Pinball Repair..How hard/long to become competent? Long, read at own risk

Used to play Pinball in 1975-1982 era. Loved it. Addicted to the
various games at the bowling alley or pizza parlor or pop shop. Lost
touch after college. Recently (November2006) realised that awesome
games of my youth were available to buy and my wife didn't seem too
upset that I would dump gobs of money and take up lots of prime real
estate with machines! Bought some machines. Got a little abused on
Ebay once. Now have to deal with the frustration of repairs.
Paragon..right upper flipper stuttered /now just goes up then right
down...marvin diagnostics, looks like a bad coil (EOS looks old but
fine). Do I have the courage to change the coil?
Captain Fantastic...Bumper skirt broke...repaired, was harder than it
looked...had to learn to solder (rough job but ok) While fixing that,
developed problem of starting the game on ball # 2.. Used marvin site,
able to fix but a little loose, so acts up occasionally. The enemy of
good is better.
Jack's Open..Great machine..wanted to replace the drop targets...OMG
brutal, finally succeeded, but had to jerry-rig things with an extra
spring attached to help the ACE go all the way down when hit.
Eldorado..Bad EOS..Successful repair! Bought new back glass...Too
big! Had to file down the machine.
Space Invaders Great shape...Changed one bulb, a fuse blows, and a
row of lights is gone..change fuse/blown fuse...can't find the short.
Should bulbs be changed with Power on or off? I have LTG and have
found conflicting answers.
T2 Ebay bummer, repairs appear beyond my ability until I get some
circuit board repair skills.
MM Worked great, then a few lane errors, then a bad kicker, and now
finally the dreaded slam tilt occuring about 3 minutes into a game.
The Marvin site is great, but how brutal is learning the circuit board
work, the schematics, the use of the DMM and all the other things it
takes to fix these things. Can an electrically challenged person with
normal (whatever that is) intelligence actually teach themselves how
to fix these things without ruining killer machines? IS IT POSSIBLE?
In an effort to limit repairs, I bought a NIB LOTR from Captain Jack
at Pinball Sales per this site's general rec. Called him on Labor
Day, machine arrived three days later. Great service, through in a
POTD protector because I asked if he felt it was needed. Great guy.
One of my heros.
So, bottom line, I keep staring at the Marvin Site, reading this site,
and am slowly getting up my courage to tackle the foreign language of
circuit boards..Give me strenghth. At least it is over the top fun,
and my kids love to play and I own my basement (I occasionally
threaten the wife with a bowler, and then she is relieved when it is
only a pinball machine :-)

Curious as to how long it took to learn the repair skill, and did
anyone take a course, if so, where? Did the repair tapes (TOP) help?

Thanks for reading
Mike

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Tim Arnold - Forbes Mag. can be seen on Forbes.com
    ... Tim Arnold turned his pinball obsession into a small fortune. ... tending to the 200 pinball machines in his arcade. ... The games in the arcade are the cream of his 1,200-machine collection, ...
    (rec.games.pinball)
  • Re: Your worst time trying to buy some pins.....(long)
    ... eMails to get a deal on buying some games. ... Subject: Pinballs For Sale ... But I do have some machines I need to get rid of. ... Lots of pinball when we return. ...
    (rec.games.pinball)
  • Your worst time trying to buy some pins.....(long)
    ... eMails to get a deal on buying some games. ... Subject: Pinballs For Sale ... But I do have some machines I need to get rid of. ... Lots of pinball when we return. ...
    (rec.games.pinball)
  • Re: My Plan to Save The Pinball Hobby
    ... The pinball HOBBY is fine and does not need saving. ... I hope your plan at least encourages your local Op to buy more games ... and utilities split among machine owners for maintenance. ... machines in a few corporate break rooms. ...
    (rec.games.pinball)
  • Re: rec.games.pinball FAQ, monthly post
    ... I have links on where to find games, restoration sites, home made pins, ... I also have a link to Mr. Pinball Classifieds, where I have found some pins ... November 1990 for the discussion of pinball machines. ...
    (rec.games.pinball)