# The Complete Guide To Unboxing & Setting Up A New Pinball Machine (SDTM & Flip N Out Pinball, 2021) **Source:** Straight Down the Middle **Type:** video **Published:** 2021-10-22 **Duration:** 45m 42s **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMfC79mx_bk --- ## Analysis Zach Meny from Flippin' Out Pinball and Straight Down the Middle provides a comprehensive, step-by-step unboxing and setup guide for new Stern pinball machines, using a Godzilla Premium Edition as the example. The video covers essential tools, box inspection, leg attachment, head installation, glass removal, playfield access, electrical setup, ball cleaning, and initial power-on configuration. The guide emphasizes safety precautions, proper techniques to avoid damage, and introduces basic operational features like free play mode. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] All four legs that come in a new Stern pinball box are identical, with leveling differences created by adjustable nuts on the bottom of each leg, not different leg lengths. — _Direct instructional content from Zach Meny during leg assembly segment_ - [HIGH] Front legs on Stern pinball machines should be extended all the way down, while back legs are typically adjusted to approximately two inches up to create a 6.5-7 degree playfield incline. — _Zach Meny's personal preference and recommendation during leg installation_ - [HIGH] The green strap holding the head during shipping must not be cut until all four legs are installed and the machine is in upright position, or the head will flop forward and damage the glass. — _Safety warning given by Zach Meny during unboxing process_ - [HIGH] New Stern pinball machines have the power switch located on top of the head, not under the cabinet like older machines. — _Instructional content about power cord installation_ - [HIGH] New pinballs come with a fine layer of oil from the factory to prevent rust and pitting, and should be wiped down with a microfiber towel before play. — _Zach Meny's ball preparation instructions_ - [HIGH] Small divots and dimples appearing on new playfield clear coats from ball impacts are normal and will eventually level out after hundreds or thousands of plays. — _Zach Meny's explanation of expected wear on new machines_ - [HIGH] Shaker motor installation costs 'a little over a hundred bucks' and is an easy DIY mod that Zach considers essential for full game experience. — _Optional upgrade recommendation during playfield inspection_ ### Notable Quotes > "I assure you if I can do it myself blindfolded check another video I've done then with a hand you can do it easily as well" > — **Zach Meny**, Opening segment > _Establishes credibility and reassures viewers that the task is achievable for anyone_ > "Do not cut this strap until we have all four legs on and it's in the upright position and we're safe to lift the head. Don't cut the strap." > — **Zach Meny**, Box opening segment > _Critical safety instruction to prevent expensive damage to the backglass_ > "You don't want to under-tighten it because this thing will be wobbly and that's no good. You don't want to over-tighten it either because this is a wood cabinet. You keep crunching down and bad things will happen." > — **Zach Meny**, Leg assembly segment > _Establishes proper technique for securing legs without damaging the machine_ > "Just nice tight, one hand strength, one hand strength... We're not putting lugs on a car, people." > — **Zach Meny**, Leg tightening segment > _Humorous but clear guidance on appropriate bolt tightening force_ > "It's one of my—I'm a nerd—it's one of my favorite parts of unboxing a brand new pinball machine is kind of unveiling it, lifting that head up." > — **Zach Meny**, Head lifting segment > _Reveals personal passion and enthusiasm for the unboxing experience_ > "If you're going to install a Stern shaker motor in this game... It's an easy install. Very impactful, effective mod that I put in all my games—a little over a hundred bucks." > — **Zach Meny**, Playfield inspection segment > _Recommendation for popular aftermarket modification_ > "Over time after so many plays there is a nice clear coat on here so you're going to see little bitty divots or dimples... That is normal." > — **Zach Meny**, Ball inspection and installation segment > _Sets expectations for normal wear patterns on new machines_ > "Please wear them. I'm a professional, but please wear protection. Does anybody wear them? Just just wear the glasses." > — **Zach Meny**, Safety equipment segment > _Emphasizes safety practices despite comedic delivery_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Zach Meny | person | Host/guide providing unboxing instructions; owner/operator of Flippin' Out Pinball and co-host of Straight Down the Middle podcast | | Flippin' Out Pinball | company | Pinball distribution and retail company operated by Zach Meny; provides customer support and technical assistance for pinball buyers | | Straight Down the Middle: a pinball show | company | Pinball-focused YouTube show and podcast where Zach Meny is a co-host | | Stern Pinball | company | Manufacturer of the Godzilla Premium Edition pinball machine used as demonstration model in this unboxing guide | | Godzilla | game | Premium Edition Stern pinball machine used as the example machine for this comprehensive unboxing and setup guide | | Gary Stern | person | CEO of Stern Pinball; thank you message appears on the instruction cards included with new machines | | Stern Insider Rewards program | organization | Stern Pinball loyalty/rewards program that customers can register for using QR code included with new machines | | Spike | product | Stern's hardware control system mentioned during playfield inspection segment regarding circuit