Rom revisions

Best thing for your pinballs - keep them all up to date, making sure you're running on the most up to date software. The latest ROM revisions can be found on www.ipdb.org. But one to watch out for - the Cirqus Voltaire 2.0 home use rom version can cause freeze-outs and resets.

A really useful pinball forum

If you're after any information about pinball (reviews, tips, maintenance or troubleshooting) this is always a good place to look - the Google pinball forum - http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.pinball/topics. You can search the archives where you will find the answers to most pinball questions you can think of, or you can post a question of your own. What's particularly good about this group is that there are regular contributors with serious knowledge and experience of pinball, including the odd pinball designer! Always worth a look.......

Cold weather pinball care

This might sound obvious, but now the weather is getting colder, if your pinball machine is stored anywhere other than in a centrally heated room, check to make sure the machine is not too cold and that there is no condensation anywhere before turning it on. If you are storing a machine somewhere like a garage, dont forget to remove the batteries and balls and be aware you will get pitting and rust on any metal parts if left for a long time.

Useful tip - plastic scans

Ever had a broken plastic and not been able to find a replacement? Have you tried checking out the plastic scans on www.ballsofsteel.net? You may find a scan of the plastic you're after that you can use to make a replacement. OK, it wont be NOS but it's better than broken! You'll need a good quality printer, self adhesive photopaper and spray varnish plus thin plastic to create your replacement out of. With a bit of patience and practice you can get some pretty good results.....