questions about how to approach creating resto thread and newbie stuff

[jww]

Hello friends,

Sorry about the long time idle on the site - real life, new job, serious family illness and 6 hours minimum daily commute have taken me away but I'm getting used to it all now and attention focused back on this wonderful thing called pinball.

Ok, to the point.

I would like to create a thread where I detail the fixing up and restoration of my Sega Star Wars Trilogy machine. This will take many months as I'm still learning and suspect there's many things to address.

q1) - I want to create a thread where I detail the progress I make as I take my sega star wars from being naughty to fully working. I read over the shop logs section and felt terribly humbled and out of my depth. I am concerned that because I'm a newbie and nowhere near as skilled as you lot that it wasn't the appropriate section to post it. Can a kind soul give advice on where I should create this?

q2) - Is it acceptable to post questions about the restoration/repairs in the same thread as (1) ? or is it more appropriate to post my questions in the technical section instead, leaving the restoration thread purely for posts about actual progress on the machine?

q3) - where is the best place to just create a thread to talk about how i feel about the hobby and my experiences with it? I've had problem after problem and would like to talk to fellow pinball fans about this: not in a moaning way, rather talking about how it's affected me - and advice on where to go from here, how you coped when new etc. I'm not giving up with them; I'm not giving up learning; but boy do I feel alone, not knowing any pinball fans who are techies down where I live and wanted to create a bit of a thread to talk about how to cope with these things. Does such a thread already exist that I can read instead? Or should I create one? Or should I shut up and just man-up as they say and get on with it? Sorry for this q3 but I've been quite upset that I've been beset by many issues immediately that I became an owner, I will not give up but boy am I a little unsure how to approach all these problems. Haven't had more than an hour total playing games on both combined since I bought them and it's rather hard to cope with.

-

p.s - i regularly come across wrongly and use all the wrong words as I talk a lot and muddle what I'm saying so please bear with me and be bear in mind I'm a newbie who's lost but capable of learning with some pointers is all I ask.

Advice gratefully received regarding the above my friends, then I'll take your advice and proceed from there.

Cheers,


Johnny (Just wants to play starwars and knockout!)

 

[ronsplooter]

Johnny, regarding your first question I would definitely advise starting a shop log for your Star Wars Trilogy thread. I'm pretty sure I was the first person to ever post a shop log on this forum back when we first started up and I knew sod all about shopping and restoring pinball machines back then. It's all part of the learning process and that leads on to your second question. I think questions that come up as part of you shopping the game are best asked in your own shop log thread. This keeps all the info for that game in one place both for you to refer to and for other people who look at it in the future when they want to shop their SWT

In terms of your third question, just start a new topic in General Pinball Discussion and I'm sure plenty of people will jump in with info and advice

 

[Calimori]

Mr Splooter is spot in with all answers. Shop logs help others by sharing all you have done and learnt, the more questions the better for the next person.

Like Mr Splooter, I have learnt my pinball knowledge on this site, via logs and posts. You won't find a nicer group of pinball repair man in one place than here .

 

[replicas]

Johnny, get stuck in and enjoy yourself.
Ask away that's what we are here for, and don't forget to supply us with plenty of pictures as the log progresses.
Good luck. Not that you'll need it.

 

[jww]

Hello friends,

Thank you ronsplooter, Calimori and replicas for your replies, advice and kind words. I appreciate it very much.

I'll create a shop log in that section then at the weekend (I get less than an hour to myself weekdays) and will take it from there. I've had some ideas about videoing as well as photos, much more so than when I attempted (and solved) the initial problem with my Knockout so will do that too.

Thank you again for what you said and the encouragement. You are a decent bunch of people.

Take care and this young padawan will be back...

Cheers,

Johnny

 

[cooldan]

Tell us about the 6h daily commute, that sounds pretty brutal

 

[jww]

Hello cooldan my friend,

I've been given an exciting opportunity with a new job which I'm excited about doing what I do, Network Engineering at a super wicked company in London - couldn't pass it up, after 10 years in my previous job.

Door to door it's 3 hours each way from my house to the office.

That's just the travelling. Add in 8 hours work; walking Lord Raiden (*1) before and after work and all the usual real life stuff and hopefully that conveys a bit about what's going on.

I'd rather not elaborate on my families situ more, but coping with all that lot and then my 2 pinball machines rebelling against me right from the moment I got them had ground me down.

But, I never give up in life - just get a little lost sometimes. Thank you all for your kind words, I feel re-energised and am forming ideas in my head about how to approach trying to solve the pinball issues so I can get some quality time under my belt playing them.

Last night I downloaded a ton of pinball repair videos, loaded them onto my tablet and have been watching them on my commute, giving me more inspiration.

I now feel like getting up and trying again, just like my hero:

*1 - Here's a pic of Lord Raiden, butter wouldn't melt etc etc



I get to work from home tomorrow, so fully intend to take photos, videos and notes about the current situation, create the thread in the shop log section and take it one problem at a time.

Thanks again, I'd best get on, but wanted to reply to you.

Cheers,


Johnny

 

[cooldan]

Nice one Johnny, well you've come to the right place, as this is one of the friendliest little clubhouses around.

This site is only what we make it, so the more threads the better as far as I'm concerned, and shop logs and inner thoughts and questions and answers and loads of pictures make us all happy.

You come across as a really nice fella too, by the way, so I hope you get to meet up with some of us soon at one of the many events that occur all over the country regularly. There's league meets and informal tea or beer meets, pinball pub meets, and of course the icing on the cake is the shows: Slam in Worthing in April, NERG in Blackpool, Swavesey/Ely in June/July, Party in Daventry in August, PLAY in Manchester in October, various Xmas meets etc etc etc

 

[lukewells]

Hey Johhny,

We're pretty relaxed on here. Just create your new thread, get stuck in! Take loads of photos as you go! Feel free to ask as many questions as you like. There are plenty of awesome people on here that will help you as you go!

Pinball restoration is great fun

 

[jww]

Thanks cooldan and lukewells, you are both most kind.

I feel quite humbled and scared too as you lot are super awesome jedis, I hope to do the right thing and treat my prides and joy as well as the forum and it's members with respect.

I've taken videos and pictures, just collating my notes and will post up tonight in the shop log section as soon as I can beat my notes into shape.

Thanks once again, right, I'll get on, eta hopefully less than an hour!

I'll leave this thread alone now and move on to the proper one.

Red 4 1/2 going in

Cheers,


Johnny