Monthly Archives: November 2020

How to replace or repair EM pinball latch relay parts/articulating arm/rollers

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Ok, that’s a mouthful huh? This is a continuation of a previous series of videos I’ve done on fixing deep ruleset issues in EM games, and now that we’ve found what’s wrong, let’s fix it!

First, here’s a video on how to replace the latch relay – there’s another post where I demonstrate how to remove the backplane from the game so it’s easier to work on.

And in this next video, if you don’t have a replacement part, I show how with a little ingenuity and a #4 tap, you can fabricate your own roller for the articulating arm.

[Show picture list]

Now that it’s fixed… let’s see how the game plays!

How to remove the inside/backplane from an EM pinball machine?

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Sometimes when you have to do more extensive work to relays in an old electro-mechanical game, you can’t bend over the cabinet. You need to get all those assemblies on a bench to service. I go over how you can remove the insides of a game so you can more easily access the components.

The next video in this series goes into repairing a broken latch relay.

The backplane (bottom panel) is typically held in place by a few specific things that need to be un-bolted before it can be removed: Several bolts on the panel itself, then some Jones plugs that attach to the wiring harness going to the playfield and backbox, then the power button, and finally, the board holding the tilt/plumb bob and Jones plug going to the coin door.
The tilt board is removed with a few screws, then detach the coin door Jones plug.
Also don’t forget the power cable has to go too, which may require unbolting the head to pull it through the inside.

Jello Biafra on Pinball

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Lately, I’ve been going through many old videos I have on file and I came across one I thought might be fun to share. This features Jello Biafra (who may be best known as the front man for the iconic punk band, “Dead Kennedys” but also a well known social activist). I’ve worked with Jello for many years in music-related things and a few years back he was at the PinChurch and started talking about pinball, so I flipped on the camera and captured a fun little moment of him talking about his childhood interest in pinball.