New Guy With an Old Pachinko

**Harrymond** · 07-13-2015, 09:41 PM

Alright pachitalk im am new and need some direction. I just started collecting these machines a few years ago and this is my 5th one. I usually get them in not working order by the owner and with more than the ten original balls and a quick cleaning they start working just fine. This last find was from a local facebook site. Is it worth tracking down parts and who would have them. The parts look hand made. Do I need to rig something up myself. From my research and your wealth of info on these sites I believe it is from the 50's. I would like to make it work again. Anyone have experience with these Old Models.
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**Spyder138** · 07-13-2015, 09:59 PM

Welcome to Pachitalk. That is a nice looking machine from the 50's. It's hard to tell without larger photos, but the back looks mostly complete and not unsalvageable. Looks like you need to loosen the thumbscrew above and to the left of the jackpot assembly and retract the section of track that is feeding all your balls to the overflow. Also would need to construct a path from your top win pocket down to the plastic the covers the rest of the win pockets. Hard to see what jackpot linkage may be missing without more photos, but again, doesn't look like an impossible job.

**Harrymond** · 07-13-2015, 10:31 PM

So your saying I need to build my own parts. The pathway from the top pocket can be done with some bent tin i thought. After the see saw it drops on a lever that should activate something to refill the jack pot. This lever i saw in a youtube video of a 50's machine working. Spyder you look pretty active on this site so I guess you would know if someone had parts for these machines. Thanks for taking a look. I'll give it a try and post my results.

**Moparformances** · 07-13-2015, 11:21 PM

parts machines are hard to come by.. i agree it look mostly complete.. if the price is right for ya then go for it.. your going to have to tinker a bit.. your going to have to fab some parts.. if your stuck on the idea of finding factory parts then let it pass..

good luck and of course

Welcome to Pachitalk

**Card Shark** · 07-13-2015, 11:23 PM

Welcome to PachiTalk!

I was actually born in Fort Wayne.

I would focus on making the parts you can. Someone may come along with some parts but there probably are not a lot of parts out there for a machine that old.

**Spyder138** · 07-14-2015, 12:04 AM

Originally Posted by Harrymond

Spyder you look pretty active on this site so I guess you would know if someone had parts for these machines.

Activity doesn't equate to knowledge.

As Mopar and Card Shark said, you'll likely have to fabricate your own parts as machines from the 50's tend to be a little more difficult to find. There are quite a few members here that do have them and they are all fairly similar in terms of how they work so if you post some clear photos of the back we may be able to identify what's missing and if someone has a similar machine they may be able to give you measurements, etc. Good luck and let us know how we can help.

**pachiwall** · 07-14-2015, 02:37 PM

here is a portion of an old thread where I had to fabricate the plastic ball path at the bottom of the jackpot sequence. Re: Comicgo is on her way back!

Great success! Had a broken ball path that has been giving function problems since I got it.

The busted up bottom kept the ball from going into the metal ball channel (not installed in this pic). Other breaks caused it to flex and allow the ball to get off center of the lift bar that trips the jackpot. This caused the payout to need help because some of the balls weight is offset and not useful. I made a replacement part out of a Listerine bottle.

I actually got it right the 1st time... but all the modifications took about 2 hours.

The old one can only offer so many clues, since most of it has crumbled.

Many test fits. and slight modifications were made.

After final test fit, with nails only half way inserted, I function tested several more times. Great success! So I hammered the nails all the way in, and function tested again. Works perfectly unless no balls are in the measuring tray (made that term up). In which case the ball can"t lift the tray. It is all balanced that close! The ball not being center was enough for it to need "help". Once satisfied that it will work properly, I nailed the nails in fully. Then I added the winning ball exit chute.

Followed by more tests, then the final piece of tin.

As far as the back, I only have the top tray to finish. This has been tricky, because I don't solder with a torch well. Then, how clean do I want the front? I'm thinking, sand the wood and "boiled linseed oil".
OOPS! didn't mean to supersize the pics... but I edited to correct spelling, and the pics always do that. Also pay no attention to the attached thumbnail, (I can't seem to make mistakes go away... they always show up as attached thumbnails). Iwas trying to control flash glare by putting my finger over the flash... didn't work out so well!

