Pachislo Database

It finally happened. Received the 1979 Williams solid state Tri Zone yesterday. Wife had told me the garage had to be re-arranged & a lot of stuff thrown out first, but she relented some when there were some major improvements. He did bring it over sooner than I had thought he would--must have wanted the money. I really liked the 1976 Williams Aztec, but an EM with all those switches to maintain intimidated me. What helped my decision though was that while I was deciding, they posted it on Craigslist & it sold in 10 minutes. I f a person were to have two or more pins it would have been the one to get. Money could then be saved to buy a more modern (& expensive) one than Tri Zone. Alas that will not happen for me. Back to pachislos (still no takers on Slotter Kintaro either). There is a picture on IPDB of a Tri Zone prototype--has a nicer color scheme table. Okay, time for the pics:

Nice pickup (or in your case delivery). I am sure you will be happy with it.

Nice Lou! But don't let the EM's scare you. They are actually eaiser to mantain than you would think. I always say, let the machine aclimate to it environment before trying to play, or adjust. Moisture has a lot to play in the EM's. Don't really know about SS.
Of course if your not confortible with switch adjustment's......They can be a challenge sometimes, you have to find the path of switch's for each function.
Thats where a schematic comes in very handy.

I shy away from SS because I don't know that much about them, and have heard that some parts are hard to find and expencive. But every hobby has it's pro's and con's.

That's why I like pachi's, they require little maintenance, and take up less space to boot.

very nice!
I'm thinking I may get a couple more pins someday

Per arraking: "That's why I like pachi's, they require little maintenance, and take up less space to boot." Do agree, but have wanted one of the older/simpler pins for a long time--just never thought I'd be able.
If I had gotten the Aztec there would have been enough money left over for another pachi. Now I have 12 cents left. Going to take a lot of 'cherry picking' with the metal detector to recover!
Liked both tables (& the EM chimes) but think the SS will hold up better in the unheated garage, plus need less ongoing maintenance. Did make sure that there were people in the club that would be willing to diagnose any SS problems.
Also learned that if we ever move that transporting a pin is no easy task. BTW I had decided to buy four little 3-wheel movers dollies at Harbor Freight since they were on sale at $3 each. They work well.

Lou I didn't know if you saw my shout, but I have some new Pin-balls. If yours is scratched or rusted, you should use a new ball. Old ones can cause wear on the play field. But glad you have help available if you should need it.
The balls are free, I can send you a couple.

I did see the Shout and appreciate the offer. Thank you. A new one came with it. How can you tell if a replacement is needed? I guess even little tiny pits are not good to the playfield.

Right, but durring cleaning, and check it often. Look at the ball, see if it looks pitted or really scratched. Just a little dust or light dirt can really make the differance in how it plays, and how the play field stands up to wear.
Also check with G man, he may have some tips on how to keep the back glass is good looking condition.

Congrats Lou you pinhead
You've had a nice run of sweet machines.
Might be time to open up a virtual parlor .

Tried it once--didn't work. Gave up, maybe someday.

LOU wrote:Tried it once--didn't work. Gave up,

Lou were you saying your pin doesn't work?
Or was that the parlor thing..........

Was referring to the parlor.
Pin working well. If you get all the multiple sequences done & the lights lit, you can certainly rack up some points! Of course for me Murphy's Law takes over & the extra ball(s) seem to drain quickly. Did get more than 1,000,000 points in one game but since the scores are only 6 digits, it wasn't recorded as high score. As I recall the Aztec did like to "eat" the ball more easily than Tri Zone. I miss the chimes but the space sounds aren't obnoxious.

Congrats LOU.

There is a great site for pinball troubleshooting, repair, and restoration:

http://marvin3m.com/fix.htm

I have two EM's in an unheated garage and haven't had any problems. Arraking is right, they are not that hard to maintain.

Congratulations on finding a pinball!

I heard that the ink on the back glass can shrink and peel if allowed to get too cold. I brought my back glass' in for the project pin's just to be safe. Some people claim that spraying Krylon triple thick on the back of the back glass will preserve it.
I live in Michigan and the humidity in the garage in the summer made the pins out there play differently. Switch's would act up, lights quit etc. so I don't keep working pins out there any more. Any exposed steel rusts also.

Keep it waxed and play it often!

http://www.pinball-signs.com/HTML/TOOLS.html

Hers a link for a contact adjustment tool. I had one of these in my pin dayz, and it was a huge plus to have. A must have if you have a pin ball machine.

New SS pinballs don't have the leaf switch's they use micro switch's.
A self repairing pinballer has to have a good soldering station.

Lou,
Looks like a great game. Enjoy it.
Jeff

Gman states:
"I heard that the ink on the back glass can shrink and peel if allowed to get too cold." Oh great I wonder if covering the head with a blanket (in the winter) would suffice? It also gets hot in our garage in the summer.
Today I bought a surge protector for the pinball machine & also the pachis. Now I don't know if it is protective enough. It is 1080 joules (each line = 360), responds in less than one nanosecond, and clamps at 400 volts at 3000 amps. 400 & less clamping voltage is good, but I don't know enough about joules. It's an Ace Hardware #3277332 if anyone is curious.

Sounds like it should work Lou. And with your back glass, if you remove the light box "back door" there is a couple pull handles on the top. Pull them out a bit, then you can lift the glass out on the front, there should be a chrome strip across the bottom that has a lip. Pull up using that and the glass comes out reveling the light bulbs. But you can take the glass inside your house in the winter months.