There are several items of routine maintenance that game owners can do that will reduce the need to call the pinball repair man. Of course, the owner who finds it more challenge than it is worth to fool with mechanical or electrical items should simply call the repair man and let him fix just what is wrong rather than what is wrong plus what else went wrong in attempting to fix something. Those having trouble with an early Bally electronic pinball may wish to refer to our pages detailing Bally MPU flash codes.

Playfield switches can be easily adjusted so they make contact properly. It is important to remember that switches that are closed all the time are ignored by the machine, so too tight is as bad as too loose. They should be set to make contact about ½ to ¾ of the action of the lever or other actuating device. Too close will cause them to bounce giving you scores whenever the pop bumpers, flippers or slingshots are activated. It is by far the best to get a "points setter" tool from your distributor or repairer. It is inexpensive and keeps the blades from looking like a piece of spaghetti, a far too common result when trying to use needle nose pliers or something of that sort.

A special case of adjusting switches is the end of stroke (EOS) switch. It is closed at rest and opens about ½ way through the stroke of the flipper. You can move the flipper by hand and see how it opens. The end of stroke switch provides a surge of power at the beginning of the stroke to give you the kick you need, then opens up to provide a holding current so that the coil does not burn up. If the EOS switch does not open up, your coil heats up, melts and freezes the plunger. So it is important to make sure it stays in proper adjustment. If you get feeble action, it is staying open from the beginning. If you can hear a little humming when you hold the flipper to trap a ball, check to make sure the EOS is opening. The alternative is the purchase and installation of a new coil.

Newer games have a single contact which closes at the end of the flipper stroke. Generally, even if these do not close, the game will time out anyway so the coil does not burn up. But for longest life these should be properly adjusted following the instructions in the owners manual that came with game.

Light bulbs are another simple replacement item. They are not inexpensive when bought from an electronic supply store, so check out your distributor or repairer to see if they can offer a better deal. For bayonet (twist) type sockets, use #47 instead of #44 bulbs. The latter draw nearly twice as much current and can place a strain on the power supplies of older games when a full complement of them is used. #259 bulbs may be substituted for #555 (wedge base) bulbs and are rated for a longer life.

If you are even slightly handy, you can also fix broken wires. Pinball game wires are generally color coded. To be on the safe side, check the manual to make sure you are putting the wire back where is came from. Guessing is a bad idea. If you connect the flipper power of 30 to 50 volts into the scoring switch circuit of 5 volts, the result is a CPU board repair of at least $50 or replacement of $150-$200. Check the diagram!

Coils may also be replaced in the same manner with similar precautions. One added word of warning is to check the position of the diode on the coil. Make sure that line on diode matches the line on the diagram, even if you have to flip the wires around from the previous position they were in. On a two connection coil, power can go to it either way, but it can only to a diode one way (without being a dead short). The same holds true of the flipper coil as well. Generally you will receive a coil you can connect up just as the old one was connected. But check it out, since the alternative is a blown fuse or a blown board.

Rubber ring replacement is something which is best done by the owner since it is just time consuming, and is not usually not hard in older games. You may have to remove posts supporting gates or spinners, so make sure you check out their operation upon reassembly. Do not try to force any plastic pieces. They will break and they are expensive to replace, if you can find replacements at all.

It is always in order to gently wiggle various assemblies under the playfield and on top as well to make sure they are solidly in place. Pinball games vibrate, so is common to find one assembly or another loose. The flippers are especially prone to this, since they deliver the kick that makes the game. Don't let them get loose and weaken the screw holes to where the only alternative is either a nut and bolt (difficult to properly tighten and hard to remove) or replacement of entire assembly.

Williams pinball owners who are mechanically inclined can order flipper kits from their local amusement games distributor, Happ Controls, Mazzco or Mayfair Amusements. These kits, costing between $15 and $30 contain all the parts necessary to rebuilt the mechanical parts of flippers, left and right. They are often a good idea in lieu of just replacing one broken part, since if one part is worn, so are likely many of the rest. Not all need be installed at once, but can be installed as needed. If you have pinball owning friends you might even be able to get what you need for two games out of one kit. Be careful, though, that you make sure you figure out which crank link assembly (which consists of plunger, link and pawl) is for the left or right. They are not interchangeable!

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