We had the pleasure of doing a full rebuild on this pinball machine circa 1969! One of the biggest struggles with electromechanical pinballs is that if they aren’t stored in dry conditions, rust and oxidation can wreak havoc on all the electronics inside. The most common failure point in EM pins are the jones connectors. Jones connectors are a pressure fit cylindrical male and female socketed connection held together by a bakelite frame on the male side. Oxidation and rust can creep into the joints making them less efficient in conducting electricity. This can result in arcing which will further deteriorate the connections. Much like using wrong gauge of wire, excess heat will be created leading to a more brittle bakelite. Our repairs involve replacing all of the jones connectors with modern wire connectors.
From the back, this light socket looked totally fine. After removing it, we discovered the most rusted out light socket we’ve ever seen – yeesh!
Speaking of rust, the legs on this pinball weren’t looking great. We removed all the built up debris and corrosion on the legs to bring back that new pinball shine!
One of the unique features of Airport are the two slide switches near the bottom of the playfield. The harder you connect with the metal plate, the deeper it will go into the pocket giving you more points. Very cool feature that you don’t see in many games. New rubbers, a full cleaning and waxing made this playfield look new again. We also installed LEDs throughout the playfield which will reduce the heat produced and in turn preserve the playfield and artwork. This customer wanted to retain that warm antique look so we used 3000K lighting.
Looks fantastic!!
Looking forward to seeing the outcome of our 3!
Already underway! 😉