control boards | ### Topics - **Primary:** Unboxing and physical setup procedures, Leg installation and leveling, Head installation and securing, Safety precautions and protective equipment, Glass removal and installation, Playfield inspection and service access, Ball cleaning and preparation - **Secondary:** Initial power-on and operating system access ### Sentiment **Positive** (0.85) — Zach Meny maintains an enthusiastic, encouraging tone throughout, using humor and reassurance to help viewers feel confident about the unboxing process. His passion for pinball is evident, and he frames the setup as an enjoyable experience rather than a daunting task. The occasional self-deprecating humor ('I'm a nerd') adds warmth without detracting from the instructional content. ### Signals - **[community_signal]** Flippin' Out Pinball actively supports customers through troubleshooting guidance and technical service when DIY solutions are insufficient, establishing themselves as a customer-centric distributor (confidence: high) — Zach states 'that's why it's important to have a great supportive distributor. You contact us at Flippin' Out Pinball. We'll walk you through the process of troubleshooting, and if it's too complex or if we need some parts or whatnot, that's what we're here for.' - **[product_strategy]** Stern shaker motor is widely adopted as a standard aftermarket modification by experienced operators, with Zach indicating he installs them on 'all my games' (confidence: high) — Zach recommends shaker motors as 'a little over a hundred bucks' and states 'I can't really play a game and experience it fully without it,' indicating industry-wide adoption - **[product_concern]** New pinball machines may arrive with loose components due to shipping stress, requiring post-delivery inspection and potential tightening before first play (confidence: high) — Zach instructs viewers to check that 'all of the nuts are tight. Everything is tight in here. Nothing wobbly' and notes 'These kind of things happen a lot in shipping. It just it happens.' --- ## Transcript [Music] hello out there and first off congratulations on the purchase of your brand new pinball machine i'm zach mini with flipping out pinball straight down the middle and the pinbone network so you're probably really excited to get your pinball machine unboxed but maybe a little bit nervous too fear not in this video i'm going to walk you through how to properly unbox and set up your brand new pinball machine this particular model is a stern godzilla pro model now fear not if you don't have a godzilla pro model this is going to apply for every stern pinball machine that you open and even some other manufacturers as well but we're going to stick with stern today you may be a little bit nervous but i assure you if i can do it myself blindfolded check another video i've done then with a hand you can do it easily as well let's get started okay before we get started you're going to need a couple tools very minimal like a box cutter go go get yourself a box cutter or knife to open this thing up and then we're also going to need a ratchet or a 5 8 5 socket to secure the head and legs so a knife a 5 8 and it's always helpful to have a stool just a bar high stool you'll see why here in a bit so if you need to press pause go get a knife a 5 8 socket and a stool all right everybody so you got your tools good deal first we're going to do a little pinball education here whenever you receive your pinball machine brand new it's going to come in a box very similar to this but stern games all look the same for the most part on the outside but what i want to you to focus in on is this area right around here a lot of details on the box here first off make sure that it has all of John Youssi this has the name of the actual game and it didn't get the wrong game but second it says do not truck from this side that's a good indicator for us not to open from this side we're going to try to find the bottom of the pinball machine and you'll find out soon why so slide this around get to where you want to uh unbox the pinball machine then you will see truck this side only only one of the sides of your pinball box will say truck this side only all other the side all the other sides are going to say do not truck this side it says truck this side only because this is the bottom of that pinball machine so when we go to expose this machine and open it up we want to do so from this panel right here again there's a couple of different ways to unbox a pinball machine this is just the way that i prefer especially if you're if you don't have to keep the box some people like to keep the box really not that big of a deal you're going to keep it in storage for a little bit then your spouse is going to tell you to get rid of it or you're just going to be tired of looking at it so we're just going to pop open the top first here with your hands the only thing you need to be careful there are staples on top of a lot of these pinball boxes whenever you are detaching this box just make sure that the staples get placed somewhere securely you don't want to step on these about four or five times that's happened to me not really that fun wear some shoes and i guess for legal reasons wear eye protection so that i don't get sued i wear them please wear them i'm a professional but please wear protect does anybody wear print just just wear the glasses okay now as we take a look inside the box you're going to see the front of the pinball machine right here you're going to remove some of this packaging usually i'll remove all four main top packaging pieces and then right down here i don't know if you guys can see it but right down here see this right here these are where the legs are i just always