Pinball Chat

Back online!

2009-08-12T07:28:00.000+01:00

Sorry to have been away so long - been having some technical difficulties that are hopefully all sorted now so I will be trying to get back into the regular blogs. More later!

Ribbon cables

2009-06-09T06:32:00.003+01:00

Just been called out for a service to a machine that kept blowing fuses - when I got there after some careful checking, discovered one of the ribbon cables was on the wrong way round. So be warned - check the basics very carefully before getting into a flap as something simple like this can lead you to believe that there is something very wrong with the board when there isnt!

Pinball history

2009-05-19T10:02:00.001+01:00

I was recently asked a question by Sarah about how much it would cost per game to play pinball in the 70s in the US. Being in the UK it's very difficult to say, but if you have a bit of time on Google, there's a fair bit of info to be found. From what I can see the average game was either 5 cents or a quarter...

Things to do when you get a machine for the first time....

2009-05-19T09:59:00.002+01:00

I know it can be an eagerly anticipated arrival, but beware rushing in! Before you switch the machine on check carefully to ensure there is no condensation and the machine is not too cold. If not sure, open the machine up (remove the glass, open up the backbox) and leave at room temperature for 24 hours BEFORE powering on. Otherwise you may find yourself frying some important circuit board components! The same applies if you are taking out a machine that has been in storage for some time....

Pinball bulbs

2009-05-15T06:59:00.001+01:00

Pinstig received this question:

I stumbled across your Blog whilst looking for cheap Lamps for my Star Trek TNG (#44, #89, #555, #902/6).

Where's the cheapest place to get them? Ok, Ok, the US - I know! - but what about in the UK?

The daft thing is that I can get all of the Lamps I need cheaper from ebay, imported from the 'States than on any UK pinball website - that's even with a whopping £15 postage - the downside is that I don't want 200 of them!!

Any ideas?

Regards,

Jack

My answer, Jack, would be that if you are only after small quantities, then your best bet is probably Phil at Pinball Heaven.

Thanks, Pinstig

Pinstig's new toy

2009-04-28T08:06:00.002+01:00

After many months of searching and breaking countless trolleys, Pinstig has finally found a stairclimbing trolley that works! It's a Powermate electric stairclimber and its fantastic! They're not cheap but they're well worth it if you've got to move a lot of heavy stuff up and down stairs, over thresholds, or in and out of the back of vans....

Pinstig back in contact....and a word about manuals

2009-03-15T15:41:00.002Z

After a mad couple of weeks when there just hasnt been the time to post, I'm back again....While I've been away I've had an email from Jon asking about the availability of manuals to download from the newer Stern machines. Many of you will already know that Bally/ Williams/ Data East manuals can be downloaded without charge from www.ipdb.org but that the site doesnt show any links for downloading newer Stern manuals. However, if you go on the Stern website and go to their parts section, you can access "excerpts" from the manuals, which in fact give you most of the sections you'd ever look at. And unlike the ipdb manual downloads which can be slow to download due to the limited download speed, the Stern excerpts are really quick to open. You can also access ROM revisions from the site

A multimeter is your best friend

2009-02-22T17:47:00.002Z

A perfect example occurred today of why you need to have a multimeter on hand! I had someone contact me with a column or switches out on his machine worrying that there was a major problem on the CPU. After a bit of time and careful guidance from me, it turns out that the problem was simply that there was a break in continuity from the board to the first switch in the column (could equally work with a row). Dont forget - always use your multimeter to check continuity before you dive in with board repairs. If you want any more advice, just email pinstig on pinballchat@hotmail.co.uk

Question for Pinstig

2009-02-15T12:24:00.002Z

Hi
I have an Airport pinball made by Genco Around 1935? Before the days of flippers! I need to get a part to get it back to working order again but don’t know where to look. It’s the part that pushes the ball up onto the table, the one in the machine just fell apart some years ago. Any ideas or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Regards
Geoff

And Pinstig replies.....

