Older Nishijin A SB machine... new to the forum

[mayhewsan]

Hello! I'm new to the forum, but have an old pachinko machine that I restored back in the early 1970s. My dad brought it back from Japan and it wasn't operational. Back then we didn't have an internet to speak of, so I knew nothing about it, but spent a good part of a highschool summer vacation reverse-engineering it and repairing the mechanics. Today it is (I think) fully functional, but only recently (after retirement) did I think of looking online for resources. So here I am!

From what I can gather this is a Nishijin "Sophia" Model A SB (Single Ball) machine. I built a power supply for it, and a case. Later I bought an "orange" ball lifter which is still fully operational, but haven't retrofitted it to the machine (have to modify the back of the case).

I've looked around on this forum and elsewhere and have yet to find an operating or service manual for this machine. Perhaps they don't exist? I did find a YouTube video on a similar model that was very helpful. I'm also curious to see how people have retrofitted the ball lifter themselves.

Great forum; thanks for any information you can provide!

-Jeff

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[lotsoballs]

The lifter really isn’t needed on a recycler machine; as they use so few balls due to recycling them. Also the spent ball outlet on a model A is in the wrong spot for a Silver brand lifter; it would work much better and with no modification required on a Model B or C or a modern pachinko. Or sell it for $200-300 and buy more pachinkos.

What is the machine not doing specifically that you need a manual for? A good cleaning works wonders….

[sparky kilowatt]

Very nice looking machine, I really like the green playfield.

[lotsoballs]

My 2 cents for recyclers… no lifter needed. A cabinet that collects spent/wasted balls is all you need. Bonus points if you can find one of the rare and elusive parlor ball counters….





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mayhewsan]

Thanks folks for the helpful and prompt replies! Much appreciated! The machine is working perfectly as far as I can tell, and is pretty clean. I bought the lifter back when I had no broader (uhh, *any*) understanding of pachinko machines, and liked the "neatness factor" (retired engineer). Is there any demand for this orange lifter mechanism? I just tried it yesterday, and it works just fine (once I figured out that you have to depress BOTH the pedal switch and the ball-detecting microswitch underneath the bin). It has a length of square track, and a flexible "tube bender" type sleeve.

I'll need to find a clear description of how the recycler works... to determine if my machine is functioning properly. It does dispense occasionally from the upper bin.

[lotsoballs]

Thanks folks for the helpful and prompt replies! Much appreciated! The machine is working perfectly as far as I can tell, and is pretty clean. I bought the lifter back when I had no broader (uhh, *any*) understanding of pachinko machines, and liked the "neatness factor" (retired engineer). Is there any demand for this orange lifter mechanism? I just tried it yesterday, and it works just fine (once I figured out that you have to depress BOTH the pedal switch and the ball-detecting microswitch underneath the bin). It has a length of square track, and a flexible "tube bender" type sleeve.

I'll need to find a clear description of how the recycler works... to determine if my machine is functioning properly. It does dispense occasionally from the upper bin.

Yes there is demand; I’m importing one from Japan right now; and it’s not cheap. They sell for around 25,000 yen in Japan ($170) then shipping is pricey too.

Recycler machines reuse some of the wasted balls and returns them as payouts; unlike model B and C where ALL spent balls are immediately expelled from the machine (requiring more shuffling/lifting balls to the upper hopper)

[mayhewsan]

Yes there is demand; I’m importing one from Japan right now; and it’s not cheap. They sell for around 25,000 yen in Japan ($170) then shipping is pricey too.

Recycler machines reuse some of the wasted balls and returns them as payouts; unlike model B and C where ALL spent balls are immediately expelled from the machine (requiring more shuffling/lifting balls to the upper hopper)

Thanks. Now I'm going to reveal the true extent of my ignorance... When I got this machine working back in the 1970s, we just assumed that the chute at the very bottom (where the balls go out a hole in the bottom frame) was just a way to drain the machine of balls. There's a spring-loaded catch that opens the chute. However, I see some counter-balanced pivoting things that look like they do something based on weight in the chute.... So, are there ANY circumstances where these "recycling" machines will dump balls out the bottom, rather than return them to play? Again, all of my "hands-on" time with this machine was in complete isolation of any outside information... until now! Thanks for any feedback you can offer!

[jasonlujan]

shipping from Japan is (Canadian) $350-500 for any pachinko machine, vintage or modern.

[lotsoballs]

shipping from Japan is (Canadian) $350-500 for any pachinko machine, vintage or modern.

