ChaosJohn
Active member
I've fixed a bunch of arcade machines, but I'm about to do my first pinball repair. Which has me a little nervous. Not really any moving parts on an arcade game, so a lot less to go wrong.
So the problem is a stuck flipper on my Pin-Bot. It started smoking at a party awhile back, and a friend turned it off and unplugged it and told me about it. I had never diagnosed pin problems before, so it took me awhile to work up the courage to even open it up and take a look. A friend who's more pinball savvy than me came over and walked me through a fairly easy diagnosis. The flipper fuse was blown. We looked at the flipper coils and one of them was clearly locked up. Problem found.
I've bought the replacement coil, and I also bought a flipper rebuild kit, and I'm probably going to dive into doing the actual repair this weekend. I've done a little bit of reading, so I'm a newb with a little knowledge, but I thought I'd check these forums to see if I could get any extra advice.
I'm planning on replacing the coil, rebuilding the flipper, and replacing the blown fuse.
Is there more I should do? Should I test the transistors that drive the solenoid? Any other things you think I should check before I fire it up?
It was working perfectly before the flipper went out, but it has been sitting for almost a year, if that makes a difference.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
So the problem is a stuck flipper on my Pin-Bot. It started smoking at a party awhile back, and a friend turned it off and unplugged it and told me about it. I had never diagnosed pin problems before, so it took me awhile to work up the courage to even open it up and take a look. A friend who's more pinball savvy than me came over and walked me through a fairly easy diagnosis. The flipper fuse was blown. We looked at the flipper coils and one of them was clearly locked up. Problem found.
I've bought the replacement coil, and I also bought a flipper rebuild kit, and I'm probably going to dive into doing the actual repair this weekend. I've done a little bit of reading, so I'm a newb with a little knowledge, but I thought I'd check these forums to see if I could get any extra advice.
I'm planning on replacing the coil, rebuilding the flipper, and replacing the blown fuse.
Is there more I should do? Should I test the transistors that drive the solenoid? Any other things you think I should check before I fire it up?
It was working perfectly before the flipper went out, but it has been sitting for almost a year, if that makes a difference.
Thanks in advance for any advice.