Preventative Maintenance 4 Johnny Mnemonic

Zack5959

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Ive been playing the game for a few months now with no issues other than the Hand needing adjusting.

Is there any recommended or required maintenance needed to ensure it works properly in the future?
Being 15 years old, Id imagine some electrical components should be replaced with new ones, right?
I dont mind throwing a few bucks at the machine, so if anyone can recommend a good list of things to do/check, id greatly appreciate it.
 
Yes, remove the damn switch all together and hook up a relay from the magnet to the switch.

I've got one, and no matter how much adjusting I've done to it, the switch kept pushing out the ball. I fixed ol' butter fingers for good. I've played about... oh 100 games, and the hand has yet to drop the ball since. Before doing this mod, it would drop the ball almost every game. I thought I fixed it, a few games later... drop. Then I'd tweak it... drop. I put in all new wires in it and went as far as buying a new magnet. I finally fixed it before even installing my new magnet (still sitting around in my house).

So, WHERE do you find this miracle relay? Go to this url, it has a mini schematic on how to build it:

http://coinoplove.com/JM.html

It cost me about 7 dollars to build, and works like a dream. What exactly does it do? You circumvent the stupid switch (which is why the ball always falls outta the hand)... when the magnet activates, you take the power going to it to a relay. The relay activates, which turns on the switch. You take that switch activation, and send it back to the machine (via the switch you just took out). It only activates for a second, but that's enough to satisfy the machine by lying to it... therefore, your JM pin thinks the switch is there.

Now, do you have to do all of this? No. You can rip the switch out all together, and not hook up the relay and it will play just fine. However, you will get the BONG BONG BONG warning when you turn on your machine. It's telling you "hey, the switch is broken." The game would still play fine without it.

So, wait a damn minute! If it plays fine without it, why's the switch even there?

Back in older software, the switch acted like an EOS switch on your flippers. When the switch triggered, the game would then reduce the power to the magnet to cause it to not overheat/break. But, with later software (and much like newer pins and EOS switches) the magnet goes to a power cycle after a few seconds anyhow. So no damage would happen.

But, I hate having credit dots. So, I installed the mod. Have been happy as hell since (installed it about 2-3 months ago).

UNRELATED TO THAT, does your spinner work? Many spinners on this need to be fixed to spin and stay standing straight up and down. That's an easy fix, if you need the answer to that one, too. ;)
 
One more thing - this switch has been out of stock for a while. No new switches are being made or reproduced. Eventually, your switch will die and then you'll be up shit creek. Doing this mod is a totally safe and effective way to keep your game bullet proofed for years to come.
 
have you cleaned and waxed your playfield? hows the condition of your play ball/balls? condition of the rubber rings?
 
Wow john...thanks for your thoughts and recommendations. I don't have a problem with the hand dropping the ball. The hand needed adjusting in the setup screen so it.knew where it needed to be.

As for the playfield, I just had it all apart for cleaning and waxing. Rings are good.
 
Wow john...thanks for your thoughts and recommendations. I don't have a problem with the hand dropping the ball. The hand needed adjusting in the setup screen so it.knew where it needed to be.

As for the playfield, I just had it all apart for cleaning and waxing. Rings are good.

Oh, you mean the X and Y axis? Give the ball time, this game loves dropping them a lot. The first two JM I played, the hands dropped the balls almost instantly. I assumed it was something I did wrong... then dropped again. Finally, I gave up and just chalked it up to the game being stupid. Little did I know that they were both broken!!

This is a pretty maintenance free game, I'll be honest with you. Outside of the standard pinball stuff, once the hand works great and the spinner actually is counter balanced correctly (odd spinner in this machine. VERY heavy), the game will play great with very little tending to it.
 
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