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Pinball rite of passage

Wayne J

Wayne J

Site Supporter
Joined
Jul 22, 2011
Messages
2,843
Location
Walsall
Alias
WWJ
You cannot begin to consider yourself experienced in the pinball world until you have ticked off at least 90% of these.

Install the wrong number of balls, causing a fault.
Put glass back on with balls not in machine.
Diagnose and fix a fault - by yourself.
Attempt a repair, but cause more damage.
Diagnose and fix a fault on someone else's machine over the phone.
Give away FREE, parts to a stranger online or at a show.
Visit and fix someone else's machine.
Diagnose and fix a fault on someone else's machine over the Internet.
Break a playfield glass.
Break a backglass- bonus point if it's unobtainable.
Have the back box drop onto the playfield, because you forgot to secure it.
Move a machine with the backbox unsecured, causing it to crash down.
Have a machine fall off a sack truck.
Take a machine to a show.
Hire a van to take multiple machines to a show.
Take a machine to a show, come back empty handed.
Take a machine to a show and come back with a different machine.
Buy a machine at a show.
Drop a round of drinks at a show.
Set up/take down other people's machines at a show.
Lose the ratchet strap you arrived with when it comes time to set down and have to improvise.
Have a machine fall over in a van.
Travel more than 2hrs to buy a machine.
Travel more than 2hrs to buy a machine, but leave empty handed.
Travel to a different country to buy a machine.
Buy a used machine sight unseen
Buy a used machine sight unseen from abroad.
Get lost with a van load of machines returning from a show.
Lose the keys to the lock and have to drill the door.
Redecal a machine.
Repaint/stencil a machine.
Build a cabinet/backbox from scratch.
Buy a project machine.
Buy a project machine, but never do anything with it before selling it.
Buy a machine from a 'barn/garage' find.
Get a machine by exchanging for a non-pinball item.
Get a machine free of charge/given to you.
Lose over 50% on a machine when you sell it.
Bring a project machine back to life.
Build/retheme a machine
Temporary trade of a machine with someone
Loan out a machine to someone.
Forget who you've loaned machines out to, or where they are.
Have more than 50 machines pass through your hands.
Own too many machines to be able to set them all up.
Have machines set up in more than 1 room in your house.
Buy a machine without using the Internet at all.
Wonder why a machine hasn't kicked a ball out of the lock - when there's a ball in the shooter lane.
Get an electric shock from a machine
Cause a short by dropping the tool you were working with.
Break a plastic while cleaning it.
Burn yourself while soldering.
Forget to remove batteries causing acid damage.
Buy a machine with woodworm.
Make a game specific part that can't be bought.
Have a playforld come off it's runners
Have playfield drop on your head
Forget to pull the power cable out before attaching backbox
Leave balls in trough before lifting playfield, causing them to drop out and smash plastics.
Spend hours checking coils, but not check the fuse.
Have that toasty burning smell of a locked on coil.
Rip clothes by catching on a shooter rod as you walk past.
Forget to take enough photos while stripping a playfield, thus meaning it takes you hours longer than it should to put back together.
Reassemble a playfield forgetting a single piece, meaning you have to strip it all back down again.
Have a ball just disappear completely from the playfield.
Unload a machine in the pouring rain.
Unload a vanload of machines in the pouring rain.
Leave a tool in a pin, then forget where it is altogether so you buy a replacement.
Enter a competition.
Take someone to the first competition.
Persuade someone to buy their first machine.
Sell a pin at mates rates.
Book a foreign holiday around a pinball show/tournament.
Gain a huge amount of spares from machines you've refurbished, just in case you'll need them again in the future. This includes washers, screws, bulbs, rubbers, coils, coil sleeves, game specific parts
(spoiler alert - you won't).
 
All but 3

Set up an older game and forgot to put the cable through the pedestal groove

Even seen Bob Thomson do this at a show
 
How about:

Been flamed on a sales post for under or over valuation
Driven on a motorway with your car boot full of pinball and tied shut
Fallen out with the other half over pin purchases or sales
Ordered parts online worth less than the postage only to find out 5 minutes later you need one more thing
Taken up more than 25% of the garden with pinball related buildings
Been given a pinball t-shirt for birthday or Christmas
Kept old balls no longer fit for play
 
Wayne J said:
You cannot begin to consider yourself experienced in the pinball world until you have ticked off at least 90% of these.

