Balls and ball usage on a Nishijin model A

[SteveFury]

I bought my Nishijin model A a couple months ago and have lovingly restored it. Sixty five balls came prejammed inside when I got it, all stuck before the payout regulator seesaw. I've been playing with those 65 balls ever since so I need to buy more.

Question 1:
I probably play my pachinko machine for 15-30 minutes a day. I find it oddly therapeutic. How many balls would you suggest I purchase to adequately run my cyclic model A? The answer may be related to my next question.

Question 2:
I've spent countless hours rubbing and scrubbing and cleaning all the rear parts and I hate the fact that even now they are all collecting dust again and I plan on building a cabinet based on some of the great plans here at PachiTalk. Most of the cabinets are built for non-cyclic machines and they contain a ball hopper on the top to refill the machine feed bin.

I need to know if my model A cyclic requires such a bin built into a DIY cabinet for normal play or if it could be left out. I don't mind opening the cabinet once in a while when the hopper empty light comes on for a refill but not all the time. Since I only have 65 balls at present, I am constantly keeping a balance of ball numbers between the shooter and the jackpot payout seesaw, so I wouldn't know how often the hopper would need refilling.

So I need to know how many balls to buy and how often I can expect to refill the main feed hopper.

Thanks in advance

[mxfaiman]

Answers:

#1. I would recommend at least 250 for a model A but 500 is a safer bet and it will keep you playing longer.

#2. You could probably do fine without the bin. It all depends on how long you play for and how lucky you are. But for about an hour a day you should be fine without the bin. You'd probably refill it every other day or every 2 days.The only thing with the cabinet plans is you might need to make it deeper for the lower tray on the back.

Comments:

Also it isn't called a Model A cyclic. The trem cyclic means basically you have modded your machine to make all win and lose balls end up in the upper tray. The model A's are reffered to as recyclers.

Hope this helps and if you have any questions just ask

[Moparformances]

[Rival]

"Also it isn't called a Model A cyclic. The trem cyclic means basically you have modded your machine to make all win and lose balls end up in the upper tray. The model A's are reffered to as recyclers. "

The term 'recycler' generally refers to any machine that will collect lost balls and balls that trigger jackpots and reroute them for repeated use. These machines were generally produced for smaller shops that did not have the internal infrastructure of the major parlors. Think the pachinko machine in the candy store or soda shop. They were designed with many components that were slotted to allow the dirt and hair to clear itself from ball tracks and fall into the rear of the machine where it would (supposedly) not interfere with the operation of the machine.

The non-recyclers tended to rely on series of collectors and tubes to bring the used balls to a central collection point for cleaning, counting, and then reloading. The ball that triggers the jackpot is not returned to the player, but rather send back to the central collection point. These machines require a container of some sort in the rear to catch these balls or they will constantly spill out onto the floor because few hobbyists have a series of collector tubes and such.

The mechanics that many refer to as model "A" simply refers to any machine built before 1972 as the construction followed the same basic designs (with some obvious evolutions) for decades. In 1972 a more streamlined and modular design emerged, and many hobbyists refer to this as the model "B". I have yet to find a model "B" that recycles. Model "A" style machines continued to be produced well into 1975-1976, although in much smaller numbers. The age of pachinko machines in soda shops and grocery stores was coming to an end with the advent of new licensing requirements and the growth of the mega-casino-like parlors.

There are examples of model "A" machines that are both recycling and non-recycling, some made for parlors, some made for soda shops.

Perhaps the better terminology would be "Style A" and "Style B". "Model" is way too misleading.




As far as I know there were no "true" cyclical machines produced prior to the 1980's. The term 'recycler' generally refers to any machine that will not dump balls out of a spout in the back.

[Moparformances]

There are examples of model "A" machines that are both recycling and non-recycling, some made for parlors, some made for soda shop

what does a Model "A" non-recycling machine look like?? Pics???

[owennewton]

I have seen machines by Maruhon (and others but I can not remember brands) with "A" style mechanical parts, payout that fed from the top tray and all played balls fall out but all Nishijins I have ever seen were "recyclers".

I do however like the idea of calling them "A" style and "B" style as then you are not limiting yourself to just the one brands design when trying to explain something

[Rival]

There are tons of mid-60's machines that just dump everything right out the rear spouts.

Thats why you find them with big holes drilled in the bottoms of the cases.

[pachiwall]

I would love to see a non recycler model A! Just what I NEED to see...another machine that I MUST have.