Otaku's Ultimate Electro-Mechanical Guide & EM Theory Of Operation

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[16] Cleaning and waxing your EM playfield to perfection of look and speed
Aaaaaaah, the playfield. So beautiful and artsy, yet has the unfortunate burden of dealing with a heavy metal ball smashing into things all over it and dealing with the ball nearly wherever it goes. Not a great mix for something 30+ years old let alone much older.
This is probably the ultimate debate in pinball. There are millions of different chemicals/cleaners out there and it seems like every Pinsider had to pick a different one...
I feel like I've perfected the mix myself. I've tried a few different options... here is my favorite and the ones I use across my ENTIRE personal collection (not a paid advertisement, hah!):
Cleaner: Novus "2" (Novus 2)
Wax: Mother's Pure Carnauba Wax (Comes in a red tin (don't buy the liquid one), !DO NOT! make the easy mistake of going and buying the kind that has "CLEANER" in the title - it looks identical besides this but is very abrasive, not what we want at all) I found mine at Pep-Boy's, I think AutoZone also carries it as well. Of course the obvious solution is online if you can wait a little bit. (You can) A lot of stores only carry the CLEANER version. Even if you're in a hurry/excited, don't give into the pressure to get this one! Trust me!
If your game is a very rough project and has literal dirt on the playfield, you can brush this off with just a dry rag, but even Novus 2 on this will help. I like Novus 2 because you can use it from the dirtiest of dirty to very clean. I threw out my stinky flammable harmful Naphtha jug (it didn't clean at all anyways - terrible suggestion) long ago and never looked back. I remember I started to taste that stuff the next day when working with it for too long. Not good...
So, to start, shake your Novus 2 bottle (carried locally in "The Container Store" in big bottles and small combo packs, buy the big bottles and also invest in some Novus 1 for fronts and bottom borders of plastics, never use 3 in pinball. Much easier to find online, but I've driven an hour one way to the closest The Container Store to go get some more if I was in a hurry) quite well as instructed.
Then, open it up and squirt some onto a clean microfiber cloth (don't skimp here! There's a great 18 pack at Home Depot for like $10, I LOVE those). Test in an inconspicuous area to make sure it doesn't take your playfield paint off. I like Novus 2 because you can even scrub harder than you would ever have to into a 1960's Gottlieb playfield with no ill results, but I would be weary about using it on a woodrail playfield, especially earlier ones.
One you assure that it will not damage your playfield, begin to clean your playfield. If I am going through a game for the first time I like to take everything off of the playfield to get it extra clean, and it also making applying to wax later MUCH easier. Eventually your playfield will begin to clean up, and if you have any ground-in dirt marks (looks like crackling, in black) you can scrub a little harder. Novus 2, unlike some other products, tends to be
pretty good with no messing up playfields and leaving no margin for error. That being said, I did once scrub hard enough to go through the clearcoat on a playfield and it left a nasty light spot compared to the rest of the discolored playfield. You can scrub hard for some time, but not too hard! DODGE INSERTS with text on them because this will likely either fade the inserts or completely pull the text off of them. You have been warned! It's not hard to do and if you get a little on an insert it's not the end of the world, it will wipe off without repercussions once or twice.
Once your playfield is totally clean (don't forget the usually nasty and gritty SHOOTER LANE! Do it last of course.), leave it sit for about 5 minutes to make sure all the Novus is dry and whatnot (not as important as letting wax dry or really even ever mentioned), and then use a CLEAN microfiber cloth to wipe off the playfield. This will leave a jet-fast speed (you can feel it under your hand with the rag as it begins to slide) and a really nice shine on the playfield.
Unfortunately, it's not very protected - and we can easily recreate this with the wax which makes the game play even faster and also makes it shine nice.
I love Mother's Pure Carnauba Wax (and no other wax - waste of time!) on playfields because it creates that impossible clear-coat like shine (without being fully as intense of a shine, which I certainly see as a good thing) and also makes the ball play lightning fast.
To apply this wax, get some on a CLEAN microfiber cloth and then put it down onto the playfield and begin to push it into the playfield in circle motions. Unfortunately the downside of wax is it creates a billion little wax crumbs, but once they dry up they're not too bad to get - but a tip I found myself when doing this is if you keep the rag firm to the playfield, it will keep most of the wax together in one ball and any little crumbs that do appear either get smushed back into the main one (as described a few words ago) or get trapped in the rag.
Some people like to heat the wax to make it more applicable. I do this a little sometimes (25% of the time) but not too much or it really gets liquidy and messy and will apply wrong/weird. This process takes a lot of time especially if you do not remove anything off of the playfield, but it is well worth it and is a necessity to owning a pinball machine properly rather than just personal choice.
One your playfield has been fully applied with one coat of wax (DON'T FORGET THE SHOOTER LANE AGAIN - it's really cool when it's done too!), go do something else for 20 minutes and come back. I'm serious. Set a timer. Not 14 minutes, not 25 minutes. People have always said "no amount of time is too long for wax to sit" but in my personal experience I have found that to be very wrong and it left awful residue and wax behind that eventually turned the ball into something like a snowman effect. Eugh!
Once it has been 20 minutes, come back again with another CLEAN microfiber cloth (cloth #4 - you can wash these after all is said and done, by the way.) and rub your playfield just as you did when you were applying the wax. You'll begin to feel similar effects under your hand and the cloth as you did with the Novus - it will feel lightning fast and the playfield will begin to shine in the light.
Make sure you get all the wax (including any that might have gotten stuck between switches or in holes in the playfield, lots seems to also drop into the bottom of the cabinet if you are not careful), then put a brand new ball in your game (if possible) and go enjoy it! I usually give it a little grace period of maybe 10-20 more minutes to ensure it is all dry and that the new ball does not get caked up with anything you may have missed.
Enjoy your new lightning fast and beautifully cleaned playfield "the Otaku way"!
 
