Pin repair techs: what are the most common issues you see?

vintagegamer

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For those who keep the pin repair world alive, what are the most common issues you have to fix for pin owners? Bad bulbs? Drop target issues? Sound probs?
 
For those who keep the pin repair world alive, what are the most common issues you have to fix for pin owners? Bad bulbs? Drop target issues? Sound probs?
I guess it depends on what era pin you're talking about (and what manufacturer). But for me (I own a Strikes and Spares by Bally from 1978), the most common issue I've seen is needing to re-crimp the connectors and replace the old header pins with new ones. That will solve like 90% of your problems. (That and a rebuilt power supply).

Additional things I've done to help keep the game reliable:
- Aftermarket power supply - It's more robust than the original with all new parts and thicker traces.
- Old light bulb sockets swapped out. I went with the "Yoppsicle" upgrades to make life easier
- Rubbers changed all around
- Swapped out all new diodes and caps on all of my switches
- Rebuild flippers

Hope this helps!

Del
 
It does, Del, thanks!

My former pins were in my garcade at my former home, and I'm guessing the high and low temps in that garage didn't play nice with the solder in them. Lows would be at 50, highs in 80s. My current pin is in a dry basement so I think that's a better way to protect it.

I also don't leave my games on to cook. If I'm not playing or having an event, they are off.
 
I do a bit of solid state pinball work on weekends, here is a cliffnotes version of what I've observed. I do mostly electronics though, so I don't have a ton of mechanical or repair advice outside of it. Each system has a wiki out there that lists out the common issues better than what I am describing. Your best friend is the manual, ipdb is an incredible resource. I also don't work on Gottlieb machines period. Every-time I try to work on one, it ends up being a pain in the ass.

General:
  • Bad drive transistors
  • Burnt out bulbs
  • Trashed rubbers
  • If flipper problems, do a rebuild kit or at least make sure the EOS is adjusted and cleaned
  • Cold Solder Joints
  • Bridge rectifiers
  • MAKE SURE YOU ARE USING THE RIGHT VALUE OF FUSES, I have seen many boards with the wrong values. Fuses cost 1 to 2 dollars, a new board and repair work can costs hundreds.
  • Batteries, Batteries, and more batteries. People forget that a lot of solid state pins have batteries. Either make sure you replace them regularly or install an NVRAM.
  • Displays, we are getting to a point where they are all starting to gas. It sucks, but it is especially annoying on DMDs. You also tend to lose colums or rows on DMDs. Sometimes it is just cold solder joints, other times it is bad connections.
Williams System 3-7:
  • Special solenoid problems
  • interconnect
  • Make sure if you have one that has a backbox mounted bridge rectifier, that you do the fuse mod and replace the quick connects. Williams did not always fuse these, and if it shorts you will run into big trouble.
  • Sometimes the logic gates driving the drive transistors go south
  • Sometimes the PIAs get angry
  • Soundboard: Sometimes bridge rectifier explodes. Sometimes the 6810 RAM goes south.
Williams System 11 (I don't have as much experience with these):
  • Messed up general illumination
  • The MOV on the aux board sometimes goes. Last time that happened to me it would burn out the relay if memory serves
Williams WPC:
  • Bridge rectifiers!!! I always have problems with them
  • Burnt general illumination connectors
  • Bad filter capacitors
  • DMD power supply, bad resistors or regulators
  • Ribbon cables in general, particularly with the DMD
Early Bally and Stern Solid State:
  • Battery leakage to the max
  • 5101 RAM, problems saving
  • Bad pins on the harness
  • Bad SCRs for controlling lamps
  • The stupidest jumper system for roms ever
  • Burnt connectors on the rectifier transformer board, they always burn up because of pin problems
  • Rectifier boards always get trashed
  • If it has a squawk and talk board, tantalum capacitors
  • Bad ceramic caps across switches
  • Lots of cold solder joints, especially on the displays.
Data East:
  • Power supply problems for days! Bridge rectifiers, leaky caps, burnt connectors, and most importantly broken fuse clips
  • weirdly enough, 7408s for drive transistors
  • Weird issues on the flipper driver boards
Sega/later stern:
  • More game specific issues, such as the grabber in Jurassic Park Lost World. That thing is cursed
  • Flipper rebuilds required
Modern Day Stern:
  • Coil Endstops! I don't know why Stern cheaped out so hard on these. That is the most common issue I run into
  • Broken wires from using crap wire.

Hope this helps.
 
Last edited:
GREAT INFO!!!

I doubt at this point in my life that I'd be able to do that work for others, but I'm always interested in learning!!
 
I have and have owned mostly Williams System 11 and WPC games over 27 years. I have replaced more microswitches than anything else by a mile. Cleaning up weekend warrior hacks would probably be the second most frequent repair.
 

You're welcome... :)

Also - Burned GI pins/headers. When I get a Data East pin, I replace the GI header & connector before I even turn it on.
 
So would you guys say that alot of these issues (except for the WW fixes) are simply due to the ages of these games? Or, moreso from being left on for hours and hours? Or, is it due to where they are set up temp/humidity wise? I ask all of these questions because obviously, like arcade games, alot of the damage could be mitigated by simply watching out for location, and, duration of powerup.
 
It's luck of the draw. Games that were in a VERY humid environment will tend to have more rust but I don't think it plays a ton in terms of the electronics. They were all made from crap to begin with, so you will end up having to deal with say cold solder joints, some were worse than others. After you get things working, the best thing you can do is look into playfield maintenance (cleaning, waxing, ect) and make sure the actual pinballs don't start rusting or pitting.

I am working on a 6 million dollar man pin (bally). This thing has needed a bit of everything, but nothing outside the realm of normal Bally machines. One thing was that it was stored in a humid environment, so lots of rusty sockets and plungers. Nothing that can't be fixed. I've gone with the philosophy though that any pin can be fixed as long as the playfield isn't trashed. Even then, there are now ways around that for some machines. It's just dependent on how much money and time you want to spend. This 6 million dollar man ($6 pain in the ass) has needed waaaay more work than it is worth to me but I started so I might as well finish.

It's ultimately up to you to make the call of how much work you want to put into it just like any project.
 
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