Most parts on a Pinball Machine are fairly serviceable, some look daunting, but really aren't, Rudy looks like a pain in Funhouse, but really, a few bolts and plugs and you can take him to the couch and take him all apart, but others, Drive me nuts!!

What is the biggest pain to get out and repair and reinstall??

I am redoing a No Fear that really needed the Jump ramp replaced and had one bad magnet in the back under the ramp. Well, after taking a good look at it, Out comes the playfield, then off comes the back board to get at the magnet! I wouldn't want to try this repair on a location somewhere. No Fear is really an easy maintenance game, no Pop Bumpers etc. but this, just bugs me.

Any others that come to mind??

Dave (getting ready to reinstall everything and hoping I didn't miss something!)

Overall... having to replace any pop bumper skirt is the biggest pain in the a** on any game.  PERIOD.

As for games that have tricky assemblies etc...  I found all the Demo Man wireforms a little tricky to remove / install, only because there is a very specific order to the process, and on reassembly there are a few areas that are VERY tight.

Beyond that, I haven't really found anything that difficult to remove  or reassemble.

D

Bulbs under ramps on any game.  TAF is particularly bad for this.

Quoted from Bish

Bulbs under ramps on any game.  TAF is particularly bad for this.

Add ToM to that list, bulbs in the pop bumpers under the ramps.

Quoted from Menace

Overall... having to replace any pop bumper skirt is the biggest pain in the a** on any game.  PERIOD.

Agreed. But it's also the NICEST, CHEAPEST thing you can do to a game!



my answer is: A data East game

Replacing the gi's under the F-14 diverter...man oh man. You're trying to squeeze your fingers in there and not trying to dismantle absolutely EVERYTHING surrounding it. And piece by piece you eventually do end up taking everything off...including the lane guide under there just to get at two friggin bulbs, and one of them shorts out anyways!
It was like winning a minor war to finally get those replaced and working. Which is why those lights are almost always out on those machines. Out so long I bet some dont even realise there are lights there!

Stan

Quoted from Bish

Bulbs under ramps on any game.  TAF is particularly bad for this.

Yup... Starship Troopers was a giant pain in the a**.. the multi-layered plastics and ramps were brutal

I'm going to go against the grain, I don't mind changing pop bumpers anymore now that I know how to do it and have done it enough, it really isn't a big deal and with the flexiable, insulated wire leads for the socket from pinball life it makes hooking them back up pretty easy as well.

For me my biggest PITA would be ramp diverters, I hate those friggin things, allways shoved into the side of a cabinet where you have to get some small a** allen key into some small a** hole at the most akward angle where you can't even friggin see, then you need like 16 turns since you can only move it 1MM every time you try since your range of motion is so limited, and you can't take off the entire assembly to get a better look at it because you have to remove the diverter first before you can get it off.  Yep I hate those things more then anything else on a game.  

Pop bumpers? Depends what era... In my case, for clearcoating playfields, once they started making pop bumpers on a plastic platform that can be unscrewed from the playfield, that was a godsend. Older playfields are a pain due to the light sockets and where the wires pass... VERY tough to reassemble if I get asked to do it.

I haven't had much experience with DMDs but one I had was with BSD. To change a single light on a pop bumper, you had a  couple of hours of dissassembly, and everything is done in a specific order... a royal pain.

I guess that is why I love older pins... 30 minutes and I end up with a bare playfield top. Change a light? 5 minutes max. Toys are nice on a pinball... until they break or need maintenance. Sheesh...

For MY biggest pain in the a**??? I am sure I am the only one that would say this as it is relative to refurbishing, but the rear MDF panel on all classic pinball cabs. I replace them with a new wood panel, but the MDF has to be removed without damaging the surrounding wood, then cut and rout the wood panel to match exactly, then reinstall, glue and screw in. A solid 8 hours of messy work.

Quoted from Menace

Overall... having to replace any pop bumper skirt is the biggest pain in the a** on any game.  PERIOD.

I'm glad to hear this from the "pros".   I flippin' hate this, and then I have a 50/50 chance of forgetting to put the spring in..., fire the game up, and wonder why the pops are so shoddy, clean the contacts, adjust the switches, ARGH!  Gotta redo it again...

I no longer fear death as I've rebuilt pop bumpers.    Nothing else is more time consuming than them.  As for a game, TAF is a bit of work with its 5 pops.  But generally speaking, STTNG is still probably the biggest pain.