, which was my first pin. I'll get it raised up too when I find time and I'll wager Steve Ritchie won't call me names.

All said, you're very welcome to come over and try my 'dolt-ish' line-up and complain how un-fun my games are.

... but bring your own beer; you hurt my feelings.

Okay I picked up one of these levels today and ...

how are people using these levels (where on the machine do you take your readings), are you using the audible alert and adjusting the machine until the alert goes off ....


Much Thanks


Squid

i usually level it with one other person, so one person is looking at the level, and someone is under the machine breaking their back adjusting the legs.

oh, I tried it. Early on, I cranked up my HS like a dolt to see how it would play. It was awful. I dont want to have to put hopped up flippers in it just to make the ramp. Just last night I was just going over Steve Ritchies comments on RPG ( I was looking for pitch info for certain ares) as to pitch etc and he's pretty adamant his machines, in order to play them as they were intended, should be set up with the standard Williams 6.5 degrees for games of that era. So I guess I was a little full of that steam because if thats the way they were intended, spoked by the man who designed them...and my fave pin designer too! Steve and I have had a few chats over the phone, hes a good guy, a mans man, if you will...that and he and I share stories of our music gigs. Its funny, I call him, all eager to talk pinball, and there he is, all giddy asking me questions about gigs I've done, who I've played with, my good name dropping stories hanging with the Stones etc...

Sorry bro, Dolts is a bit harsh! I rescind! Set up your machines any way you want, play them upside down for all I care...I suppose anyways. Remember, I DID specify how anal I get about it...lol...that and anything pinball, which was my initial point...more anal with the new level...see?

I'm not waiting 5 minutes for the ball on my '53 Quintette to meander its way down to the flippers.

I DO agree with that tho, I have my one EM cranked

Set-up of machines is all relative.  Nice to try out 6.5 degrees, but you know many games are improved by changing the pitch and all sorts of things (including driving nails in the out holes), it all depends on how you (the owner who is either playing it or routing it to make a living) prefer it to be.  I like stock machines, but after I've had some time with them, I'm all for modding them out, adding pop bumpers or whatnot   , and making adjustments to improve the gameplay as some "snore" games can be greatly improved by fixing what the designers missed.

As for using the level, all measurements "should" be taken from the playfield itself (making sure that it is seated properly at the front and that the cabinet is not skewed tangentially).  Normally I would level side to side to zero first, and if you press to get the beep mode, then this is straightforward and you can do it from underneath the cabinet.   Next comes the Back to Front angle, you can do it with two people and have one person read the angle, but I "trick" the unit by holding or propping it up with shims to the angle I want to acheive and then hitting the "reset" button and that "zeros" the level to the angle you had it at so that you can then put it flat on the playfield and adjust the legs until you hear the "beep".  Just remember to do both front or back legs the same amount to help keep the playfield level from side to side.  Usually I follow up setting the playfield front to back angle, by re-doing the side-to-side angle and it's pretty consistent after that.

Also, I always add nuts both on top and bottom of the leg leveller bolts (where they attach to the legs) so that there is a nut taking the weight from the bottom (as it should be by design), and one above that locks the leg height.

The usual cause for the playfield angles to change is after lifting the playfield for service, or on older games where the cabinet is loose from "nudging", either the playfield isn't resting completely on the area of the lockdown bar, or the cabinet has become skewed.

How's that for anal?

Oh, I forgot to mention that the temporary "Reset" zeroing you did is put back to normal level when you turn the unit off and back on.  And it's 79 degrees F in my office right now.  

Well guys that has to be the best discussion to answer my question about angles. Talk about thorough!

is this sale still on or was it just the weekend?

Quoted from Pharoah007

is this sale still on or was it just the weekend?

This one is still on sale which, I believe, ends Thursday: http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST.....BLevel.jsp?locale=en

Just don't set it to more than 6.5 degrees or some members might call you names.

Quoted from Pharoah007

is this sale still on or was it just the weekend?

Still on sale I picked two up yesterday ... but as others have mentioned it will probably not show as being on sale in the rack but if you take it to the register it will be sold for $29.99

I Just picked one up here in Brampton on my lunch. I called three stores and had them visually confirm that they were in stock.
Good thing as some stores have them in the system but not on the shelves.

Looks like it's back on sale for $24.99 this weekend (probably Friday or Saturday).  I didn't realize that I still had the notification turned on for this.  Neat tool for anyone who still doesn't have one.