Your First Pinball Machine - You Need These Things

[Opto]

I was talking to Chris Coyle last night and just thought about when I bought my first machine and had no idea what tools/products I needed to work on it, so I thought I'd make a list for other folks. Again, this is a BASIC starter list. There is an infinite amount of stuff you can buy to work on games, and it'll become obvious the types of tools/supplies you'll want. This list is just for when you're first starting out, and you have no idea what you need.

***Tools***

Philips and Flathead screwdriver

Set of Nut Drivers ($10 at home depot)

Needle nose pliers, standard pliers

Soldering Iron

Solder Sucker (blue tube shaped thing sold at Radio Shack for $10)

Wire strippers/clippers

***CLEANING PRODUCTS***
Novus 3 - for cleaning metal, and Mylar (be careful)
Novus 2 - Cleaning Playfield and plastics - a few drops per square inch is about right - rub it on with one rag, and off with another
Novus 1 - for shining plastics

All Novus can be bought at TAP plastics on Sandy and 28th.

Mean Green - great for cleaning nicotein off of a dirty cabinet - can take paint off of older cabs, so be careful. You can special order this from most hardware stores.

Mothers pure carnuba was (rom loves this stuff) - $20 at most automotive stores. Wax the playfield with this (just like a car) after you've cleaned it with Novus.

Pinball Parts -

#47 bulbs - $1 a box - buy 5 - http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p= ... 9&parent=3

#555 bulbs - $1 a box - buy 5 - http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p= ... 1&parent=3

#89 flasher bulbs - $2 a box - buy 2 or 3 - http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p= ... 8&parent=3

#906 bulbs - $2 a box - buy 2 or 3 - http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p= ... 2&parent=3

Flipper Rebuild Kit - This is a GREAT first "repair" to make on your first game. It may seem a little daunting at first, but can be easily done with the tools in the list above. Nothing feels better than playing a game with freshly rebuilt flippers. Note - it would seem like a weak coil would be the reason for a weak flipper - almost always not the case. It's usually the mechanical parts being gummed up and wearing out. Replace them with these -

http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p= ... t=172&pg=1

Flipper bats - http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p= ... nt=59&pg=1

Lastly, you'll want to buy a rubber kit for your game. PBResource.com is the cheapest, but they are a bit intimidating to deal with if you're a newbie. Marco Specialties, and Bay Area Amusements also have custom rubber kits for every game, but they're quite a bit more expensive than Pinball life and Pbresource.

With these tools, you should be able to "shop" a game. Take all the plastics and posts off the top of the playfield, and clean it all with Novus 2. Clean the playfield with Novus 2 and wax it with Mothers. Replace all the burnt bulbs and re-assemble the game. Rebuild the flippers and install new flipper bats, and you'll be amazed in the difference of how crisp your machine feels. When taking the game apart - take a photo of every single screw/plastic that you remove. Place the removed plastics on a table in roughly the same arrangement they were on the playfield in. When you've cleaned it all, and it's time to put it back together, start with your last picture and work your way back. Your photos in reverse order with serve as step by step instructions on what to put back next. It takes 6-16 hours depending on how complex your game is if you have people helping. If you're serious about pinball and own a machine - you should shop it. It's like a right of passage, and one of the more satisfying elements of the hobby (when you're done).

I could go on, but I wanted to try and keep the list short, so you could actually go buy it all in one shopping trip - there's always time to buy more stuff later.

Hope this helps!

[eric]

Good list. I would add to it:

-Full set of Allen wrenches (US sizes)
-Small and medium size adjustable wrench
-Hemostat
-Right angle or stubby screwdriver
-Flexstones (for low voltage EM contacts)
-Contact file (for tungsten plated contacts, like high voltage EOS's)
-Digital multimeter

I would also stress the importance of checking all fuse values when you begin work on an unfamiliar game. Close to 100% of the machines I've worked on have had some pretty gross over fusing. Replace over rated fuses with factory recommended values.

[ROM]

[KYL]

There used to be a page on the internet maintained by a guy named Scott Farrar which compiled a list of all the tools for pinball repair. It was divided into a basic set and more advanced needs. It was very thorough.

Alas, he and his website seem to have disappeared.

If anyone knows this guy or has access to Internet archives, it was located at the following URL:

http://www.scott.farrar.com/pinball_tools.htm

[Rob]

For an incredibly thorough list of tools, basic parts, & general repair tips, is fucking solid.

It is a ton of information to wade through, but it makes a pleasant read before starting any repair jobs. The has plenty of more specific repair guides once you have covered the basics. Thanks to Eric for pointing me in this direction when I got my machine.

[coyle]

Great stuff. Thanks.

[KYL]

I found Scott's page in the Internet Archive.

http://web.archive.org/web/200708132105 ... _tools.htm

[sauce]

Anyone know where I can get some magic eraser locally?

[emma]

Pretty much any store Sauce - Walgreens, Safeway, also hardware stores...

[Opto]

wet it with rubbing alcohol

[revtest]

90+% rubbing alcohol! 70% or less has to much water or other stuff you don't want.