Worst repair hack you have ever seen?
Andrew Dudinsky
Mine was Thursday, I saw an Adams Family, where the upper left flipper
was removed, and replaced with a "Zip-Tie" with 2 yellow rubber post
sleves over it. THis acted like a bumper (sort of) so the ball didn't
get stick. (Oh,.. pin was REALLY dirty as well... Things hand was
literally black!)
Andrew
Rich Marquette
playfield
not little ones either. great big ones. I gotta wonder is there a
Technican somewhere
running around with a hamer and nails in his toolkit.
On the same game The same person (I'm assuming) used clear tape to hold
the ramps
in place.
I'm trying to get the electronics working on it but I can only guess what
has been done
to repair them!
I've also run into a Buck Rogers that someone removed all the connectors
and
soldered the wires to the board. For some reason it didn't work and I
could
have picked up real Cheap!
Rich
Duncan Brown
>
> I just bought a comet that some one used nails to hold the plastics to the
> playfield
> not little ones either. great big ones. I gotta wonder is there a
> Technican somewhere
> running around with a hamer and nails in his toolkit.
...and his brother is running around with a big pocket full of drywall
screws! Those keep showing up everywhere, and of course they're always
the big 3 inch long ones.
My favorite (NOT) was a Firepower I bought, where one of the upper lane
guide post screws had presumably broken off. They removed the screw and
the T-nut from below the playfield. Well, now how do you get a screw to
bite in that big hole clean through the playfield? Simple- you take a 3
inch long drywall screw and run it at an extreme sideways angle until it
finds some wood to sink into. Never mind the post is at an angle now,
the lane guide is warped up on one end, you're creating a huge ugly scar
on the playfeild, etc.
Thankfully, once put back together with correct hardware, the post
pretty much covered the damage...
I've also seen one cabinet whose back had broken off at the leg
mountings, repaired with hacked-off 2x4's and huge lag screws, forming a
brace around the whole thing. Ugh.
Duncan
J.Jacobs
Duncan Brown schreef:
> Rich Marquette wrote:
> >
> > I just bought a comet that some one used nails to hold the plastics to the
> > playfield
> > not little ones either. great big ones. I gotta wonder is there a
> > Technican somewhere
> > running around with a hamer and nails in his toolkit.
>
I've seen a STTNG where a ball would get stuck when it was shot into a hole.
Solution: a great technician (well, NOT) screwed a large screw into the
playfield in front of the hole, so the ball wuoldn't fall into it.
I've also seen a HS where a large screw was screwed into the pf next to the
right drain, so the ball woulden drain as often as it did before.
I think it is a crime to do such things, but who am I, I'm not a judge.......
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Orin A. Day
>Whats the worst repair have that you have ever seen?
A game with several major assemblies missing (a ramp and something else).
The replacement, you ask? Several wadded up balls of duct tape! It did
allow for some "unconventional" lock shots.
It was on location next to another game with duct tape over the coin slots.
Regarding this game, the attendant indicated that "the pinballs are missing
so we ordered more - come back next week."
OD
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Pinchick
Anyone know of any reputable pinheads who
repair Zaccaria boards? I gotta Farfalla with
a few sound and driver board problems. If you
can help, please email me. Thanks for
readin' this and have a nice day! kelly=^)
_________________________________________________
Pinball! Disco! Cheezy flicks of the weird, creepy, macabre,
hump-happy! Get Pinhead Classified pinball zine and have a
nice day! http://members.aol.com/Pinchick/index.html =^)
Bob Coleman
Duncan Brown wrote:
> ...and his brother is running around with a big pocket full of drywall
> screws! Those keep showing up everywhere, and of course they're always
> the big 3 inch long ones.
>
Amen to that!!! My High Speed II arrived with a broken trough ball guide sheet
metal. It was fastened to the playfield with 3 of these giant screws. Because
the wire guide no longer fit, it was replaced with a bent piece of wire and a
folded piece of paper to keep the kicker from bouncing the ball off others in
the trough. The backbox didn't have a lock, so the backglass was held in with
more of these screws!! The parts to fix these cost a total of $10.
Bob
David Stambaugh
Great for holding down plastics and blocking troublesome shots!
Runners up: Black electrical tape to repair broken ramps. Intermittent
connection on a wiring harness bypassed with a 3-foot long piece of solid
copper house wiring, splice point wrapped with a 1" thick wad of duct tape.
