Three Star arrangeball has arrived!

[pachiwall]

Gotta love UPS! I can see by my tracking #s that my package left the Dayton,Ohio sorting facility for delivery at 6:09am. I am excited, hoping it arrives before I go to work at noon. NOPE! I come home on my break at 3pm...no package. My room mate goes to work at 6pm, and will bring it inside for me. NOPE! I get home at 9:45pm and find this on my porch,DSCF8238.JPG Not at the far side of the porch, up against the door...but barely up the steps, at the front edge of the porch, CLEARLY visible from the street! Thank GOD it wasn't stolen off my porch!Brought it inside, and unboxed it.DSCF8239.JPG Styrofoam and Saran wrap.to protect the trays and lever, there was more Styrofoam around it in the box...buried in Styrofoam peanuts. Underneath it all I found THIS! DSCF8240.JPG Of course it has no key, so I had to pull up the eBay pics to study the inside, particularly the latches, and where they were in relation to the handle holes, and weather they move up...or down. After I got it open, I didn't latch it for over an hour, until I figured out how to get back inside easily. The 1st time I opened it...I resorted to using a small pocket screwdriver to work the linkage of each latch through the gap between the door and frame. Now I see that I can put my pinkey in the handle hole, and just above the front edge of the hole I can pull down the hook that latches it. This activates both latches. I am going to take the lock to my locksmith and see if he can get a key made. I replaced the balls with shiney balls, and tested it. It appears to work correctly...as far as I can tell what correct is! Of course it has its issues...but that was to be expected. What would I do with a machine that didn't need any work! 4 bulbs in the grid are burned out. At least I HOPE they are burned out, and it is not a bigger problem! As properly disclosed in the auction, the cell does have cracks and is separating from the plywood. DSCF8247.JPGDSCF8248.JPGDSCF8249.JPGDSCF8250.JPGThe eBay pics didn't show them well, But I knew it would need a cell replacement because Cardwwi stated so...and he does great work, so his opinion was golden! This is not a problem...and I think it will become my first cell replacement. Do you think I should get this background duplicated...or do you think I would be just as good going with an already reproduced one like this. I am not such a purist that I NEED the exact same background. I wish I was good enough at computers to see what it would look like with this background. I'll do it the old fashioned way...I will imagine it! I need to use a volt meter to determine the voltage of the bulbs. They are screw base bulbs...so I don't have to unsolder them and resolder them! here is the lower door open.DSCF8243.JPG Here is the payout lights on DSCF8251.JPG Speaking of which...I was under the impression that winnings could be carried over into the next game, or paid out by pushing the button. If you put a coin in to start a new game, it pays the credits that are lit up ad starts fresh. Is this normal? It works perfectly on "gold" dollars...I bought $50 at the bank to stock it.