I’m new to Tilt Forums but have been diving deep into the world of pinball repair over the last few weeks. I’m not a tech myself, I come from a startup background, but I’ve become increasingly curious about how fragmented and under-resourced the repair ecosystem seems to be, especially outside of major cities.
Here’s what I’ve noticed so far from talking to collectors, operators, and a few techs in the United States // mid-Atlantic region:
Long wait times for in-home or on-site repairs (sometimes weeks or even months)**
Difficulty finding skilled technicians, especially for older solid-state machines**
Part sourcing delays and inconsistent pricing**
“One-person show” dynamics where techs are aging out and few apprentices are coming in**
I’d love to hear from this community:
What’s the single biggest frustration you’ve had when getting a pinball machine repaired (or doing it yourself)?
Do you think the repair side of pinball is getting better or worse?
What would you love to see someone build or fix in this space?
I recognize this is a hobby for many, but it’s also a lifeline for operators and venues trying to keep games running.
I am happy to share out learnings with the community as I get them if folks are interested.
Looking forward to learning from you all.
P.S. This is my first topic post, so please let me know if there’s a better place for it and I’ll happily move it!
EDIT-1: Re-formatted original post, had some bolded lines that didn’t need bolding. Still getting used to the posting features.
Ehh, I think most pinball collectors fix their own games, and I think that’s how it should be. If you can’t learn to solder and adjust a switch, you probably shouldn’t be buying them.
Owning pinball machines means frequent maintenance. If you can’t do it yourself, you’re going to have a bad time.
There are many resources to help you fix a pinball machine or repair one. If no techs in your area or fellow collectors to assist you.
Outside of board repair, most things can be learned. Boards can be shipped to board repair people.
If you have a problem. Youtube has plenty of short videos to help. Sit at a table and learn a couple basics. Soldering - how to heat a joint and flow solder. How to use a meter, to measure voltage or check continuity. That will cover most of your basic problems.
Pinside and Pinwiki are great resources for more in depth help.
Local schools might have some basic electronics courses you can look into.
Don’t over think a problem. Don’t work on your game with it turned on.
At least be able to handle some basics. Cleaning. And simple repairs.
If you are considering buying a new pin. Try and find a local distributor that will provide help or service after a sale. Don’t try and find the cheapest price.
Pinball can be a great and rewarding hobby.
LTG : )
Hi, young person living in Seattle chiming in. I have tried and failed multiple times to become a tech apprentice at various locations. I’m extremely passionate about pinball and interested in learning tech. Unfortunately, I don’t have the money to buy my own games. I’m mostly a location/tournament player, so games running tiptop is important to me. I firmly believe that even newbies/normies/casuals can subconsciously tell when a game plays bad and has issues, even if they can’t put their finger on it.
I’m sure other people like me exist. Considering I live in one of the biggest pinball cities in the world, I imagine the impossibility to become an apprentice is even more impossible in other cities/smaller scenes. For whatever reason, techs just don’t want to teach people. I debated posting here about this because, what good will it do? Nothing is going to change. The operators don’t read this chat. But fwiw I do at least want to address that there are at least some young and passionate people into pinball that want to tech but just aren’t giving the opportunity to learn. The only real way to learn tech is to own your own games and fix your own issues which is very cost-prohibitive.
@pezpunk and @LTG: Totally hear you on the importance of learning the basics. Soldering, continuity checks, and board swaps can be taught — and YouTube, Pinwiki, and forums like this are incredibly helpful. But I keep wondering: what about folks who love the hobby but don’t have the time, tools, or confidence to get started?
@cutie.bird thank you for chiming in. What you shared really struck me: you’re actively trying to become a tech in a pinball-heavy city and hitting roadblocks. I wonder how many others are running into the same problem.
The DIY expectation makes sense in a tight-knit hobby — but if machine ownership is the only real “school,” then it’s a high-cost barrier for new folks.
Is there a way to bridge that? Have you seen examples of mentorship or apprenticeships that work? I’ve heard of Betson Technical University, but that seems more targeted to family entertainment centers rather than pinball.
We have the “Northwest Pinball Collective” which hosts “Tech Tuesdays” every other Tuesday. It’s, alright. They have some experienced techs working on their games and explain issues/fixes and allow people to help out, loosen nuts, etc. I try to attend but it’s irregular enough that it often slips through the cracks. I’d say it’s pretty good for people with 0 or negative pinball tech knowledge/experience. However, if you want to get deeper and/or get real time on repairs, ymmv and often times you’re left standing around holding some screws. It’s a great resource but doesn’t really replace/substitute what a dedicated class or apprenticeship can offer.
Don’t have time, can be a problem. But if you have money to watch a tech fix your game, sounds like you have time to solder a wire, change a light bulb, or clean a playfield.
Don’t have tools ? If you can afford a pinball machine, get a $20 soldering station and $10 meter. Screwdrivers or wrenches, keep an eye on estate sales, yard/garage sales, thrift shops.