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[17] De-rusting non-painted pinball legs, pinball leg care/polishing (also applies to non-painted coin doors)
Rusty legs... the bane of pinball existence! Unfortunately even on nicer games, many of them were kept in damp basements and were certainly not exempt from rust even just from the air. (HUO doesn't mean SQUAT here!)
There are two popular routes to take for rusty pinball legs:
Route 1, EVAPORUST: Evaporust is a very abrasive liquid that you submerge your legs in and it basically melts away the rust. Note that this should only be done for legs and no thin metal pieces as apparently it totally dissolves them/breaks through them. Whoooooops!
The popular route to take is to create a sealable thick PVC container (tube) for your legs (or leg, depending how many you do at a time), complete with twist-on end, as this prevents "evapo" of evapo! (evaporation of Evaporust)
Although rather expensive, I have heard stories of people using one batch multiple times with promising results! YOU MUST WEAR HEAVY RUBBER GLOVES, USE IN WELL-VENTILATED AREA (sans sealed tube, although who knows if they're air-tight), AND TRY NOT TO BREATHE TOO MUCH OF IT!
For timing, it seems Evaporust takes as low as an hour for leg bolts, to up to a few days for rough legs. For a set of medium-rusted legs, overnight is the best starting point.
While it does cost around $22 USD for a gallon, according to the wonderful Ken Layton, if you run the mix through a coffee filter (to filter out all the metal/rust particles from each batch) you can continue to re-use it with no end specified. (I would guess it loses strength eventually however) So in the long run, it's not that expensive!
Route 2, TINFOIL AND COKE OR WATER: People have had surprisingly-good results by using the "TINFOIL AND COKE OR WATER" method. This involves basically just scrubbing the legs with aluminium foil dipped in water (or COKE - which is a little scary, soda drinkers) and it removes rust.
Surprising, isn't it? This method obviously takes a lot more elbow grease than the the Evaporust method (and likely won't do such a good job on legs that are heavily rusted like Evaporust can), but if you have lighter rust, you probably already have the (incredibly cheap) materials at home as-is so it's worth a shot anyways!
Once dry, you can then use a scotch-brite pad to shine them up before polishing. A great metal polish I use is Mother's Mag Polish (yes another unpaid shoutout for the Mother's brand!), and many suggest waxing the metal afterwards to prevent semi-quick reappearance of rust from humidity. If you followed my playfield cleaning/waxing guide, you'll already have some of that to spare, so might as well! (same process, let dry, wipe off, etc.)
Mother's Mag Polish also works fantastic on things like siderails, coin doors, metal playfield parts, and more. Remember, they're not actually chrome!
 
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[18] No keys, locked out? Don't pry the doors! Drill (or pick)!
Locked out? Never fear! When you're locked out of a head or coin door you should never pry the door, you should drill out the lock, or if you have the skill, pick it! A locksmith is a total waste of money, everybody's first "locked out but I have the key somewhere" experience
is filled with doubts and thoughts of calling your buddy Larry the Locksmith, but don't be crazy. A shiny new lock with similar or better protection is $6. (Larry the Locksmith is not!)
So, get out your drill. One you can plug in is definitely preferred for this, as it's a battery drainer. Anyways, find a normal drill bit a little smaller than the vertical side of the key slit. WEAR EYE PROTECTION! Then center it on the slit, then begin to drill and push HARD.
With some locks you just need to drill most of the wall through and then the cylinder will spin like it is unlocked, but with a lot of them (pesky, pesky) you will need to drill all the way through to physically drop the tab off of the back of the lock or so.
This takes a lot of force and quite some time so just keep pushing hard and slowly going add it at a moderate/quick speed. Some suggest oiling the bit as it spins but I've never done this. Be careful it doesn't snag up in the lock and jerk the drill as this can give you a painful wrist injury or strain. (or sometimes just hurts!)
Eventually the cylinder will spin freely and you can unlock what's left of the lock, or if not, keep drilling until you drill through and bust the back of the lock off (where the actual tab that locks either door is).
You can then remove the back door or open the coin door, whichever it is. Buying a brand new lock, which you would have needed to do anyways (a lock without a key is useless anyways, that's why we are here!), is much cheaper than hiring a locksmith for hundreds of dollars! Takes about 5-15 minutes and anybody can do it! Remember, WEAR EYE PROTECTION!
 
