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