# On Location With Viper Night Drivin' and X Files Pinball Machines **Source:** Cary Hardy **Type:** video **Published:** 2018-10-28 **Duration:** 4m 52s **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhJScjKH3fA --- ## Analysis Cary Hardy performs monthly maintenance on two location-based pinball machines: X-Files and Viper Night Drivin'. Work includes coil replacement on Viper, flipper coil swap due to end-of-stroke switch failure, wire reflow on X-Files left slingshot, and mechanical inspection. Hardy discusses operator preferences for machines without shooter lane pullers due to wear from casual players. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] One flipper coil on Viper Night Drivin' went bad due to end-of-stroke switch issue — _Direct observation during maintenance video; temporary coil had been in place for about a week before replacement_ - [HIGH] X-Files machine had a broken wire to the left slingshot switch that required reflow — _Discovered during deep mechanical inspection; identified as the only switch issue after thorough verification_ - [HIGH] The operator prefers machines without shooter lane pullers because kids damage them by hanging on or slamming the rod — _Hardy directly states operator preference and reasoning based on casual player behavior_ - [HIGH] Location machines get beaten up significantly by inexperienced players, particularly kids holding down flipper buttons continuously — _Hardy provides context on wear patterns specific to location-based machines vs home machines_ ### Notable Quotes > "He's had it on there for about a week so that way he can continuously bring in money while the new coil has finally come in the mail" > — **Cary Hardy**, ~0:25 > _Demonstrates operator business model priority: keeping machines generating revenue during repair cycles with temporary solutions_ > "So now I'm a little paranoid and I want to make sure that there are no more other broken wires that could be throughout the machine" > — **Cary Hardy**, ~2:00 > _Shows diagnostic thoroughness; discovering one switch issue prompts full machine inspection to prevent cascading failures_ > "These machines really get beat up a lot. Kids that still don't know how to play pinball essentially can go up to those machines and just hold down the flipper buttons and just beat it up." > — **Cary Hardy**, ~4:15 > _Articulates fundamental difference in wear patterns and maintenance needs for location machines vs collector machines_ > "He likes the machines that just have the push button to shoot the ball into the play field" > — **Cary Hardy**, ~5:00 > _Identifies specific operator preference for machine design that reduces mechanical vulnerability to casual player abuse_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Cary Hardy | person | Pinball technician and location operator performing on-location maintenance and repair | | X-Files Pinball | game | WMS/Bally pinball machine on location; underwent monthly maintenance including switch wire reflow | | Viper Night Drivin' | game | Pinball machine on location requiring flipper coil replacement due to end-of-stroke switch failure | | Tales of the Arabian Nights | game | Cary Hardy's home restoration project currently being modified with EL Wire; awaiting parts to continue work | ### Topics - **Primary:** On-location machine maintenance and repair, Flipper coil failure and replacement, Switch wire integrity and electrical troubleshooting, Location machine wear patterns and operator preferences - **Secondary:** Casual vs experienced player impact on machine durability, Aftermarket modifications (EL Wire project) ### Sentiment **Neutral** (0.5) — Hardy presents maintenance work factually and methodically without strong opinion. Tone is professional and educational. No complaints about machines or operators. Minor positive note about operator's machine preferences showing good decision-making. ### Signals - **[market_signal]** Operator preference for machines with push-button shooter over mechanical pullers reflects wear-driven purchasing decisions in location market (confidence: medium) — Operator specifically prefers machines without shooter lane pullers because kids damage the mechanical rod through hanging and slamming - **[product_concern]** End-of-stroke switch failures on flipper coils causing downstream mechanical failures on location machines (confidence: medium) — Flipper coil on Viper Night Drivin' failed due to end-of-stroke switch issue; temporary coil required one-week substitution - **[technology_signal]** Switch wire integrity issues discovered on location machines requiring reactive repair rather than preventive maintenance (confidence: medium) — Broken wire found on X-Files left slingshot during routine inspection; Hardy's paranoia prompted additional verification to identify no other issues --- ## Transcript What's up guys? So I will be on location now. I will be doing a monthly maintenance routine on two machines. That will be X-Files and Bopper Not Driving. But I also will be swapping out some flipper coils because one of them went bad due to an end of stroke switch issue. So I got a temporary coil on there right now. He's had it on there for about a week so that way he can continuously bring in money. while the new coil has finally come in the mail and so now i will be putting that on there as well so uh we're gonna head inside and get this show on the road so here we have the x files and fiber not driving pinball machines that i have on location i'm just going to be doing a monthly inspection to make sure everything is working appropriately along with switching out a coil that on Viper not driving Now this X machine isn really that dirty so I not going to be doing a clean so much on this one checking up under the hood here just to verify that my coils are doing what they supposed to be doing so here we have mechanically everything seems to be going pretty good here free flowing no slowdown nothing sticking so let's try the other coil over here on this side and everything seems to be mechanically sound on this one as well. So going deeper under the hood I find that on my left slingshot over here I've got a broken wire to the switch. So now I'm a little paranoid and I want to make sure that there are no more other broken wires that could be throughout the machine. So the search begins going to be verifying that all switch have a good connection nothing else is just loosely laying about the place and after going through it it looks like that is the only switch that i'm going to have to reflow so that's some good news switch has been reflown i should be able to get a good little tug on this wire right here and everything should be good yes nice and tight i going to make sure the switch is working manually coil is firing so yes on to viper not driving i gonna make sure the coil mix on this one are working appropriately that one's good this is my temporary coil so i'm gonna be switching out this coil with the appropriate binding coil that goes with this game coil has now been replaced everything should be good to go. Mechanically sound, this machine is ready to keep on bringing in the money for the operator. So this is going to be a really quick video. I just wanted to show you some of the things that I do when I go on location to look at these machines, particularly just the one that I knew that I had to replace the coil on. These are things that just need to be done here and there, especially whenever I'm dealing with machines that are on location. These things really get beat up a lot. Kids that still don't know how to play pinball essentially can go up to those machines and just hold down the flipper buttons and just beat it up. And, you know, that's why this operator particularly likes the machines that do not have the actual puller for the shootout lane, because a lot of kids come up there and they'll hang on the shooter lane rod or they be just slamming in and it just tears the machine up So he likes the machines that just have the push button to shoot the ball into the play field i didn go over all the details on how i clean the machines because it essentially the same video that i have on my channel that you can go through right now and it just basic cleaning going over to make sure everything functions correctly so that's it i know that some of y'all are looking for the other portion of the el wire video i will be continuing that but i have to order certain parts to continue this project that I'm working on and once I get that in then I will continue to make a video on the rest of that to show you what I'm doing with my Tales of the Arabian Nights when it comes to EL Wire so that is still in the works. Thanks for watching till the end if you like what you've seen please hit that thumbs up right there and do not forget to subscribe in case you have not already and if you want to be notified of whenever I post new material then hit the bell icon next to the subscribe button otherwise you're just not going to know when i post things that's it for now guys until next time peace out _(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: ec8ade98-d4f2-45d8-9bbd-a4841ea09a20*