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[19] Loading and unloading from your vehicle, and setting up your pinball machine - from floor to play - an extremely specific guide "the Otaku way"
[TAKING APART A MACHINE AND LOADING IT IN YOUR CAR]
Step #1: Remove all balls from the machine. This prevents them damaging the playfield, plastics, and targets while in transit (the machine gets tipped up and they all fly out) Remember that some machines have multiple balls, even if it is not a multiball-feature machine. Many early Gottlieb single-players/wedgeheads and all(?) Gottlieb single-player woodrails use 5 balls in addition to some games by Bally and Williams. They ALL need to be removed. Don't skimp!
Step #2: Unplug the machine from the wall. (you will not need to plug it in again) Open the back door of the machine (Locked out? See the previous section!) and carefully unplug the necessary male "jones" plugs from the female receptacles. Remember to only remove the ones that need to be unplugged to take the head off, many others relate to parts inside of the head. The ones that needs to be removed vary from about 1 or 4 (usually 2 or 3), and you can see their wiring come up from the body of the machine/cabinet.
Step #3: Begin to remove the head bolts. Have another person hold the head for you while you do so. GOTTLIEB HEADS WILL BALANCE - WILLIAMS AND BALLY HEADS WILL TIP IMMEDIATELY! Even so, all it takes it a little movement for a Gottlieb head to fall off as well. Make sure they hold on good! You too!
Step #4: With all four (or less, but they come with 4) head bolts removed, store the bolts in something like a Ziploc bag with appropriate washers as well. With the help of your friend, lift the head to the floor. If you are using shrink wrap to protect the head, you can do it here. NEVER REMOVE THE BACKGLASS WHEN TRANSPORTING A GAME UNLESS THE GLASS LATCHING SYSTEM IS BROKEN OR MISSING, OR IF THE HEAD CABINET IS VERY DAMAGED. THE SAFEST PLACE FOR IT IS IN THE HEAD! You can now handtruck it to your vehicle. Lift the head into your vehicle by hand with your friend.
Do not lay it flat. Any rocks that kick up (if using a truck) or anything that falls (truck or van) will have a much larger and fragile surface to do damage to if you do this!
Step #5: Tuck the entire line power cord into the port hole of the body cabinet. Next, get a stool. Lift up the back of the machine and place the stool under the back of the game. With the cabinet very secure, begin to remove the back legs. Store the leg bolts in your Ziploc (or equivalent) baggie. Once removed, set the legs nearby but also very far away so they do not interfere with the following steps/procedure. Don't want to trip, either! (Very very possible on those legs)
Step #6: With both of the machine's back legs removed, you and your friend should lift up the back of the game. Using your feet (or perhaps a third accomplice), remove the stool from under the bottom of the game and a good distance away from the machine. Once you are very clear of the stool, rest the back corner of the game onto the floor.
Your game should now be at an intense downward angle with the lockdown bar on the front of the machine being the highest point right now.
Step #7: Tip the machine onto its back. If for some very odd reason you have the playfield glass removed or missing, make sure the playfield is locked into the cabinet using the bar inside of the coin door first or it can/will easily tip out. (Again, you should be leaving ALL glass in the game - but just incase it's missing I noted that) The coin door should now be parallel to/facing the ceiling or sky.
Step #8: With the machine on its back, this allows us to take the front legs off of the machine with immense ease. This is because they are no longer supporting any weight and you also don't have to hold the cabinet up. (either by human strength or a stool)
Step #9: Deposit those bolts into the Ziploc baggie and place all 4 legs CAREFULLY in the car. Not carefully necessarily because of the legs, but watch that head and backglass. (and you don't want them to shift while driving into the body cabinet and glass either, in addition!) Before you place them in the car, you may shrink-wrap them together as well if you'd like. This will avoid MOST scratches and also more importantly keep them together.
Step #10: With the machine on its end now looking very compact, you may now shrink wrap the machine if you wish. Once that is done if you choose not to do so, use a handtruck (on the tall bare-wood side) to roll the machine around. This is the "handtruck" position. Handy, isn't it?! Lots of machines actually have little feet on the back just for this position that are never really used when the machine is set up. Roll the machine to your vehicle.
Step #11: With the machine at your car, remove the handtruck from the equation after positioning it properly. You want the playfield glass facing away from the vehicle, and when all is said and done, you ALWAYS want the back of the machine pointing out towards where you slid it in. (else when you take it back out you'll land on the coin door and front of the machine)
If you can, lay a nice amount of cardboard down where you are going to put the machine - this makes all sliding/movement much easier but the heavy cabinet will also not move much on it when you or somebody else is driving. Tip the middle of the machine against your tailgate or van, and then with a friend do the ol' "up and in" method (tip) to slide it from the handtruck position into the vehicle while at the same time allowing it to rotate it 90 degrees. It should now be laying flat with the playfield glass facing the ceiling/sky. Voila!
Step #12: Make sure EVERYTHING is secure (even non-pinball stuff - so it doesn't fall on/damage the machine!), everybody is buckled in, and go ahead and get going!
[REMOVING A MACHINE FROM YOUR CAR AND SETTING IT UP]
Step #1: With everything out of the way, slide the machine body out of your car and rest the back bottom corner on the ground, then tip up on its back. The coin door should now be facing the sky.
Step #2: Handtruck the machine to its desired location to be setup and played. (Also, bring the head/legs/bolts/etc. inside as well, at a safe distance from the body of the pinball machine so it does NOT get in the way(!).) Remember that this should be indoors and not really even in a "sunroom". Remember that sun badly fades all EM paint, and that humidity kills EMs. These are fully 100% indoor machines. No, your screened in porch DOES NOT count. Remove the shrink wrap from everything, if used.
Step #3: Put the front legs on with the machine still in this position. Again, with the front in the end, it'll be very easy as there is no weight on the machine right now. Remember to make sure they are snug but not OVER-TIGHT, or you will strip out the leg plates. Somebody else may have already done so if they won't snug up. (See next section after reading all of this!)
Step #4: Tip the machine forward so the newly-placed front legs are holding up the front of the machine, and the back machine is still wood-touching-floor.
Step #5: With a buddy, lift the back of the machine up with one hand inside of the port hole edge and one hand under the machine. Kick the stool under it and rest it on the stool, so half of the top of the stool can still be seen. (Meaning: Rest it mostly on the frame of the machine preferably, but the bottom is fully solid too - it just gets a little more wobbly/insecure then)
Step #6: With the back of the machine in the air, screw the back legs on.
Step #7: Lift the machine up again with a friend, and slide the stool out. You will no longer need the stool.
Step #8: PULL THE POWER CORD OUT OF THE MACHINE AND PUT IT THROUGH THE LITTLE INDENT IN THE BACK OF THE CABINET. The bane of EM collectors' pinball existence is forgetting to do this before you put the head on, as it is impossible to do afterwards and you have to unbolt the head and remove it again if you forget. Don't forget! (but you will - maybe just not this time) DO NOT plug it into the wall yet. (That is the LAST step.)
Step #9: With the back door of the head off (AND THE POWER CORD IN THE PROPER PLACE), you and a friend should lift the head onto the machine. Remember to have your friend hold the head steady as you bolt it on. The head has to be lined up semi-perfectly for the bolts to go in. Don't fully tighten one bolt at a time, make sure they are all in and aligned first before tightening them down all the way - do about half-each to start. Remember, WHEN LET GO WILLIAMS AND BALLY HEADS WILL ALWAYS TIP FORWARD TO THE FLOOR 100% OF THE TIME WITHOUT BEING PROVOKED TO. GOTTLIEB CAN ALSO DO THIS, BUT IT REQUIRES MINIMAL FORCE. JUST HAVE A BUDDY HOLD IT STEADY! Secure the bolts well and tighten them up pretty snug but do not strip them out!
Step #10: Plug the jones plug connectors back in. On some Gottlieb games there is a very pesky small connector that goes right from the playfield to the head that I have missed two or three times in my collecting so far. With this unplugged, you will lose most scoring (or just 100 points) along with chimes for such, and a few other features. Don't miss it! (or if you have these symptoms, make sure you did not)
Step #11: After optionally checking that the fuses and other jones plug connectors are secure after the ride, and making sure no debris got between anything, finally plug the machine in, and enjoy!
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(Part 19, cont.)
A tiny note about leg levelers - adjust/install them while the legs are off - easy!:
With all four legs off when setting up, it is a GREAT time to install brand new leg levelers and level the legs out! Buy 3" levelers for the back legs, and 2" levelers for the front, and make the two back leg levelers even with each other and the two front leg levelers even with each other as such. Adjust the difference between the sets to your desired difficulty level, creating a bigger or smaller slope of the playfield. The nut on the leg leveler is designed to be on the BOTTOM of the leg (snug) to help prevent leg leveler collapse/slips when finished adjusting the levelers. Wind the nut all the way down to the foot during adjustments.
 