shift those up [Music] as such that way when we open that front panel there the legs don't go flopping out on us but we'll remove those before we go pulling out this pinball machine i did forget to mention that back here in the back of the box you have instructions as well it shows you how to set up your pinball machine if you're more of a uh if you like reading just follow the video i got you i got you covered here but just how to unlatch the lockdown bar we'll get into that also a guided a guided setup brochure that shows you how to properly set up the electronics on your game as well as pinball basics to keep your game running well to keep it clean etc so keep these on hand yeah so if if if this looks better to you you then shut off the video you can you can just follow this and i'm not bitter i'm not bitter at all you just follow this shut off the video i can tell you this we're going to cover all this stuff just fine well most of all of this stuff i'm going to walk you through it and you're not going to have as much fun if you shut off the video but uh no no we're here forget it so we have removed all of the packaging from the top and move the legs out of the way our next step is going to be to cut this front panel down exposing the bottom of that pinball machine so that we can get the that we get the machine out of the box you may elect to lay this whole thing down with help of course and kind of pull it and shimmy it out if you want to keep this box but again if you do keep the box message me exactly flipping out pinball.com let me know how long you kept it before you ended up throwing it away okay so again truck this side only that's the one we're cutting we're going to take our box cutter or knife and we're going to take one vertical cut all the way to the ground and then one vertical cut all the way to the ground to expose this panel downward [Music] okay we've cut our panel we've exposed the bottom of the pinball machine you feel so vulnerable right now it's okay baby and now we have the legs as i was talking about before see those legs are right here they're in a cardboard cover [Applause] [Music] and then we got them in plastic sheeting there's gonna be two on this side and then we're gonna find two on this side we're just gonna set these over to the side first okay with the legs out of the way we're going to position ourselves towards the front of this pinball machine there's your coin door right here and your plunger so there's going to be two bolts over here that are going to hold that front leg on two bolts over here that are going to hold that front leg on we're going to take these bolts out apply the leg reapply the bolts and tighten let's do that now you're doing great let's keep going we have our 5 8 socket here there's going to be two bolts two leg bolts right here we're just going to loosen those up take them out each of these bolts is going to come with a washer on there as well you hear that this washer is simply just going to protect the powder coat of that leg whenever we go tightening it uh so that we don't with the sharp edges of the bolts just so it doesn't cut into the powder coat it's just another preventative measure to make sure that your machine stays looking nice for years to come next let's talk about pinball legs what's super nice about these pinball machines is that all four legs that come in the box that you received are all going to be the same they're all identical there's not ones that are longer than the other to create a slope none of that they're all the same what differentiates that slope that you're going to see on a pinball machine is just the leveler on the bottom of them each one of them has the same leveler and you'll see a nut that once you level it where you want to you secure this so it doesn't go moving on you but what we're going to do for the front legs the front legs a good measure meant it depends on your height and stuff but for the most part all of my personal machines all the way down see that all the way down so they're all the way in so the front two legs are always going to be all the way in so let's fasten those now i've got my bolts here i've got my 5 8 here got leg here we're going to take one of them place it through the hole there and find the hole inside of the cabinet and they're going to be because they're they're freshly manufactured they might be a little tough you're not going to be able to get them in all the way just hand tightening them you're going to need that 5 8. now we're going to take the ratchet and tighten these up there's not an exact science to tell you how tight to get these but what i tell individuals is as you're going to tighten it you don't want to under tighten it because this thing will be wobbly and that's no good you don't want to over tighten it either because this is a wood cabinet you keep crunching down and those bad things will happen there as well i always tell people try to tighten and you go back and forth until you get them both equally tightened but tighten it with one hand the grip and the strength of one hand so i've got one hand strength nice and snug go to the next one nice and snug go back a little bit just to make sure you're snug make sure you're snug you don't want to hear crunching that means you've gone too far at the end of the world but you don't want to over tighten it i also don't want to take this and take both hands we're not putting lugs on a car people just nice tight one hand strength one hand strength and we'll repeat on the other side and voila we've got the front leg securely tightened now our next step is going to be with your help you guys kind of shimmy this out of the box we're going to get this box out of the way that way when we go to assemble the