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The Arcade Club (Bury) guy

Truggy

Truggy

Registered
Joined
Nov 29, 2019
Messages
37
Location
Arcade Club - Bury
Hello :wave: I've always liked pinball, since I was a kid.

As an adult I heard about this place call Arcade Club, in Bury, where they have a bunch of machines. They did have a bunch of machines, and I spent a lot of time there. But.... I noticed some the machines had faults, and a lot of the time would become unplayable. As a mechanic, I found this frustrating!

So I volunteered, and got access to the keys. It's only been around 6 months, but I'm rebuilding each machine one at a time, and repairing faults as they pop up. Lots of trapped balls, wire breaks, flipper rebuilds, broken rubber - it's never dull and there's always something to repair. The problem is... the general public abusing the machines. But, that's the nature of the place.

I'm here because there are a few weird faults I need some help with. I'll see you in there.
 
A bunch of us are at Arcade club tonight for our Christmas get together so we will check out your handy work :)
 
Are you the chap that was interested in learning about them some time ago? We spoke briefly about half a year ago (or more, my memory is rubbish nowadays?)

I'd given the Addams Family there a bit of a kick up the ****. Simple issue with trough switch wire and a blown fuse but nobody was there that was interested in fixing the pinballs specifically, except for one person who was keen and asked me about a few things - I'm reckoning that was you?

Regardless of whether you are or not, feel free to send me questions specifically as well as asking the forum - I always have plenty of time for Arcade Club.
 
jake52 said:
A bunch of us are at Arcade club tonight for our Christmas get together so we will check out your handy work :)
Click to expand...

Crap! I'm busy at a party tonight :rolleyes:

I was in yesterday and got STTNG running, but it's a got a stuck transistor on the main PCB. It's the diverter in the subway to the RHS shooter. Between games it's firing a ball around, trying to get a ball into that right shooter, which it cant! I left it running to see how it copes.

I think what I'm saying is.... if STTNG is knackered, just turn it off please, and I'll be in Saturday 👍 It's ahd a hard life, and it needs a lot of work.
 
PBrookfield said:
Are you the chap that was interested in learning about them some time ago? We spoke briefly about half a year ago (or more, my memory is rubbish nowadays?)

I'd given the Addams Family there a bit of a kick up the ****. Simple issue with trough switch wire and a blown fuse but nobody was there that was interested in fixing the pinballs specifically, except for one person who was keen and asked me about a few things - I'm reckoning that was you?

Regardless of whether you are or not, feel free to send me questions specifically as well as asking the forum - I always have plenty of time for Arcade Club.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I think that must of been someone else.

I've rebuilt TAF now, and it's pretty much mint. I'd say mint, but.... it's too dirty to say mint. Everything there gets so filthy!
 
Truggy said:
Hello :wave: I've always liked pinball, since I was a kid.

As an adult I heard about this place call Arcade Club, in Bury, where they have a bunch of machines. They did have a bunch of machines, and I spent a lot of time there. But.... I noticed some the machines had faults, and a lot of the time would become unplayable. As a mechanic, I found this frustrating!

So I volunteered, and got access to the keys. It's only been around 6 months, but I'm rebuilding each machine one at a time, and repairing faults as they pop up. Lots of trapped balls, wire breaks, flipper rebuilds, broken rubber - it's never dull and there's always something to repair. The problem is... the general public abusing the machines. But, that's the nature of the place.

I'm here because there are a few weird faults I need some help with. I'll see you in there.
Click to expand...

I've been wanting to get to Arcade club for a while now, as I'm a huge fan of late 80s and 90s arcades (Pinball has grabbed my attention more over the past 4/5 years though), but living in London it's a bit of a big deal to get up there (especially when you don't drive..:-( )
If anyone from London/down south is ever planning on making a trip there, would be cool to get a bunch of us from here going?

Thanks in advance for all your work at Arcade Club Truggy; no doubt when i finally get to get I'll be admiring your work!
 
I was asked to play the Pins and report any issues by someone in charge of maintaining them. I did a detailed email recently, but I have not had a reply yet.
 
Den - aka Wolfgang said:
I've been wanting to get to Arcade club for a while now, as I'm a huge fan of late 80s and 90s arcades (Pinball has grabbed my attention more over the past 4/5 years though), but living in London it's a bit of a big deal to get up there (especially when you don't drive..:-( )
If anyone from London/down south is ever planning on making a trip there, would be cool to get a bunch of us from here going?

Thanks in advance for all your work at Arcade Club Truggy; no doubt when i finally get to get I'll be admiring your work!
Click to expand...
It's not in the nicest location but if you are making a long trip it's worth staying at the Village Hotel. Its about a 10 minute walk away and a nice hotel, which is where we are staying tonight.
 
What time are you there tonight Jake?

I like to make sure everything is running nicely for you before I go to this stupid party. Especially is it's a group of you
 
From Nov. 17:
EATM glass, was covered in some liquid, spilt drink?
Pz not level, rocket ramp not registering.
WW, No way out shot blocked, something has broken and is physically blocking which may be the cause of other ball search issues.
Getaway, balls not locking, redline mania lamp out.
JD, sniper tower not registering, upper left flipper flutter.
BR, middle ramp does not raise meaning balls can never be locked, this is crucial to tjis game.
TAF, left flipper not working.
Rollergames, upper right flipper too weak to make shots.
Sttng, SS both turned off.
Mario, left ramp next to cabinet, ball jams between cab and ramp.
Good luck!
 