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[20] The leg bolts won't screw in or won't go all the way in correctly!
If you don't use my stool method (tsk tsk...), the last thing you want to find out when your buddy is holding up the back of your 300 pound game is that the bolts won't go in! This is caused by years of overtightening among years of installing and uninstalling of the leg bolts.
Many have used nuts on the inside ends of the bolts as a quick fix, and while I took this a step further and went and bought WINGNUTS to make it even easier to use, it will be 1,000,010 times nicer for you and any future owners if you do it the CORRECT way and just order some new leg plates.
These install with two nails or screws. When installing, thread the bolts into them to line them up FIRST, as it is very precise and if you install the nails/screws first, there's almost an 100% chance you won't get it right (and will have to take them back out anyways and THEN do it this way). Might as well not waste your time!
With those installed you will have nice firm holds on your leg bolts and will also be a breeze to install leg bolts into, or remove from. These updated version of leg bolt holders feature extended threads which is a REALLY GREAT feature to have on something like this which will prevent similar wear:
http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=858
That being said, there is still no excuse for overtightening your bolts! They are not "strip-proof", just a little more valuable and usable if they do start to strip out!
It is also possible that your leg bolts themselves have become stripped or cross-threaded even if not overtightened. A cheap shiny new set of these leg bolts (and head bolts, if you desire) can be picked up at any major pinball retailer. Hardware stores generally don't have the correct acorn tops, so don't go there for these. (Head bolts should be fine there, though - but you HAVE to match up the length (a little longer is fine, just don't go shorter/too short) and size of course! Don't drop your head off the game due to compromising! Remember that people nudge the game as well, so these need to be EXTRA secure!)
The most common leg bolt size is 3/8-16 x 2 and 1/2 inches. If using something like cabinet protectors or other accessories (not seen as much on EM machines), you make need to ensure the length to something like 2 and a half inches/2 and 3/4 inches. Most retailers today sell them at this length anyways, since the extra doesn't really matter. "all inclusive"
 
