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Is anything more unreliable than pinball machines ?

Sgt GrizZ

Sgt GrizZ

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10 Years
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Just having one of those runs of annoying niggly issues with seemingly every game I switch on . Grrrr.:(

Got fed up troubleshooting Mist/magnet fault on Drac so switched on Baywatch for a few games ....oh great no sound ....prob just a connector needs a reseat but I can't even be bothered looking today.

Stupid hobby :rolleyes:

Anyone else get times when you think oh ffs I cant be ****d with this ? :rolleyes:
 
Is anything more unreliable than pinball machines ?

In answer to your question, No.

But who cares its one of the reasons why we love them so much.
 
I agree 100%

Has anyone an opinion (obviously no evidence will ever appear) on reliability vs year? Is it more reliable to have a 2006 pin than a 1996 vs 1986?
 
I think the older games a more reliable because there's less tech to go wrong. Although the boards are prob more reliable in newer games.

When I owned STTNG and RS I was forever having dramas with Eddie sensors and optos. You can't beat a good old fashioned micro switch.
 
Sterns tend to need the least maintenance in my experience. Although that may be due to most of their recent games being fairly basic with few moving parts
 
And JJP presumably the best of the lot？ though you're selling WOZ the game you would never sell, and looking for a different one
 
I've had a couple of problems with my Stern's, like the backbox fluorescent light block thing died a death (not compatible with the UK market apparently), but nothing major - mainly it's just reseating a component that fell off or a loose screw though. And a few problems with older Bally / Williams ones too - sometimes poor mechanical design (like the Doctor Who issue where a ball gets trapped in the little Darlek arch while the high torque gear-box/motor strips the spindle thread) or just their age (solder joints failing or ribbon cable problems). Glad I've not had a major board issue 'cos that would be beyond me. Don't think it'd ever really get on my nerves though, I'm in Replicas boat: it'd either just be something to do to fix it, or I'd find something else to do for a bit like buggering off to the pub :-)
 
Guess I'm just having one of my pinball lulls ....where I'm not really playing much, getting grief from my games one way or another maintenance wise etc .......had STTNG in bits for weeks, cant even be buggered to put it back together again etc I think its probably just a January thing :rolleyes:
 
Biggest job I've had to do is desolder a knackered bridge rectifier and solder in a new one. Maybe a small job for some but that seriously tested my soldering skills! That was on a WMS game
 
I have a dream. One day all my games will be 100% working at the same time and all be dialled in perfectly:rolleyes:
 
Last time I had a meet, I spent about a month working on my machines and got about 30 all perfectly working.

That was a few months ago and needless to say, they are not all fully working now lol

I have a dream that at some point in the future, I am going to have at least _one_ full day with all 75 machines fully working lol (might have to take a couple of months off from repairing other peoples machines lol)
 
A while back I had one of those days when I turned on a machine and something went wrong. **** it, went to the next machine. Four in a bloody row packed in:( Really ****ed me off, so I gave up.

Think the only pin I've had that didn't go wrong at sometime was my T3. I like the feeling you get when you track down the problem and solve it but arsing around trying to fix things isn't fun for me.
 
Gaz Shiells said:
To this day I shut my eyes and brace for the dreaded "bong bong bong bong" everytime I turn a machine on!! Only cos I'm so **** at fixing them. That noise means money outta my pocket!!
Click to expand...

Same here, I'm good at making them look nice but haven't got a clue when it comes to the 'bong bong bong'! That's when I reach for the phone and call in the cavalry (aka Andy N)!
 
This thread goes to show where some of get our enjoyment and others just get pain. When I had just TAF and CFTBL and they both worked faultlessly I found I was missing out on the tinkering.
 
GrizZ said:
Just having one of e runs of annoying niggly issues with seemingly every game I switch on . Grrrr.:(

Got fed up troubleshooting Mist/magnet fault on Drac so switched on Baywatch for a few games ....oh great no sound ....prob just a connector needs a reseat but I can't even be bothered looking today.

Stupid hobby :rolleyes:

Anyone else get times when you think oh ffs I cant be ****d with this ? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Yeah, I just think f##k It and list it in the for sale section, end of problem.
 
20-30+ year old electronics can be a bit of a maintainance headache but its part of ownership. I've got a list of 'to fix' analogue synths and drum machines as well as my pinball and arcade todos...
 
GrizZ said:
Hahaha ....gotta laugh or I'd cry. Just turned on FT for first time in ages ....no GI ......:rolleyes: I'll add it to the list.:rofl:
Click to expand...

FTR ...turns out the short ribbon cable between CPU and driver board has decided to take early retirement for reasons known only to itself :confused: After a bit of head scratching, swapped in a known working one and the GI is all fine now.
 
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