Put glass back on with balls not in machine.
Diagnose and fix a fault - by yourself.
Attempt a repair, but cause more damage.
Diagnose and fix a fault on someone else's machine over the phone.
Give away FREE, parts to a stranger online or at a show.
Visit and fix someone else's machine.
Diagnose and fix a fault on someone else's machine over the Internet.
Have the back box drop onto the playfield, because you forgot to secure it.
Have a machine fall off a sack truck.
Take a machine to a show.
Hire a van to take multiple machines to a show.
Take a machine to a show, come back empty handed.
Take a machine to a show and come back with a different machine.
Buy a machine at a show.
Set up/take down other people's machines at a show.
Lose the ratchet strap you arrived with when it comes time to set down and have to improvise.
Have a machine fall over in a van.
Travel more than 2hrs to buy a machine.
Buy a used machine sight unseen
Buy a used machine sight unseen from abroad.
Redecal a machine.
Buy a project machine.
Buy a project machine, but never do anything with it before selling it.
Bring a project machine back to life.
Build/retheme a machine
Temporary trade of a machine with someone
Loan out a machine to someone.
Forget who you've loaned machines out to, or where they are.
Have more than 50 machines pass through your hands.
Own too many machines to be able to set them all up.
Have machines set up in more than 1 room in your house.
Buy a machine without using the Internet at all.
Get an electric shock from a machine
Cause a short by dropping the tool you were working with.
Break a plastic while cleaning it.
Burn yourself while soldering.
Forget to remove batteries causing acid damage.
Make a game specific part that can't be bought.
Have a playfield come off it's runners
Have playfield drop on your head
Forget to pull the power cable out before attaching backbox
Leave balls in trough before lifting playfield, causing them to drop out and smash plastics.
Have that toasty burning smell of a locked on coil.
Rip clothes by catching on a shooter rod as you walk past.
Forget to take enough photos while stripping a playfield, thus meaning it takes you hours longer than it should to put back together.
Reassemble a playfield forgetting a single piece, meaning you have to strip it all back down again.
Have a ball just disappear completely from the playfield.
Unload a machine in the pouring rain.
Unload a vanload of machines in the pouring rain.
Leave a tool in a pin, then forget where it is altogether so you buy a replacement.
Enter a competition.
Take someone to the first competition.
Persuade someone to buy their first machine.
Sell a pin at mates rates.
Book a foreign holiday around a pinball show/tournament.
Gain a huge amount of spares from machines you've refurbished, just in case you'll need them again in the future. This includes washers, screws, bulbs, rubbers, coils, coil sleeves, game specific parts
(spoiler alert - you won't).
Click to expand...

Those are all mine, only 75% - basically a noob
 
What’s just happened to me, you fix something under the playfield then try and start a game. Nothing, so you start checking the switch matrix to see if it’s on the line you were working on and start scratching your head as you come up with nothing. Then see the balls sitting on the table😂
 
M4carp said:
What’s just happened to me, you fix something under the playfield then try and start a game. Nothing, so you start checking the switch matrix to see if it’s on the line you were working on and start scratching your head as you come up with nothing. Then see the balls sitting on the table😂
Click to expand...
That’s why I always lay the balls on the lock down bar. Life hack #47
 
I used to jam a piece of sponge ( not Victoria! ) into the trough eject to the shooter lane to save taking the balls out when lifting the playfield. I lost count of the number of times I put the glass back in and tried to start a game, sponge still jammed in there. I've got out of that habit luckily and just take them out.
 
kevlar said:
I used to jam a piece of sponge ( not Victoria! ) into the trough eject to the shooter lane to save taking the balls out when lifting the playfield. I lost count of the number of times I put the glass back in and tried to start a game, sponge still jammed in there. I've got out of that habit luckily and just take them out.
Click to expand...
😂 I have done that so many times, it’s a “ FFS” moment☺️
 
  • Install the wrong number of balls, causing a fault.
  • Put glass back on with balls not in machine.
  • Diagnose and fix a fault - by yourself.
  • Attempt a repair, but cause more damage.
  • Travel more than 2hrs to buy a machine.
  • Burn yourself while soldering.
  • Make a game specific part that can't be bought.
  • Have a playforld come off it's runners
  • Leave balls in trough before lifting playfield, causing them to drop out and smash plastics.
  • Leave a tool in a pin, then forget where it is altogether so you buy a replacement.
  • Enter a competition.
  • Take someone to the first competition.
  • Gain a huge amount of spares from machines you've refurbished, just in case you'll need them again in the future. This includes washers, screws, bulbs, rubbers, coils, coil sleeves, game specific parts (spoiler alert - you won't).
All of the above. Interestingly, most of them are related to repairs and not purchasing...

My proudest moments are making a Fish Tales topper and taking my five-year-old son to a league competition :)
 
I find all sorts of tools in my coin doors. I needed my fuse puller the other day but haven't seen it for months. Time to check every backbox and cab 😆
 
David_Vi said:
I find all sorts of tools in my coin doors. I needed my fuse puller the other day but haven't seen it for months. Time to check every backbox and cab 😆
Click to expand...
They are moved there by a close relative of the Car Key Trolls, The Pinball Parts Pixies.
 
Calimori said:
I was going to suggest a variant.
You track down part/mod but place it somewhere and forget you even bought it. Only realising when you buy it again and go to fit it, finding the other one.
Click to expand...
I used to do that with expansions for board games. I’m hoping I’ve learned my lesson with pins, so I have a spreadsheet of mods and am fitting them as I go along :oops:
 
Wayne J said:
Forget to pull the power cable out before attaching backbox
Leave balls in trough before lifting playfield, causing them to drop out and smash plastics.
Click to expand...
I'm sure many of you will have ticked some of these off the list over the weekend.

I left the balls in GZ when setting down, haven't checked for broken plastics yet.

@Matt Vince when setting up Paragon.

I didn't hear of any broken playfield glass or locks needing to be drilled over the weekend though. 🤞
 
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