It’s much cheaper to ship just a ball lifter luckily!

I avoid air shipping pachinkos at all now since it’s so much cheaper to get them via slow boat (at least here in NC) from JT Comatz Just have to be patient and wait 2-3 months. JT Comatz can also bid on any pachinko on yahoo auctions and be your proxy bidder too (and arrange shipping)!

[lotsoballs]

Thanks. Now I'm going to reveal the true extent of my ignorance... When I got this machine working back in the 1970s, we just assumed that the chute at the very bottom (where the balls go out a hole in the bottom frame) was just a way to drain the machine of balls. There's a spring-loaded catch that opens the chute. However, I see some counter-balanced pivoting things that look like they do something based on weight in the chute.... So, are there ANY circumstances where these "recycling" machines will dump balls out the bottom, rather than return them to play? Again, all of my "hands-on" time with this machine was in complete isolation of any outside information... until now! Thanks for any feedback you can offer!

Yes; lower the hopper only holds so many balls… once it starts to overflow; excess balls start being dropped out of the machine as they are unable to be recycled. (And counted by your Model A ball counter if you’re lucky…)

[takethecastle57]

and ginger snap cookies

[mayhewsan]

Yes; lower the hopper only holds so many balls… once it starts to overflow; excess balls start being dropped out of the machine as they are unable to be recycled. (And counted by your Model A ball counter if you’re lucky…)

Thanks! I will try this to see if it functions properly. We used to keep a little peanut-can under the chute, and occasionally balls would fall in, but very rarely. Thanks for the picture of the ball counter; it looks like it would be straightforward to make one of these using an off-the-shelf counter and some parts printed on my 3D printer(s). I assume these are for the purpose of casino "accounting" of where the balls go/are?

[Moparformances]

lots of info here. even a few links to vids..

and of course

Welcome to Pachitalk

[MrGneiss]

WELCOME!!!

[mayhewsan]

Thanks to all of you who have responded, and also to the warm welcome to the forum. What a great resource. I confirmed that the "overflow" function works fine on my machine. And that I have a Russian Blue kitten that is very skilled at stealing the balls and relocating them around the house...

Today I discussed with an old engineer friend of mine the ball counting problem. He has a number of suggestions that are more electronic than mechanical (i.e. no moving parts). So we'll do some experiments. I'm guessing the modern machines use electronic means, but what do I know.

Also, I wonder if anybody has "instrumented" a pachinko machine to gather statistics on balls played vs. jackpots, including a tally of which "buckets" (there's probably a proper term for this) provide the wins, and how often. I see that machines in parlors get serviced by people who know how to adjust the nails (presumably battered out of position over time) to make the machine "honest" again... This appears to be done with a gauge that basically checks if a ball can pass between two adjacent nails. But this would likely be an "open-ended" servicing that is just periodic maintenance, not an in-depth analysis of how the playing field behaves. I would love to see a "fund" set up to convince the guy (or heirs of the guy) who wrote the book on tuning the nails to allow an English translation to be made... I've been involved with other forums where this has been done (Japanese samurai armor).

Just thinking out loud...

[takethecastle57]

Yes Way back in the 2010's a guy made a digital vintage pachinko ball counter !

https://www.pachitalk.com/forums/sho...o+ball+counter


A member here name musky bought all the remaining stock of the kits .

P.ersonal M.essage him here .

[mayhewsan]

Thanks! Lots of useful information about the Gaku counters at the link you provided.

I've started looking into the sensing technology, particularly in terms of being able to accurately count a rapidly passing stream of balls (a dump out the bottom chute). Infrared transducers sound like a good bet, but it turns out they don't always reflect as well as darker surfaces in that part of the spectrum (based on feedback from an engineer friend who has used these transducers). And then there's the possibility of noise caused by multiple reflections from adjacent balls. One alternative to look at is a variable reluctance sensor, which picks up on changes in the sensed magnetic field caused by an iron or steel mass moving nearby. These are used in automotive applications and can even determine RPM by counting gear teeth passing by a sensor. A train of balls passing by one of these would give a clean signal, theoretically. More later.

[takethecastle57]

Sounds like a plan now you just need a spare Gaku Counter to modified the sensors and install it in one of your machines.

[mayhewsan]

Actually, I'm thinking of using an Arduino controller to do all the counting and display stuff. A lot of flexibility there.

[takethecastle57]

Can you post the whole set up including all the items on a New Thread that will have your name on it ?