Choose Pinball To Learn On?

Santeh

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Hello all,

I was fortunate enough to pick-up a Whitewater and a Jurassic Park at very good prices, and am now looking for a "final" pin. (Back to the Future). As electronics is not my background I would have to rely on someone else for more significant repairs as I can only really attend to the simple items such as bulbs, bumpers, rubbers, etc.

I was thinking, then, of trying to find an inexpensive pin to learn on before trying my hand at the three mentioned above when a significant repair is called for. Is there something in an inexpensive pin. that I can look for that might help to teach me basics, as well as one that is general and easy enough to find parts not only for its own repair but also for when I mess up and have to try again? As such, I would need to find a pin (or type of pin) that I can gain confidence enough to break down (like flippers or targets) and then rebuild and replace, simply as a teaching tool and not because the pin needed it.

Thanks all! Your thoughts and advice is appreciated!
 
Eh, just learn on the ones you have. The only advice you need is this:

Don't wash your Whitewater ramps in the dishwasher with 'high heat' turned on.
Other than that, just take lots of pictures when you go to tearing things down. You can NEVER have enough pictures.
 
My best advice for this sort of thing is to simply learn with what you already have or just start learning on the absolute best deal you can find on a machine. Every type of system has its drawbacks and strengths, but with all of them you can work out the problems with some investigation and help from people online.

I learned by simply collecting the games that interested me or by buying up great deals and then dealing with issues as they cropped up. I think if I had tried to dive in with a problem machine early in my collecting career I would have ended up frustrated.
 
I think if I had tried to dive in with a problem machine early in my collecting career I would have ended up frustrated.

I spent more than a year learning on a dead pin before I had a working pin. Then after playing it a while with issues, I went a few more months learning how to tear down/ restore said pin. Then I played it for a few months and sold it.
It was nice to learn all of that stuff...but I would have rather been playing pinball all that time!
 
Get a cheap pin that you wouldn't feel terrible about if you screwed something up beyond repair. I sure wouldn't practice on that Whitewater or Jurassic Park if you don't know what you're doing.
 
Many people will steer you away from EM's.

I personally think they are great to learn on for 2 reasons:

1) they are cheap. You can find non-working EM's for anywhere from $50-$200; and sometimes in good/great shape.

2) they (almost) always come complete - so you don't have to search for parts/etc - they will work with everything you already have.

A lot of learning 'pinball' is about the switches, the flippers/etc - and a lot of it is the same as EM's. When you get into solid state - it becomes a whole lot easier if you already understand relays/etc because that is all the circuit boards do is emulate those (most of the time).
 
Hello all!

Thanks for all the replies!!!!!

I have been tempted to just learn on what I have as some of you have mentioned, but with a Whitewater and a Jurassic park I would feel terrible if I messed them up (they are currently in excellent cosmetic shape and play fine). This is why I was thinking of an older EM to tinker with and the non-working $50-150 came to mind. Nevertheless, the issue of frustration crossed my mind thus I was unsure...
 
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Many people will steer you away from EM's.

I personally think they are great to learn on for 2 reasons:

1) they are cheap. You can find non-working EM's for anywhere from $50-$200; and sometimes in good/great shape.

2) they (almost) always come complete - so you don't have to search for parts/etc - they will work with everything you already have.

A lot of learning 'pinball' is about the switches, the flippers/etc - and a lot of it is the same as EM's. When you get into solid state - it becomes a whole lot easier if you already understand relays/etc because that is all the circuit boards do is emulate those (most of the time).

You had me right up to that last part...
 
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