First Pin Rollergames, Happy and Pissed At Same Time

machfelon

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First Pin Rollergames, Happy and Pissed At Same Time

So I finally picked up my first pin today from a fellow klover. I had been looking for a pin that was 100% working since I have VERY LIMITED skills in fixing / diagnosing issues.

When I get there one of the "pop" bumpers was not working and a couple lights on playfield and marquee. Lights arent a problem but the bumper would be. It gets "jerry rigged" and sorta owrking before I leave so I take it home.

Now I have flipper issue and 2 non working pop bumpers + 2 of the lights on the pop bumpers are out and possibly some sound issues. Seems like its missing some sounds.

Here it is next to a cruisin exotica.
DSCN4302.jpg


And with f%*^*$( flipper
DSCN4303.jpg


Oh yea and these two up top dont work or light up
DSCN4304.jpg


I am f*ing PISSED OFF. I paid TOP DOLLAR for a PROJECT, not happy.

If someone could help would appreciate it. Didnt think I would be asking for help on its first day home.
 
First Pin Rollergames, Happy and Pissed At Same

Looks like too me your flipper spring is stuck. I would check that first . Sometimes that all you need is getting that unstuck and your flipper works fine again!
 
That's part of the joy of having a pin.Try having 9 pins every time I turn them on one has a new problem.Good luck I heard it's an under rated pin.
 
I don't know about price, but the thing with Pinball machines , ESPECIALLY old school ones is you *have* to be able to work on them. You can't own one and not know how to look at things and see if soemthing's physically messed up.

Pop bumpers not working is probably misadjusted switches, flipper sticking up is probably something out of alignment... kind of shitty all that popped up as soon as you got it home, but it happens. There's probably 50 switches, a dozen coils, 30 transistors, 70-80 diodes, 100 lightbulbs, etc. with all that stuff moving and having things beat against it, you pretty much have to constantly adjust stuff, replace bulbs, fix this, etc.

If you want a pinball machine fully working that you wont' have to worry about doing anything to, www.SternPinball.com .
 
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Open it up and take a look. Bulbs are no big deal and I'm sure the others are easy fixes. Do a search on RGP, you can find alot of info there. I am a pin newb and had a problem with my RCT spitting 2 balls and starting multiball when it shouldn't. After some searching I found that opto boards can cause the issue. I fixed it myself and now it's all good.

I will admit when I first got it I was overwhelmed with the complexity. I just dove in. Take a look at the manual and have a look under the playfield. I'm sure you'll fix it right up. - Barry
 
GO FOR THE WALLLLLLL

fun game, good luck working on it, its something you should learn if you own one!! get the manual as well!
 
The flipper, as someone mentioned, could just be a spring that is stuck. That happens on my Black Knight all the time.

For the pop bumpers, see if they work in the solenoid test. If so, it is probably a switch issue. At least that way you will know if the coils are good or not.

Good luck!

Chris
 
As someone else that is new to pins (~4 months), all I can offer is that you're just going to have to commit. I bought a working game, then had issues from both moving it and a newbie mistake of incorrectly connecting a wiring harness.

The first time you lift the playfield and look at that incredible jumble of wire, solenoids and mini-PCB's you can't even identify is a humbling moment. The upside is that vids will seem simple after you adjust. ;)

You may be able to free up the flipper by just lifting the play field and cycling the coil from below. My first "real" repair was replacing a seized bumper coil that also created other issues since stuff is looped. Unless you already have an electronics background, you are going to feel frustrated and lost as you learn. There has been more than one occasion in my short time with pins where I was about to say "screw it" and go back to just having vids.

I'd actually offer to come help with your game, but I still don't feel comfortable enough with repair/diagnosis to fix your issues without breaking something else. It's getting better, but it's a steep curve if you don't have an experienced helper. I have PDF's that can really help with troubleshooting. Drop me a PM if you're interested.

Sorry to be so blabby, but I know exactly where you are in the learning curve... I'm only a very small distance ahead. Things will start to make sense, but prepare to walk away in frustration more than once. :)
 
I think my issue with this whole deal is that when someone lists something for sale and claims that it works 100% then it should work 100%. When I get to sellers house and it already has issues then thats somewhat "false advertising". Especially in this hobby where a pinball is expensive and having to drive 4 hours round trip. You expect better from KLOVER's then say your average eBay seller or Craigslist seller. I knew I eventually would have stuff pop up but what a LET DOWN when all these issues pop up on day I buy it. I almost walked away from the deal and I guess I have "BUYERS REMORSE" now.

Luckily EagleTG is selling me his Mr Do (once the truck gets fixed) and I have tried bribing him for a little pinball repair help when he drops off the MR DO ;)
 
Got it for $800

IMHO thats a tad high for the title. But as I said it was advertised here as 100% working.

But pins are very pricey in NJ and not many to chose from in that price range. Could have bought a Fire! local for 100 more but that game has no pop bumbers. Although that would have solved my pop bumber issue cause it doesnt have any ;)
 
Odds are that the game probably worked just fine before you got there and the issues just popped up.

Pop Bumper could just be stuck switch like mentioned above. Or just not properly adjusted. Lights out are probably just bad sockets. Just touch the bulb and see if it lights up.

Flipper stuck could be a number of things but more than likely just a stuck spring, also mentioned above. Open it up and see.

