I can envisage a line of cars and trailers and vans all containing broken pinball machines heading to the venue.
I think this is a great idea, I hope someone does it, but in the meantime, there is plenty you can do yourself to get improving your skills:
There is youtube which of course has tons of pinball help videos.
If you have no idea about the basics of electrics and electronics, there are again plenty of on-line courses. e.g.:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Basic-Electronics/
buy a simple electronics kit, starter kit- it teaches the basics and you get practical experience, it is the foundation of all modern pinballs and basic electrical understanding is also needed for EM's (EM's don't require too much knowledge of electronics - although many have bridge rectifiers etc.).
buy a soldering iron and practice - buy some wire, a battery holder and a switch and some LEDs and have a go from scratch at making electronic circuits. You will learn a lot just doing simple stuff like this. If you like it, carry on and get some different components, or buy a cheap simple electronics kit which you need to solder up - it's great practice. e.g. electronic dice project -
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Electron...248417&hash=item41b916c037:g:zDwAAOSwnHZYQObg £1.36 - bargain and you will be so pleased once you make it and it works!
learn what a transistor is an what a power transistor, MOSFET is and why it's slightly different to a bog std transistor. Similarly learn what a diode is and does, how they are used in a bridge rectifier, what a coil is and then a transformer, a capacitor, resistor, etc. Opto switches used in fliptronic flipper controls are also worth understanding, and you will get this understanding from a basic electronics kit that has photo cells or similar in it.
Learn how to open up your machine up and get the playfield up, and have a good look at the insides, same with the backbox. figure out what each major component does. Then look closer at minor parts. Soon you will know it inside out. use the manual and schematic to help make sense of what you are seeing. Make notes to aid yourself.
Practice changing light bulbs. they can be tricky and some require other parts to be removed in order to gain access. It's all good practice. a LED upgrade is a great idea. Even if your machine already has LED's you might find the latest COMET ones can still significantly transform the look of your machine. Buy a few and try a few as an experiment.
Learn how to clean the playfield - plenty of tips and advice here and pinside and youtube
learn how to replace rubbers - start with the ones that are easy to get to - then lead up to the ones that require increasing removal of playfield parts.
When the time comes, do a flipper rebuild - or if you can't wait - take one flipper apart,see how it all works. Give it a clean and then put it back together again. You have the other flipper as a useful reference anyway. Take plenty of photos first. The process of observing and dismantling will help you learn.
Learn how to take out a fuse, how to test it and put it back in safely. Buy a 99p fuse pulling tool and a cheap £5 Digital Multi Meter (if nothing else).
Most machines have the same components - pop bumpers, sling shots, flippers, eject saucers, VUK (Vertical Up Kicker), drop targets, stand up targets, etc. Look and learn how each of these components works. Again plenty of resources on-line, Once you know how each of these work, you can fix that item on just about any pinball machine. if you are into EM machines, again there are only a handful of common parts used across most machines, Stepper units, score motors, score reels and relay banks, etc.
Simple tools like nut drivers, screwdrivers, long nose pliers, wire cutters etc are cheap and invaluable. if you have no tools or very few, resolve to buy a new tool each month. They will last a lifetime and are cheap in the long run. Within a year you will have a good pinball maintenance kit, within two a superb kit!
If you have modern machines, figure out what all the settings in the setup menu do - especially the diagnostic tests - these are often very useful in helping to find a particular problem.
Whenever your pinball machine develops a problem, find the problem and try and fix it yourself - use the forum for help in both. (but don't go too far outside your skill zone at first)
If you cannot diagnose a problem - look on here, pinside and youtube - someone will most likely have had the same or similar. If not just ask for help on the forum.
As you advance you will be able to fix more and more issues. leave the real complicated issues to others who have the required skills already, but learn from what they do, and decide if these are skills you'd like to obtain yourself, and if so, what do you need to learn and practice in order to do so? is it a realistic goal? If so get on with learning, if not - be happy you know an expert who can fix it for you. their expertise is worth the price they charge. Happily pay it.
The boards in your backbox are the heart of the machine (not EM's of course). Often problems arise with the connectors that carry electrical signals to and from other boards, switches, lights and the other components. Learn how to disconnect and reconnect board connectors. Each different type unclips in a different way - some just pull off, others need a retaining clip to be squeezed or moved. Eventually you should be able to remove a board completely and then replace it with the machine working fully before and after. Board repairs can be tough, so leave to experts unless you are competent at soldering and de-soldering components from printed circuit boards. However you should learn to diagnose the problem to a particular board and be capable of removing that board for repair by a third party and then you should be competent to replace it in the machine once fixed.
Everytime to you see a fellow member posting a problem on the forum, read it and follow it - you will soon learn what the common problems are, and this knowledge builds up quickly in your memory, so when your machine develops a problem, you may already know the cause.
Consider buying a project machine. They are the best way to learn. If you have few skills you need a machine with few problems. As your skills and experience increases, you can tackle machines that have more wrong with them. EM's are far far cheaper and are less complicated, so could be a way to go. I've got 2 non working machines fully running and I knew nothing about pinball machines, particularly EM machines, less than a year ago - although I do have some knowledge of electrics and electronics from my teenage years (a long time ago, but you never forget it all!).
Hope this helps.
