Purpose of a particular nail

[TilionMtl]

I'm curious about the nail found (top center) just outside the "play zone". This nail don't have any purpose that I can see.

This nail is at 12 o'clock just over the track.

anyone one know the use of it?

Is it like when we buy pants, jacket and so on, there's an extra button just in case we lose one?

[compirate]

Pic ?

[Moparformances]

[emmadog]

I've wondered the same thing. I have seen it on Power Flashes and a few other machines but not all have it. As Tilion mentioned, it is right above the top track so a ball cannot come in contact with it-don't know what it does...

[Ikaria]

Maybe it's to hang an out of order sign?

[Moparformances]

now i see what your talking about... i dont have a close up but i think he refering to the top center of play field..


DSCF3638.jpg

on this cell it looks to be used to place the upper ball track...

B Nishijin Green Butterfly Cell.jpg

[TilionMtl]

This nail.. extra_nail.jpg

On my Nishijin, this nail is 1/4 inch away from the track

[wrkey]

I have them on my machine two. My first thought... keeps the upper metal band from stretching out of place... but .. I have a some where the band is no where close to the nail. Another possiblity... a spacer for the plexi in order to keep the top area away from the play field.. but then again... the plexit doesn't touch it on any of mine.

I don't know.. but I always polish beeoch shiney anyway!

[luckydog]

maybe they had a 90 year old factory employee who couldn't see too good anymore

[pinball wizard]

it's not only nishijin that did that .my vintage sankyo has a nail there too .i never noticed that before .

[MrGneiss]

Wow, that is weird, I never noticed that before!!

Since its in the middle and out of the way, maybe it was used during the assembly process, to align it at a work station or on a machine that put the nails in or something!?

[Microbus99]

Doesnt that nail usually have some plastic tubing around it? Maybe with the tubing around it, its closer to the track to absorb the force of the track bending up???

Just a thought. Now I've got to go look at my machines

[Microbus99]

Here's one with the tubing on it and bent slightly down.

[Sid]

the alignment theory.. sounds plausible

[TilionMtl]

Here's one with the tubing on it and bent slightly down.

On my two vintages, they are bent up, not touching the track, but maybe the good way is the way in your photo.

It would make sense, preventing the side of the track (the one toward the glass) from twisting outward and "opening" because of the tension on the other side (wood side). It would prevent a ball from rolling and being propulsed toward the glass instead of straight or toward the wood.

[Youngjedi]

OK, I'll put in my thought...

The ball is traveling at tremendous speeds...500 MPH I think, So, To keep the track from flexing outward and causing the ball to fly out and hit the plexi, the nail would be bent downward giving the track a slight angle and keeping the ball tight to the play-field...Does that make sense?

OK, That was more a Beer theory than anything else.

[luckydog]

that sound like a racetrack theory, bank the track for more speed

[TilionMtl]

ok.. in the "beer theory" series ...humm..

maybe it's a nail to hang a OUT OF ORDER sign?

[takethecastle57]

Or Maybe it's just put there to drive you CRAZY with Questions

[JACKSJE4]

I had also often wondered what that nail was for. I always polish it when completing restorations.

Reading this thread encouraged me to crack open a cold one and look through my inventory of vintage machines to investigate the reason for the nail in question. Most of my machines have it, but the older ones (circa 1950's) do not. It seems (based on my limited inventory of older machines) that this nail appears only on those machines where the ball hits a rubber bumper or has a foul pocket. The older machines where the track allows the ball to make a complete revolution around the play field do not have the nail.

Of the machines that have the nail, on some it is right up against the ball track appearing to be a rigid support to keep the track from flexing as the ball travels past. On others it is 1/16th to 1/4 inch away from the track. Some have the plastic sleeve/tube on them, others do not.

On several of the machines where the nail is at a distance away from the track, I tried to wiggle the track with my fingers at the point where the nail was installed to see if it would move. It did not. When I ran my finger along the track as the ball would move (applying a little pressure), the track did move slightly.

My older vintages do not have the nail, however just about all of my late 1960's and all of my 1970's machines do. Based on the theories here and my 100% unscientific testing while enjoying a few stout beers, I am concluding that the nail was added to the production of the playfields to fix a problem: prevent track flex while the machine is in use. Perhaps the track flex is only on the rebound and the nail appeared around the same time they started installing the rubber bumpers.

Like the other nails on the play area, it seems like it can be adjusted on most machines to allow as much or little flex as the machine operator desires.

On the newer Pachis I own, the ball track is butted firmly up against plastic ornamentation that looks like it was designed to provide continuous support against track flex, so they obviously went away from the support nail design to something more consistent and solid. Maybe we are looking a Pachinko evolution thing here.

Just my random beer theory thoughts.

Jeff