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[21] IMPORTANT: EM PLAYER SAFETY, HOME SAFETY, AND MAINTENANCE/OPERATOR SAFETY - A MEGA-SECTION - Also: ALWAYS USE A (GOOD) POWER STRIP OR (CORRECTLY WIRED) SWITCHED OUTLET!
PLEASE REMEMBER when working on these machines that there is constantly more voltage flowing through them then you can imagine. When working on these machines (especially with tests that don't require power), the machine should not only be switched off but also completely unplugged.
For instance, let us take a 1976 Gottlieb Royal Flush. (MUCH more safe and lacking of 120 volts than the machines of the middle 60's and earlier, but still filled with high voltage right next to lower (but still possibly dangerous) solenoid voltage):

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WHENEVER the machine is plugged in, there is line voltage flowing through the machine. Since the service outlet needed to be live even for service when the machine was off (usually used to plug in soldering irons or work lights), this entire circuit is ALWAYS live! That not only includes the 40-year-old service outlet itself, but also an in-line fuse holder (bare metal) used in this service outlet circuit (and the main circuit, sometimes two separate ones) that has powerful line voltage flowing through it while your family sleeps in bed at 3 AM.
It also flows to one end of the power switch all the way in the front of the cabinet. This is never shut off even when the machine is "switched off". Only when you unplug the machine from the wall is when this power dissipates. If there is any faults in this 38-100 year old wiring, or if debris, such as from the very populated playfield directly above, falls onto any exposed wiring or metal (like the fuse holder(s)), it certainly has the potential to start a fire. PLEASE PLEASE PLEAAAAAAASE, be responsible.
All of my machines are on power strips. (Wired dedicated circuits in your home via light-switch also apply !if done correctly!) The machines are always switched off using these power strips, thus eliminating any HOT power (and hopefully a neutral link if it's a good one) from even touching a millimeter of the power cord let alone the internals of the machine. There are many people who rely on these old machine power switches and circuits while they sleep and it bothers me strongly. Many "experts" claim their machine is as safe as can be, and coming from another experienced collector with a large collection like myself, this claim of "expertise" is plain ignorance and a lot of it. If you cannot take the 5 seconds to switch off a power strip (which is quicker to shut off/turn on one machine let alone a whole row at once),
reduce nearly any chance of a fault from probably 5% to 0.001% (multiplies with each game left plugged in, as well), and protect you and your innocent family from any potential harm, I strongly pity you. While rough projects likely have more potential for causing harm, even the cleanest machine can drop a nut or a screw and start a fire. There are many that disagree and don't care - and to that I politely say "pull your head out of your ass!". You are never an expert if you do not utilize proper safety precautions even for unlikely events. A .5% chance of harming or killing myself and my family while I sleep is too much for me and it should be too much for you as well. Don't be LAZY! Moving on...
[WARNING!] IF YOUR LINE CORD OR HOUSE OUTLET IS WIRED INCORRECTLY, OR THE UNKEYED PLUG IS PLUGGED IN UPSIDE DOWN (ABOUT 50% OF THE TIME!!!!!), TAKE EXTREME CAUTION!
Many of the earlier line cords (which were basically low-gauge lamp cords from the factory) did not "keyed" prongs, meaning you can easily plug it in upside down. This is huge! It flips the HOT and neutral voltage and makes the HOT voltage no longer switched and sends it through the entire
120v circuit even when the machine is SWITCHED OFF! Even to the score motor switches! While you sleep at 3 AM! Let's look at that diagram again adjusted for an upside down or backwards-wired line cord:

