Low maintenance pinball machines
new...@live.com
with a good track record of not breaking. I am looking for an 80's or
90's, probably Williams/Bally. Any thoughts on which years or
machines have the fewest problems? What should I avoid?
Thanks.
ldnayman
Get the newest machine with the lowest wear.
Really is no such thing as "maintanence free" or even close to it, but
your problems are pretty much going to rise in accordance with age. If
you really want something "low maintainance" buy a machine that has
been thoroughly gone through by someone good.
cpiel
You may want to consider System 11 games from wms/bly - titles like
Bad Cats, Whirlwind, EarthShaker, Rollergames etc.
I asked the same thing a few years back and below is the thread that
shows the responses:
WEade
You are going to read MANY different opinions on this matter, but the
bottom line is that NO pinball machine is "low maintenance." They do
require some tweaking here and there, which is no big deal. No matter
what anyone says, it's merely an opinion.
I've owned a DE Simpsons for almost 10 years and has been problem free.
Then again, it doesn't get played the hardest.
Bill
josh.k...@comcast.net
My rule of thumb is don't have guests over, and your pins won't
break;) There's some unwritten law that when you invite somebody
over, that's when your pin will break.
Seriously though, I have a nice Taxi pin, and the left flipper no
longer works. I bought a new end of stroke switch and hopefully that's
all it is, but the diode might be bad on the switch itself, but I just
pray it's not something board related. This game was sold to me as
shopped, but a pinball machine is mechanical, and whether it's from
the 30's or the newest pin out there, things will break. But that's
part of the fun in owning your own pin. I also have a Bad Cats pin, a
really nice one. A few weeks after I got it, the spinning animation in
the head and the seafood wheel under the playfield broke. Again,
shopped out, but something on the MPU probably failed and I'm looking
at mucho dinero to send off the board, but things wear out on a board
after a while too. Electronics can fail. No way around that either.
Pingeek
http://www.pingeek.com
Get your pinball dvds here!
josh.k...@comcast.net
> Get your pinball dvds here!- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
Also, I forgot to mention, everybody I've known that has owned a Star
Trek Next Generation pin, whether it be a retailer or a collector has
said flat out this is one of the hardest pins to shop out. There's
something that fails on the multiball sometimes, and just the way the
game is laid out on and under the playfield makes for a really
difficult shop job. Somebody else that knows this game better can
probably chime in here and get more into the technical aspect of what
fails on the this game.
mar...@pacbell.net
Other than that, there will be repairs.
PT
I fixed the strobe. Seems like all I ever do to AFM is open it up
once and a while, wipe it down, wax it and change the balls. I only
wish the other WPC games I've had were so reliable.
Starting with a machine that hasn't been beaten to death and smoked
around is very important.
John
On Jan 9, 10:58 am, newc...@live.com wrote:
ldnayman
>
> You may want to consider System 11 games from wms/bly - titles like
> Bad Cats, Whirlwind, EarthShaker, Rollergames etc.
>
These games are all close to 20 years old - unless they have been
properly refurbished they can be tons of trouble.
I'd stick with 1990s WPC games if "dependability" is the main concern.
Nwojedi
> I'd avoid STTNG and TZ. AFM has been extremely reliable for me, once
> I fixed the strobe. Seems like all I ever do to AFM is open it up
> once and a while, wipe it down, wax it and change the balls. I only
> wish the other WPC games I've had were so reliable.
>
> Starting with a machine that hasn't been beaten to death and smoked
> around is very important.
>
> John
>
it's kind of hard to have something break, when it's only an empty
cabinet with a chunk of plywood in it. :)
seymour-shabow
I'd stick with Gottlieb sys3 games if reliability and dependability were
the main concerns.
-scott CARGPB#29
Max Badazz
Titles like Star Trek:TNG, IJ, CV, ToM, TZ, NF, even TAF (some of
these have magnets, which is looking for trouble). I have newer Sterns
and they are pretty much problem free (I know for some of you, boo,
hiss, Stern sucks, they are cheap, etc). I found that my SMB is built
like a brick house. No issues with that machine. Also my Hollywood
Heat is running perfectly (maybe look into Gottliebs?). Sooner or
later, they will all fail on you in certain areas (solenoids,
switches, displays, power supplies, etc).
Chris (in NH)
http://usergallery.myhomegameroom.com/gallery/maxbadazz
Mickey Johnson
Problem is with pinball machines, it only takes one connector, one broken
wire, or one broken or shorted switch to make the machine completely non
functional.
If you are in a market for a pinball machine and you have no electrical
knowlege (which is fine), you also need to do one of two things. Either be
willing to learn a little (plenty of internet resources) or find someone
local to you that has some electrical knowlege. The machine type doesn't
matter because each era of pinball has its weaknesses. If you do neither of
the above, expect to pay 150-200 dollars for each repair that your machine
needs. That takes the fun out of pinball really quickly.
Mickey
<new...@live.com> wrote in message
news:1389e44e-9271-4162...@i72g2000hsd.googlegroups.com...
goatdan
If your basis is just what will break the least and / or be easiest to
service, I would either suggest:
Bally / Stern early 80's single level games -- These have less parts
on them to have something go wrong with and less stuff under the
playfield to have to deal with if something goes wrong. I suggest the
Bally / Stern games because there seems to both be a lot of parts
available for them now (new boards, repro parts, etc) and because now
that I own a few, they have all been pretty solid, moreso than other
games from that era (don't even think about old SS Gottliebs!!)
