RFM question

JohnB

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Edit: Proud new owner of a RFM, my first pin!

I have a tentative agreement with someone to purchase an RFM in excellent condition for $1800. Ive been told its important to gets pins at a certain price to be able to resell later and not take a loss. At that price am i safe getting this rfm? What should I be prepared for in moving this as I have never moved a pinball before. Its only 30minutes from home. I have a cargo van for moving. What would I need to take the feet off and backboard assembly? Do i need to take the balls out? Thanks in advance klov. Looking forward to joining the rfm club and klov pin club :)
-john

edit: bought for $1,000! More info on page 2!
pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/6146088...7629685277607/
 
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First off congrats RFM is a great pin. $1,800 is more than fair at least here in Canada. From what I hav seen RFM average price is $2,500

You will need a wrench to remove the legs and back glass. RFM has a safety system so you don't have to take out the balls but I would take them out anyways, I wouldnt trust it. I took mine all apart and it took about 45 mins. You will need the keys to get the back glass off so you can remove the top as there are cords you won't be able to reach from the back. The chords connect into the computer, they run from the back to the front.

Good luck,
 
First off congrats RFM is a great pin. $1,800 is more than fair at least here in Canada. From what I hav seen RFM average price is $2,500

You will need a wrench to remove the legs and back glass. RFM has a safety system so you don't have to take out the balls but I would take them out anyways, I wouldnt trust it. I took mine all apart and it took about 45 mins. You will need the keys to get the back glass off so you can remove the top as there are cords you won't be able to reach from the back. The chords connect into the computer, they run from the back to the front.

Good luck,

thank you for the feedback! the seller has the key - I am going to download the user manual and make sure I test it all before I take it. What advice for the legs? Should i put a blanket down and lay it on its side to take them off? A ratchet set would do right?
 
If the seller has other pins, they can probably help you move it, take off the legs etc. I generally back the pin (with legs on) right to where it is getting loaded. Take one of the back legs off and then set that corner onto the. Lip of the trunk/loading area. The. Take off the second back leg and lift that corner onto/into the car. Then you can slide the pin all the way in with the front two legs hanging over allowing easy removal.

With RFM, you may want to remove the top monitor section. RFM is a real beast to move. I'd really try to get someone to help you.
 
If the seller has other pins, they can probably help you move it, take off the legs etc. I generally back the pin (with legs on) right to where it is getting loaded. Take one of the back legs off and then set that corner onto the. Lip of the trunk/loading area. The. Take off the second back leg and lift that corner onto/into the car. Then you can slide the pin all the way in with the front two legs hanging over allowing easy removal.

With RFM, you may want to remove the top monitor section. RFM is a real beast to move. I'd really try to get someone to help you.


This is good advise and I did the same when loading my RFM we also removed the monitor head or back board it is a heavy game so make sure you have help. I got mine from Tomdotcom and he was great, lots of help and far more knowledgeable than I am when it comes to Pins. Post some pics when you get yours...
 
RFM was the hardest pin for me to move. I borrowed a friend's work van and the game still didn't fit with the legs off. I had to remove the monitor. It's not too bad, but the head is a very akward piece. I think the head is removed with a large allen wrench. I forget.

So, you will need a larger vehicle to move the pin with the head off. It takes up a lot of room!

And, $1800 is a good price assuming it is in good condition. They tend to go for $2k-$2,500 around here.
 
Watch these Pin2000 (RFM is Pin2000) service videos.

They show exactly how to set up and service RFM.

Breakdown for travel is the opposite order, of course.

Williams Pinball 2000 technology promo video, part 1 of 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQEgYeeaISE

Williams Pinball 2000 technology promo video, part 2 of 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAyBz8XIMsU

Watch Part 2 especially carefully.

1. Take out the balls, coin box, and any loose parts in the cabinet. You don't want crap bouncing around in there.

2. Take the head off, following the instructions in the above video.

3. Take the legs off - you'll need a 5/8" driver for the leg bolts

A good utility dolly with a ratchet strap really helps.

Be extremely careful with the playfield glass. Pin2000 uses a special reflective glass for the video image and replacing the glass is expen$$$ive.

RussMyers

I have a tentative agreement with someone to purchase an RFM in excellent condition for $1800. Ive been told its important to gets pins at a certain price to be able to resell later and not take a loss. At that price am i safe getting this rfm? What should I be prepared for in moving this as I have never moved a pinball before. Its only 30minutes from home. I have a cargo van for moving. What would I need to take the feet off and backboard assembly? Do i need to take the balls out? Thanks in advance klov. Looking forward to joining the rfm club and klov pin club :)
-john
 
Also, please take an afternoon or evening to come down here to Smithville NJ to check out my pins, have a few lessons in maintenance, and meet the local pinheads (there are 4).

