As I work on restoring another game (Bally EM “Air Aces”), I demo my approach towards making the game more reliable and stable by replacing many of the old bulbs with newer LEDs. I also show the difference between the warm and cool white LEDs and how they work.
Someone asked me this question awhile back, what do I use to keep my playfields playing well and I thought I’d do a video on this, talking about the different products and approaches towards maintaining your pinball playfield.
People were complaining that one of the flippers in our Gottlieb “Slick Chick” was not working properly. The metal was fatigued on the assembly and the switch contacts were well worn, so I’ve ordered new switches and am showing how to remove and replace the flipper switches and make your flippers perform much better.
This is an unedited series of videos showcasing some experiments I have been doing trying to repair damaged pinball ramps for which there are no replacements available at the present time. In this case, I’m working on a Bally Party Zone ramp, using different types of epoxies, plastics and adhesives. See work works and what doesn’t. In the end, I figured a creative approach using laser cut plexiglass tabs which were attached to ramps using two different types of adhesives.
It’s not easy maintaining a collection of games – there are always things to repair…. I thought I might take a quick walk through our arcade space and discuss what I usually do after a party and what happens to the machines and what needs to be done to the games to get them working for the next event. Some machines hold up; some break down. Take a walk with me and see what work needs to be done?
Here’s a short video I did as I was working on a Fish Tales game about to be put on location. I go over a number of things I’m doing to make the game operate more reliably and some general tricks for reducing wear and tear on the game.
In this video I show how you can replace a broken linkage in a flipper or slingshot or other plunger assembly. These are notorious for breaking. You can purchase the entire assembly with a link, or you can punch out the roll pin and install your own link. Is it worth it to DIY this? I’ll let you decide.