sophia help

[topher]

I have this sophia pachinko that I have been lugging around for some time. Finally had some time to start working on it over the weekend. Can't get the payout to work, so I snapped some pics and am hopeful that someone can tell me if the linkage positions are right or not as well as the lever directly under the payout hopper at the top.

[owennewton]

not sure what is wrong but you have a very good looking old single shot there

[jwegger]

The red teeter (middle left) is in the wrong position to accept a ball that gets into one of the tulips. The left side of it needs to be down, it should teeter to it’s current position when a ball gets into it from a tulip and then teeter back to accept another ball. If this is not happening there may be some dirt/rust or debris keeping this from happening. The whole machine is dirty and this can cause a lot of problems. With the metal parts the small bits of rust get picked up by the balls and dropped everywhere in the machine as well. Best bet would be to take it apart and clean all the ball paths, this would give you a better working machine. Problem is that most of the parts are attached with nails, you need to be very careful getting them out and not break the plastic parts. As always the digital camera is your friend, take many pictures before and after you remove each part.

[sharmoni]

In the sixth picture, the mechanism to empty all the balls out of the machine is open. You need to squeeze the two levers (attached to the blue plastic piece) together. See if that helps.

[wrkey]

Unfortunately my work internet firewall prevents me from seeing the photos you posted. However, check out the "Research Center" and look at the 'How A Vintage Pachinko Works" document. While there will be some differences, most everything will be the same.

I agree with the previous post that says "Cleanliness is next to Packinoess". You will be suprised how much headache dirt, dust and rust and cause. However, since you are new to this affliction, I would suggest that you hold off on the complete dissassembly until you get a bit more knowledge and experience with the machine. You will find that the more you work with the machines, you'll have these little epiphanies over and over as you figure out each minor component.

These old machines are facinating in their ability to have many minor components that together make a total functioning machine. If you find a component that isn't working properly.. clean, fix, adjust it... then let the machine run through the process again so you can then concentrate on the next minor component.

These machines end up on Craig's List and in garage sales because many people look at the machine as an whole and are intimidated by all the mechanics. However, break it down into it's components and the simplicity is amazing.

Good luck and try to use the 'attachment' function in the post instead of putting the 'inline' in your message. If a firewalls allows access to the PachiTalk website, it will also allow access to the photos stored there. External photos are hit and miss.

Hope this helps!

[topher]

Thanks guys. All the tracks have been cleaned, all metal parts lubricated with sili-kroil. Everything is working properly.

Between Sharmoni, jwegger, and wrkey's I was given enough info to understand how this machine worked -- I did not realize I now have access to research center, that made a big difference.

Anyway, thanks again, the kids and I are addicted - I need more balls!!! Now does anyone know where I can get some plastic pieces for front bottom right side of the playfield to cover up those holes?