Confidence is learned. Your first repair may seem intimidating. But you’ll get through it. Screw something up ? No problem, all part of learning. I’ve been at this for 67 years, started before any resources like we have now to learn. And I’ve blown up a lot of stuff. You learn, fix, and move on. Once you fix a thing or two, you’ll face repairs with more skill and confidence.
Price of games to get started a problem. Keep an eye on Craigslist for cheap or free EMs. Keep an eye on friends or neighbors who have a game in their house and they just want it gone. Haul it home. Teach yourself some repairs. You’ll be amazed what you can accomplish once you dig in.
Sadly with the shrinking of the coin op industry, less distributors. Repair schools at distributors has all but disappeared. Same with less operators. In my area I remember when Minneapolis had over 300 operators, now I doubt there is 20 in the state. So working for an operator and starting at the bottom and learning probably isn’t an option anymore.
I wish there were better answers for those like @cutie.bird wanting to learn and be a tech.
LTG : )
I’m a paid tech in the SF bay area and it’s not really a problem here. The only person you may have to wait a month for is the most experienced tech in the bay, who can fix almost anything. Covid crushed my business. It has recovered somewhat, but not nearly what it used to be. Need to wait a few years for all those new games people bought during covid to start breaking down. Currently I can usually schedule an appointment within a weeks time, which is fine for most all customers.
As for new blood, many people want to learn, but most don’t understand basic electronics. Ohms law, how to solder, how to use a multimeter, how to use a logic probe. Those things can be learned online, but if you don’t even understand basic electronics, I don’t want to teach you those things. Get that basic knowledge and I’ll teach you everything I know.
I help plenty of friends and fellow league members. I make them do virtually all the work. I do this for two reasons. Pinball machines are complicated commercial devices. You shouldn’t buy one if you can’t do basic repairs. So I make them learn. Don’t want them calling me regularly. The other reason I make them do all the work is because I give them a significant discount, if I charge them at all. A couple of people have taken advantage of our friendship. Not good.
Unless they come from another continent, parts always arrive in a week or so. Parts availability has never been better. No parts problems for me or my customers.
Stern recently added a tech locator tab on their website, but I can’t find it now. That info has been on their site for a long time, but has never been easy to find. Would be nice if Stern brought back that link on the support page.
I’m not familiar with that “university”, but if they’re teaching how to diagnose and service things like redemption games, many of those skills will be transferrable to pinball. Games with mechanical elements tend to have a lot of similarities: sensors like microswitches or optos to detect player actions, solenoids or stepper motors and lights to respond to those player actions. Power supplies, wiring harnesses, coin/bill acceptors, lots of reused tech.
Compared to just a few years ago, I think a lot of aspects of pinball repair have gotten much easier. There are a zillion online resources for almost everything, from wikis to high-quality YouTube videos. 3-D printed parts are often available. There are many reasonably priced repro PCBs, even for boards that are NLA. Sure, there are downsides (like how annoying it is to have those disposable PCBs) but overall it feels to me like a much better environment than 20 years ago.
I think the biggest challenge to teaching/apprenticeships is that there are so many different machines with so many different devices/parts. Besides the common parts (flippers, switches, etc), paying a tech to teach you how to fix an issue with a specific mechanism on one machine probably won’t translate to knowing how to fix a different mech on a different machine. What you may notice in common is a troubleshooting process that is common across all machines.
I’ve only had to call in a tech once in the past 6 years (since I started owning machines). All the other problems I’ve figured out with advice from local owners or online resources. When I first started buying machines I was very intimidated but my confidence grew with every repair I figured out. I also live in the DMV (the D part) so DM me if you want to connect and talk repairs in more detail.
Now with the all of the PC based hardware where are the FULL RESTORE IMAGES FOR.
Pinball Brothers (other then alien) also there update seem like an pain in the ass install 2-5+ updates back to back to get games to the latest code + firmware updates are there own side update that is needed in the mix.
Barrels of fun
Turner Pinball (NO CODE INFO on website or files)
American Pinball (at one point there where selling SSD’s with full code loaded (VERY ANTI RIGHT TO REPAIR) )
Spooky Pinball (some older games don’t have restore images on there site)
Dutch Pinball (old games don’t have full restore images)
Multimorphic (base system image has public download 5 years old!) other updates (file downloads) are locked under an REG wall with game ids linked.
(with no public version lists or update notes) (Very poor from an right to repair stand point)
I think Multimorphic at least has a plausible reason for not giving their code away to any anonymous web surfer - since most (and with some games, all) of the playfield is an interactive screen with gameplay elements occurring in software, you could practically play some of their games for free by downloading the code and firing up Unity.
At least post os updates for download.
Also can’t make version lists / update notes public?
But Public code tied to an dongle makes it better longer term so you don’t need some remote service and account to auth in your game.
But don’t do shit like makeing new owners of games or after changing some parts on repair have to re-buy stuff that was all ready paid for or do parts pairing like apple.
Also stern did not post full images right away but after some call out’s on that and some iffy plausible reasons for not posting them being said by staff they posted them.
nucore has issues with GPL and the right to repair issues that forced you needing to rebuy the roms / IP rights that you already own to fix your own device.
