Worst Repair seen on location?

[hooked]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

What have you seen? My worst to date was just found a few days ago at
the local AMF. There is a High Roller on location that the op
tie-strapped two posts togeather. It would not have been so bad if he
would have cut off the extra five inches of plastice tie not needed.
Now there is proto type speedbump to the spinner shot. Before
dropping the coins in I noticed that all the drop targets were broken
and the targets were leaning but that did not stop me. Make me wonder
what others have come accoss.

Robert
Hooked

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

I had a Gorgar come in for an overhaul quite a long time ago. It had a
bad kicker on the RH side of the playfield. Instead of fixing the
broken solder joint on the solenoid the route guy drove a nail in the
playfield in front of the kicker to prevent the ball from ever reaching
it!

The next dumbest one was the Adams Family that came in with no GI. It
started to burn up the connector as usual, so the route guy decided the
best "on location" fix was to take the circuits that were on burnt pins
and lump them onto other GI strings that were not burnt (yet) plus
install bigger fuses. Yes, it did need a number of triacs replaced,
along with damaged traces, terminals and header pins.

The route guys sayz: "Hey, I did what I could to keep in on location"
!!

*Sigh*

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

A NF jump ramp (the plastic portions) completely held together by
ducting tape. Nasty. All that rigging and the upper flipper doesn't
work. Still on location, too.

Marcel

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Once saw a Mary Shelly's Frankenstien where the upkicker had broke.
Instrad of fixing it, a spare rubber was sretched across nearby post to
keep the ball from entering.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

We have one local operator that has a toolbox full of nothing but sheetrock
screws and duct tape. Need I say more?

Ray J.
--
Action Pinball & Amusement, LLC
Salt Lake City, Utah USA
Web: www.actionpinball.com

We're serious about pinball. Anything else is just for fun!



"Hooked" <robertcampbell2@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1124987272.652799.88730@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> What have you seen? My worst to date was just found a few days ago at
> the local AMF. There is a High Roller on location that the op
> tie-strapped two posts togeather. It would not have been so bad if he
> would have cut off the extra five inches of plastice tie not needed.
> Now there is proto type speedbump to the spinner shot. Before
> dropping the coins in I noticed that all the drop targets were broken
> and the targets were leaning but that did not stop me. Make me wonder
> what others have come accoss.
>
> Robert
> Hooked
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

After looking at the beautiful Medival Madness restoration and reading
this thread, Its sad to say that the worst enemies most pinball
machines have are their route owners who are lazy pos's to fix them
properly or take ANY care of them. Imagine if we all were machine
owners on route. Id be there every week shining them. Take care of your
investments.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

I once saw a Harley Davidson that was "fixed".
The rubber behind the left bank of drop targets broke.
They reinstalled it in front of the drop targets.
It definitely made hitting the drop targets more of a challenge.

 

[unkn2232324]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

I once saw a Bobby Orr that had tape over the drain post because it was
removed.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

The 2 main ingredients for playfield touch up...


"Ray Johnson - Action Pinball" <staff@actionpinball.com> wrote in message
news:5-mdnZ2dnZ16GNjlnZ2dnaKek96dnZ2dRVn-0p2dnZ0@aros.net...
> We have one local operator that has a toolbox full of nothing but
sheetrock
> screws and duct tape. Need I say more?
>
> Ray J.
> --
> Action Pinball & Amusement, LLC
> Salt Lake City, Utah USA
> Web: www.actionpinball.com
>
> We're serious about pinball. Anything else is just for fun!
>
>
>
> "Hooked" <robertcampbell2@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1124987272.652799.88730@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> > What have you seen? My worst to date was just found a few days ago at
> > the local AMF. There is a High Roller on location that the op
> > tie-strapped two posts togeather. It would not have been so bad if he
> > would have cut off the extra five inches of plastice tie not needed.
> > Now there is proto type speedbump to the spinner shot. Before
> > dropping the coins in I noticed that all the drop targets were broken
> > and the targets were leaning but that did not stop me. Make me wonder
> > what others have come accoss.
> >
> > Robert
> > Hooked
> >
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

D_Zoot wrote:
> I had a Gorgar come in for an overhaul quite a long time ago. It had a
> bad kicker on the RH side of the playfield. Instead of fixing the
> broken solder joint on the solenoid the route guy drove a nail in the
> playfield in front of the kicker to prevent the ball from ever reaching
> it!

