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Area required for multiple pins?

David_Vi

David_Vi

Site Supporter
5Years
Joined
Sep 3, 2019
Messages
3,911
Location
Sudbury
I'm looking for my first home this year and one of the requirements is room for pins of course. I've found dimensions for the standard size pins, Williams/Sterns but was wondering if someone could reccomend the space between that allows multiple people to play different machines without getting in the way of each other?

I figure this would be a widely asked question but i'm struggling to find results.
What i'd like to make is an area for one pin that I can put in my reference doc ready for when we view houses.

I've attached a plan of one of the houses i've looked at, I was thinking it would fit 3 on the back wall and then one between the fireplace and the window?
roomheath.jpg


Cheers
David
 
One thing to maybe consider is room to remove the glass too for maintenance, slides out from the front so from back of machine to where glass is full slid out is just shy of 8 feet! (I’ve just measured)
 
The backbox width allows mutliple pins to be played side by side no worries as the body is slimmer than the head - hence why people line em up - I use roughly 10cm gap between heads. Outer walll only gets 6 - 7...

I don't measure, this is guestimates.
 
Nickoss II said:
Don'f forget to measure the width of the front door for getting 'em in and out!
Click to expand...

Personally I wouldn’t worry too much about this, I have to take the backbox off to get machines through the front door but it’s not really a big issue.
 
To reply to the original post though, when we were looking at places I had the exact same thing in mind. I worked on the basis of 80cm width per machine to accommodate the backbox - modern Sterns are narrower but I assumed I may have a mix of games and would want at least a few cm between each one.

As Andy said though, don’t forget the space to remove the glass. I got lucky and the place we bought has a room that can fit five in a row with literally just enough space to get the glass out, apart from one machine which has an annoying wall protrusion in the way. My solution is putting my most reliable game in that slot, but when I do need to get the glass off it’s a real hassle.
 
Andydn said:
One thing to maybe consider is room to remove the glass too for maintenance, slides out from the front so from back of machine to where glass is full slid out is just shy of 8 feet! (I’ve just measured)
Click to expand...

That's a brilliant point and something I hadn't considered yet.
Thanks for checking that!
James said:
The backbox width allows mutliple pins to be played side by side no worries as the body is slimmer than the head - hence why people line em up - I use roughly 10cm gap between heads. Outer walll only gets 6 - 7...

I don't measure, this is guestimates.
Click to expand...

Good point, i was looking at dimensions including backboxes as i see them quite close together at locations and still quite playable with someone on an adjacent machine. The thing is I really want my first pin to be a RS which is a widebody so I'm going to have to figure out how much hand space it will remove!

Nickoss II said:
Don'f forget to measure the width of the front door for getting 'em in and out!
Click to expand...

Standard door width is okay right?
It brings something else to consider though, porches.
Porches with a door at the side I assume make things very difficult if not impossible?
Same with staircases that turn?
 
JustLikeMe said:
To reply to the original post though, when we were looking at places I had the exact same thing in mind. I worked on the basis of 80cm width per machine to accommodate the backbox - modern Sterns are narrower but I assumed I may have a mix of games and would want at least a few cm between each one.

As Andy said though, don’t forget the space to remove the glass. I got lucky and the place we bought has a room that can fit five in a row with literally just enough space to get the glass out, apart from one machine which has an annoying wall protrusion in the way. My solution is putting my most reliable game in that slot, but when I do need to get the glass off it’s a real hassle.
Click to expand...
The 80cm is a great reference point, thank you. I suppose add maybe 10cm on that for a widebody? Or more?
I'm guessing you have a narrow room where you have five along one wall?
 
David_Vi said:
The 80cm is a great reference point, thank you. I suppose add maybe 10cm on that for a widebody? Or more?
I'm guessing you have a narrow room where you have five along one wall?
Click to expand...

The backbox of a widebody is the same as a normal pin so no need to allow extra to accommodate. I have a JJP POTC directly in front of the door into the room and the only difference is getting the glass off is a bit tougher as I have to manoeuvre the machine so the glass slides out into the open doorway.
 
I just found the floorplan for our place - this is the pin room. I have five comfortably lined up against the bottom wall from this perspective. The red box is the annoying protrusion which makes removing the glass from one of them a nightmare.

.pinroom floorplan.jpg
 
JustLikeMe said:
Personally I wouldn’t worry too much about this, I have to take the backbox off to get machines through the front door but it’s not really a big issue.
Click to expand...

Well it also depends how much space there is to put the door when its open, even after you've removed the handles... call it hallway geometry...


Part 2: Don't try to force it when it's clearly not going to fit, and get it stuck.

Part 3: Don't forget you also have a back door before giving up and taking it back to the club.
 
Nickoss II said:
Well it also depends how much space there is to put the door when its open, even after you've removed the handles... call it hallway geometry...


Part 2: Don't try to force it when it's clearly not going to fit, and get it stuck.

Part 3: Don't forget you also have a back door before giving up and taking it back to the club.
Click to expand...

That's true, but with the backbox removed and the cab on its back end they are very manoeuvrable. If you can fit basic furniture through then I think you can fit a machine with the backbox removed - a machine on it's back end isn't much bigger than a person standing up.
 
JustLikeMe said:
I just found the floorplan for our place - this is the pin room. I have five comfortably lined up against the bottom wall from this perspective. The red box is the annoying protrusion which makes removing the glass from one of them a nightmare.

