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Thread: Why don't Pachinko machines refill themselves?

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    Blind Shooter Magic Mike's Avatar
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    Default Why don't Pachinko machines refill themselves?

    Vintage Pachinko machines have to be periodically refilled. Someone has to take all of the balls that have been played from the lower tray and pour them into the upper tray.

    I can think of an easy way this could be eliminated. What if each time a player pulled the lever and fired a ball he was actually firing two? One ball would go up and onto the playing field as usual but the other would be on another track next to that one and would go up and into the upper tray.

    Wouldn't this be possible or am I missing something?

    Yes the player would have to work twice as hard but would this be noticeable?

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    Kungishi Spyder138's Avatar
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    Default Re: Why don't Pachinko machines refill themselves?

    Hi, Mike. We need to always bear in mind that the machines were never intended for home use. They were always designed for use in a parlor. Some early machines actually had a crank on the front so the player could crank the losing balls back up to the upper hopper. These machines are pretty uncommon to find these days.

    My guess is that back in the days of single shot machines it took players a long time to empty the upper hopper. A single person working for the parlor could probably keep quite a few machines full with minimal effort. Once multiple shot machines were legalized in Japan, game play sped up and so would have the process of emptying the top hopper. At this point it seems the parlors began using motorized ball lifters to move larger quantities of balls into the ball management system to keep hoppers full. I almost always use a motorized ball lifter at home so I don’t have to shuffle balls unless I am playing a single shot.

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    Blind Shooter Magic Mike's Avatar
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    Default Re: Why don't Pachinko machines refill themselves?

    Good information. Thanks. The thing I love about Pachinko machines is the clever mechanical works. It seems like sometime in the past (Before electronics) my idea must have occurred to someone but wasn't practical for some reason.

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    Kungishi CarlW's Avatar
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    Smile FULL CYCLIC Thread Hijack

    Quote Originally Posted by Magic Mike View Post
    Vintage Pachinko machines have to be periodically refilled. Someone has to take all of the balls that have been played from the lower tray and pour them into the upper tray.

    I can think of an easy way this could be eliminated. What if each time a player pulled the lever and fired a ball he was actually firing two? One ball would go up and onto the playing field as usual but the other would be on another track next to that one and would go up and into the upper tray.

    Wouldn't this be possible or am I missing something?

    Yes the player would have to work twice as hard but would this be noticeable?
    Hi Mike,
    For in home games, I would call what you are talking about a "full cyclic" mod.

    Many pachinko fans don't go for any mods! To each their own...


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    I was thrown out of Top Gear Drunkenclam's Avatar
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    Default Re: Why don't Pachinko machines refill themselves?

    I think he means. 2 hammers. One fires the ball into the playfield. The other fires a ball back to the top tank.
    Could get messy with quick fire low powered shots as the return ball wouldn't have the energy to reach the tank and would fall back down on top on the next ball coming up.
    Ian #UKPachinko

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    Blind Shooter Magic Mike's Avatar
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    Default Re: Why don't Pachinko machines refill themselves?

    Drunkenclam is correct. I'm talking about two hammers on the same lever (or perhaps one hammer with two heads). The balls are on side by side tracks as if they were racing. When the player pulls the lever both hammer heads strike the balls at the same time with the same force. The balls go up and around and one track leads on to the playing area while the other track is diverted into the upper tray.

    It wouldn't be messy at all. If the balls didn't have enough energy to reach the upper area they would fall back down and be handled exactly the way balls are in other Pachinko machines.

    It's just an idea that occured to me and I wondered if maybe there were machines out there that worked that way. Sounds like the answer is no.

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