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Earthshaker Pinball Restoration: Episode 1

Cary Hardy·video·12m 28s·analyzed·Feb 12, 2024
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.014

TL;DR

Earthshaker restoration teardown: methodical playfield disassembly with connector modifications for future serviceability.

Summary

Cary Hardy documents the first episode of a comprehensive Earthshaker pinball machine restoration, focusing on complete playfield teardown. The video demonstrates professional restoration methodology including systematic component removal, organization techniques, and key innovations like adding connectors to solenoid leads to eliminate future soldering. Hardy emphasizes the importance of documentation and shows detailed workflows for disconnecting wiring harnesses, lamp matrices, and switch assemblies before preparing for playfield replacement.

Key Claims

  • Adding connectors to solenoid leads eliminates the need for future soldering when replacing bad coils, making maintenance more accessible

    high confidence · Direct demonstration and explanation of the modification technique applied throughout the teardown

  • Taking thorough pictures during restoration is essential documentation that surpasses memory for reassembly reference

    high confidence · Stated as best practice at the beginning of the restoration process

  • Using a cordless drill with torque settings significantly improves efficiency over manual nut drivers for component removal

    high confidence · Demonstrated multiple times throughout the video with explicit comparison to previous hand-tool methods

  • HEP (another restorer) uses the solenoid connector method, which Hardy initially questioned but now endorses despite the extra teardown time

    medium confidence · Hardy references HEP's method and explains understanding why it's beneficial

Notable Quotes

  • “Pictures are always going to be better than your memory. Trust me on that.”

    Cary Hardy@ 1:22 — Core restoration philosophy emphasizing documentation best practices

  • “I love this wireless drill there is a torque setting on it to go to full maximum which you will need to do whenever you're drilling into the new play field”

    Cary Hardy@ 8:21 — Tool endorsement and practical specification for restoration work

  • “I could see how and why certain restorers like hip Chris at HEP does this I've seen it and I'm just like I wonder why and I see why now because it's a little more time-consuming when it comes to the teardown but when it comes to reassembly this is gonna be amazing”

    Cary Hardy@ 7:00 — Articulates the trade-off reasoning behind the connector modification methodology

  • “I'm never going back never again after experiencing it utilizing this tool”

    Cary Hardy@ 11:04 — Strong endorsement of modern tool adoption over traditional methods

  • “Now with the connections being this way, me or a potential future owner doesn't have to solder over the playfield or over the machine in general whenever replacing a bad coil”

    Cary Hardy@ 5:11 — Articulates long-term serviceability benefits and owner consideration

Entities

Cary HardypersonEarthshakergameHEPpersonWilliamscompany

Signals

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Restoration approach prioritizes long-term owner accessibility and reduced future soldering requirements, indicating philosophy shift toward service-friendly modification

    high · Quote: 'me or a potential future owner doesn't have to solder over the playfield or over the machine in general whenever replacing a bad coil'

  • ?

    community_signal: Hardy demonstrates systematic, methodical restoration approach with emphasis on documentation, organization, and forward-thinking serviceability modifications

    high · Explicit discussion of photo documentation, color-coded organization systems, and adoption of connector methodology to benefit future owners

  • ?

    product_strategy: Solenoid connector modification represents aftermarket enhancement to improve future serviceability and reduce soldering complexity

    high · Detailed implementation of connectors on all solenoid leads with explicit explanation of maintenance benefits; comparison to HEP methodology

  • ?

    technology_signal: Adoption of cordless drill with torque settings as replacement for manual nut drivers, representing modernization of restoration tooling

    high · Direct comparison: 'I used to do this all by hand with nut drivers guys and I'm never going back never again after experiencing it utilizing this tool'