.View attachment 101406
Click to expand...

Really useful! I actually rounded that down to 4m and divided by 5 gives that 80cm mentioned earlier!

The depth required when removing the glass, i guess you need the length of the glass in space to remove it? Or is it a little less because of the angle?

The wide body thing is because I'm aware the playfield is wider, so the flipper buttons are going to be closer to the next machine... Am i over thinking it?


Great pics btw! Really helpful!
 
David_Vi said:
The depth required when removing the glass, i guess you need the length of the glass in space to remove it? Or is it a little less because of the angle?

The wide body thing is because I'm aware the playfield is wider, so the flipper buttons are going to be closer to the next machine... Am i over thinking it?
Click to expand...

The depth needed for removing the glass seems to vary a bit by manufacturer depending on the angle of the legs - my room is a tight fit for some but I seem to be able to just get them all out. If you can aim for 5cm more space than the width of my room you should be fine.

I get wanting to plan for every pinball eventuality, but widebodies don’t really make much of a difference. There also aren’t that many of them, and unless you’re specifically looking to pick them up the odds of you having more than one at a time isnt great. My first machine 18 years ago was a Twilight Zone and I‘ve had around twenty five others since then, and only recently got my second widebody. Here’s a pic of one next to a normal width game:

85D8F474-6A9B-487D-BAC8-A9203414CBFA.jpeg
 
JustLikeMe said:
Haha so long as I live here that room will never see a bed!

For reference though, here are a few pics that show how five pins fit. Couple of the machines have changed since I took these pics but the layout remains the same:

View attachment 101407

View attachment 101408

And the gap I have between them:

View attachment 101409
Click to expand...
Fantastic line up of pins dude 👍
You had the Tron LE from new?
I see you have Big lebowski , awesome.... just watched it again last night.
Walter Sobchak:
Those rich f***s! This whole f***ing thing... I did not watch my buddies die face down in the muck so that this f***ing strumpet... 😂
 
Sako-TRG said:
Fantastic line up of pins dude 👍
You had the Tron LE from new?
I see you have Big lebowski , awesome.... just watched it again last night.
Walter Sobchak:
Those rich f***s! This whole f***ing thing... I did not watch my buddies die face down in the muck so that this f***ing strumpet... 😂
Click to expand...

Cheers bud, pics are from a while back though and I’ve since moved GB to a friends place and sold TWD, replacing them with JPLE and JJP POTC. If you‘re ever in London and want to stop by for a few games / beers just drop me a message.

I’m the second owner of the Tron LE, but I bought it from a guy in Germany and had it shipped over before demand / prices went crazy. Cost me a fair bit less than a NIB Pro goes for now! Lebowski I just got lucky on, it’s my all time favourite movie so pre-ordered it within an hour of it being announced - which meant I had a low number, and got it before Dutch Pinball got into trouble.
 
Don’t underestimate leaving space so you can get into the backbox. Occasionally you have a blown fuse or a code update or colordmd install etc etc and not having space to get near the backbox can be super frustrating. No you don’t need to do it often but just have a little bit of margin so you can slide games apart is a godsend.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
Matt Adams said:
Ahhh, that was a good day playing all the B/W widebodies, except Roadshow obviously 🤣
Click to expand...

Oi what's wrong with Red and Ted?

Neil McRae said:
Don’t underestimate leaving space so you can get into the backbox. Occasionally you have a blown fuse or a code update or colordmd install etc etc and not having space to get near the backbox can be super frustrating. No you don’t need to do it often but just have a little bit of margin so you can slide games apart is a godsend.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Click to expand...

Hey Neil, really valid point I'd not even considered! I guess allow 50cm or so buffer space, even if that means you have to push the machines closer together to get the room to get between two? Assuming that's what you have to do?

I have allowed 80cm for one pin, which gives a few cm either side of backbox.
So 3 pins 240cm.

Looking at a place with a dining room 2.90cm x 2.90cm (rounded a tiny bit).

I'll share a pic as example,
I'm struggling with knowing the space required in front of the pins, to allow glass and not be taking up so much room.

If 3 pins were lined up where the dining table is, would there be much room as no not impede on the corridor much?

Screenshot_20200208-112113_Rightmove.jpg
 
I think you'll be ok at 2.9m wide, justlikeme shows his room at 2.6m being ok apart from the "protrusion" area. This extra room for removing glass paradigm makes me smile as my oldest machine 1967 has a hinged canopy glass which just props up, then the playfield, then the motor board, saying that getting round the back of the backbox for access isn't too clever!
 
Yes that’s probably ok.

What I do is push the games as far in the opposite direction then if I can do what I need to do - If more work required then pull it it out and push over so the back boxes overlap.

Neil.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
Thanks guys,

I've been saving for my first home for 3/4 years now but haven't been that motivated as we have a comfy 1 bed flat.
It's the return to pinball last year that's really pushed me.

Pretty much only going through this because of pinball [emoji23]

It really limits your choices [emoji52]


Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk
 
I have 3 pins in a 2.65m width, with approx 5cm between the backboxes and enough space on the right to get the the last back box down the side, mind you 2 of these are ss bally pins and the backbox is slightly wider. I would say you need a room at least 2.7m deep, if you want to get the glass off without moving a pin. I measures about 1.5m depth for the pin, though my pins are not against the walls as there is a shelf there, so that is 1.2m of walkway space.
 
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