Beginner's Notes

Note: This page is a work in progress. Please help get it to a completed state by adding any useful information to it.

1 Introduction

The biggest thing to understand with a pinball machine is that it is a mechanical device and will eventually have some type of problem. The other thing to note is that, despite popular belief, there is more to it then randomness. On the flip side, all major pinball machines that were ever built were designed to be industrial-grade equipment, specifically designed to take the abuse of being on location.

The information on this website should be more than enough to be able to get anyone fixing up their own pinball machine. If there is something unclear on any specific topic, feel free to ask questions in the forums about your problem.

A good source of information is the rec.games.pinball newsgroup FAQ document available here: http://www.xmission.com/~daina/rgpFAQ/coolrgpFAQ.html

2 Required Tools

Coming Soon!

Soldering iron, desoldering equipment (solder sucker, desoldering iron, or desoldering braid), multimeter, needle nose pliers, leaf switch adjusters, crimper, side cutters, 1/4" nutdriver, 5/16" nutdriver.

For newer, solid state machines, a good logic probe is a must have.

3 Good Tools To Have

Coming Soon!

Soldering in Your Pinball Machine

4 Opening Your Pinball Machine

One of the first task you need to learn to work on your pinball machine is how to open the front door and remove the glass. Most pinball machines come with a locked front door. Often this key is lost. Before you drill out the lock search around for the key. Look in the backbox if it is open to see if a key is hanging in there. If you can't find the key you will need to drill the lock out to open the door.

Coin Door

Once the door is unlocked or the lock drilled out simply swing it open. If it is stuck you can put your hand in the coin return slot to get a better grip.

Open Coin Door

Once you have the door open, look inside and you will notice a bar near the top of the machine. Move the lever down by pushing on it. This action moves a locking bar and releases the lock down bar. If the machine has been setting idle for years it may be difficult to swing the lever from accumulated gunk. One method I have heard to get the bar moving is to tie a weight to the bar and let it hang there for awhile. Eventually, the gunk will give way and the lever moved to the open position. When the lever is in the down position pull up on the lock down bar and remove it from the game. On some games (Chicago Coin) the lever may be spring loaded requiring you to hold the lever in the open position while removing the bar.

Opened machine

With the lever removed it is a good idea to clean all of the surfaces to prevent more sticking problems. The next step is to remove the glass. One must take safety precautions in removing the glass. Most pinball glass is tempered, some is not. Before I remove any glass I put on heavy work gloves and safety glasses. Before removing the glass have a safe place to put it. I use a thin foam pad to place my glass on and not on a concrete basement floor. If moving the glass across the room make sure the path from the machine to the glass storage area is clean with no obstacles on the floor that you could trip on.

Start by placing your hands on the glass and sliding it out along the track. You could have more gunk in the track making sliding the glass difficult. I have also encountered machines where the cabinet is not square, putting pressure on the glass and making it difficult to remove. If the machine was drug the floor, across which puts pressure on the legs, the cabinet could be out of square. Use the Armstrong lifters to raise and lower the machine to hopefully put it back on square, at least some.

Once you have moved the glass somewhat you can push it from the upper part of the playfield. Proceed with caution and remove the glass and place it aside. Your now have access to the inners of the lower cabinet and can start to make repairs.

5 Fuses

All pinball machines have fuses. Fuses are used in the machine to protect the internal components from damage in the event of an electrical short. If you have turned on the machine and did not get the expected result, check for blown fuses. Remember that a blown fuse is usually an indicator of an electrical short. You will need to find the cause of the short to bring the machine back to full working condition. The fuses in a machine all guard a particular section or voltage. One fuse may be for score displays while another is for solenoids and still another for the general lighting.

In replacing a fuse always make sure you are using the correct value, or amperage. The amperage of a fuse is stamped on the one of the electrical contacts of the fuse. DO NOT assume that the fuse in the machine is the value that should be used, always check the game manual or schematic to verify the correct rating. Someone repairing the game earlier may have put in a higher fuse value to circumvent an electrical problem. Do not swap out fast acting fuses for slow blow fuses, always use the correct rating and type.

Fast blow fuses can be easily check visually, not so for slow blow fuses. Fast blow fuses, when blown, usually have a scorched appearance and the internal wire will be severed. Slow blow fuses will be intact, close visually examination will reveal that the rope looking conductor is twisted when blown. The best way to check a slow-blow fuse is with a multi meter set to resistance mode. Place the probe on each side of the fuse, a slow-blow blown fuse will have a very high resistance, in the mega-ohm range.