Broken drop target assy. with the coil strapped to the frame with a single
twist-tie like they use on loaves of bread.
Andrew Dudinsky wrote in message <35D80B...@ford.com>...
>Whats the worst repair have that you have ever seen?
>
Geoffrey Howell
game: the previous owner explained that his friend had
attempted to repair the main circuit board. This friend
must have figured there was a ground fault, because he
installed a jumper which connected +5V directly to GND.
Not sure how he figured this would fix the problem but, since
this generated a whole new set of problem symptoms, it *did*
make the original problem go away.
I was able to pick up the game for cheap and eventually
(after fixing his hacks) trace the problem to bad ROMs.
-Geoff
Geoffrey Howell
: It was on location next to another game with duct tape over the coin slots.
: Regarding this game, the attendant indicated that "the pinballs are missing
: so we ordered more - come back next week."
I was playing The Addams Family at a laundromat. After putting in
the minimum amount of money to check the game for playability, I
put in the additional funds to maximize my credit/coin value.
It was playing very nicely until I shot the ball to Thing. Just
after he pulled the ball off the table there was this hollow *THUNK!*
as it fell off whatever habitrails are under the playfield and landed
inside the cabinet. I reported this to the laundromat owner, who
called the operator at once (wow!) to describe the problem.
The answer: "That hand is supposed to take the ball."
After unsuccessfully trying to argue third-hand with the operator
that the hand is *also* supposed to give the ball back, I used my
remaining credits to deliver the remaining two balls into the void.
-Geoff
bangback deathsave
the older games, I have seen 24-d nails (complete with gobs of rubber bands).
For those few games where a round piece of plastic comes up to totally block the
drain between the flippers, I have seen super glue and staples used as fixes.
Of course, there is a fix that may not quite fall into this category, but I
believe it to be the cause of a lot of electronic problems. This fix is snipping
the ground pin off the 3-prong plug, so that the game can be plugged into a
two-slot outlet........
Scott Piehler wrote:
> On Mon, 17 Aug 1998 16:06:44 +0200, "J.Jacobs"
> >I've seen a STTNG where a ball would get stuck when it was shot into a hole.
> >Solution: a great technician (well, NOT) screwed a large screw into the
> >playfield in front of the hole, so the ball wuoldn't fall into it.
>
> how about an Attack From Mars with a broken scoop? Solution? Remove
> the scoop and put duct tape OVER THE HOLE!!
>
> Actually happened.. Challenges, Northpoint Mall.
>
> Scott
> Scott Piehler...@mindspring.com
> An archive of pinball rulesheets, as well as a listing of
> newer pinball machines in the Atlanta area can be found at:
> http://www.mindspring.com/~rosco29/pinball.htm
imsnet
At the bowling alley that I normally go to, they have a Funhouse that is
increadably dirty. It's main problem was that the upper left flipper's
rubber came off, what was the solution?, a "new flipper" with hot glue on it
in place of the rubber. It also only has like five lights working in the G.
I. That is why I now dispise Charles Music. (An amusement rental company in
Central Florida) I wish they would get rid of that thing and put in
something else!
Scott Piehler
Jonathan N. Deitch
ros...@mindspring.com (Scott Piehler) writes:
> how about an Attack From Mars with a broken scoop? Solution? Remove
> the scoop and put duct tape OVER THE HOLE!!
>
> Actually happened.. Challenges, Northpoint Mall.
That game, when traded in, took nearly 8.5 hours in the prep shop to clean
it up. This included a solid two hours of scrubbing with Goof Off to get
that duct tape residue off the playfield.
And this doesn't include the addition 6.0 hours tech time to fix all the
problems with the game.
- Jonathan
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pinbuoy
> that the hand is *also* supposed to give the ball back, I used my
> remaining credits to deliver the remaining two balls into the void.
That's hilarious.
Sounds like something I'd do.
Mike
CDjukebox9
writes:
>inside the cabinet. I reported this to the laundromat owner, who
>called the operator at once (wow!) to describe the problem.
>
>The answer: "That hand is supposed to take the ball."
ROTFLMAO!!!
>After unsuccessfully trying to argue third-hand with the operator
>that the hand is *also* supposed to give the ball back, I used my
>remaining credits to deliver the remaining two balls into the void.