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.037

0:00
It's time guys, but it's too cold outside. Currently 10 degrees. Not fun conditions to be working on these machines, so I'm gonna be bringing this thing inside the house and Earthshaker is a go.
0:30
All right, day one of Earthshaker. So first thing that needs to be done whenever you're doing a restoration that you plan on taking everything off the top side is to go ahead and get the plate filled up and disconnect all the connectors that connect it to underneath the plate. You want to be able to basically be able to lift everything off without having to reach back up underneath here again. So also before doing everything, you want to take thorough pictures of all this. So that way you have a reference point in case you forget where things go or don't know where something goes in the future. Because pictures are always going to be better than your memory. Trust me on that.
1:29
So with that removed, that gives me the ability to move the plate field up into this position a lot easier.
1:38
And I've got the plate field jacks on both sides right here. And I've got the plate field bottom portion resting the nook of the lockdown receiver. Is this the best ideal situation down here? not so much but it's basically resting on one of the I think it's the one of the trough switches or the outhold down here but it's getting it to where it's not going anywhere and if that does get damaged it's going to be minimal but the current situation is looking pretty good when it comes to accessing the entire top side of the playfield and that was my goal at this point so But now we're going to start taking everything off of this damn thing. As I'm taking this apart, I've got multiples of these little items right here that you can get off Amazon. I mean, you can use all different types of things. is one method of separating hardware and stuff like that. Then of course you have the good old fashioned one gallon zip lock bags to keep everything separate so that way you know where everything goes or goes to a certain mech or a certain portion of the playfield To each their own but I just found the good ziploc bag method that works for me So I still use these in a little bit. But uh, yeah, that's one method I go about separating everything out
3:31
Thank you. This is something I'm going to be doing to all of my solenoids is basically clipping, adding a connector, and then of course putting a connector on here. But I'm not going to bother putting the connectors on these ends first because I'm going to be doing a complete clean on the wiring harness with the dishwasher. So I'm not worried about that yet, but you know that way I know at least for sure what color of wires go to what connector when it comes to
4:32
Reinstallation so now it's just a matter of doing this for all that Some of you may be curious on basically what all work is involved in doing this and how long does it take? so I'm going to show you this portion in real time and And like I stated earlier, this is something I'm definitely going to be doing on all of my restorations going forward. Although some of the reasons why I did not mention is that now with the connections being this way, me or a potential future owner doesn't have to solder over the playfield or over the machine in general whenever replacing a bad coil. They can simply remove said mechanism from the plate field, attach a new coil to that particular mech, and all they have to do is solder on those new leads off of the machine, and it's got the connector ready to go. It just makes it much more comfortable to work with. And I mentioned that Hep does this. His method is much better than my method, of course, but it's still, you know, in the end, going to give you the same benefits.
5:51
Every solenoid line has been cut and connectors are in place. And once I have desoldered all of the flash bulbs Then the wiring harness to the solenoids
6:23
It's pretty much ready for removal. If once you get it from fricking grabbing onto everything else. So that right there is what the plate field looks like with all of the it looks like with all of the solenoid wiring gone so there's that portion of the harness right there but yeah this is gonna be something and I'm gonna be going doing going forward I could see how and why certain restorers like hip Chris at HEP does this I've seen it and I'm just like I wonder why and I see why now because it's a little more time-consuming when it comes to the teardown but when it comes to reassembly this is gonna be amazing right here no more so many soldering and that you're gonna have to do or would normally have to do I'm no longer gonna have to do there's no worry about accidentally getting the wires crossed because you're gonna have matching color points going from to and fro right here because a lot of times people will go oh i don't know is this one going this particular lead or that lead or whatever the diode this direction that direction people can sometimes get confused and stuff so just one less thing to worry about now so now what should we remove now i guess i could technically remove all of the solenoids and everything make the play field a little more bare i just wanted to take a moment to show you the capabilities of this wireless drill that I bought and I showed off in my toolbox video I had some doubters on this drill's capabilities when it came to torque and everything and I just wanted to clarify after using this for the teardown and also using it during the build up I love this wireless drill there is a torque setting on it to go to full maximum which you will need to do whenever you're drilling into the new play field but as far as like tear down and reassembly and everything and ease of use and longevity so far i do enjoy this cordless drill the next portion of the harness that i'm going to be removing is the gi connections right here this is the next harness that needs to come off and then finally the switch matrix harness so the lamp matrix is what i'm working on right now starting down here getting all these disconnected and over here and then working my way up and then that harness comes off and then i'll start going through the switch to get that removed
9:12
and that where it is just all these right here need to come unscrewed and be removed and i have to desolder this right here these connections and yep All right. All we got left now is the Switch Matrix. This is all the Switches that are on this game. so we're gonna go through and take all of this off look at this disgusting i'm holding my damn phone with the other hand it looks just as bad oh lord but so now we're gonna take all of this off and i pretty much decided that all these targets they need to be replaced anyway so i'm not worried about them being damaged or whatever so whenever i throw this into the dishwasher uh i'm not worried about it the switches they go pretty good and dishwasher no concern there but these sometimes we'll have to look at the leafs and everything after it's all said and done in the context to make sure they look good but even then i'm just going to get new targets anyways but yeah i'm trying to make sure that everything looks all right but i think i'm gonna start taking all this off okay so i've sped this portion up but again just to point out how handy this cordless drill is i used to do this all by hand with nut drivers guys and i'm never going back never again after experiencing it utilizing this tool.
11:33
All right, guys. So we are at the point to where everything has been removed, top side and bottom side. of this earth shaker. So now we need to start populating up the new plate field right here.
11:57
And that's where we're going to go more than likely in the next episode. So first thing I want to start doing is getting all the t-nuts. I've got new ones. We're going to put them on here and it's just going to be a lot of mimicking what we see here and putting it on here with all the GI lines stapling all those and stuff like that. Diodes for the pop bumpers and all that. So that's where we're going to go next is start populating up the new plate field.