back legs we have nothing in our way let's do that now but first hold on but first i do need to tell you this see this green strap right here that's running down here do not cut that thing if you cut this then the head is going to flop over it's going to bust the glass and you're going to be sad and you're going to call me and you only got zach what do i do now it's going to be a mess don't cut this strap until we have all four legs on and it's in the upright position and we're safe to lift the head don't cut the strap i'm gonna do it i'm gonna do it no i'm joking i'm joking i'll try to do it from the side show you guys here okay another little tip for you on the bottom of these pinball machines there are little plastic nubs that protect it from scraping the ground or tearing up the back of the pinball machine but whenever they come shipped they have the leg bolts remember those leg bolts in the top here they're also in the bottom so when you're removing it from the box you need to be very careful that those sharp leg bolts don't cut up your floor or your wonderful beautiful hardwood floors that your wife would kill you if you scratched up you get me again just be careful all right you get the box out of the way did you make sure the bolts aren't gonna scrape the floor good deal next thing we're gonna do see these legs right here we're going to take them all the way to the ground remember i'm a professional i'm doing it solo but have a helper lower this thing down so essentially you're going to see the butt end of the pinball machine on the ground and then you're going to have two legs sticking sticking on the ground i'll show you just check this out see it's not that bad you're doing a great job we have it on two legs now let's get it on all four [Music] next we're going to employ that helper again get them off the couch they're going to help us pick up the back of this pinball machine and we're going to rest the back into the machine using this stool i'm going to show you in greater detail some video right now as i lifted that up you will with your helper you place the stool underneath so that you don't have to continue holding it up as we take out these bolts apply the leg etc everybody's different of where and how far they like this stool to be under the game as long as it's sturdy by itself don't don't 100 trust it but it's just there to where you can get these uh these back legs on for myself i like the stool to be about two-thirds of the way under the back of the machine and then have this portion again sticking out that's again just my preference i find that if you push it further in you get more wobble to it i want it to be as strong as possible while i'm putting on these back legs again when you're taking off these bolts make sure that you're not shaking the machine you don't want it falling off of that of that stool these are on there tight oh come on baby all right let's apply the back legs but first we need to make sure that they're adjusted if these are all the way to the ground on the back you're going to have probably a six degree incline maybe a little bit less in my opinion it feels way too floaty now depending on your preference this is a preferential choice here i like to take mine as John Youssi well John Youssi that about two inches up about two inches up i don't need to go all the way up all right i don't need to do that it's almost like a half in between typically what i find is that right around here it gets me at about six and a half to seven degrees of incline on my playing field which i prefer personally secure the nuts there and again once we get this all set up we'll be able to determine with a level left to right to make sure it is level and the incline as well for me personally that's where i like to be but you can change it over time it's really simple you just get under the machine lift it up change these even them out and you're done [Music] you don't want to cross thread these so if it's going in odd just just make sure that they go in clean sometimes they might be they may be a little tough though because again they're factory fresh so they may be a little tight tighter than these two all four legs are securely fastened so now we can again with your helper you're gonna pick up the back end of this a little bit so that you can remove the stool and then set it down on those third and fourth back legs very nicely done i'm proud of you look how far you've come in just this short video we've got the machine on four legs next we get to pop that champagne on the side of this boat and lift the head but first the only way to secure this head is going to be via two bolts that go in the back once the head is in the erect position don't laugh to get those bolts they are in the coin door to get to the coin door we got to get this thing out of the way so now is the time that we take this and we pop it didn't we and we when we cut it again i'm a professional i do this for entertainment purposes whenever you are cutting that strap make sure that there's nobody parallel to the machine in front or back or else that strap with the tension provided can fly back and you can pop an eye out kit don't do that so secure it i should have that's why you needed to wear the safety glasses i told you about the safety glasses but you just didn't listen to them to get in the coin door you're going to find the keys zip tied onto the rod here let's get these suckers off two sets of keys one set see if i pick the right one it goes in the coin box this is responsible for opening the panel on the back of the head that you have access to like the cpu and the lcd screen it's gonna be a pin in here that you need to remove in order to get the coin box uh detached in the coin box you're