# Adjustments to Spinner and steps to replace **Source:** American Pinball **Type:** video **Published:** 2023-05-08 **Duration:** 10m 7s **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OiZcDLviRc --- ## Analysis Dave Brennan from American Pinball Tech Service provides a technical tutorial on adjusting and replacing the spinner mechanism on Oktoberfest pinball machines. The video addresses a common issue where balls get stuck when attracted to a nearby magnet that also pulls the spinner arm upward. Brennan demonstrates adjustment techniques (repositioning the spinner arm away from the magnet, adding forward bias) and complete replacement procedures, including decal application and lubrication tips. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] The spinner arm on Oktoberfest can be adjusted to move it away from the nearby magnet to prevent stuck balls when the magnet energizes — _Dave Brennan, American Pinball Tech Service, directly demonstrating on the machine_ - [HIGH] Adding forward bias to the spinner (bending the arms slightly forward) improves ball contact and spin momentum — _Dave Brennan explaining his preferred adjustment technique and reasoning_ - [HIGH] Dry bike lubricant applied sparingly to the spinner arm brackets improves spinner action and is appropriate for pinball maintenance — _Dave Brennan sharing his personal maintenance technique used on classic Stern and Bally games_ - [HIGH] The Oktoberfest spinner decal has two orientations: empty beer stein with tap on top (front side) and full beer stein with tap on top (back side) — _Dave Brennan identifying the decal orientation during spinner replacement demonstration_ ### Notable Quotes > "When the ball gets attracted to the magnet, it also pulls the spinner towards it, and it's propping up the ball and creating a stuck ball." > — **Dave Brennan**, early > _Clearly identifies the root cause of the customer's stuck ball issue_ > "What you want to do is move that away from the magnet so it's a little further away and doesn't have that opportunity to prop up the ball." > — **Dave Brennan**, early-mid > _Primary solution to the stuck ball problem_ > "The reason I do that is so the ball contacts the bottom edge of the spinner first versus if it was on the backside it has less momentum so when it just will hit the end and it's already you know it gives it more of a hit if it's bent forward a little bit." > — **Dave Brennan**, mid > _Explains the physics and reasoning behind the forward bias adjustment_ > "This is one of the only places where I'll ever put any bit of lubrication on a pinball machine and really it's just to add a little bit more action to your spinner." > — **Dave Brennan**, late > _Establishes a specific maintenance principle for pinball machines_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Dave Brennan | person | American Pinball Tech Service technician providing technical tutorial and maintenance guidance | | American Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer producing Oktoberfest machine; source of technical service content | | Oktoberfest | game | American Pinball pinball machine being used as subject for spinner adjustment and replacement tutorial | ### Topics - **Primary:** Spinner mechanism adjustment and repair, Stuck ball troubleshooting, Magnet interaction with playfield mechanics, Pinball machine maintenance and lubrication - **Secondary:** Playfield component replacement procedures ### Sentiment **Neutral** (0) — Educational and technical in tone; no emotional valence. Brennan presents solutions matter-of-factly and demonstrates competence and helpfulness. ### Signals - **[community_signal]** American Pinball providing detailed technical service videos demonstrating manufacturer commitment to operator and owner education/support (confidence: high) — Professional tutorial video from authorized American Pinball tech service addressing specific customer issues with step-by-step guidance - **[product_concern]** Spinner mechanism on Oktoberfest has a design issue where ball magnet attraction causes spinner arm to prop up the ball creating stuck ball conditions (confidence: high) — Dave Brennan explicitly states 'when the ball gets attracted to the magnet, it also pulls the spinner towards it, and it's propping up the ball and creating a stuck ball' and provides adjustment procedures to mitigate --- ## Transcript Hey there, Dave Jeff Brenner with American Pinball Tech Service. Today I'm going over adjustments for the spinner specifically on Oktoberfest. I have a customer that is having some issues with the ball getting stuck by the spinner and magnet in the upper flipper. So I just kind of place the ball there to show what he's seeing. And essentially, when the ball gets attracted to the magnet, it also pulls the spinner towards it, and it's propping up the ball and creating a stuck ball. So this is really more of an adjustment to make it so when the magnet de-energizes that the ball will just roll down like it's supposed to. So what you can do is this spinner arm is is actually adjustable to an extent. So what you can do is take this spinner arm. There's actually, where it's attached to the play field is underneath this plastic. So if you want to see, you can remove that plastic. But essentially, you want to move that away from the magnet so it's a little further away and doesn't have that opportunity to prop up the ball. The other thing that you can do is give the spinner some forward bias. And what I mean by that is you want to push backwards on the face of the spinner. And so what it will do is it will make the arms bend slightly forward. The purpose of that is so that you have the bottom of the spinner pointing slightly towards the player. This particular customer wants to see the steps of how to replace the spinner, so I'm going to show that now So it pretty simple to change just pay attention to the orientation of the spinner decal So on the front side it the empty beer stein with the tap at the top and then you flip it over and it the full beer stein with the tap at the top So anyway, to get this out, all you have to do is kind of manipulate the spinner arm. I'm doing this over the camera so it's a little hard to get my fingers in there. All right. Okay, so just pay attention to the arms of the spinner. You notice that one has more curves to it, so you've got to put this one in first and it's on the right hand side. Okay, so do this in the reverse order. Now that arm needs to go on the top side of the micro switch. This taps, the lever arm goes on top of the microswitch lever arm. Okay and then just bend this back straight Now the spinner should actually have a little bit of angle forward at least that's my preference so in order to make it do that you have to kind of bend push in on the spinner so the arms are like bending forward so if you push back on it should bend that forward a bit so it gives it a little bit of forward bias. The reason I do that is so the ball contacts the bottom edge of the spinner first versus if it was on the backside it has less momentum so when it just will hit the end and it's already you know it gives it more of a hit if it's bent forward a little bit. Okay, so now you can check to make sure that spins nice. Looks like it does. Okay, so now you take your new decals. If I didn't have the new decals I'd have to carefully peel off the old ones, but since I have some new ones, I will. So the front, remember, was the empty stein. Let me just move it so you can see a little better. Just kind of line it up. Lightly place it on there and then you can probably manipulate it some to center it. you can it be easier to add this before it on in position however you want to do it okay Now the next one. Turn this over. Stick it down. All right. All right, the last tip that I'll give is a little something extra that I do to most games is I add a little bit of dry bike lubricant. I got this at my local bike shop, but you can get it on Amazon. I just keep this in my tool bag. I'll just use a little Q-tip. and this is one of the only places where I'll ever put any bit of lubrication on a pinball machine and really it's just to add a little bit more action to your spinner. I do this on a lot of my classic stern and bally games and it works really well. So you just put a little bit is all you need and you can just put it on the spinner arms on both sides. It's right where it goes into the bracket. Okay. and then it gives it a little bit more spin to it. So there's my little tip. Alright that's pretty much all I know about adjusting spinners. Hopefully that was helpful. _(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 7a1d52bd-65bf-41b6-9cae-584f013df906*