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Buying my first real machine
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<blockquote data-quote="thejake01" data-source="post: 137915" data-attributes="member: 147"><p>Hey I see you're on the hunt! </p><p></p><p>I got a couple machines over the last few years now and was definitely very green with this too so know where you're coming from a bit. </p><p></p><p>To transport you're going to want to remove the legs, take out the backglass/translite and fold the head down (two bolts inside the head at the bottom), put it on something like a blanket or tarp and slide it in to the vehicle. When you remove the legs if you have a door that goes down you can take two legs off, slide part of it in, then take the other two off...this also goes vice versa for taking it out. </p><p></p><p>I work in IT so have a bit of background with troubleshooting issues. Most of the mechanical stuff is obvious once you take a good look at it. Shoot for the obvious! my uncle always says. The boards and wiring is a bit trickier because though I can troubleshoot, I can't read the diagrams in the manual. Had a couple different people come out at different points for the boards and they can trace it no problem and end up replacing some .05 cent part and charge you $100-130 to fix, so be prepared to learn it or pay for it. Even if you buy a great machine it might not work great forever...but since the initial work was done and we've gotten everything working, been running like a dream for over a year and through a move.</p><p></p><p>Alot of the things that didn't work were dirty contacts (contact file just a bit), dirty optos (clean the dirt off and work just fine), and not alot had to do with the boards so I got lucky there. We then had to clean a layer of dirt off everywhere which took about 40 man hours. </p><p></p><p>Coils may need to be replaced every once in a while. Its soldering two wires, disconnect one at a time and its no problem.</p><p></p><p>That was Street Fighter II, and the getting working and cleaning, took about 3-6 months. Now though, it looks great, plays great, and I even put in some LEDs to brighten it up a bit. Was very cheap, but in the end it all worked out. </p><p></p><p>Recently got a Taxi and paid quite a bit more but so far its gone a little more like this: get home, works, three little things wrong with it. Next night, fix all three things with only one in a workaround (drop target bank needs cleaning). So after one day I'm already on to what do I need to buy to clean it, what do I want to replace instead of the 3-4 months that it took before. Board set looks amazingly clean so I don't think I'll have any problems with it (I hope anyway). SFII was good to get dirty and a bit comfortable with it all, learn some lessons, clean some things, and Taxi has been a lot more play and a lot less focus on fix which is nice. </p><p></p><p>If you don't already have these things get some: nut driver set (way easier than a screwdriver when applicable), cleaning stuff (novus 1,2,3 set), wax (carnuba wax or johnson's paste wax), windex for the glass, a soldering iron and some solder. </p><p></p><p>Theres a cool book I got about pinball care and maintenance that fills in alot of blanks: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pinball-Machine-Maintenance-Bernard-Kamoroff/dp/0917510135" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/Pinball-Machine-Maintenance-Bernard-Kamoroff/dp/0917510135</a></p><p></p><p>Get a manual for your machine if it doesn't come with one. Some of them you can get online for free and just print it out too: ipdb.org Some can't be posted online or something though due to rights is my understanding.</p><p></p><p>Good repair resource with articles and such: <a href="http://pinrepair.com/" target="_blank">http://pinrepair.com/</a> , he's also got a big Beginner Pinball Repair article here: <a href="http://www.pinrepair.com/begin/index.htm" target="_blank">http://www.pinrepair.com/begin/index.htm</a></p><p></p><p>They just put up a great vendor listing at pinballnews.com that's worth checking out: <a href="http://www.pinballnews.com/directory/index.html#usa" target="_blank">http://www.pinballnews.com/directory/index.html#usa</a></p><p></p><p>This is a great place to search along with pinside.com for help and questions: <a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/rec.games.pinball" target="_blank">https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/rec.games.pinball</a> </p><p></p><p>Go to the show if you can! stevevt was right about games for sale, there will probably be more than a few. When I was at the chicago show they seemed somewhat reasonable too. Chicago show has a spreadsheet online where people put wanted ads or games for sale in a spreadsheet online, maybe see if you can find something like that for the texas show if you can go? </p><p></p><p>Craiglist, eBay (advanced search with mile radius), SearchTempest.com (search craigslist within a however many mile radius), mrpinball.com , pinside.com are the places I look. </p><p></p><p></p><p>Hope this helps! I know it would've helped me!