Hi Geoff
Thanks for your email. Your best bet would be to get in touch with Steve at Decopinball as he specialises in older machines. You can get hold of him by email on steve@decopinball.co.uk. He'll do his best to help you out. Otherwise if you have the old piece, you can try taking it to a fabricator and see if they can replicate it.
Thanks, Pinstig

More pinball travels!

2009-01-31T14:10:00.001Z

The lengths Pinstig will go to for the love of pinball! Two weeks ago he was travelling the length of Britain from Scotland to London via Wales to help a pinball owner re-locate a machine. And this weekend he's going to be taking a machine to a sixth floor flat using the stairs cos the lift's not working! Joy!

Change those batteries!

2009-01-25T12:37:00.002Z

Don't forget to change the batteries on your CPU regularly. If you don't then you risk the dreaded battery acid damage to your CPU if they start leaking. Pinstig recommends changing your batteries at least every six months. And make sure you use a decent quality battery and not re-chargeable. Or better still - install a remote battery holder. If you need any advice, drop Pinstig a line at pinballchat@hotmail.co.uk

Pinstig's memorabilia

2009-01-20T22:17:00.003Z

Pinstig has been a huge Tommy fan (for obvious reasons) for many years and is always looking for memorabilia from the film. After a long time looking Pinstig has managed to get his hands on an original Tommy prop - the blazer worn by Oliver Reed in the film! It's not in brilliant shape and will need restoring but still a great item and EVEN BIGGER NEWS COMING SOON!

Pinball travels

2009-01-18T21:16:00.002Z

Pinstig is off on his travels this weekend to help out a pinball owner who needs a machine re-locating from the wilds of Scotland to good old congestion charging London. Weather permitting of course cos Pinstig isnt a big fan of a snowy track....How far is Pinstig prepared to go for the love of pinball?

Exciting News coming soon!

2009-01-17T13:12:00.001Z

Watch this space! Pinstig hopes to have some very exciting news coming here soon......

Pinballs in ski resorts

2009-01-17T13:05:00.002Z

Thanks to Jon - just back from skiing in Sauze d'Oulx in Italy and he spotted a T2 in one of the bars in the square. He's not too sure of the name (a bit too much Apres Ski I suspect) but thinks it was something like The Club. Cheers!

Pinballs in ski resorts

2009-01-14T21:37:00.002Z

We seem to be getting a bit of interest in pinballs in ski resorts at the moment, so if you've been skiing recently and come across a pinball machine, drop us a line and let us know.....

Pinball spotted in ski resort

2009-01-14T21:30:00.002Z

Thanks to Nigel for his email. He's just come back from skiing in France in a little resort called St Jean d'Arves where he's been spending his Apres Ski hours playing the Creature from the Black Lagoon in the main bar in the resort. The machine was in reasonable condition and seemed to be fully working so it seems the ski resort love of pinball continues.......

Pinball machines on holiday.....

2009-01-11T12:54:00.001Z

If you're off skiing this year, keep an eye out for pinball machines... European skiing resorts seem to be the last bastion of pinball machines in bars! Most resorts have pinball machines and you can get to play some machines that you don't get to see often over here unless you've got a big collection. Always worth checking out the motorway service stations as well, especially in France, although this is becoming rarer.....

Ribbon cables

2009-01-09T08:17:00.001Z

Have you got "garbage" on your dot matrix display? Try reseating the ribbon cables in the backbox - be careful to make sure you line all pins up correctly. Do this a few times to clean the pins.

Old backglasses - careful....

2009-01-04T10:42:00.002Z

A word of warning for anyone out there with a machine with an old painted backglass - be very careful about moving the backglass between different temperatures and levels of humidity. If, for example, your backglass was being stored somewhere relatively cold and with some damp in the atmosphere, if you were to suddenly bring it in to a warm dry atmosphere (such as your average centrally heated house) you may find within a few days that the paint on the backglass is cracking and peeling off as it dries out. To avoid this you need to be sure that it dries out and warms up very slowly.

