What's new
Pinball info

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Most Fiddly/Awkward Repair?

robotgreg

robotgreg

Site Supporter
Joined
Aug 11, 2011
Messages
1,487
Location
Swanage, Dorset
Alias
Greg
Hi

As most of you who know me, I'm not the most technically minded but have picked up some skills over the last 15 years or so of collecting.

So today the spring on the left flipper of DH came off and it took me half an hour or so including lots of shouting and cursing to fit the new one. So tightly coiled it's very difficult to find the end let alone try to thread it through the hole on the flipper assembly.

Eventually fitted but might have damaged spring as had to pull it out a bit to get to find and access the end. Have to wait and see if it survives, seems OK at mo.

So, what is the most awkward fix you've had to do? Not a fault which is difficult to diagnose but just really fiddly to fit or remove a part.

Greg
 
Doesn't sound ideal Greg!

A few spring to mind, just because a particular part is either in an awkward place or not designed for ease of service.

I'd probably say the most frustrating 'fix' is the lower pop bumper bulb on JM, when I had mine I put some LED rings in it, and the lower one had a semi-dodgy connection, however the cap sat right underneath the left ramp with no way of getting a screwdriver in to just take the screws out and the cap off without removing the ramp (unless you fancied bending it to a point where it could likely snap in two). You also had to take off one of the centre ramps to remove the left ramp fully as the centre one overhung it.

So every time this damn ring failed I had to spend about 30 minutes removing 2 ramps. In the end I hot-glued the ring to the cap (which I didn't know you had to do) and it was smooth sailing from there in.

I'd also say the mini-playfield on Twilight Zone, just because if you have to replace any of the lamps or flashers underneath it, you have to take the entire mini playfield off which is a pain.
 
The diverter spring on TZ's ramp was a real git to get into & fix when it snapped! The one that opens up for the skill-shot & multiball.
 
+1 for Ted's head. A real bugger to service as you have to try and remove the dozer blade, cut your hands to shreds and realise there is no short cut, then strip basically the whole playfield just to remove the dozer blade to get to the head and replace a tiny bit of plastic that has snapped, preventing the eyes from working. Bah!

Also getting an LED out of a Stern trough after it has fallen out of one of the apron spotlights and rolled in there can be a pita. That was until I started using the flexible spring bendy long reach thin claw pick up lifting grab grabber tool that @Paul recommended a while back that you can get on eBay for almost nothing.

Bargain of the century: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/24-FLEXIB...CK-UP-TOOL-LIFTING-GRAB-GRABBER-/271200183677

Top tip: You can also use these to hold a screw and then lower it into an inaccessible hole in the playfield and turn it a few times so it sticks up so you can screw it in when you can't get your fingers in there.
 
It was abit of a pain in the **** changing 2 lamps in the dr. Who mini playfield. Shut the machine off when the mini playfield was up and unplugged it all. Turns out you can take off the metal surround when the mini playfield is raised so plugged it all back in, removed the surround and raised it back up. Unplugged it once again and unbolted it. Twisted and rotated it several times to get it out but i came out.

Then you have to wedge your fingers inside the thing and remove the lamps. After dropping one into an opto and wedging it in i managed to get it out and put new lamps in.

Then it was just a case of inserting the mini playfield back into the hole and... oh there goes the solder on the motor. So back out again and soldered it up. Got there in the end though!
729-1246-thickbox.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: JT.
Anything that involves working right at the back of the playfield on a Sys 11 game ....or early WPC without the slide rails :mad: Where you need to tip up the playfield just to fit a driver in ..........aaaaaaaaaaaagh. So even the simplest of jobs become guaranteed swear-a-thons as you struggle one armed , half blind ,whilst dropping the last screw you have down some black hole on the playfield :rofl:

Discovered after a few years swearing that you can lift the playfield up and off it's playfield mounts to then pull it forward a few inches and rest it on the front of the cab ...but it's still a PITA.

Changing the light up targets on Indy 500 involved lots of QBert like swearing ...*@"!* ...... I remember there is a little rolled up weird coil spring that you have to tap out and re use in the new target . It was painful.
 
Sgt GrizZ said:
Anything that involves working right at the back of the playfield on a Sys 11 game ....or early WPC without the slide rails :mad: Where you need to tip up the playfield just to fit a driver in ..........aaaaaaaaaaaagh. So even the simplest of jobs become guaranteed swear-a-thons as you struggle one armed , half blind ,whilst dropping the last screw you have down some black hole on the playfield :rofl:

Discovered after a few years swearing that you can lift the playfield up and off it's playfield mounts to then pull it forward a few inches and rest it on the front of the cab ...but it's still a PITA.

Changing the light up targets on Indy 500 involved lots of QBert like swearing ...*@"!* ...... I remember there is a little rolled up weird coil spring that you have to tap out and re use in the new target . It was painful.
Click to expand...
Oh yes. I'm not buying anymore games that don't have the sliding playfield. Have had to wedge something at the front end to tilt the playfield back to get a bloody screwdriver in! The worst case of this was messing about with the canon at the rear of the playfield in black rose. I almost had to take the playfield out to do it!
 
Adjusting the crane on Judge Dredd for reliable Deadworld mod ball pickup.... so much play in that and the globe it's a fr*ggin nightmare. Not helped by a slightly bent pivot/hub and both rods. I'm on the verge of reverting back to the non-mod setup. :mad:
 
darren_ross said:
It was abit of a pain in the **** changing 2 lamps in the dr. Who mini playfield. Shut the machine off when the mini playfield was up and unplugged it all. Turns out you can take off the metal surround when the mini playfield is raised so plugged it all back in, removed the surround and raised it back up. Unplugged it once again and unbolted it. Twisted and rotated it several times to get it out but i came out.

Then you have to wedge your fingers inside the thing and remove the lamps. After dropping one into an opto and wedging it in i managed to get it out and put new lamps in.

Then it was just a case of inserting the mini playfield back into the hole and... oh there goes the solder on the motor. So back out again and soldered it up. Got there in the end though!
View attachment 40744
Click to expand...
I seem to remember that changing one of the bulbs under the centre of the playfield on Dr Who involved firstly removing an under the playfield ramp
 
Mfresh said:
Also getting an LED out of a Stern trough after it has fallen out of one of the apron spotlights and rolled in there can be a pita. That was until I started using the flexible spring bendy long reach thin claw pick up lifting grab grabber tool that @Paul recommended a while back that you can get on eBay for almost nothing.

Bargain of the century: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/24-FLEXIB...CK-UP-TOOL-LIFTING-GRAB-GRABBER-/271200183677

Top tip: You can also use these to hold a screw and then lower it into an inaccessible hole in the playfield and turn it a few times so it sticks up so you can screw it in when you can't get your fingers in there.
Click to expand...

That's a great tip - this listing is @ £1.75 posted, it would be rude not too
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/600mm-24-...g-Grab-Grabber-Action-Retrieving/272257817840
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom