Top products from r/pinball

I typed up a great list last night, then somehow, I managed to screw it up and lost the whole thing. So I decided to heck with it... and found a beer.

Let's try again.

Standard tools:

• screwdrivers, needle nose pliers, sockets, and most important, hollow point nut drivers. I got set from Sears on sale for about $20. You don't usually need the metric ones, but I love the zipper case they came in. It's worth the $20 alone if you ask me.
  
  Standard tools with more specific uses:
  
  
• You need a decent multimeter. It doesn't have to be fancy, I have a $300 Fluke that works just as good as a little cheapie that I got for free. And vice versa. The fluke does make somethings easier, like it's autoranging and has longer and better leads, but for just getting started, you should be able to pick up something decent for $20.
  
• You'll also need a soldering iron. Get a pencil, not a gun. Guns get too hot for most things. There are times when they are great in a pinball, like soldering coil lugs, but for most solder work, a cheap 25 watt pencil will get you by. I used cheapies for almost 10 years before I finally got a nice hakko and now I don't know how I ever lived without it.
  
• You'll also probably need to learn how to desolder stuff as well. There are a couple ways to do it. It takes practice, and I'd strongly suggest practicing soldering on junk boards before ever going at a pinball board. To desolder, there is the cheap way or you can spend a lot of money on a pricey desoldering system. I got one of these when I got my Hakko soldering iron. I love it, I don't know how I ever lived without it, but I also know that it's very expensive, especially if there are still a lot of other tools you don't have yet.
  
• We've already talked about you may need to replace some pins in your board connectors. You need two tools for that. First, you need a Molex Flat Pin Extractor. This lets you get the pins and wires out of the housings. You don't have to have it, you could cut the wires and use new housings, but those housings are increasingly difficult to find and it's not the housing that's a problem, it's the pins inside. This tool lets you extract the pin from the housing, cut it off, strip your wire and crimp on a new pin to slide back in to the housing.
  
• Speaking of crimping on a new pin... You're going to need Pin Crimpers for that. I have the yellow pair and they work great for most everything pinball. Yes, I technically also have some much more expensive ratcheting pin crimpers, but honestly, I tend to use these cheaper ones more. I don't really know why.
  
  Finally, pinball specific tools:
  
  
• Flexstones are used for cleaning contacts on switches. You want to be a little careful with these though... they're meant for some of the heavier switches. Often times, a business card will clean the gunk out well enough and doesn't risk destroying the contact points on the switch.
  
• Palnut removal tool is a very handy tool. Until you need one, it's kinda hard to describe what it's for, but trust me, you want one if you're going to try and take the plastics off your playfield posts to replace rubbers or change light bulbs. It's not really necessary, but for the money, it's a damn handy tool.
  
• Contact Adjuster is also a very handy tool. More for older EM games with lots of relays than for solid state games, but I mention it because Hulk, like many early solid state Gottliebs likely has a couple relays inside. It's unlikely you'll need this tool for Hulk, but it is a handy one to have around. Especially if you think you're going to be working on anything older.
  
  That should be about it. At least to get started. Depending on where you go from there, there are a bazillion things you could spend money on. But since you only have one machine right now, this basic list should take you a very long way. And don't kill yourself buying a ton of expensive specialty tools like fancy soldering irons if you don't think this is something you'll want to do a lot of. If you decide you like it and want to spend more money later, those are great upgrades.

i'm also looking to start getting in to taking some top down angle game play videos.

I'm thinking about using tall mic stands for tri pods so can position them behind the machines:

http://amzn.com/B00CFP5CRO
http://amzn.com/B001GWCC4I

papa looks like they've built their own which are much larger and i'm not sure how mobile they are but i would ideally like to make a good mobile solution.

comments on your videos would be the position of the top down camera angle could be better aligned, lighting could be better and the audio could be also better.

I like this and this. Good reads, great photos, and nice coffee table book. The prices on some of the games make me chuckle

> along with a soldering iron to do repairs.

Totally agree. I would suggest any of the Weller pro series models(Indicated with the light blue chasis like the Weller WP35). Even their most inexpensive model is better than anything I have used off the shelf at Home Depot. Consistent tempuratures and fast heat up.

Additionally, I would also recommend a solder sucker and a flux pen. You could splurge for something like a Haako Desoldering gun which works great but unless you are doing entire board repairs the simple spring loaded ones work fine and costs considerablly less.

http://www.amazon.com/Brunswick-Alive-Pinball-White-Rubber/dp/B004DR04KC

Here you are! I'm not sure if the home model rubber is different, but I don't think so. It's also worth noting that the photo isn't of the actual kit, just some rubbers to give you a basic idea of what they look like. The Game Room Guys are reputable, though, so don't worry!

Get an external light. Very important. NEEWER 160 LED CN-160 Dimmable Ultra High Power Panel Digital Camera / Camcorder Video Light, LED Light for Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Panasonic,SONY, Samsung and Olympus Digital SLR Cameras https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004TJ6JH6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_EfR3CbY5M4H77

Outside of that I run an i7 computer with video card, 3 Sony handy cams with Elgato Cam Link capture devices, and a blue snowball mic. Do not get the ice snowball, that one stinks. This stream is every cam set to 1080p 60 FPS with my computer outputting 1080/60 FPS. Hope that helps!

Ha, well you'll discover within a year or two that every mainstream TV news segment or print article about pinball will reference this song when they discuss pinball. Non-pinheads that find out you are into pinball will jokingly call you Tommy and get a shit eating grin on their face like they are comedic geniuses. It gets old real fast.

I'm listen to a lot of music, and it is pretty pathetic how weak the music culture surrounding pinball is. We have The Who and Barenaked Ladies. Makes me want to ram a plunger rod into my ears.

There is this garage rock compilation album about pinball that isn't too bad - https://www.amazon.com/Hot-Pinball-Rock-Vol-1/dp/B00004THNV

The Pinball Compendium books are awesome.

Spongebob Friends on The Run Table Top Pinball https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00859UU30/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_L5mcBbZQRDAPJ

Is this the thing you're talking about: DeoxIT® DN5 Mini-Spray, nonflammable 5% solution 14 g https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RGD9PK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_9LuhzbHEPA02V

And just to be clear, I switch off the machine, spray this thing on the volume control stick thing and slowly turn it around, let it dry then switch the machine back on? Sorry I'm not a very handy person.

If you don't have it already, get Pinball HOF: The Williams Collection. 12 tables, from the 70's on up, same excellent physics, a tourney mode where you can challenge your friends, and a "Williams Challenge", where you have to beat a predetermined score to move on to the next table. Miss the score on a table 3 times? Yer done, start over, loser. It's fun as shit.

Yep, I have them on TNA, TSPP, and Deadpool. I'll be doing AFM and Whirlwind at some point too.

They're just these things stapled to the bottom of the cabs then wired into 12v. I have the same type of strips going around my ceiling too.

I use Harbor Freight's rolling bin rack. I put my tools on top and big parts and stuff on bottom. Small parts in these Akro-Mils bins. You outgrow individual tool boxes quickly.

The Pinball Compendium: 1982 to Present https://www.amazon.com/dp/0764341073/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_.8.lDbFR11Q7Y

Special When Lit (Docu)

Drunk History Season 3 episode 'Games'

If you want to hear more music with a focus on pinball, try to find a few recordings by Extra Ball Records from Multiball Magazine. Hot Pinball Rock (Vol. 1) – featuring rare singles from the White Stripes and the Dirtbombs – is available from Amazon or at Slabtown (in Portland).

This CD came with one of the last issues of Multiball Magazine in 2000.

http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Pinball-Rock-Vol-1/dp/B00004THNV

BUTZ BLITZ One Grand wax is fantastic. Pinball Life usually has it in stock.

Novus 2 is a polishing compound. Unless you have really bad ball trails, it isn't necessary.

Replace the balls while you're at it, if you haven't already.

From the factory, the nuts on the leveler are 5/8. But if you buy the nuts at the hardware store, they're 9/16. You may also want a 3/8 wrench for moving the leveler itself if it's not too damaged (which it usually is). If it won't move, it's vise grip time, and I wouldn't recommend that on the floor of a pizza joint.

I use this wrench because it is both 5/8 and 9/16, guaranteeing I'll be able to move the locking nut. After you move the leveler, you tighten the nut against the bottom of the leg to make it stay there. It's a good wrench and it says Williams right on it. https://www.amazon.com/Williams-1727-Double-Wrench-8-Inch/dp/B002M1CMY2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497374969&sr=8-1&keywords=williams+5%2F8+9%2F16

It's hard to go wrong with Hakko:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ANZRT4M/

Replace the pinball every 6 months or a year or so, over time the ball becomes dull and rough and they loose their smoothness. Rough balls eat up playfields and damage them. I’m willing to bet that game has probably never had the ball chnaged since it left the factory. Also if you see any type of rust forming on the ball, DO NOT AND I REPEAT DO NOT PLAY THE GAME WITH THAT BALL! Rusty balls are like sand paper and will destroy the art in no time. Countless playfields have been destroyed because people simply don’t replace the balls. It’s much cheaper replacing a ball then a replacement playfield.

https://www.amazon.com/Steel-1-1-16Th-Pinball-Balls/dp/B004QYMDS8