gonna find things you need such as a power cord tilt bob [Applause] the bolts and washers that secure the head to the cabinet i meant to do that we're going to lift the head up and secure the bolts to the back of the cabinet that way the head does not fall down it's one of my i'm a nerd it's one of my favorite parts of unboxing a brand new pinball machine is kind of unveiling it by lifting that head up let's do that now again as a reminder in the back there are two spots for bolts once you lift the head up you can insert them and screw them you don't have to have them super tight um you can do hand tightness it's kind of not going to go anywhere but just take your 5 8 and just securely tighten not even close to as tight as you're doing on those legs though you guys ready [Music] at least that's what happens in my head you're gonna have a thank you here from gary stern himself and you can sign up to the stern insider rewards program scan the code don't scan my code here's your game as John Youssi right now the head is not secure the only thing you want really want to make sure uh whenever you're doing this there's one bundle of wires in the back there just want to make sure they're going down into the cabinet not getting hung up on anything as you're here now i am screwing in and securing that head oh this game is [Music] pretty hey guess what we are nearly there you're about to start playing your brand new pinball machine but first a couple more things to secure before we begin number one we got to install the power cord on the back of the head here remember your power is on a switch right here some of the older machines that you may be accustomed to pinball machines the power is under the cabinet on these newer stern games it is right up top here okay so we're going to install that power cord we're also going to take out the glass i'm going to show you how to do that and sometimes when you get a brand new pinball machine you'll have things for shipping purposes and packing purposes there will be zip ties and different foam that you need to remove we'll lift up the play field just to show you how to do that in the service position that way if you need that in the future you'll know how but also under the play field very rarely anymore do they put anything but just just for precautions we'll make sure to look under the under the hood if you will and to see if there's anything that we need to remove before beginning after all of that is done we'll do a final inspection uh we'll put the balls in we'll put the tilt bob in and then we'll fire it up and you'll be playing your brand new pinball machine to remove the glass from your pinball machine you'll open up the coin door and inside approximately right here and right here underneath there are latches right they're going to hold this lock down bar in place to remove this glass we need to unhinge pop open those those brackets you're going to hear them right here it's really hard to get an angle on that but just believe me you'll feel it right here ready almost like a luggage latch over here right now it is detached we'll lift this up and there now you have access to the glass now as a reminder some of the older machines especially when you're going to put that lockdown bar in position this glass could slide out and break you don't want to do that this is a tempered glass so it is hard to break on top but if you tap one of these little corners on a hard surface or just they bust i don't i don't know why but they're very safe this way and they're not plated glass that way if they do break there's not shards that are going going into your eyeballs so that is how you access the glass but just make sure see this one's pretty tight this one's pretty tight it's within a channel system here right whenever you do remove the glass you need to make sure that the coin door is closed otherwise when you come slide that glass out approximately right here could scrape that coin door and then you get a big nasty line in your glass no one wants a line in their glass so as you can see i can remove the glass like so we want to keep it level as much as we can safely remove and set somewhere soft somewhere that is not going to break email us zack at flip in out pinball.com let us know if you've ever broke a playfield glass all right now now we can get into the machine look around make sure there's nothing that we need to detach let's take a closer look as we take a closer look i do not see anything in particular no zip ties that need to be detached that's always nice other thing you want to make sure go through make sure that all of the nuts are tight everything is tight in here nothing wobbly and if you miss something not the end of the world because when you start playing you will notice if something is loose these kind of things happen a lot in shipping it just it happens nothing more satisfying but as you're playing this if you run into any problems that's why it's important to have a great supportive distributor you contact us at flipping out pinball we'll walk you through the process of troubleshooting and if it's too complex or if we need some parts or whatnot that's what we're here for we'll get you out the correct parts and if it's complex to install then we'll get you out of tech and they will take care of the rest comment below on what machine you ended up with as your first new inbox pinball machine which ones you pick it's hard to pick a bad one nowadays man i want to play this next i'd like to show you how to get the playfield in the service position if for any need in the future you need to do so we've identified no real things that we need to remove from the top here so we're good there to lift the play field of a brand new pinball machine you're