Do pins ever work??

After 31 years in the amusement machine business, my considered opinion is this:
at any given moment there may be ONE pin in this entire country that is in absolutely 100% perfect working order. I love playing the damn things, but under route conditions, they are a nightmare to maintain.
 
at any given moment there may be ONE pin in this entire country that is in absolutely 100% perfect working order

lol

isnt there a lot of humidity in florida ?
you think that has anything to do with it ?

i can say this, the ONE pin isnt in my collection
lol
 
At this point I would settle for 50% working....Most of the machines I come across have broken or weak flippers that make the games totally unplayable.

Had a Family Guy kicking out 2 balls every time yesterday....sure was easy to score with permanent multiball......lol

I don't know anything about pinball maintenance but is it that hard to keep the flippers working?
 
At this point I would settle for 50% working....Most of the machines I come across have broken or weak flippers that make the games totally unplayable.

Had a Family Guy kicking out 2 balls every time yesterday....sure was easy to score with permanent multiball......lol

I don't know anything about pinball maintenance but is it that hard to keep the flippers working?

Not hard, just tedious. Lots of things can cause flipper problems. Bad coil/diode, loose solder connection, worn/binding flipper bushing, worn coil sleeve, dirty/pitted/maladjusted EOS or flipper switch, worn linkage, broken flipper spring, loose screws anywhere in the flipper assembly, mushroomed plunger, the list goes on. Plus the electronic components that supply voltage to and actuate the flipper. For a machine with lots of mileage, considering the time involved, it's probably just as well to replace the entire assembly with a new one, because trying to keep all the necessary parts for different machines will make you crazy if you are a route operator.
 
Seriously, is there a working pin on location in Florida???

Where are you at in Florida? I know plenty of perfectly good working pins. Also if you have one and are having problems there are plenty of people in FL who can help. :)
 
Where are you at in Florida? I know plenty of perfectly good working pins. Also if you have one and are having problems there are plenty of people in FL who can help. :)

I live near Bradenton. I'm debating on buying my 1st pin but I think the maintenance involved might scare me away.

Treasure Island Fun Center in Seminole has a nice lineup of pins but the machines are in terrible shape. Six pins and I would say 3 were unplayable, other machines had obvious problems but at least somewhat playable. Eventually, I got frustrated and just left with credits on the all the machines except Attack From Mars.

I'm gonna try and check out Tampa Lanes today.....supposed to have 4 or 5 pins.....no idea what shape they are in.
 
While in Gainesville a couple years ago, there was a place that had a MM and TOM in great shape. Another place had a good working but dirty Sopranos and a beat up partially working LOTR.
 
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