Exactly what I'd do.... :)
Thomas
Thomas Teeter AMIju...@aol.com
Absolutely Great Games
Temple, Texas
pinball, jukeboxes,videos
location service and parts
Amy D. Moore
>
> In article <6ra10d$2e2$2...@news1.bu.edu>, gho...@bu.edu (Geoffrey Howell)
> writes:
>
> >inside the cabinet. I reported this to the laundromat owner, who
> >called the operator at once (wow!) to describe the problem.
> >
> >The answer: "That hand is supposed to take the ball."
>
> ROTFLMAO!!!
>
> >After unsuccessfully trying to argue third-hand with the operator
> >that the hand is *also* supposed to give the ball back, I used my
> >remaining credits to deliver the remaining two balls into the void.
>
> Exactly what I'd do.... :)
There is not habittrail for it to fall off of - it is totally encased
in metal!
I just did about my worst repair hack on an Addams Family today.
The TAF I have at my pool hall, my manager has been griping to
me for weeks that it is missing a ball. Every time I have my kit
there to work on machines, the thing works fine. I tell him I can't
find a problem and leave - including last night.
Well, I stopped by at lunch today, when we were closed, and went
to play a game. Darned thing says it's missing a ball. Finally
trace it to a loose wire on the middle switch in the trough.
But do I have my tool box? No, of course not. How was I supposed
to fix the thing and play some TAF at lunch? Ball point pen!!!!
Clipped the wire in place with the part that would attach it
to your pocket protector. Had a few lousey games and called the
manager and told him to bring a soldering iron in with him when
he came to work :)
Amy
Dave Edson
>Whats the worst repair have that you have ever seen?
Well, actually I think that what I did to a Drac*la was right up there. The
metal box under the Mist Multiball hole completely disintegrated, so the
ball would go into the hole and land in the cabinet. Of course, I learned of
this when I came by to collect the money (the owner never called me when
games broke down, I dumped the location).
Since I only had tools, but no spare parts like that metal box, I fashioned
something out of two allen keys, a flipper rubber, and epoxy resin. Guess
what? After $1000 of play, it still works!
Cheers!
Dave
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99
>
> Andrew Dudinsky wrote in message <35D80B...@ford.com>...
> >Whats the worst repair have that you have ever seen?
>
> Well, actually I think that what I did to a Drac*la was right up there. The
> metal box under the Mist Multiball hole completely disintegrated, so the
> ball would go into the hole and land in the cabinet. Of course, I learned of
> this when I came by to collect the money (the owner never called me when
> games broke down, I dumped the location).
>
> Since I only had tools, but no spare parts like that metal box, I fashioned
> something out of two allen keys, a flipper rubber, and epoxy resin. Guess
> what? After $1000 of play, it still works!
>
> Cheers!
> Dave
Just think about this...a flipper "link" made out of a small cut to
size flipper "rubber" with holes punched in it... LOL!!!
kre...@my-dejanews.com
jde...@bellsouth.spamsucks.net (Jonathan N. Deitch) wrote:
> In article <35d8c6e9...@news.mindspring.com>,
> ros...@mindspring.com (Scott Piehler) writes:
>
> > how about an Attack From Mars with a broken scoop? Solution? Remove
> > the scoop and put duct tape OVER THE HOLE!!
> >
> > Actually happened.. Challenges, Northpoint Mall.
>
> That game, when traded in, took nearly 8.5 hours in the prep shop to clean
> it up. This included a solid two hours of scrubbing with Goof Off to get
> that duct tape residue off the playfield.
If the game could accurately compensate, this might actually be fun. The
bumpers could then be shot from play, involving them more in the game (I like
games that have lots of bumper action!). The annoying sometimes-SDTM kickout
would be eliminated. If all scoop awards were given when the bumpers were
hit, and nothing was held back by the software, then the loss of the scoop
might not be as bad as it seems...
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Keith Johnson
>If the game could accurately compensate, this might actually be fun. The
>bumpers could then be shot from play, involving them more in the game (I like
>games that have lots of bumper action!). The annoying sometimes-SDTM kickout
>would be eliminated. If all scoop awards were given when the bumpers were
>hit, and nothing was held back by the software, then the loss of the scoop
>might not be as bad as it seems...
The game DOES accurately compensate. If the SOL switch is bad (or taped
over as the case may be) it'll give awards off of one of the bumpers.
Everything except video mode and I don't remember about strobe.
keith
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Steve Baumgarten
how about an Attack From Mars with a broken scoop? Solution? Remove
the scoop and put duct tape OVER THE HOLE!!
Good thing the game didn't have a broken flipper...
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