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Wow! Everything marked "DANGER" would be live with powerful 120v wall voltage regardless if the machine is switched off or not, it just needs to be plugged in. Again, most line cords supplied by the factory prior to the 3-prong era (which basically includes most EMs considering even when they started shipping with them late towards the middle of the 70's, most people cut off the third prong...)
are not keyed and do not look ANY different when plugged in upside down compared to "right side up". YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! I suggest replacing with a full-blown 3-prong cord wired correctly, or if you're a purist, as least with a newer style extension cord which is almost always keyed with the neutral prong being bigger. (USA)
UNPLUG YOUR GAME WHEN WORKING ON IT, ESPECIALLY 120V/LINE VOLTAGE CIRCUITS! These are usually BUT NOT ALWAYS incased in rubber rather than cloth of the time, and can be picked out from wiring bunches before the full transistion to rubber-coated wiring later on in the 70's. (it was the tail end of the EM era before all of the major manufacturers finally switched over)
Did you know? The neutral prong is actually big one to the left, while the HOT is the smaller one to the right. (On correctly/traditionally oriented outlets with the third prong hole facing the floor)
Finally, as stated, machines from around 1967-1968 and earlier generally did not have toggle switches, but you could "bump" them off with a different kind of switch that disengaged a lock relay - which wasn't really "off" at all - EVEN LESS than the Royal Flush! (But could be woken up by any coin switch, start button, flipper switch, etc., it's all always live)
This is from a 1966 Williams "8 Ball", 10 years older than Royal Flush (and it really shows). A tad scary, isn't it? You can see things like all of the coin switches notated in this diagram, as well as a slew of relay switches, general switches, score motor switches/positions, among other things. Do you really want to sleep with all of this being fully or partially live?:

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Grounded receptacles in homes entered the electrical code book in 1959 as an option, finally being upgraded to MANDATORY in 1965 or 1968. Since prior to this (and it still only really went into effect in homes built in or after 1965/1968 - which to this day isn't even close to all of them) not many had grounded outlets in their home,
so most pinball machines featured two-prong "lamp cords" from the factory. (Genuinely quite s***) In the event of a main line shorting to any metal, the machine would continue operating (unless creating an electrical short - which would blow a fuse inside of the machine). If anybody touched this piece of metal, such as a coin door, they would be SHOCKED with main line voltage.
Having done so, many times (more out of carelessness/stupidity rather than pinball machine faults...), it does hurt quite a bit and apparently hurts a HELL of a lot more if you're touching ground/neutral. (I haven't had the pleasure I don't think - getting shocked by just the HOT (one side of the wiring) hurts enough and razzles you pretty bad, you feel it flowing through you)
Anyways, back to the coin door. If they touched this large electrified piece of metal, they would be shocked, it would hurt, and the machine would stay on until somebody finally unplugged the damn thing.
With the new grounding system, a "field ground" wire is attached to all metal/conductive parts at risk inside/outside of an appliance (such as the coin door), and if line voltage was ever sent to them, it would travel through this field ground wire, through the power cord out of the machine, into the now-very-recognizable "third prong" hole in the outlet, safely travel through the walls of your house,
and when it hits the breaker/breaker box (less than a second in real time...) it trips the breaker and shuts off the entire circuit the machine or appliance is plugged into to prevent any damage, injuries, or even fatalities - all without causing an initial direct short to the neutral line inside of the machine. (I believe this is how early breakers/house fuse boxes would shut off/blow aside from being just overloaded, and it's pretty unlikely to occur compared to one loose wire)
While games started shipping with a 3-prong cord in the 70's, you should ensure that the third prong was not cut/ripped off to fit in a 2-prong outlet. Around 80% of the 3-prong pinball cords from the period and even into the 80's seem to be that way. (Remember, not a ton of people had them yet at the time!)
Additionally, often times this ground wire will only go to the frame of the transformer. (to kick the breaker off in the event of a transformer fault) Unfortunately, this does not include connections to metal pieces such as the coin door, lockdown bar, side-rails, and more.
Installing these yourself (even linked to the original intact wiring connected to the transformer frame in bright green) will provide safety and assurance for guests and players to your house and business.
 
