I am wondering if there are any other folks on this site who, like myself, have a pretty much fatal weakness for old pinball machines and jukeboxes. I've got four electro-mechanical pinball machines and two jukeboxes ((one of which works)), and i live in a *tiny* house. There is definitely a mental illness component to the whole thing, because these machines are heavy as fuck ((at least jukeboxes are)), they gobble up space, they break constantly, and i'm no fucking mechanic. Yet, they are SO FUCKING COOL that i got rid of my kitchen table just to make room for another pinball machine. After all, i ALWAYS wanted to own pinball machines -- never really had an opinion on kitchen tables one way or another. I know there are a lot of pinball/juke related sites in the world, but, quite frankly, i'm always a smidge embarrassed by my technical incompetence on those sites. Lots of those dudes who have basements full of pinball machines are, like, plumbers -- to whom welding mechanical parts is almost second nature. Me, i'm just a rock geek. I'd like to exchange maintenance tips and tricks ((par example: I understand that to replace a Gottlieb bumper body, i need to desolder the light socket that, in essence, holds it in place. What are the odds that, after i desolder the light socket, that i can remove it in one piece -- that it doesn't just come apart in bits and pieces of 35-year-old metal??? No one will tell me this, so here sits my Aquarius machine with icky bumper bodies! Well i never!)) with other such brain-damaged yokels, if, in fact, any such yokels do exist. And, if not, what the hell are you waiting for??? GO BUY A JUKEBOX, YOU PANSIES!!!

I actually traced it down to a small shaft on the gear drive assembly that engages with this clutch type doohickey. Small and complex. I even bought a reprint of the service repair book, but it just is not that easy of a fix. Once I get so far there will be no turning back, and looking at all the half finished projects around here I now know myself better. There are a few people left in the LA area that can fix these, so I need to pony up some cash before they die off.

Yeah, i got four pinball machines and two jukeboxes, i have room for MAYBE half that. I have my Gottlieb just sitting randomly in the middle of the living room floor because i have nowhere to actually put it.

One thing i've noticed about selectors, independent of model, is that they usually operate on the same principle: A big metal disc with weird flanges sticking out of it rotates around, looking to make contact with flanges on an opposing such device ((more or less)). Basically, when you make your selection, the corresponding flange on the part that doesn't rotate pops up ((or out)). Then the rotating thing spins around until its metal flange((s)) comes into contact with the flange you just raised by pushing the selection buttons. That causes a connection that rotates the carousel to the right slot, then the arm grabs the record from the slot and off ya go. Sometimes it's just a case of the flange on the rotating part being bent or misaligned. Usually if you go rooting around you can see what is or isn't happening, like if the two flanges just miss each other while the one is spinning, you can probably bend it ((like Beckham, or Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich)) a little so it makes proper contact.

And, then again, maybe it's something completely different.

No pinball machines, but have a Seeburg HF-G 100, its a '53 model and was the first Hi-Fi juke. Have had it for about 15 years now. Sounds incredible when you play an original 50's early 60's pressing 7". Real deep rich bass. Its having it's issues though with the selector. Took it apart just enough to realise I'm out of my league with the mechanics of this thing. Would love to have a late 40's Rockola for my 78's and an 70/80's era box for my orphaned punk singles, but, I have to resign to the fact that it's not going to happen in my little house.

I got that same feeling around these machines, pinball, old jukeboxes especially. I've been elbowing my grandmother for years to leave me with hers. It has all these 50's and 60's 45's that havn't seen daylight in about fifty years. I actually get edgy when any of my younger cousins get near it with thier greasy little mits. It takes about thirty seconds or so to flip a page for its menu. They would keep pressing the button expecting it to turn faster, "I will cut your fucking hand off if you keep doing that."

Yeah, i have a Rock-Ola 440 ((1969)) and a Wurlitzer 3800 ((1974)), i bought the Wurlitzer knowing it didn't work, but the guy didn't have keys, so i was hoping that when i got it open, it was something real simple...it was actually three different things ((belts are bad, amp is apparently shot, and, worse yet, the selector-gizmo is fucked up)), i'm never gonna be able to fix that! I also had a AMI-Rowe R-74 ((1975)) that worked perfectly, but i sold it because it was ugly. Jukeboxes are very interesting because they have all these moving mechanical parts, they're kinda fascinating ((as opposed to pinball machines, which are just a shitload of wires and coils)). "Fascinating" gets old when they don't work, though!

Also, jukeboxes weigh around 360 lbs...they are MURDER to move up stairs.

Always wanted a jukebox. For a while there I was real serious about buying one but like you, I can't fix anything. I couldn't really justify spending that much money on something that probably will need part and work. My boss found this guy in Arkansas that has this huge warehouse just full of jukeboxes and boxes full of records. Apparently he used to have a business that distributed 45's to bars with jukeboxes in the south. I had a chance to buy one for $500 but the guy didn't have electricity in his warehouse so it was kind of a crap shoot. My boss was going to pick one up for me but for that kind of money I would have liked to see them for myself.

Yeah, i've seen links to that museum...i think it's merely two miles down the road from the Liberace Museum, and the Rum Runner, Your Packer Backer Bar! There are indeed a lot of good pinball repair sites on the web, but a lot of them are still too advanced for me. It's like "huh? What? Take what off how? File what where? Solder this wha?" Oh well. I have four machines: Zig Zag ((1964 Williams)), Daffie ((1968 Williams)), Aquarius ((1970 Gottlieb)) and Darling ((1973 Williams)), of which only the Darling works essentially correctly, the Zig Zag and Aquarius work partially, and the Daffie doesn't work at all. Oh well, maybe i gotta find a smart dude to fix this stuff for me.

I've always been obsessed with pinball. Haven't managed to get my hands on my own table and don't know any of the tech stuff. theres a cool museum i want to check out in Las Vegas this year http://www.pinballmuseum.org/ Been trying to talk my uncle into giving me his "bride of pinbot" table for years. He may own the fucker but at least I got the number one score. I do most of my pinballing at bowling alleys or bars. Another could pinball resource is pinside.com you might find repair articles there.