That's similar to my favorite from many years ago. I'm sure
the rgp post can be dug up if anyone's interested. It was a
Terminator 2 where they had trouble with the skull. Probably
not kicking the ball out. So they installed a giant wood
screw, straight into the playfield, in front of the skull
entrance. Major damage. Completely ruined gameplay.

Kevin

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Easy. Fish Tales. Op had a problem with a divot at the switch on the
top right where the autocast comes onto the rollovers. Solution?
"Well let's just squirt a bunch of silicone in there and smooth that
switch slot right out." Problem? With that switch covered over
completely in goop and inaccessible it was impossible to start video
mode, removing a large part of the game.

On 25 Aug 2005 09:27:52 -0700, "Hooked" <robertcampbell2@hotmail.com>
wrote:

>What have you seen? My worst to date was just found a few days ago at
>the local AMF. There is a High Roller on location that the op
>tie-strapped two posts togeather. It would not have been so bad if he
>would have cut off the extra five inches of plastice tie not needed.
>Now there is proto type speedbump to the spinner shot. Before
>dropping the coins in I noticed that all the drop targets were broken
>and the targets were leaning but that did not stop me. Make me wonder
>what others have come accoss.
>
>Robert
>Hooked

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Nails, pounded into the playfield, to replace a broken ring!

"Hooked" <robertcampbell2@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1124987272.652799.88730@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> What have you seen? My worst to date was just found a few days ago at
> the local AMF. There is a High Roller on location that the op
> tie-strapped two posts togeather. It would not have been so bad if he
> would have cut off the extra five inches of plastice tie not needed.
> Now there is proto type speedbump to the spinner shot. Before
> dropping the coins in I noticed that all the drop targets were broken
> and the targets were leaning but that did not stop me. Make me wonder
> what others have come accoss.
>
> Robert
> Hooked
>

 

[Mike]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

You wouldn't make any money because you would spend it on buying hard to
find parts. And "restoring" your machines on a regular basis is not the way
to make money,, you keep them running as long as you can,, they don't pull
in the big bucks for very long, so if they aren't paid off yet, you sure
aren't going to dump a ton of cash on it. Make it work and hope it pays for
itself. Rewind 20 years and you could hire qualified techs that take pride
in there work, pay them well and still make a ton of cash.. Face it, OPS
don't make a living off pinball and vids, most of the time they are forced
to put them on a location because the owner wants them.. Its pretty sad,,
but home consoles have pretty much wiped them out. Not to mention parents
too scared to let their kids out of the house anymore. Pool, Darts,
Bartops, jukeboxes are the only things that will continue to provide
revenue.. OH and 8-liners..... of course..



But I do know one who is pretty awesome at fixing stuff.
<spokexx@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1124996774.458203.146950@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> After looking at the beautiful Medival Madness restoration and reading
> this thread, Its sad to say that the worst enemies most pinball
> machines have are their route owners who are lazy pos's to fix them
> properly or take ANY care of them. Imagine if we all were machine
> owners on route. Id be there every week shining them. Take care of your
> investments.
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

On Thu, 25 Aug 2005 09:27:52 -0700, Hooked wrote:

> What have you seen? My worst to date was just found a few days ago at
> the local AMF. There is a High Roller on location that the op
> tie-strapped two posts togeather. It would not have been so bad if he
> would have cut off the extra five inches of plastice tie not needed. Now
> there is proto type speedbump to the spinner shot. Before dropping the
> coins in I noticed that all the drop targets were broken and the targets
> were leaning but that did not stop me. Make me wonder what others have
> come accoss.
>
> Robert
> Hooked

My worst case I've seen was while working on my very first pinball
machine. In was an old EM pinball machine, owned by someone else. He
claimed it was 100% original, as it was purchased new for his home and
claimed it was never worked on, except to replace a few rubbers several
years back. It was broken for years, and he wanted to have it fixed. He
however neglected to tell me that he made some wiring modifications only
weeks earlier in effort to bring the machine back to life.