Attached Thumbnails

**pachiwall** · 07-14-2015, 04:09 PM

Your machine looks great! he only Issues I see are, the broken plastic ball path from the top pocket...and whatever reason the tape is on the front tray. All 3 of my machines from the '50s have a cracked front ball tray!

The plastic ball path shouldn't be too difficult to fabricate...depends on how picky you are about looks!

All that path has to do is get the winning ball to the section that leads to the seesaw...which is in the down position, simply push down the left side so the right side is up.
Do you have pachinko balls? If so...LETS GET STARTED!

First of all, reset your seesaw as described above, and as mentioned before...loosen the thumbscrew on the sliding metal track at the top that attaches to the long square tube that goes down the left side of the machine. Slide it ALL the way to the left, there will be a big gap. This is normal.To the right is a small "L" shaped piece of metal with a spring attached to it. Push this down so that it blocks the balls. These 2 parts are part of the "ball dump" system. When full of balls, and you need to empty it, place a catch container under the tube on the left, loosen and slide the extension track to bridge the gap, flip the "L" thing up...and watch the balls pour into the catch container.
With the seesaw reset, the ball dump extension tube retracted, and the ball dump stop ("L" shaped piece) down...you are ready to add balls! Put at least 50 balls in the top tray. It takes 30 balls to prime the machine for the 1st jackpot, then 15 more to refill the 1st hit! The first thing that will happen is the balls will roll to the ball dump stop. Trigger a jackpot and the track that the balls resting against will tilt down and drop 15 balls onto the track behind the clear plastic, roll around the corner as the tilting track (measuring tray?) will refill with balls.
The clear plastic is very important, without it, the balls bounce out of the machine! Even if you haven't reset the seesaw, it will be good, as the wire on the track behind the plastic will push down on the left side of the seesaw, resetting it.
When a winning ball goes through the seesaw, many things happen...seemingly all at once! OOPS! I see a small problem already. You are missing a metal bar that goes from the jackpot bar (brass rod horizontally across the bottom) up to the tilting track mentioned before.
Ball goes through seesaw, lands on JP bar, pushes bar down which lifts (the missing) connecting rod (for lack of a better name). This lifting of the (missing) connecting rod tilts the measuring tray which dumps onto the track behind the clear plastic (falling tray). This track is pressed down by the weight of the balls. The movement does 2 things at once. it resets the seesaw for the next JP. It also moves linkages that release the trap door dropping the winnings into the tray in front. While the falling tray is down, the trap door is released, as the balls are going around the curve, the falling tray returns up (locking the trap door) before the balls reach the JP. The jackpot cycle is complete and ready for a new winning ball.
NOW...to the "connecting rod"! This is a very important part, the machine WON'T function without it! 049.jpg OOPS! this is a "before" shot of one of my Ginza machines. Pay no attention to the spring at the bottom left...it is incorrect. The green bar on the right connecting the brass jackpot bar up to the measuring tray (or tilting track...not sure which term should stick, both terms are accurate). 002.jpg This is my Comicgo machine. Different brands, some parts look different, but both work EXACTLY the same. Ginza 010.jpg This is where it is riveted to the tilting track.Comicgo cleanup 043.jpg Same shot on Comicgo.comicgo rust 004.jpg Another full back of Comicgo. I am sifting through old pics looking for any pics of the connecting rod. My computer suddenly hates my camera, I can't post new pics 'till I fix it.Comicgo reassembly 012.jpg Finally a pic of the bottom half! That is all the pics of the connecting rod I can find.

**Harrymond** · 07-14-2015, 06:32 PM

You guys are the best very detailed and helpful will be using these ideas this week and hope to post pics of results

**Harrymond** · 07-14-2015, 06:48 PM

Yeah I can now see where the connecting rod part was attached to the refill chute and the jack pot trigger I'll have to track down something long and light. Should be able to make it work after that and fix the top plastic shoot. It really needs a good cleaning. I'll get some steel wool and remove pieces that can easily be removed. Im afraid of bending and breaking things because they are old and hard to find.