</p><p></p><p>-Jake</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="thejake01, post: 137915, member: 147"] Hey I see you're on the hunt! I got a couple machines over the last few years now and was definitely very green with this too so know where you're coming from a bit. To transport you're going to want to remove the legs, take out the backglass/translite and fold the head down (two bolts inside the head at the bottom), put it on something like a blanket or tarp and slide it in to the vehicle. When you remove the legs if you have a door that goes down you can take two legs off, slide part of it in, then take the other two off...this also goes vice versa for taking it out. I work in IT so have a bit of background with troubleshooting issues. Most of the mechanical stuff is obvious once you take a good look at it. Shoot for the obvious! my uncle always says. The boards and wiring is a bit trickier because though I can troubleshoot, I can't read the diagrams in the manual. Had a couple different people come out at different points for the boards and they can trace it no problem and end up replacing some .05 cent part and charge you $100-130 to fix, so be prepared to learn it or pay for it. Even if you buy a great machine it might not work great forever...but since the initial work was done and we've gotten everything working, been running like a dream for over a year and through a move. Alot of the things that didn't work were dirty contacts (contact file just a bit), dirty optos (clean the dirt off and work just fine), and not alot had to do with the boards so I got lucky there. We then had to clean a layer of dirt off everywhere which took about 40 man hours. Coils may need to be replaced every once in a while. Its soldering two wires, disconnect one at a time and its no problem. That was Street Fighter II, and the getting working and cleaning, took about 3-6 months. Now though, it looks great, plays great, and I even put in some LEDs to brighten it up a bit. Was very cheap, but in the end it all worked out. Recently got a Taxi and paid quite a bit more but so far its gone a little more like this: get home, works, three little things wrong with it. Next night, fix all three things with only one in a workaround (drop target bank needs cleaning). So after one day I'm already on to what do I need to buy to clean it, what do I want to replace instead of the 3-4 months that it took before. Board set looks amazingly clean so I don't think I'll have any problems with it (I hope anyway). SFII was good to get dirty and a bit comfortable with it all, learn some lessons, clean some things, and Taxi has been a lot more play and a lot less focus on fix which is nice. If you don't already have these things get some: nut driver set (way easier than a screwdriver when applicable), cleaning stuff (novus 1,2,3 set), wax (carnuba wax or johnson's paste wax), windex for the glass, a soldering iron and some solder. Theres a cool book I got about pinball care and maintenance that fills in alot of blanks: [url]http://www.amazon.com/Pinball-Machine-Maintenance-Bernard-Kamoroff/dp/0917510135[/url] Get a manual for your machine if it doesn't come with one. Some of them you can get online for free and just print it out too: ipdb.org Some can't be posted online or something though due to rights is my understanding. Good repair resource with articles and such: [url]http://pinrepair.com/[/url] , he's also got a big Beginner Pinball Repair article here: [url]http://www.pinrepair.com/begin/index.htm[/url] They just put up a great vendor listing at pinballnews.com that's worth checking out: [url]http://www.pinballnews.com/directory/index.html#usa[/url] This is a great place to search along with pinside.com for help and questions: [url]https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/rec.games.pinball[/url] Go to the show if you can! stevevt was right about games for sale, there will probably be more than a few. When I was at the chicago show they seemed somewhat reasonable too. Chicago show has a spreadsheet online where people put wanted ads or games for sale in a spreadsheet online, maybe see if you can find something like that for the texas show if you can go? Craiglist, eBay (advanced search with mile radius), SearchTempest.com (search craigslist within a however many mile radius), mrpinball.com , pinside.com are the places I look. Hope this helps! I know it would've helped me! -Jake [/QUOTE]
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