Shoot Again Pinball Repair

06/17/2026

Hey friends! I keep telling myself to post more. I promise! This week's fun project was brought to me in the form of a Strikes and Spares, a super fun bowling-themed game from Bally in 1978. This is a gorgeous copy, but it suffers from the same problem as all of the Bally's from the late 70s and early 80s. Crappy controlled lamp sockets. As they age and oxidize, the electric connection also degrades, and the lamps fail. Because the socket is soldered to the ground, replacing them is a pain. Also, incandescent bulbs produce excess heat that warps the playfield inserts.

In steps the Yoppsicle, a clever design created by David Yopp using an LED on a tiny printed circuit board, with proper circuitry. They look great and will last forever. They come in a number of colors, but for this game, we're sticking to the OG warm white. A labor of love (about 5 hours in this case) with a workflow of desoldering, removing, some tetris logistics around the star rollovers, and resoldering, but the end result is gorgeous. Also, it's a great opportunity to get the dirt and grime out of the insert holes.

After doing this, fixing a few of the "pins" (star rollover switches), and a couple of other minor issues, this plays amazing and is ready to head home.

Need your game fixed or refurbished? Or looking to buy, sell, rent? Hit me up!

05/08/2026

Here's a fun one!
Symptom: Whitewater (one of the best games ever!) would always start a game when turned on, but would almost never start subsequent games until you turned it off/on.

After some digging knowing it wasn't the switch or software, it turns out that starting a game requires Bigfoot's rotating head to be in its home position as determined by a switch.

In test mode, we realize that Bigfoot can only go clockwise, and not counter clockwise. Turning off/on the game just so happens to spin him back into position.

Rotating Bigfoot head is controlled by a bi-directional motor board under the playfield. After removing that board, it was immediately apparent what the problem was.

A 25 cent capacitor, now well over 30 years old had leaked its corrosive electrolytes all over the board. Look at how it ate right through the copper traces and even the chip itself.

Many ask. Is it worth repairing these? Absolutely. This board can run upwards of $100 for a replacement. A new capacitor and the chip literally cost $1 total. I will neutralize the leaked chemical, give it a light sanding, repair the missing traces, and install a new capacitor and chip, and test all the connections. Should take around an hour.

How do I prevent this? These 12V circuit capacitors on these auxiliary boards and the main Williams driver board are well beyond their life expectancy. They're a ticking time bomb, and this type of damage is suddenly becoming a common find. It takes literally 2 minutes to replace capacitors like this, and they're super cheap. Be proactive now, and save time and money later.

Have a pinball machine needing repairs, cleaning, rehab, LEDs, rubbers, or perhaps you just want to sell or trade it? If you're in western PA, hit me up!

04/05/2026

"Raise the dead! Out to the cemetery, come on everybody!"

Shipped to me from across the country, this Addams Family was dead and would not boot, let alone filthy from sitting for years.

After removing someone else's hacks and repairing the board, she came to life, followed by a couple days of cleaning, re-rubbering, and all brand new LED illumination. Zero mansion wear!

This original survivor looks great and is in far better condition of most copies of this well-loved title I come across. A nice crisp display too.

Will be posted for sale this week. If interested, let me know!

11/07/2025

I wanted to thank the many of you who have reached out to Kelli and I to ask how we're doing. For those who don't know, my "real life" job is an amazing one for the National Hurricane Center in Miami, and being able to spend most of the year up here in Pittsburgh. Repairing and servicing pinballs and arcades has always a fun side hobby, bringing me closer to the games that I've loved since childhood, and seeing the smiles on faces when broken/dead machines are brought back to life.

Unfortunately, being at 38 day of the government shutdown, I haven't seen a paycheck in a lonnng time. Yes we have some reserves, and while I've always had a steady stream of customers for the side job here, it's reached a point where I probably need to ramp this up in order to take care of recurring bills outside of things we've already cut back.

I know several of you have offered to help us out, but it's not in my nature to accept monetary gifts/loans when there are so so so many people out there far worse off. I'd much rather perform a service. So, if you've been satisfied with my work, and have or know of games out there needing repaired or serviced, I would greatly appreciate your business.

Also, to expedite this further, a bunch of games from my personal collection are available for purchase, and I do rent games as well. If you're looking to start or add to your pinball collection, permanently or temporarily, please reach out to me directly!

