Pinball 101

Hi everyone!

Welcome to my first real pinball site. I am starting a blog page on just how much fun owning a pinball machine can be and how to maintain it.

I will offer up repair tips and tricks, but I will be doing it at the very basic skill level so that we can get a better hands on feel for people that are just starting out.

I have been repairing games for almost 30 years for people in their homes and businesses.

Opening a pinball machine for the first time can be very intimidating.

I too felt the same way and thinking back about it, I wish I had an internet to go to when I ran into trouble.

Even the very basic of just looking inside a game can create a challenge. After I arrive and get to work. I magically open up the game. Most of the comments that I hear when someone is watching me work are, "Wow, I didn't know how to do that!"

The truth is, it is very easy to open your game.

Depending on the game or manufacture as they are all different over the years.

Open the coin door, look inside to the right along the frame of the door. There will be a lever.

Simply pull the lever to the left, lift off the lock down bar that holds the glass on. Slide the glass back. Pull the glass off the game and set on a very soft surface. Be very sure not to put the glass on cement, or cold surface in summer or hot surface in winter. The glass is tempered and can burst into bits if not handled properly.

Next, use the inside palm of your hand and reach in between the flippers, lift up on the score apron, then lift the playfield up and set the prop stick into the divot to keep the playfield up. Now, that wasn't so bad, right?

Thanks for reading this far!

My next installment will be about the lingo used in pinball and just what

the terms of the many different names of the parts in a game are called.

Craig Weiss

Pinballdude.com

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