Scared Stiff frogs

2009-01-01T15:06:00.002Z

Is your Scared Stiff missing one or more of its frogs? Save yourself some money and don't bother ordering "special Scared Stiff frogs". The best frogs you can get, and the ones that most nearly match the originals, can be bought for pennies from Toys R Us of all places. You can buy a bag of plastic frogs from there - usually found in the section with cheap toys to be given away at kid's birthday parties. Then just find some appropriate gauge wire to make the mounting stick and away you go......

Coin door buttons not registering

2008-12-02T07:34:00.002Z

Could be as simple as the switches not making proper contact. Turn the machine off and try a small squirt of WD40 onto the switch, then keep pressing the switch to free it up. Turn the machine back on and give it a try - you might be lucky.

Rom revisions

2008-11-27T20:13:00.001Z

Best thing for your pinballs - keep them all up to date, making sure you're running on the most up to date software. The latest ROM revisions can be found on www.ipdb.org. But one to watch out for - the Cirqus Voltaire 2.0 home use rom version can cause freeze-outs and resets.

A really useful pinball forum

2008-11-23T19:04:00.002Z

If you're after any information about pinball (reviews, tips, maintenance or troubleshooting) this is always a good place to look - the Google pinball forum - http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.pinball/topics. You can search the archives where you will find the answers to most pinball questions you can think of, or you can post a question of your own. What's particularly good about this group is that there are regular contributors with serious knowledge and experience of pinball, including the odd pinball designer! Always worth a look.......

Cold weather pinball care

2008-11-22T16:17:00.002Z

This might sound obvious, but now the weather is getting colder, if your pinball machine is stored anywhere other than in a centrally heated room, check to make sure the machine is not too cold and that there is no condensation anywhere before turning it on. If you are storing a machine somewhere like a garage, dont forget to remove the batteries and balls and be aware you will get pitting and rust on any metal parts if left for a long time.

Useful tip - plastic scans

2008-11-20T18:34:00.002Z

Ever had a broken plastic and not been able to find a replacement? Have you tried checking out the plastic scans on www.ballsofsteel.net? You may find a scan of the plastic you're after that you can use to make a replacement. OK, it wont be NOS but it's better than broken! You'll need a good quality printer, self adhesive photopaper and spray varnish plus thin plastic to create your replacement out of. With a bit of patience and practice you can get some pretty good results.....

Really useful tools

2008-08-31T22:04:00.002+01:00

Here's a really useful tool for anyone who needs to tinker with a pinball machine - the Siegen 100 piece power tool bit set . It has all the bits you will need including security heads and is worth its weight in gold....

Pinballs I have owned.....

2008-08-12T15:22:00.002+01:00

Over the years PinStig has owned a wide variety of pinball machines. Not sure if this is an exhaustive list, but here goes( in no particular order)!:

Addams Family; Cactus Canyon; Medieval Madness; Monster Bash; Twilight Zone; Tommy; The Shadow; No Fear; Scared Stiff; Lord of the Rings; Simpsons Pinball Party; Simpsons; NBA Fastbreak; Star Trek Next Generation; Star Wars; Star Wars Trilogy; Revenge from Mars; Attack from Mars; Jurassic Park; Safecracker; Dr Who; Lethal Weapon; Fish Tales; Tales of the Arabian Nights; Indiana Jones; Creature from the Black Lagoon; Junkyard; Champion Pub; Theatre of Magic; Pinball Magic.

There's probably more but I've gone a bit braindead! As you can probably tell PinStig loves pinball machines!

Welcome to Pinball Chat!

2008-08-12T14:10:00.002+01:00

Hello and welcome to Pinball Chat with the PinStig! I will be posting here regularly about pinball machines, with information about pinball machines I own, personal reviews of pinball machines, pinball machine repair tips, pinball machine game play tips, how to care for your pinball machine and any other pinball machine related subjects that take my fancy! Please feel free to email the PinStig at pinballchat@hotmail.co.uk if you have any pinball related questions and I'll do my best to answer.