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In pinball limbo...

D

drumsticksplinter

Registered
Joined
Jan 15, 2024
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20
Location
United Kingdom
Hi guys,

Looking for a bit of advice / guidance really.

I've had an old em Bally onbeam sitting in the corner of my living room for the last year or so looking cool, but not functional. I bought it as a project and haven't had the time to progress much recently. I stripped the playfield in the aim of touching up the worn paintwork and making new plastics etc. However, work and family life isn't allowing me to get anywhere with it.

Is there anyone in the midlands that undertakes playfield restoration work that doesn't charge the earth?

This is my first pinball machine and I feel like I'm basically the furthest away from playing pinball I've ever been because now I own a machine that isn't working, and it needs so much doing to it that its going to take me alone years to complete, with the little time I have spare...

Any thoughts please?

Thanks,
 
I feel your pain.

I am sorry to say that this is probably not a valuable title and a professiobal playfield refurb might be an uneconomic decision. You may not even recover the cost of the restoration when you sell the game in the future.

You need to work backwards on what it's worth all finished less what it would cost to get it there. Others on here will know these sums better than me.

In your shoes I'd consider ...

1. Finding a pinhead on here who would do a basic clean up and put the game back together for you for a fee

2. Selling as is
 
Whats wrong with it?
1754317457587.webp

I agree with David that it’ll likely cost you more to pay someone to get it nice (£1000 plus) than it’ll be worth afterwards (£1000?) so unless you enjoy tinkering away over another year of an hour here and there, I’d probably sell it as a project as is.

Then you can fill the space with a fully working one to suit your pocket (£500 for an EM, £1500 for a System 11, £2000+ for a starter DMD game.) It’s a buyer’s market right now so lots of bargains to be had. A 3K Spiderman or Shadow will always be sellable later. The ‘For Sale’ section is chockablock.
 
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Did you strip the bottom of the playfield or just the top (removing and storing stuff from the bottom would almost certainly cause switches to get knocked, resulting in faults when reassembled)? And did fully work before you stripped it?

Sell it and cut your losses would be my advice. Fixing EMs is a relatively steep learning curve and if you haven't taken to it in a year, you are unlikely to start gaining interest now. Bizarrely, things sold as projects sometimes go for just as much as a working machine.
 
JT. said:
Did you strip the bottom of the playfield or just the top (removing and storing stuff from the bottom would almost certainly cause switches to get knocked, resulting in faults when reassembled)? And did fully work before you stripped it?

Sell it and cut your losses would be my advice. Fixing EMs is a relatively steep learning curve and if you haven't taken to it in a year, you are unlikely to start gaining interest now. Bizarrely, things sold as projects sometimes go for just as much as a working machine.
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I haven't stripped the bottom no, just most of the top bits. The pin didn't function correctly before stripping, I acquired it with some broken plastics and the rubbers were all perished. Did a bit of fiddling and found some faults on initial power tests, which i was able to trace, but decided to strip before going any further. My thinking was that I'd never want to take it apart to restore the artwork once I'd got it working properly.
 
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Thanks cooldan! Is that one yours in the pic? The artwork on mine is quite worn and there are bits of the plastics broken / missing.

I hear you, there is a lot of work in the artwork restoration, which is what's holding me back, I've looked at taking it on myself with decals / stencils / hand painting, but either way is a steep learning curve and I just want to play the damn thing!

Trouble is, it took alot or persuading the Mrs to get one in the first place and she actually likes the artwork of Onbeam, as do I. Lots to think about though, I'd love a second one to play while I contemplate what to do with this one, but I'd probably have to live in it if I did as I'd be kicked out! 😄 🤣
 
Where in the Midlands are you? If it was working before you stripped it then it's probably not going to take too much to get it playable again. As others have said, it's not going to make sense money wise to have someone restore it for you unless you were never going to sell it. If you're not far from me then I'm happy to help if I can :thumbs:
 
drumsticksplinter said:
Is that one yours in the pic?

Trouble is, it took alot or persuading the Mrs to get one in the first place and she actually likes the artwork of Onbeam, as do I. Lots to think about though, I'd love a second one to play while I contemplate what to do with this one, but I'd probably have to live in it if I did as I'd be kicked out! 😄 🤣
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not mine, no. i'd never heard of it so i looked it up and just copy-pasted the picture off ipdb

This picture and video seem appropriate to your situation
no i'm not selling it.webp

View attachment Pinball Collector intro.mov
 
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ronsplooter said:
Where in the Midlands are you? If it was working before you stripped it then it's probably not going to take too much to get it playable again. As others have said, it's not going to make sense money wise to have someone restore it for you unless you were never going to sell it. If you're not far from me then I'm happy to help if I can :thumbs:
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I'm in Rugeley, where abouts are you?

Yeah it wasn't working fully when I bought it, but I bought at as a project knowing it needed work. I'd just got it in my mind I was going to restore it fully, but time doesn't permit at the moment. I'm probably best putting everything back and just getting it working and playable, as it just currently collects dust and everything else a flat surface attracts (post / parcels / letters to santa for another pinball machine....)
 
I'm in Ibstock :thumbs: Yeah I'd suggest getting it working and playable so you can decide if you even like it before investing a load of time and potentially money into a full restoration. Do you have a schematic for it?
 

Put it back together and get chris round to have a looksie :)

Any problems with the game logic after that post here and we can go through the schematic to point you in the correct direction.

Contact cleaning and adjustment will be needed probably only on a few switches to get it playable, then it will start to 'self clean' as it gets used more. Sometimes though other issues crop up aswell after some use.
 
Schematic is here: https://www.ipdb.org/files/1715/Bally_1969_On_Beam_Schematic_Diagram_continuous.pdf

General stuff here: https://www.ipdb.org/search.pl?any=on+beam&search=Search+Database&searchtype=quick#1715

Fixing it: http://www.pinrepair.com/em/index1.htm

Do yourself a favour. Don't take it all apart if fault finding. Check each stage as you go or you'll never get it running.

As for playfield restoration, look at this guide: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/vids-guide-to-ultimate-playfield-restoration
 
Looks like it could be a good game. nice theme and something interesting with the outhole kickout you dont see often. Looks like the outhole eject can rotate to fire the ball back into play instead of into the trough/shooter etc

So worth getting going to see
 
myPinballs said:

Put it back together and get chris round to have a looksie :)

Any problems with the game logic after that post here and we can go through the schematic to point you in the correct direction.

Contact cleaning and adjustment will be needed probably only on a few switches to get it playable, then it will start to 'self clean' as it gets used more. Sometimes though other issues crop up aswell after some use.
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Thank you, im going to have a look at ordering some bits from today I think so I can get it back on 😉
 
myPinballs said:
Looks like it could be a good game. nice theme and something interesting with the outhole kickout you dont see often. Looks like the outhole eject can rotate to fire the ball back into play instead of into the trough/shooter etc

So worth getting going to see
Click to expand...
Thank you, yes some interesting features for sure, just need to get it back together and working me thinks 🤔
 
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