(DANGERS, cont.)

There was a recent debate about grounding the side-rails that made it onto Pinside. Many say grounding the side rails is bad because it can complete a circuit when leaning on them with their body and working on the machine, whereas if they touched a live wire it would hurt significantly more as it flows through them into the ground wire.
For this reason, instead of both the side-rails and lockdown bar being grounded, in this group of two they grounded just the lockdown bar instead (which is usually always off when working on the machine), and when the lockdown bar was put back into place, it would touch the side rails and ground them as well without having them grounded when the machine is being serviced as the lockdown bar is not there to complete the grounding circuit (has continunity (connection), but no voltage/amps/current normally). The decision is up to you. If you don't "hard-wire" the side-rails, insure that the lockdown bar ALWAYS makes a good connection to the side-rails to extend this grounding measure to players when playing the game.
[DANGEROUS FLIPPER BUTTON SHOCKS/START BUTTON SHOCKS - OUCH! WHAT HAPPENED? (FISH PAPER DANGERS AND STINGS)
Often time switches and buttons are insulated with something called "fish paper", which is basically a non-conductive paper-like material that stops the flipper voltage and coin door voltage from traveling through the buttons, to the player's hands.
This can become worn or entirely destroyed with time and no longer block electrical connections.
The dangers:
- Many flipper switches are controlled by 30 or 50 volts. This is not as bad as 120 volts/line voltage but can definitely still hurt and cause physical damage or worse. With the fish paper damaged or destroyed, this voltage could flow through METAL flipper buttons.
- [WARNING] METAL START BUTTONS: All start switches are connected to a start relay, which is very often controlled by 120 VOLTS/MAIN LINE VOLTAGE. If the fish paper here degrades or goes missing (destroyed) it will send 120 VOLTS through any metal start buttons and also likely through the metal coin door. (which, if you're touching field ground, likely will hurt even worse! But also possibly save your life) Make sure the fish paper here is replaced or is in good condition!!!!!
- [WARNING] EARLY WILLIAMS FLIPPER BUTTONS - BALLY TOO?: As mentioned earlier on many games you can push the left flipper button to light up the game. On later games (from the 70's onward), this was controlled by 30 volts or 50 volts (solenoid voltage), but on earlier games, particularly Williams games, this was controlled by 120 VOLTS/MAIN LINE VOLTAGE and brought it right up to a switch controlled by the flipper button.
If the fish paper was damaged or missing (destroyed) here, you would get a very nasty shock through the flipper button, and if your hand is resting on that grounded lockdown bar and side-rail, it'll hurt pretty damn bad (but would also save your life instead if you can't let go)!
Remember that third schematic snippet I posted of the "earlier machine"? Take a look at the bottom left, the proof is in the pudding!:

7c600480b4e6ec569f3b64df6c56b41ddedd31aa.png.jpg
[/WARNING][/WARNING]
 
75fa0e7244690e6ec72f087d937376714bfab03e.png.jpg


Thank you (and thank yourself! Whew!) for taking the time to read through my guide.
I ask nothing in return but your safety - without trying to scare you away, please be safe and make conscious decisions when working on your machine(s). EM machines are great because they will take your mess-ups over and over again (to an extent), but at the same time blow them in your face. (I shorted the 30 volt winding on a transformer the other day at the point before any fuses for a second - the transformer was fine but lots of smoke was made at the point of contact!)
Remember than owning a pinball machine, especially an electro-mechanical, comes with a certain need for responsibility, specifically not to be an idiot (either when plugging that first project covered in old gasoline into the wall or working on a machine) and end up burning your house down. It is not the machines I'm worried will mess up, it's you! (No offense) Just be careful and ask questions before doing anything you feel uncomfortable with and I'll try to help you out! (or another forum member will)
That being said, (saying this half-tongue-in-cheek) if you have any unwanted machines you'd like to contribute to my museum dream (like I need any more...), you know where to find me! Fact may show that if it's a Gottlieb wedgehead it makes me drive 10 MPH faster on the way down... just kidding. On a more serious note, I can also always use any spare parts you may not have any use for, specifically Gottlieb parts as they make up the bulk of my personal collection.
If you have anything that's been sitting on your shelf for a while that you can't use, but you think I may be able to, let me know! I would greatly appreciate it, even if it goes in a stockpile. (That's another thing - SPARE parts are GREAT!)
I can be reached through PM here on Pinside for any inquiries, help, or questions for things that may or may not be covered here in my guide.
I sincerely hope my guide helps you, and best of luck out there in the electro-mechanical pinball world! At times it may seem like an endless battle, but once you get them running right and cleaned up they will last longer than any solid-state machines *as long as you play them!*. They become self-cleaning at a point, if adjusted right. Best wishes!
Steven "Otaku", 05/13/2017
 
Otaku's Ultimate Electro-Mechanical Guide & EM Theory Of Operation

I'll admit I skimmed it, but I think this is worthy of a sticky from what I read. Very nicely done. And thank you!
 