I'm about an hour from Cherry Hill.

RussMyers
 
Also, please take an afternoon or evening to come down here to Smithville NJ to check out my pins, have a few lessons in maintenance, and meet the local pinheads (there are 4).

I'm about an hour from Cherry Hill.

RussMyers

NP Russ, I left you a voicemail on Sunday over the weekend
 
Where are the service videos? Are they online?

Watch these Pin2000 (RFM is Pin2000) service videos.

They show exactly how to set up and service RFM.

Breakdown for travel is the opposite order, of course.

Williams Pinball 2000 technology promo video, part 1 of 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQEgYeeaISE

Williams Pinball 2000 technology promo video, part 2 of 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAyBz8XIMsU

Watch Part 2 especially carefully.

1. Take out the balls, coin box, and any loose parts in the cabinet. You don't want crap bouncing around in there.

2. Take the head off, following the instructions in the above video.

3. Take the legs off - you'll need a 5/8" driver for the leg bolts

A good utility dolly with a ratchet strap really helps.

Be extremely careful with the playfield glass. Pin2000 uses a special reflective glass for the video image and replacing the glass is expen$$$ive.

RussMyers
 
sooo

I am a proud new owner of a RFM. This is my first pinball. When I got to the sellers home I noticed that the machine wasn't in the excellent condition that was claimed. Instead, instead it was more in "good" condition and it looked like it was operated at one point and then bought from an op and brought home - ok no biggie, typical wear n tear for a 12 year old machine but not terrible cosmetically. It doesn't seem the pin was ever properly shopped - at least not recently. The key on the top turns but doesn't open to the pc, gonna have to check on that tomorrow. Unfortunately at the top of the tempered glass is a decent sized scratch... I will get back to that later to see if it can be fixed. I checked the diagnostic menu and had about 8 warnings come up - in reference to switches on the playfield. Not familiar with what they meant or the cost associated with repair, I factored that into bartering the price down. Even with all of the issues the machine still played well and it works. That said, I ran home as fast as I could with a RFM for the tune of... get this, $1,000! Did I do good klov? ;)

pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/61460888@N02/sets/72157629685277607/

I'll be reassembling tomorrow.
-John
 
Oh btw - a mega bitch to move, fucking bulky and heavy. Took about an hour or hour and halfish to disassemble and move into the van. My back hurts but I feel it was worth it.
 
Yes you did great!
Can't beat $1,000 for that pin. Parts are readily available for RFM, so you can always make it Minty should you want. Good score buddy, hoe do you like the game play? Pretty cool eh?
 
Great price! I got mine last year and it was in worse condition. It looks like a playfield teardown, clean/polish/wax and it will be good to go. Nice pickup, I think my playfield looked dirtier and it came out great. It's a fun one to work on and play - Barry

A before and after pic of my playfield.

BTW - If you find any broken parts let me know, I may have what you need after my rebuild.
 

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Even though it's dirty and has some wear, 1000 bucks for a basically working RFM is a VERY good deal. I would have grabbed that in a microsecond.

The essential shop-out is much easier on that game because you can take the whole playfield out and set it on a table to work on. Can't really do that for any other system without a rotisserie or equivalent. Be happy !!!

Get new white rubbers, and a flipper rebuild kit.
91% Isopropyl alcohol
Novus 2
Hard pure carnauba auto paste wax

Now is the time to begin learning how the Pin2000 diagnostics can help you find and fix everything that's wrong. It's a great diagnostics system (my buddy Mark has a RFM and he is about 10 min from my house so we have another game to compare to if necessary.)

Don't panic about the switch errors - the game will report a switch as bad/needs to be checked if it has simply not registered in play for a while (it assumes it's not working).

Testing the switches is VERY easy.

Worse case scenario, you can buy new glass:

http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=1746&parent=153
Pin2000 Playfield Glass For Local Pick-Up
Price: $170.00
Product ID: 04-12739.1_PU

Yeah, that's a lot for glass, but it will be perfect and shiny, and for what you paid for the game, you can afford it.

If you are going to Allentown Pinfest, that's a good place to arrange to pick up some pin2000 glass.

Don't drop it.

(that's a joke)

Congrats, that's an EXCELLENT first pin at an uneatable price.

RussMyers
 
I cant thank you guys enough. The help and info you guys have offered to me has been such a valueable resource! I am going to hunt down those items and order them and find some videos to watch on restoring. Lucky for me I got tons of Iso for cutting down latex and Novus#2 already :)
 
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