I promise to provide more content here for you all, with the countless interesting things I find in the world of electronics and mechanical repairs.

Winning future lottery numbers are greatly appreciated (see cheesy photo below for my poor sense of humor).

Thank you!
Evan

06/21/2025

It's been a string of EMs coming into the shop lately. Let's take a deeper look at what I think is one of the cooler game features of this era on a 1975 Bally Knockout.

Looking to get your pinball machine repaired? Just shoot me a DM! We also buy, sell and trade.

Located outside Pittsburgh, PA.

Taking a deep dive look into the center lane "snake" feature on a 1975 Bally Knockout Pinball, and how engineers accomplished amazing features in the pre-com...

06/09/2025

Today's repair was brought to me by a super nice couple down in Wheeling, WV, and happens to be one of my favorite electromechanical pinballs, a 50-year-old 1975 Gottlieb wedgehead Abracadabra.

The owners brought me a detailed list of the known issues, which was awesome. The game failed to reset and start a game, had previously failed to produce chime sounds for 2 of the 3 chimes, wasn't scoring points or bonus properly. After those repairs, I further noticed that it was consistently failing to toggle the lit drop targets and the pop bumper lights properly. Knowing these games at competition level gives you an important base for making sure everything is 100%.

The reset/start issue was due to a couple wires off the score reels. The chime failures were due to stuck chimes on dry rotted foam (I love using modern flipper base grommets instead. They fit perfectly and will last forever). The toggling drop target/pop issues were due to both a nasty corroded AS relay and poor switch adjustment.

She now plays great! Would love this game in my own collection, but back to Wheeling it goes.

If you need a game repaired, or are looking to buy/sell/trade, don't hesitate to reach out!

Evan

05/06/2025

Trying to get back into actually taking photos and videos of interesting repairs that I come across. First post in a lonnnng time, and hopefully that will get back onto the regiment of posting.

Need a game refurbished or repaired? Please reach out!

04/25/2024

Oftentimes, game acquisitions come with surprises. No, I'm not referring to all those broken or missing items a seller didn't disclose. I mean true mystery awards, often in the form of "Here's this random taped up box of extra stuff you might need". Sometimes it's really useful... like these 3D-printed triangles to keep play field glass off rough floor surfaces. Other times, it's well not so great stuff that gets yeeted right into the trash. To be fair, the same box included a nice supply of Novus 1 and 2, along with a nice stack of new microfiber cloths.

Have a great Thursday everyone! Hope to see some of you down at the Pittsburgh Pinball Dojo this evening for the start of a new league season!

02/24/2024

Many times I'll get a call to fix a game and the conversation leads to "how much will it cost"? Unless the issue is very specific or a "shop job" (cleaning, rubbers, bulbs, complete checkout), this often isn't possible without seeing the machine(s) first. So I'll usually give a best and worst case estimate based on symptoms provided.

If a game needs extensive work, rates are always cheaper if the game can be brought to me. Thankfully, that was done this time around. This poor Harlem Globetrotters was a mess. Owner said it had new boards, but still had a myriad of problems.

Issues discovered...

1. Diagnostic switch, credit switch, right outlane gate, and several other switches inoperative. All display tens digits out.
Fix... All MPU headers were corroded. One power driver connector burned up. Repinned and labeled all 4 connectors
2. Numerous lights out.
Fixes...all lamp driver connectors corroded (repinned). Four lamp driver board drivers bad (replaced). Three lamp sockets replaced. After all that, several dozen bulbs burned out. Oy!
3. No sound.
Fix...Caps tested good. 4526 chips tested bad with logic probe. Replaced with socketed new chips.
4. Game was filthy. Rubbers literally disintegrating onto the playfield. Play field stripped, vacuumed, deep cleaned, waxed, and re-rubbered.

In total, 151 pins were redone across 8 connectors. This is very labor intensive, requiring hours of work.

Customer super excited to get Harlem back working for the grandkids and so am I!

Onto the next one.

02/13/2024

Sometimes freebies aren't worth it. How about a dead, but decent looking Tempest with no keys? Sure!

Behind door number 1...a drilled lock reveals....a lethal dose of Hantavirus! 🐭🦠☠️

Masks and gloves mandatory. A deep cleaning and unknown repairs ahead to get this back to life. Thank goodness I opted to not bring this home.