Gottlieb Sys 3 -- as someone else said, these suckers are built like
*crazy* and they just keep working and working. I own two of them,
and both have basically been maintenance free, although neither are
set up at the moment.
NIB Stern game -- The operators that I know have told me that they are
switching to straight or nearly straight Stern titles out on location
because they have a lot less problems than WPC games did. In our area
at least, Sega and Stern titles seem to be the ones that hold up the
best when routed.
I've had quite a number of people talk with me about getting their
first game, and I honestly suggest the Bally / Stern early 80's way as
the way to go. Doing that does a few things in my opinion -- when you
only have one game, you learn to appreciate it for what it is. As
games got more complex, things changed a lot and it is hard to go back
to this period if you don't kind of 'force' yourself early on to see
what it is like. Secondly, these games are perfect for learning how
to repair things, as it is often MUCH more straightforward and easy to
fix things, and you can apply that knowledge if you get another, newer
game later.
If you are set on getting a newer Bally / Williams game and don't want
to learn but want to save money from a tech coming over to fix
anything that breaks, I would suggest getting a very early game that
had less going on. Either a System 11 game (Space Station comes to
mind as a very simple but fun one), or an early DMD game like
Terminator 2 or the Getaway. Buying a more complex pin (Demolition
Man, Judge Dredd, Medieval Madness, Circus Voltaire, Shadow, Twilight
Zone, Star Trek, etc) just really ups the amount of difficulties you
can have with it in a short while. Once you adjust them, they'll be
solid too, but they have a MUCH higher learning curve.
Good luck! Start making room for your second machine today!
ldnayman
> I'd stick with Gottlieb sys3 games if reliability and dependability were
> the main concerns.
>
> -scott CARGPB#29
Fair enough - don't have much experience with these, but they
certiainly fit my "newer" game suggestion.
Jim Farber
I strongly agree with that Levi's last sentence, and would add that it
might worth paying a retail price for a warranty from a local place or
at least buying from a local collector with a good rep who might not
mind helping fix issues for a few bucks or a few beers.
My first 2 pins were from a local retailer and I know I overpaid a
little. But the first pin (Funhouse) needed some minor fixes under
warranty and the second pin (White Water) has worked 100% rock-solid
since I got it 3 years ago. You will play the snot out of your pin
for the first month and if major problems are going to pop up, they
probably will then. Of course, over the long run, other issues will
likely come up but I found as I really got into the hobby fixing and
restoring things myself became a big part of the fun.
Another thing I did was google the pins I was interested and really
read the "what to look for" threads, b/c they show what's likely to go
wrong, the effects on the game if there are problems, and how easy
those problems are to fix.
Finally, note that all pins will need to be cleaned, in direct
proportion to the amount of play. I hope staying clean is not what
you meant by low maintenance b/c the constantly clean pin does not
exist.
Hope this helps.
-- Jim
z28...@hotmail.com
I second that!
gottlieb system 3 hands down the most reliable
requiring virtually no maintenance (other than waxing and an
occasional bulb)
whenever I put a pin on location, it's a system 3.
metallik
All the advice about getting a game with low mileage is good advice.
That said, if you're looking for a particular model and prefer Bally/
Williams, go ahead and get a Jackbot. Only one moving part (the visor/
target bank), and it's easy to get to everything for maintenance.
Shop it well once, and you'll likely never have to fool with it ever
again.
I would not recommend the Sys3s. They may be great electrically, but
they can break mechanical parts just like any other game, and
honestly, the gameplay on most of them sucks. The few that ARE fun to
play (stargate) have lots of moving bits n pieces, along with hard-to-
find parts (kickback assy).
Nwojedi
> All the advice about getting a game with low mileage is good advice.
> That said, if you're looking for a particular model and prefer Bally/
> Williams, go ahead and get a Jackbot. Only one moving part (the visor/
> target bank), and it's easy to get to everything for maintenance.
> Shop it well once, and you'll likely never have to fool with it ever
> again.
>
> I would not recommend the Sys3s. They may be great electrically, but
> they can break mechanical parts just like any other game, and
> honestly, the gameplay on most of them sucks. The few that ARE fun to
> play (stargate) have lots of moving bits n pieces, along with hard-to-
> find parts (kickback assy).
I don't know about hard to find parts. Seems steve at PBR has more
parts for all gottliebs than i've seen for bally/williams parts.
System 3's are built the best out of all the DMD games i've seen.
(i've never owned capcom, but from that i've played and seen) they
feel just like your DE, and new sterns. So i'm guessing they are your
typical B/W construction.
Fred Kemper
swing the new price tag. Good support and parts available.
If you are looking at used, older DMD pins, the Gottlieb
games Using the System 3 platform are near bulletproof.
All the others have various issues in reliability,design, etc..
(That's why the owners are HERE for advice....)
Fred
TX
CARGPB#8
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On Jan 9, 9:58 am, newc...@live.com wrote: