Life expectancy of a Pachislo Machine

[Sid]

Hello to one and all

I am wondering... if anyone has any idea what the life expectancy is for these machines...

for regular home use etc..

just curious... ( I understand they are used machines etc) as i am building up the sales pitch for the Mrs..

thanks to all

Sid

[Tulsa]

Well Stealth Home Amusement offers a lifetime warranty on these machines. So is heirloom status long enough?

[Sid]

Hi thanks for that..

I know a lot of the American companies offer extended warranties etc..

But i do not have the option of ordering from the USA as i live in Greece.
(well technically i do it would just cost me an arm and a leg)
shipping alone from USA is 350 USD add the price of the machine.. and then the thing that i fear most... CUSTOMS.... i am looking at an easy 1000$

I have found a few European sellers.. where things are more logical with shipping etc..

i was just curious to know how high maintenance these machines are... what kind of breakdowns they have etc etc...

all the best

sid

[chaz70]

I would like to add to this question. How readily advailable are parts for
Pachislo machines? I figured out how to take the reels out of my Sinbad
machine and looking it over, there is nothing in the machine that isn't
easily replaceable. The only problem would be getting new parts.
Or is it not a problem at all?

Charlie

[Tulsa]

The theory in general is these machines are designed and manufactured to run in a 24/7 commerical enviornment and in normal home use you should be able to expect years and years of enjoyment out of them. While there are no absolute guarantees in this, it is our expectation. None of us own 25 year old pachislos to say for certain.

As long as we have vendors like Milt, Chris and Gaku around, we'll have parts around. Will they always have every part you need? Of course not, but the chances are very good they will. Not every machine delivered to a vendor is in quality enough shape to sell to the public and these become parts machines.

You can also get less specific pachislo parts from other sources. I needed speakers for my Terminator, found them at Autozone. I needed a belly glass lamp for my Spin Luck, I found what I needed at Lowes.

As far as parts in Europe, I really don't have a clue on this one.

[Sid]

well i guess i didnt quite phrase things the way i should have..

but i get the Idea that these things are pretty reliable and low maintenence from all the posts that i have read here and there..

all the best
sid

[Firewire]

Life expectance Sid would also vary on how long you keep it on. Bulbs will burn, but those are easy to replace, and if you use it a lot then I guess stepper motors in the reels might eventually (way down the road) go out as well as the payout hopper. Everything else is a bunch of circuit boards. The nicer machines like a Net may use metal instead of plastic in certain parts.

Plus, the truth is when you get your first machine or any machine the first month to 3 months gets the most action then play slowly tapers off. Then you will find maybe weekly playing it for an hour or two. Until the next machine, then it gets you pumped again. So if you take that psych into account then the life expectance is quite long. I would guess you could easily go 10 years without a problem in a home enviroment (aside from light bulbs). I have yet to replace a light bulb from my own use. I have had machines shipped with burned bulbs that I replaced, but from my own use I haven't had a bulb burn.

[Sid]

Yeah i hear yeah.. i know about the being psyched the first little bit..

same thing happened when i built my Mame cabinet..

first couple of months it was back from work and straight to the video games..
now its once or twice a week...

its good to know that these machines are pretty solid.

basically now its decide which one..... there are soo many to choose from.. makes you crazy... kinda....

thanks
Sid

[slotter]

Good and accurate summary, David. BTW, I've never had a bulb burn out, either.

[MameMaster!]

It's obvious that some machines share the same bodies....so I would make the assumption part swapping would be a given on those.

In general, I would guess/agree with these guys.....these things are meant for commercial use. The little bit of play they'll get in a home environment probably won't make much of a dent in their "life". I would guess though....that non use......that may gunk 'em up overtime......again, just a guess.

Thankfully my 2 new babies are only 1 year old (based on the manufacturer's date in the machine) and JSR only appears to be about 2.5 years.

I would guess these things will last for years and years.

Realistically it most likely won't die until after you're long bored with a specific machine (then it becomes a part machine)!.....besides, thankfully they're so relatively cheap........so you can always get a new one!

[luckydog]

I've had one bellyglass light burn out which Slotusa replaced for free, and a few bulbs burn out.

I bought a Fever Queen that wasn't working properly with 500 new tokens for $100.00 locally.

After playing around with it for a few day I got it working correctly and it's been fine since then.

I think my machines will outlive me

[vespacar]

I have a feeling the life expectancy of a Pachislo machine has more to do with how much you play it and when you get bored of the actual machine, then it becomes the time to trade/sell it than it actually breaking down. I'am willing to bet that you all have one machine that did'nt live up to all the hype or just does'nt get played as much as all the others!

Cheers,
James

Come on lets hear about that one machine !

[Lazarus]

If you need parts for machines keep in mind that manufactures will use the same case and parts in and on other machines. If you only specify the part for your machine whoever you call may say they don't have any. But tell them other machines to look on and they may have a different machine with the part you need. Our better vender's themselves may know to look on other machines but an employee may not. I had a King of Fire with a bad sound board. At slots had a sound board for a different model. He sent me that. I switched out the sound chips and now I have a working machine. Just think outside the box.

[alstonj1]

Ive had the experience of owning an older machine (a liberty bell III a Macy machine ) from the 90's . I found the parts were non existent and the makers are of no help what so ever when it comes to info on the machine so i would look at about 7 years (maybe a bit longer and a lot longer if you own a machine like oh hanabbi)till parts dry up for a particular machine .luckily stepper motors are very reliable and doubt you'll ever need to replace one .being on a board like this will help a heck of alot in finding a machine that has failed and someone is willing to part out ....the biggest and most important thing you should invest in is a quality surge suppressor for the machine this will take out the spikes that will cause the most harm to electronic components . i would get one for EACH and every machine. sharing a strip can cause a problem should the transformer in one machine go Kamikaze. it then wont cause a spike to the rest on the strip most cheap strips only are looking for the spike to be coming from the electric company not the machine on the same strip . also a power supply can cause a spike into the machine when it gets to the end of it life and no longer regulates well causing damage even though you have the greatest of surge suppressors .to sum it up id find a power supply to keep on hand as well as an extra hopper its the one that will wear out maybe a coin mech and a good surge suppressor to put on the machine , buttons and bulbs are pretty generic and as long as you don't break any plastic lenses your machine will live a good long life .... it seems that machine makers are taking into account the small life these machines get on the parlor floor so i would expect more and more cheapier plastic parts in future machines .oh and watch those screws!!!!!!! many a machine is ruined by a misplaced screw into the electronics !!!!!! good luck

ps has someone turned off my ability to post attachments the posting rules now show : "you may not post attachments" ???

[MrGneiss]

ps has someone turned off my ability to post attachments the posting rules now show : "you may not post attachments" ???

Yes I did!

No not really, due to bandwidth limits, the attachment feature had to be removed.

You can still post pics, but you'll have to host them yourself. (Photobucket.com etc...)

[Meathead]

Hello to one and all

I am wondering... if anyone has any idea what the life expectancy is for these machines...

for regular home use etc..

just curious... ( I understand they are used machines etc) as i am building up the sales pitch for the Mrs..

thanks to all

Sid

Boy, Sid. Things don't change much in five years. You're still trying to justify all you do with the 'Mrs.'

Oh, and uhh, Welcome to Pachitalk!!

(Good Lord, how did that 'sales pitch' go???)

[arbycoffee]

They will be there after we are gone, the animals will play them

[njmatt]

boy talk about bringing a thread back from the dead... hehe

[dattia]

For sure... this re-awakening of old threads came from this recent thread of Meathead's. A little walk back in time by bringing up our first posts.

Find Your First Post!

[d mowery]

These machines will last 2 weeks longer than dirt in home inviroment