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So - Pinball backbox wingbolts - who uses them?

Do you use wingnuts in backboxes?

  • Total voters
    76
  • Poll closed .
I’m happy for them to prove the point that if they unlatch a backbox they are liable. Our CCTV will pick them up doing it.

Neil.
 
M4carp said:
Beware burglars😂🩸
I have a Negan barbed wire baseball bat for display purposes obviously, it’s was a topper but fell off too many times and 5hit the life out of me hitting the glass!
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You should have put some wingbolts in the baseball bat mate
 
I doubt if Neil’s ever looked inside a Bally/Williams backbox to see if it has wingnut or not. Surely the other owners of Pinball republic would ensure they have them installed. He’s stirring the pot!
 
Gonzo said:
I thought the limit was 500rpm for single shot?
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That's FPS feet per second, which is a velocity safety limit for airsoft sites. Would love to take them to an airsoft game one day but currently they only ever get dry fired during mocap shoots.
 
If people's lives are too busy to install the backbox bolts, they could always buy slightly thinner wingbolts and just drop them into place.

This would save all those seconds of effort turning bolts, yet still provide a level of security. They would then have extra time to talk bollox on a pinball site without having to worry about being decapitated by a Fish Tales topper.
 
Kenny Taylor said:
The bolts holes have been machined for that reason
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The holes in the base of the back box were quite small once, so that the box had to be perfectly aligned on the cabinet to insert the bolts easily. Maybe following complaints, Williams got the cabinet makers to enlarge the holes, to the extent that even the wing-head bolts only held on the 'wings' rather than the flat underside of the head. I used to add a large washer to correct this, sometimes even with a rubber ring to retain it on the bolt in transit.

Toxteth O'Grady said:
my Congo came with what looked like a badly fitting leg bolt in it.
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At a location once, a competitor sited a Creature from Black Lagoon, using a wing bolt to attach one of the legs. It ended up being removed by someone, and the other then appeared to replace it, with the wings damaged by mole grips used to tighten it very firmly. They'd left their previous offering (a D/E Batman) with the glass and front moulding off, if I'd wanted I could've cut some wires deep in the playfield harness. As it was, I only took off the cards and gave them to the front desk of the location for safe keeping.
 
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The kids thing is an issue. When we used to have birthday parties here one year a bunch of five year olds went haywire. I’ve always kept the keys in the doors, didn’t even occur to me that was a problem. Literally every machine got stuck onto full volume so a bunch of kids had been opening doors and reaching inside the cabinets while they were on. No injuries but not exactly good safety practice.

I’m as guilty as other people for not using head bolts. I probably should double check all the games. I suspect only 50% of my games have them in. Would very much be based on whether they were included when I first set the game up.

Oh and trying to legally blame a child for injuries is unlikely to wash. Two examples spring to mind. Kids swinging in shop fixtures and pulling them down resulting in crush injuries as they hadn’t been screwed to the walls.

Secondly the case where a little toe rag decided to throw metal tape onto the railway line over a too short fence and electrocuted themselves.
 
Well you are not going to believe this, my son just came back home from Swansea. He sent me a pic of a street fighter not working in Brewdog there last night, his friend was playing the machine and shaking it because the ball was stuck or something and the backbox fell down and hit his hand😡
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M4carp said:
Well you are not going to believe this, my son just came back home from Swansea. He sent me a pic of a street fighter not working in Brewdog there last night, his friend was playing the machine and shaking it because the ball was stuck or something and the backbox fell down and hit his hand😡
View attachment 176861
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How is he?
 
Neil McRae said:
none at home,. none at the club. 6+ years and not an issue including a load of games taken to plenty of shows, some in the east of London! :D :D Some in the gorbals of Manchester

If someone is pulling that hard on the latches that I have on my games to make them fail - chances are they will **** the backbox if you put those wingbolts in - good luck with that.

If it's some old ****box pin where the strength of the latch is only outweighs by Poibugs arm strength at carrying beers, then fix the latch.

Neil.
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In over 25 years working on and owning pins - I have never seen a backbox ruined by someone trying to force it down with wingbolts in. Or have I seen a repaired backbox for this reason.
Perhaps someone can look on pinside for 3 hours and find one.......
 
78 replies. Sorry to say I have made it 79.

Put the bolts in ffs. What's the downside ?
 
I don't even bother putting the backboxes on my games at all, pins look so much better without them, saves on those pesky bolts that are always missing too.

Jokes aside just for the sake of clarification for anyone reading previous posts, please can no ding-dongs try unlatching the games at the club, there's enough maintenance to keep up with as it is. Bolts in, happy days, flip well friends 🤘🏻
 
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