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Proxy bloody pinball machines... Mutter mutter!

RudeDogg1

RudeDogg1

Site Supporter
10 Years
Joined
Dec 27, 2012
Messages
8,516
Location
Barnstaple, Devon
Well as you are all prob aware I'm not having much luck with pins at the mo what with do refusing to want to work despite all the money and time I've plowed into her.... Well anyway I digress I'm not talking to her today I've not even touched her. Anyway my attention turned to the shadow gathering dust I thought I'd finely get around to dusting her off , replaced a broken rubber, and yet another ring bulb, hoovered pf, gave it a quick polish ready for next w/e, cleaned me balls then when back to the machine "ba dum dum sssh", then one of the crappy press free rivets in a ramp flap decided to come off grr not so bad I have some propper ones just a mission to get the ramps off. Thought I'll do that later and had a quick go on it everything was fine and dandy. Changed the settings back to 3 balls (was in 5 from when mini me was over). Started another game and none of the inserts or ring lights were working. At that point I was on the verge of a toddler style tantrum tried the on and off method which made no difference. Then I decided to go to the post office and chippy before I flipped the machine over like the proverbial desk while spitting on firepower while giving it a manly kick. Anyway after I'd finished sobbing uncontrollably and bloated with chippy goodness I decided to check every fuse and check and reseat every connector. Not one blown fuse or loose connector grr. Fired it up and still the same started a game 3 inserts came on second ball and they were all back on apart from the ring lights which I later checked and all 4 had blown what the funk! Bloody things atleast it's ok now just odd not knowing what it was
 
Shadows working fine now and I don't like gin ty for the offer tho altho I could use the gin to torch the firepower and her lack of firepower
 
Just wish I knew as much as u guys so I could just go in there and sort it or had a local pinhead that could help me
 
Apart from a few on here, the rest of us need help or advice from time to time, pins are complex pieces of kit.
 
When I first started restoring machines I struggled to get them working properly afterwards. Electronics, diodes, rectifiers, resistors, opto's, doo-dads etc. are a complete mystery to me and as much as I read up I'm still clueless. It's so depressing after spending time and money and months of graft on a machine that it won't work.

In the end I decided it was beyond me and now call in Andy after every job. I know it's another expense but he will lick it into shape and get it right.
 
Not many techies in the UK and even harder to find one nearby which generally means dragging your machine somewhere which is impractical, I think a mobile techie that would travel right across the UK and repair onsite for a fair price would do well. I used to repair PC's onsite back in the day, no fix no fee, granted it's like playing with Lego compared to pins but was always busy as customers did not want to drop their pc @ a shop and have it left on the shelf for days (no pc = end of the world) + the convenience was a winner.
 
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Judge Dreads said:
Not many techies in the UK and even harder to find one nearby which generally means dragging your machine somewhere which is impractical, I think a mobile techie that would travel right across the UK and repair onsite for a fair price would do well.
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Err....isn't that what Andy N does ?
 
GrizZ said:
Err....isn't that what Andy N does ?
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"a mobile techie that would travel right across the UK and repair onsite", not as far as I know, I don't know a mobile techie that goes from the Isle of White to the North coast of Scotland, yes there are techies that travel a bit (common knowledge) please name one that does all of the UK.
 
Judge Dreads said:
"a mobile techie that would travel right across the UK and repair onsite", not as far as I know, I don't know a mobile techie that goes from the Isle of White to the North coast of Scotland, yes there are techies that travel a bit (everyone knows that) please name one that does all of the UK.
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Oh ok. I know Andy does road trips to far flung parts occasionally.

I shudder to think what a 'fair' price would be for a tech to go from his base in say London to the north of Scotland for a single repair job ;)
 
They would have to operate like Andy does sometimes, basically post on the group or forum that they will be a visiting a certain region on a particular date to make it viable, Martin operates like this with his deliveries and seems to work OK, most people would be prepared to wait a while I should imagine rather than have to drag a machine to a specific location.

If I lived in Scotland and paying a techie was the only option I would rather pay their fees to travel up rather than hump the machine all the way down there so it would cost what it costs, you are lucky down south that Andy is good to go and local.
 
Judge Dreads said:
They would have to operate like Andy does sometimes, basically post on the group or forum that they will be a visiting a certain region on a particular date to make it viable, Martin operates like this with his deliveries and seems to work OK, most people would be prepared to wait a while I should imagine rather than have to drag a machine to a specific location.

If I lived in Scotland and paying a techie was the only option I would rather pay their fees to travel up rather than hump the machine all the way down there so it would cost what it costs, you are lucky down south that Andy is good to go and local.
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even better for me now that andy has moved to the midlands:clap:
 
GrizZ said:
I have no idea what you guys are talking about. Doesn't the world end, to all intents and purposes, just north of the M25 ;)
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Sadly it does for southerners :( Their inability to smile in public means they are incompatible with the north/scotland.
 
abaxas said:
Sadly it does for southerners :( Their inability to smile in public means they are incompatible with the north/scotland.
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Well we're a pretty happy bunch down here in San FranBrighton :D Must be all the sunshine ....you've heard of that yeah ? you might of seen it in 'the films' and stuff ;):)
 
On the plus side lastnight after repairing the ramp flap and waxing the pf I beat my high score on 3 balls


ImageUploadedByTapatalk1397396266.073233.jpg

Had over 600.000.000 on the first ball
 
Judge Dreads said:
Not many techies in the UK and even harder to find one nearby which generally means dragging your machine somewhere which is impractical, I think a mobile techie that would travel right across the UK and repair onsite for a fair price would do well. I used to repair PC's onsite back in the day, no fix no fee, granted it's like playing with Lego compared to pins but was always busy as customers did not want to drop their pc @ a shop and have it left on the shelf for days (no pc = end of the world) + the convenience was a winner.
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It's just not feasible/possible for what people consider a "fair price", so I believe Andy N does a few jobs in an area at a time?

If I drive to an onsite job in Manchester, which is only an hour away, then you have to consider that it's a total of 2 hours driving (so you've got to charge for that, else you could be sat back in the workshop at a bench earning money on board repairs instead of driving) plus that's 4 gallons of fuel that needs paying for, and people get ****y about paying for the callout.

Imagine getting callout to Aberdeen? Your going to need to charge for 14 hours of driving, a full tank of fuel and a hotel stayover before you've even fixed anything. Even if you had 4 jobs in the same part of Aberdeen at the same time (if there even are enough pinball collectors in the same place there with broken machines at exactly the same time) Then you still have a HUGE expense that you would have to divide between the 4 jobs.

So I think the travelling that people like Andy N do is about as good as you are ever going to get without it being impractical
 
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