To me, it looks like its in pretty good shape. Better than average condition. $800 is fair price. Couple price guides have it listed around $700-$750 average price.
 
I can completely understand your frustration in a 4 hour trip that would be "wasted," but if you weren't comfortable with its condition when you got there, you should have either negotiated for a lower price given its defects, or went home without it.

I have been in a similar situation before, and have walked away. It's not a fun thing to do, but I don't regret doing it one bit.

Having said all that, congrats on your purchase, and best of luck in getting it back into top shape. I agree with the others that a pinball machine is definitely a hands-on acquisition!
 
I think my issue with this whole deal is that when someone lists something for sale and claims that it works 100% then it should work 100%. When I get to sellers house and it already has issues then thats somewhat "false advertising". Especially in this hobby where a pinball is expensive and having to drive 4 hours round trip. You expect better from KLOVER's then say your average eBay seller or Craigslist seller. I knew I eventually would have stuff pop up but what a LET DOWN when all these issues pop up on day I buy it. I almost walked away from the deal and I guess I have "BUYERS REMORSE" now.

Luckily EagleTG is selling me his Mr Do (once the truck gets fixed) and I have tried bribing him for a little pinball repair help when he drops off the MR DO ;)

Let me get this straight. You purchased and saw the game working. You then put the game in a vehicle and drove for two hours and expected it to be 100% when you got home?

Pins can be tricky, sometimes just moving them 2 feet can cause issues. Good luck!
 
I can completely understand your frustration in a 4 hour trip that would be "wasted," but if you weren't comfortable with its condition when you got there, you should have either negotiated for a lower price given its defects, or went home without it.

I have been in a similar situation before, and have walked away. It's not a fun thing to do, but I don't regret doing it one bit.

Having said all that, congrats on your purchase, and best of luck in getting it back into top shape. I agree with the others that a pinball machine is definitely a hands-on acquisition!

Hopefully I can get it working. I just thought that it would be in better working order. Plus I was kind of mad because I had another machine lined up that was supposedly (shopped) but I turned down because I had already made arrangements to buy this one. I don't like to screw over anyone if I can avoid it. Now I feel like I kinda got screwed over. Been bit twice now with some klov purchases. Kinda sucks.
 
Let me get this straight. You purchased and saw the game working. You then put the game in a vehicle and drove for two hours and expected it to be 100% when you got home?

Pins can be tricky, sometimes just moving them 2 feet can cause issues. Good luck!

Yeah it had an issue but seller fixed it. So I figured if he can fix in 5 mins it couldn't be that big of deal. But like I said now I have multiple issues.

Hopefully I can get it all working but as I said before kind of overwhelmed. Has way more boards etc than a vid and Im a novice at that.

If seller had stated in his ad on here that machine has missing lights, bumper issues, needs new rubber etc I probably would have steered clear. Not to mention I had to wait 35 mins in his driveway because he wasnt home at the agreed upon time.
 
Yeah it had an issue but seller fixed it. So I figured if he can fix in 5 mins it couldn't be that big of deal. But like I said now I have multiple issues.

Hopefully I can get it all working but as I said before kind of overwhelmed. Has way more boards etc than a vid and Im a novice at that.

If seller had stated in his ad on here that machine has missing lights, bumper issues, needs new rubber etc I probably would have steered clear. Not to mention I had to wait 35 mins in his driveway because he wasnt home at the agreed upon time.

You seen it was having issues when you was there and knew it was having problems. You cannot blame anyone but yourself. You shouldn't have handed over the cash if you didn't really want it or you should have inspected it more.
 
Yeah it had an issue but seller fixed it. So I figured if he can fix in 5 mins it couldn't be that big of deal. But like I said now I have multiple issues.

Hopefully I can get it all working but as I said before kind of overwhelmed. Has way more boards etc than a vid and Im a novice at that.

If seller had stated in his ad on here that machine has missing lights, bumper issues, needs new rubber etc I probably would have steered clear. Not to mention I had to wait 35 mins in his driveway because he wasnt home at the agreed upon time.

Welcome to the wonderful world of pinball. I have found that you need three machines just so that you can always have one up and running!!

It can be very frustrating as well as overwhelming but it's always worth it.
 
You probably should have tried to knock down the price when he had to fix something at the time of sale. You also probably should have noticed the non working bumpers and lights. That being said, you don't know that on your first pin purchase. When I bought my High Speed a few years ago, it seemed like it was in nice shape. When I got it home, things started breaking. I ended up tearing it down to the playfield to rebuild everything so that I knew it would work well. BTW, don't do that! It was way too much work! :)

I don't blame you for feeling a bit cheated, but it is done now. You might have got it for $100 less if you fought for it, but that is not too much to pay for a learning experience. The problems listed will happen at some point anyway, so you need to learn how to fix them.

A solidly adjusted machine will still work fine after being moved, but most of them are adjusted just enough so they work. It doesn't take much to knock them back out of alignment. I bought a Fireball Classic from a KLOVer in Vegas, and hauled it back to Reno, and it has not had any issues. My High Speed has been moved around the house and garage quite a bit after I went through it all, and it doesn't have problems anymore.

Just fume a little, then get over it. After the initial disappointment, it just isn't worth the energy to worry about it. You will learn the basics that will help you keep it running, then you will have a pin to play. At the end, that is what is important. You will know what to look for next time. Like I said, I had the same situation with High Speed, but now it is a solid game, and I know how to work on it.
 
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