going to use this arch they call this the arch or the apron we're going to use this as a handle like so so using this as a handle you're going to pull up and there's going to be service rails positions pull that out and can rest right on the front of that pinball machine like so keep in mind though that if you've already inserted the balls into the game you're going to have to remove those balls if not when we lift this all the way up those balls are going to come tumbling it could break it could break plastics or a ramp whatever it may be to remove the balls safely we don't have them in here but again to remove them safely make sure your game is turned off number one and again there are multiple ways to eject the balls from the system one of the ways if the machine is on there's an option in the menu that will clear the balls if the game is off and again game needs to be off otherwise if you if you touch one of these when the game is on electricity is going to get you but see this plunger right here this is what plunger is responsible for kicking balls into the shooter trough to clear the balls you simply put your finger there and eject it manually and balls will come out of the trough you remove those put them safely somewhere before lifting this in the service position now that we've got the game sitting right here we have our service rails to get it in the vertical service position you simply hold on to one handle there's going to be a little bump on stern games little bump right there don't keep pulling there's a little bitty ledge and if you continue to pull the playfield will fall into the cabinet you don't want that so after that first bump pull slowly until you feel it stop then proceed to lift as you lift it is made to lift and rest on that head look at that service position now you have access to all of the coils all of the circuit boards node boards here these are universal node boards you're going to find one here and one here sometimes this is in a different position these are universal you can use those between games that's for an advanced video though we're going to look under here make sure that there's no zip ties or any packing that we need to remove before starting before starting the game one of the things i will have you look at inside here there should be a goodie bag attached here this is going to hold your manual any operational manual needs you have as well as a little goodie bag with extra replacement decals key fobs plastics etc if you're going to install a stern shaker motor in this game you can't see it right now but it's down in this corner here we already have four holes that are rounded out for you it's an easy install very impactful uh effective mod that i put in all my games a little over a hundred bucks they're easy to install and i can't really play a game and experience it fully without it if you ever need to access any of the plunger shooter springs and stuff it's right over here but again more of an advanced video to come looking good guys let's put the play field down and get this game started to lower the play field same way as we lifted it up you're going to take both hands you're going to pull it down as such and when you're going back you have two options because you're going to get to that bump that stop right there right you can simply set it down if you'd like on the service rail position they've got a little handle back here you can take this handle take your hand up here and just simply lift it just ever so slightly and guide it back over that bump and then you can continue down [Music] again handle handle hazel use that handle and there's two notches here that it sits right back into you can do that or it's made for it's made for this method as well remember that bump don't keep pulling if it's up pull it down if you don't want to use a handle go back a little bit and bump it right back into place using this as the handle to lower it a little more clunky that way but it's made it's made for that it works can you feel it we're almost there we got the power cord here i'm going to plug it into the back of the head it's always good to plug this end into a surge protector before uh before going into the main power of the wall just as an extra precaution now remember we had our bag of balls here each particular game is different how many balls it needs they're always going to come from the factory standard with the required number of pinballs you can always check down here on uh right by your apron it should have a decal that says install x balls this one says install six balls and that's in fact what they did give us i will do another uh another tip for you guys always inspect the pinballs whenever you get them out these are things that stern your other manufacturers they buy in abundance so if these are sitting around a long time you could see some some rust or some pits or something like that not always the most ideal to use if that's the case it's always good to have an extra set of pin bowls in in in stock for yourself if you ever need to change them out what's also important these pin balls come with a very fine layer of oil on them so it does prevent rust or pitting or anything like that so before just go throw these balls in here we're going to do a no solution needed but we're going to wipe down with a microfiber towel these pin balls you can add a little bit of water if you like water water water it's water it's water if you want to add water you can i usually add water and then i wipe them down kind of buff them out if you will with a microfiber towel i'm going to do that right now sorry to be all up in your personal business but check out look back from the cleaners check out those shiny pinballs look at that just look at them oh