Pinball 101 Videos

In this video, Brooke addresses our most common pinball question. “How do I get the glass off my pinball machine?”

After you remove the playfield glass, you can easily lift the playfield to service the machine. In this video, Brooke shows you how.

The circuit boards for the pinball machine are located behind the backglass. In order to check for loose connections, blown fuses, or to replace the batteries that save the machine’s setting, you will need to remove it. In this video, Brooke shows you how.

When you open new Stern pinball machine, it is set to take coins. If you want to switch it to Free Play, follow the instructions on this video.

It is common for slingshots to need adjustment. Sometimes they fire on their own or not at all. The two metal leaf switches are easy to adjust.

If you suspect a solenoid is not functioning, this video with show you how to test them.

We frequently get emailed or called about a strange noise from a Stern pinball machine. We immediately know what it is and the noise is completely normal (or intended to be normal). Stern machines do not use a mechanical knocker that hits the side of the cabinet. Instead it is a loud “squelch” that indicates you have won a free game. Follow the instructions in this video to set the volume to low or turn the sound off.

This video shows how to access the audits and adjustments menu on a Williams System 11 pinball machine. You can change many of the settings there including setting the machine to Free Play.

This video shows how a ball trough switch works.

In this video, I show you how to change an few settings on Williams/Bally machines (1989 to 1998), including Minimum Volume Override, Free Play, and Resetting High Scores.

This video shows how an end of switch works to regulate high and low voltage to a flipper coil.

This video shows you how to run a switch test to see if a switch is working or not on a WPC89 or WPC95 era pinball machine.

In this video, we show you how to remove the lockdown bar on newer Stern machines with latches.

In this video, you will be walked through the step-by-step process of how to navigate the Stern Pinball Service Menu and adjust the number of balls per game. This is ideal for anyone who wants to adjust the number of balls available on a per game basis, up to 10 balls. Adjusting the number of balls per game can affect the difficulty level and the overall length of gameplay.

In this video, you will be walked through the step-by-step process of how to navigate the Stern Pinball Service Menu and adjust the amount of players per game. This is ideal for anyone who wants to adjust the maximum amount of players per game from 1 up to 4.

In this video, you will be walked through the step-by-step process of how to navigate the Stern Pinball Service Menu and adjust the knocker volume. The “knocker” is a loud sound that comes from the pinball machine when a replay threshold is achieved. This can be turned completely off or adjusted to be a lower volume.

In this video, you will be walked through the step-by-step process of how to navigate the Stern Pinball Service Menu and adjust the amount of extra balls per game. This is ideal for anyone who wants to customize their Stern experience and change the difficulty of the game. If extra balls are turned off, often times the software will give you points instead. However, adjustments can be made to allow for an unlimited amount of extra balls earned per game.

In this video, you will be walked through the step-by-step process of how to remove the lockbar and playfield glass on a Stern pinball machine.

In this video, you will be walked through the step-by-step process of how to remove the backglass from the backbox on a Stern pinball machine.

In this video, you will be walked through the step-by-step process of how to navigate the Stern Pinball Service Menu and turn on “Free Play” on a Stern Pinball machine. This is ideal for games that are in a home environment and will set the machine to unlimited play.

In this video, you will be walked through the step-by-step process of how to navigate the Stern Pinball Service Menu and adjust the “High Score To Date Reset Counts” for a Stern pinball machine. This will adjust when the high scores on a machine reset according to the amount of plays on a machine. This adjustment can be as low as 10 plays or be completely turned off.

In this video, you will be walked through the step-by-step process of how to navigate the Stern Pinball Service Menu and test the ball trough. This will allow you to check switches, ball plunger, and general ball trough functionality to ensure a properly operating mechanism. It’s also a quick way to remove pinballs from the ball trough.

In this video, you will be walked through the step-by-step process of how to remove the lockbar from a Stern Pinball machine that uses the traditional latch system. This latch system and similar latch systems with lever guides are typically found on Bally, Williams, Data East, Sega, and early Sterns.

In this video, you will be walked through the step-by-step process of how to dolly a Stern Pinball Machine