Paul R Owen said:
From Nov. 17:
EATM glass, was covered in some liquid, spilt drink?
Pz not level, rocket ramp not registering.
WW, No way out shot blocked, something has broken and is physically blocking which may be the cause of other ball search issues.
Getaway, balls not locking, redline mania lamp out.
JD, sniper tower not registering, upper left flipper flutter.
BR, middle ramp does not raise meaning balls can never be locked, this is crucial to tjis game.
TAF, left flipper not working.
Rollergames, upper right flipper too weak to make shots.
Sttng, SS both turned off.
Mario, left ramp next to cabinet, ball jams between cab and ramp.
Good luck!
Click to expand...

I'd prefer a PM.

WW - fixed
TAF - fixed
SS - fixed
STTNG - kinda fixed
BR - needs welding
Mario - fixed

I can give you details via PM if you want.

And yes... thank you, there's some faults there I didn't even know about
 
Truggy said:
What time are you there tonight Jake?

I like to make sure everything is running nicely for you before I go to this stupid party. Especially is it's a group of you
Click to expand...
We are hopefully getting there from opening, depends on how the beer is flowing in the hotel beforehand.
 
Truggy said:
Thanks. I think that must of been someone else.

I've rebuilt TAF now, and it's pretty much mint. I'd say mint, but.... it's too dirty to say mint. Everything there gets so filthy!
Click to expand...
Ooh, interesting... I wonder if the other guy is still around or he left/gave up. That's a shame if so.

Hopefully you're the dude Arcade Club needs and that the whole gig also works out well for you. If I physically lived closer to Manchester I would be very, very, VERY seriously considering taking whatever pay cut it would cause by leaving my current job, and working there. But I live in Wolverhampton and physical reloaction is not in my future for a number of reasons.
 
I used to go to Arcade Club a lot, but will have to try and make it as regular again!
 
Truggy said:
Not gunna make it tonight, sorry people. Hope the pinball gods smile on you, and nothing is broken
Click to expand...
A good night was had by all, great place, great food. Sadly the three sturdy machines TAF, TZ and MET were the only ones to last the whole night. They all need a bloody good clean, the TAF playfield is so thick in muck it's no wonder they all struggle through the abuse they get. The OCD side of me would love to buff them up. A can of foam pinball surface cleaner would work wonders.
Keep up the good work, it's a great part of an excellent venue.
 
It's a constant battle against filth. You can spend a few hours cleaning a machine, then a week later it's filthy again. And there's around 15 machines!

I spend all my time there doing repairs, and rarely get time to clean them too.
 
These machines at these locations get so much play it is crazy. The kind of play frequency that has even the NIB machines sagging sometimes.

The dirt is so hard to fight back because unless the entire machine is stripped down and all rubbers replaced, that black crud is just going to keep being spread around.
 
Andy at Arcade Club needs to realise that its needs a person FULL TIME to keep on top of so many pinball machines.
 
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Good to hear - where they have the pinballs now is better than where they used to be, but even there I've always found them to be a bit dodgy - maybe time for another visit now you're on the case :thumbs:
 
jake52 said:
A good night was had by all, great place, great food. Sadly the three sturdy machines TAF, TZ and MET were the only ones to last the whole night. They all need a bloody good clean, the TAF playfield is so thick in muck it's no wonder they all struggle through the abuse they get. The OCD side of me would love to buff them up. A can of foam pinball surface cleaner would work wonders.
Keep up the good work, it's a great part of an excellent venue.
Click to expand...

I couldnt get in yesterday, as I couldn't walk.

I'm here now, and - can't only find 5 broken machines out of 17. And it's all trivial stuff. Stuck balls, and wires off coils. Bit unfair to say only 3 machine were left working. Unless the repair fairy has been working Saturdays without my knowledge.

Glad you had a good time tho. Hopefully I'll catch you next visit
 
Truggy said:
I couldnt get in yesterday, as I couldn't walk.

I'm here now, and - can't only find 5 broken machines out of 17. And it's all trivial stuff. Stuck balls, and wires off coils. Bit unfair to say only 3 machine were left working. Unless the repair fairy has been working Saturdays without my knowledge.

Glad you had a good time tho. Hopefully I'll catch you next visit
Click to expand...
I didn't say they were the only ones left working, they were just the only ones to have a flawless evening. It's a great job you are doing, keep up the good work.
 
replicas said:
Andy at Arcade Club needs to realise that its needs a person FULL TIME to keep on top of so many pinball machines.
Click to expand...
I'm very sure he realises it. It's almost more certainly a case of 'can he find someone that knows / wants to do it full time.'

Also, attitude counts. I think the exchange above proves it best, as even in Truggy's case it's true - Arcade Club really wants the kind of people that take the whole thing personally.

Most people that already know Pinball are 40+ year old guys with families or jobs and aren't prepared to take a salary dump to become essentially an arcade mechanic.
 
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