While taking some measurements, I accidentally touched a ground wire with
my hand & was thrown across the room as I suddenly jerked my hand/body
away from the shock.

Once I recovered a bit and unplugged the unit, I later found this person
tied a ground wire directly to the high power tap on the transformer
(which was 110v stepped up to 220v) & disconnected the ground wire from
the wall plug.

I learned an important lesson that day, to always double and triple check
all wiring on EM pinball machines, before deciding to work on the live
machine to take voltage/current measurements.

Incidentally this hard learned lesson saved me later on, when I found a
similar wiring issue in the first pinball machine I brought into my home.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

How about a monopoly I found in the outer banks...North Carolina...

The hole on the right with the small rotating flipper...
The op FILLED it with wood putty!!!






"Hooked" <robertcampbell2@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1124987272.652799.88730@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> What have you seen? My worst to date was just found a few days ago at
> the local AMF. There is a High Roller on location that the op
> tie-strapped two posts togeather. It would not have been so bad if he
> would have cut off the extra five inches of plastice tie not needed.
> Now there is proto type speedbump to the spinner shot. Before
> dropping the coins in I noticed that all the drop targets were broken
> and the targets were leaning but that did not stop me. Make me wonder
> what others have come accoss.
>
> Robert
> Hooked
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

At Jilly's in OC, NJ, there is a TAF in which the entire Electric
Chair was removed (with the wires leading to the Electric Chair cut)
and the Right Ramp Entry Switch was completely removed from the
machine (cut out) because the op was too lazy to repair the ramp in
that area (the left side of the ramp at its entrance had a piece of
plastic broken off preventing the switch from staying in place).

Koi

On 25 Aug 2005 09:27:52 -0700, "Hooked" <robertcampbell2@hotmail.com>
wrote:

>What have you seen? My worst to date was just found a few days ago at
>the local AMF. There is a High Roller on location that the op
>tie-strapped two posts togeather. It would not have been so bad if he
>would have cut off the extra five inches of plastice tie not needed.
>Now there is proto type speedbump to the spinner shot. Before
>dropping the coins in I noticed that all the drop targets were broken
>and the targets were leaning but that did not stop me. Make me wonder
>what others have come accoss.
>
>Robert
>Hooked

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

I've got three good ones.
First a BK (located at Funland in Nashua NH.)in the early 80's with
the upper playfield pop bumper removed and filled in with puddy.

Second an Earthshaker with the Skill shot corkscrew ramp removed all
plunger shots feed to the left flipper. This pin was located at an
arcade in Atlantic City N.J. That had about 12 pins each one in worse
condition than the previous.

The best one was a Black Hole that must have had a bad lower playfield
because the left spinner shot that feeds to the lower playfield was
blocked with wads of paper.

Mark L.




Hooked wrote:
> What have you seen? My worst to date was just found a few days ago at
> the local AMF. There is a High Roller on location that the op
> tie-strapped two posts togeather. It would not have been so bad if he
> would have cut off the extra five inches of plastice tie not needed.
> Now there is proto type speedbump to the spinner shot. Before
> dropping the coins in I noticed that all the drop targets were broken
> and the targets were leaning but that did not stop me. Make me wonder
> what others have come accoss.
>
> Robert
> Hooked

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

In article <1124987272.652799.88730@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
Hooked <robertcampbell2@hotmail.com> wrote:
>What have you seen?

I still haven't seen anything worse than what I saw at Tyson's Corner in
1995:

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.pinball/msg/c61b516a8c7e0e3b?dmode=source&hl=en

# A game with several major assemblies missing (a ramp and something
# else). The replacement, you ask? Several wadded up balls of duct
# tape! It did allow for some "unconventional" lock shots.

# It was on location next to another game with duct tape over the coin
# slots. Regarding this game, the attendant indicated that "the pinballs
# are missing so we ordered more - come back next week."

Orin


--
Orin Day | Women's Basketball Photos at http://www.dwhoops.com
lobster @ |
lobsterdevil | no quote today
.com |