I'll admit I skimmed it, but I think this is worthy of a sticky from what I read. Very nicely done. And thank you!

Thanks! Sticky or not, I just hope it helps people. I appreciate your kind words for sure, and you're very welcome parkway!
 
Outstanding guide and evidence of a lot of love and hard work.
Valuable to anyone young and old in the hobby.

Only issue is the first page. The generalization of Pinside is probably a bit unfair. Every site, including this one can have it's portions of a cesspool. RGP, Pinside, KLOV are not immune. Sometimes you have to just filter out the poop to find the good.
Your guide is some of the treasure.
 
Outstanding guide and evidence of a lot of love and hard work.
Valuable to anyone young and old in the hobby.

Only issue is the first page. The generalization of Pinside is probably a bit unfair. Every site, including this one can have it's portions of a cesspool. RGP, Pinside, KLOV are not immune. Sometimes you have to just filter out the poop to find the good.
Your guide is some of the treasure.

I agree (and thanks), the problem with that at Pinside is that the unruly are outspoken and are frequent posters and stirrers of the pot, and the kind folk, naturally, are quieter and stay out of it or even stray away from posting in general there, often or at all. So at times it really lets the idiots run free especially when nobody there pipes up to keep them quiet, even mods. Combine that with constant drama about discussing new pinball manufacturers and the drama itself that it makes between users (it's like double drama - discussing controversial drama creates drama), and it makes for a really unfortunate place to be 90% of the time.

HOORAY FOR ALL ARCADE MANUFACTURERS BEING OUT OF BUSINESS, WOO! *sarcasm*

Honestly though, I'm not sure if it's the drama-driven topic of modern pinball or because the site is filled with so many people of different ages that causes so much shit. We have the a bit of the end of the 70's, the 80's, and most of the 90's and their given fanbases. Not so bad. Similar views, etc.. They got like every decade of fans that are still alive from the 1920s to the modern day with no gaps. Makes for a lot of "THESE DAMN MILLENIALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111111" fighting between young guys who think they are wise vs. old guys who are nasty and proud and feel all-knowing but don't know how to use a keyboard and have yet to discover how to disable caps lock. Of course, there's a TON of nice guys from every age group, don't get it twisted, but I am speaking of the bad guys that do exist.

I much prefer the atmosphere here. It's shitposting, sure, but it's usually friendly (and often pretty damn funny) unless you're a complete mess.
 
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Repped for this. I'll be reading this when things slow down as the holidays get closer. Incredible work and welcome back!

Oh, watch out for ElectricDreamz, his pronouns contracted fleas. :dontknow:
 
Certainly a selfless thing to do and it looks like a good read. Nice work.
Pinside is a mess, but it's a huge mess. Things are cozier in klov pinball,
but mainly because only 78 people visit this subforum.

You should consider registering otakusarcade.com and put something up :)
It's a real shock to see someone mastering an "obsolete" technology
who was born decades after it was phased out (EM).
Learning "computers" on such a basic level (single bits on or off, programs
being parsed by a motorized cam) yields an intangible insight into modern tech.
 
Repped for this. I'll be reading this when things slow down as the holidays get closer. Incredible work and welcome back!

Oh, watch out for ElectricDreamz, his pronouns contracted fleas. :dontknow:

Thanks! and LOL.

Certainly a selfless thing to do and it looks like a good read. Nice work.
Pinside is a mess, but it's a huge mess. Things are cozier in klov pinball,
but mainly because only 78 people visit this subforum.

You should consider registering otakusarcade.com and put something up :)
It's a real shock to see someone mastering an "obsolete" technology
who was born decades after it was phased out (EM).
Learning "computers" on such a basic level (single bits on or off, programs
being parsed by a motorized cam) yields an intangible insight into modern tech.

Thanks for your many kind words! I'll definitely consider it. I'm also considering making a printed version to earn a few bucks. I'm so broke it's sad, and every last dollar I currently have is going into opening a museum sometime soon with all of my games and more.

Busy designing that website from scratch and it looks amazing right now. Full CSS, animated, gradients, mmmmmmmm. I really like how I'm able to take a modern approach on this hobby and hopefully take my many skills relevant to both these old machines as well as the internet and make a livelihood for myself. I ran the numbers and it's definitely plausible in my location I have picked out. On top of that I'd love to do some web design (while I work there throughout some of the days), so with both incomes I should be pretty set. Problem is the start-up, of course. :p
 
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