anyone added tulips to their machine?

[mudfud]

hi there.

just joined the forum b/c I dusted off an old daiichi pachinko machine that I got in the 80's and got hooked again.

it's in good shape and still works, even the lights.

anyhow, even 20 years ago I was wishing I had two side tulips, in addition to the center ones.

has anyone successfully added them?

I ordered a couple from vintage pachinko that are salvaged from an old machine. I considered trying to make them (after spending a couple hours figuring out how they worked), and decided it was a bit beyond my tool capability right now.

will post pictures as the project proceeds.

also, has anyone built an automatic ball recycler? I read that there were a couple commercial ones made, but I haven't found where to buy one or how much they cost. I'm ordering some parts to try to rig something, and for now I am using a seesaw tray thing (that's unsightly but works).

thanks for any info.

chewy

[RaymondV]

Welcome aboard Chewy!!

I don't really tinker with my machines like that, but I am sure some of the other members will be along to answer your questions.

[heavyguitarman]

Welcome : I though about adding tulips also, I dont see any problem except the back ball path might have to be modified slightly. It looks to me that the tulip ball path might be slightly lower than a regular basket. My problem was the availability of the parts.

[Youngjedi]

I love my machines sooo much, I put my two lips on them every morning!

[Meathead]

Are those lips? or a beak?

[Eddie]

Adding tulips sounds like an interesting mod. I say go for it. Find a non repairable Pachinko and use its parts for the job.

[birdbrain]

the trick will be setting it up to reset the flippers. if you go inside the existing ones all you will have to do is add extra arms for reset if you go outside you will have to add ductwork also.

[heavyguitarman]

I didnt quit understand what you mean birdbrain, but I got to thinking (may be what you said) that if you add tulips to where a basket should go, you might want to adjust/fabricate the ball path of other targets to open the tulip. Otherwise they will only open up when the ball goes in them. Whether you do this or not just putting in a tulip will increase the odds of payoff. Bird can you elaborate, cuz im still new here too can you put it in other words.

[birdbrain]

most of the 70s machines the tulips close when a ball drops through them. then you must hit another pocket (usually an upper center pocket) to reopen them. they are usually reset by a wire being tripped you would have to solder an additional wire for the new pockets and if the pockets we not in the ball return area you would have to add ramps to direct the ball to the jackpot mech.

[heavyguitarman]

I didnt study it on the Nishijin A, but on my dragon machine, the balls were routed from a basket to the back of the machine and then rolling over the back of a tulip and it would open.

[MrGneiss]

WELCOME!!


Sounds interesting, can't wait for updates...and pics, we love Pics!!

We also love ball lifter ideas!!

[johntofva]

Welcome to Pachitalk

[mudfud]

here are some pix of my basic ball lifter. I used an old fluorescent fixture for the tray. will probably replace the cardboard box with plywood, once I get the geometry just right. the trick was having the cardboard at an angle to the tray, so the balls don't start rolling until they are at the top.

my second design will use a worm screw, I hope, to move the balls up a chute.

any upgrade ideas are more than welcome.

chewy

p.s. sorry the first two pix are rotated, the upload did this to them

[dishpan]

Sometimes the simplest solution is the best approach.