god now the reason i've got them in my shirt is because it bugs me if i see like a fingerprint when i'm playing so i try to simply lay them down you just naturally just lay them down they'll go in the trough and you are good to go another thing to keep in mind this is a brand new pinball machine for you over time after so many plays there is a a nice clear coat on here so you're going to see little bitty divots or dimples almost like a almost like a fine golf ball you're going to see those that is normal maybe not always the most ideal aesthetically but this is a brand new machine so every time a bowl takes a little layer and hits down it's wood and it's a clear coat so it's going to dimple it over time over hundreds and thousands of plays it will end up evening itself out so if John Youssi those not to worry that's very normal i don't know about you but i think it's time to turn this game on we're gonna put the glass back in i'll do that now and i'll start the game up so that you can see how we can set this thing up again when you're installing this always keep it flat there's two channels one there and one there find the channel keep it level and push it back in factory fresh it's going to be a little bit tighter and over time it'll kind of work itself lock down bar remember to see where my hand was i'm going to get my lock down bar it's still secure there so i don't uh look away and this thing goes slide now all right check it out see there's two notches right here bam but a bam those go into the two notch holes there see how that works look at that look at that now open the coin door remember the two latches now instead of taking them off we're going to insert them back on snap them down there's one ready snap and here's another the moment of truth congratulations your game is on and it's ready to go almost it's almost ready to go one of the most common questions i get is zach how do i put it on free play so that i don't have to insert coins in here let's show you that right now the basic setup on the operating system to access the in-game settings and operating system you open up the coin door and you'll see four buttons here now what i try to tell people picture these four buttons very simple if you're wanting to turn the volume up or down in a game at any point during game player when the game is on you open up the coin door and you'll see these red buttons that indicate volume down volume up but if you want to get into the operating system instead of just the volumes picture these four buttons as follows enter left and right back enter left and right back we're going to press the enter button twice by hitting the enter button twice on that coin door you're going to see some options again the left and right can guide you through and the enter key will go into one of them diagnostics is for your test settings if you want to make sure an led works a coil works a switch works etc you'll go into diagnostics aud is for audits audits identifies all of the statistics of this game if you want to know how many times the ball went into the left out lane you can find it here if you want to see how many games were played in a lifetime on this godzilla machine you can also do so here adjustments is where you're going to change game settings and machine settings this is where we're going to find free play as well as putting on extra balls maybe ball time we want to increase the ball time add extra balls to a game maybe you want five balls in the game rather than three etc net is a new feature for stern games you may or may not see this on your game but if it is insider connected enabled net is going to hook you up to the internet via wi-fi this is also a place you can go for any of the code updates that you can now do so over the internet rather than a usb jump drive utilities you can be you can use for setting your time and date adjusting custom messaging and so forth tour tournament just enables the tournament mode if you want to turn that on for competitions in red is an indication for redemption system if these are on location and you want a ticket dispensary system you can do so there to the right of that is quit that will quit and get you back to the main gameplay let's dive a little deeper into the settings when you just open up and are setting up your brand new game there's really little to no reason to go into diagnostics quite yet same for audits adjustments is what we're looking for again with the four buttons on the coin door back enter left and right we highlight adjustments and press enter you're going to see standard adjustments and feature adjustments and then previous if you want to go back to the main menu or quit the service menu all together to go back to your game and if you need any help it's there as well let's start with standard adjustments this is all your preference as to how you want to set up your game some of the most common adjustments before starting your game include the following i tell a lot of our customers that when the game is at home being awarded a replay is special however right now the default is set to credit that is whenever you achieve a replay award you'll simply get a free game now if this is at home it doesn't really make sense since your game is already on free play so a lot of people pressing enter like to change this pressing left and right to earn an extra ball we'll do so by pressing enter once you become more proficient at pinball a lot of really competitive players like to decrease the extra ball limit or the amount of extra balls you can earn to none for me that's a little tough while i may not need five my current level and preference of having fun is about three but let's keep default for now you can also set your extra ball percentage change pricing how often you match at the end what happens when you match how many balls you're playing in the game let's say you want three balls that's standard some of our friends and customers like to play more five balls six set ten don't don't play ten if you're just you're glutton for punishment one one ball only let's keep it factory three tilt warnings etc etc one of the other things i like to change you can also this is one thing a lot of people change whenever you get a high score you can enter your initials the default is three initials that's pretty standard across the board in pinball but stern enables a ten letter name if you so choose that way you can put your full name in or a nickname there's our free play if you're at home and you don't want to put quarters or dollars into this thing every time you press start you press enter change it to free play yes you press enter again and now that is installed adding custom messages all save time if you find yourself getting really frustrated because you keep draining and going to the next ball you can increase that that's what i love about brand new pinball machines in the 21st century there are so many different options that you can change if your heart desires even the led brightness how much it's flashing and we're back to the beginning now i'm going to press the back button remember the far left back button it gets me back to the main adjustment menu let's go to feature adjustments here you can select things that are more specified to the game at hand this being godzilla i don't necessarily recommend when you're first getting used to a game changing any of these things over time of familiarizing yourself with the gameplay you'll know what each of these means and how it's best built and adjusted to your liking but as always you're here for the extra info this is another tip that i use as we get far enough into the feature adjustments you'll see things like left flipper power 240 is a number that equates to the power of the coil or the power of that left flipper i don't change those right flipper i don't change any of that slingshot if they're going a little wild you might turn those down but what i do adjust on every game in my home setting is the trough eject power the trough eject power is the velocity speed and power the ball takes from the trough or where the where the balls are stored down here by the apron and how fast and powerful it kicks it up into that shooter lane and ready for a plunge the reason i adjust this is because 225 is not a level that you need in the home setting why might you change this well we're throwing a steel ball bearing into wood over time the more you do so at some point you're going to show some wear to that wood i prefer to limit how quickly that shows where so i bring it down to 165. some games the lowest you can go is about 176. go low 165 i find is a good medium and i've never once had a ball in my ownership of hundreds of machines never once have i had the ball not be strong enough for the coil not be strong enough to kick that ball into the shooter lane believe me turn it down you will thank me later if you ever go to resell this game one of the first areas people look at to see and judge how much a game has been played is the shooter lane this will save you hundreds and we're back to the beginning let's press back and we're going to we could go to quit but i'm going to just press simply back again and back again but i mean if you wanted to set up the internet connection you could do so now but we're not going to be doing that in this video this is just showing you how to unbox and properly set up your pinball machine back and we're good you get a message on the screen that says the 48 volts is disabled it knows when the coin door is open to cut the high power to some of those coils so that minimizes any risk of injury from touching or being electrocuted before we press start and begin playing this fun game of yours i want to personally thank you again for all of the support and the business that you've awarded flipping out pinball nicole and i are very appreciative and we're one phone call away if you're having any troubles with your brand new pinball machine please reach out to us at zakzach at flip the letter in out pinball.com or you can text me at 812-457-9711 unless it's like two in the morning and then i'll probably still respond i just may think you're a little weird i'm just being honest here and if you didn't buy a pinball machine from us but you're watching this video hey we've got more room aboard for you come on let's do it godzilla first time i'm seeing this coming out of the ground in tokyo all right everybody enjoy your machine remember to comment below share this video so that your friends will know how to properly unbox and set up their pinball machine also comment down below to tell us which one you bought what did you buy and the most important question before we close is are you flipping out it's super corny but if not if you're not flipping out if you're not with us at flipping out please reach out to us let us know why we would love to help you through the process and we'd love to catch you on the next one but until then let's get it going or if i can play backwards that's how crazy i am first game i've ever played on godzilla and i'm playing backwards not even looking [Music] you're serious clark [Music] ah vacuuming the kitchen floors right now [Music] ouch that's why you take out the staples ow jeez almost got my nip ninja's gonna pop in so like the pinball machine is its butt is on the ground and ouch [Applause] [Music] _(Acquisition: youtube_auto_sub, Enrichment: v3)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: ad5c9886-0484-467d-be59-0b529001b342*