4 comments on “Gottlieb Counterforce – Repair & Service Log #1

  1. Hi Andrew: I’m a new pinhead in Canada and also have a Counterforce that looks surprisingly like what you have. Same wear and use characteristics. Mine had the added insult of having been knocked around pretty bad. No playfield glass, head box obviously askew, and lower cabinet divider smashed in. It looked like it fell off a dock or ramp. Any way am chipping away at mine, new power board, cleaning and reassembly of many parts, some new coils, repaired Pop bumper drivers, new pop bumper caps, new targets, lane guides, rubbers. Still need some new displays (actually smashed)and new switches. I am trying to get a printed mylar overlay for the damaged area of the playfield. It’s a real challenge to convert a digital photo to a proper scaled mylar applique, but I’ll keep trying. I actually had my game in play but the controlled lamps on the playfield all stopped lighting so am looking at a new problem. Hope yours is working well. Ill keep looking for updates but decided to reply to your first CF post because I found it interesting how similar the condition was / is to what I’m working on. I bought mine as a parts box, but now I want to get it to work reliably.

    • Hi John, Thanks for contacting me. I’m surprised to hear your machine has similar wear spots. I had thought most of mine were from a failed attempt at mylar removal (especially the sections through the middle of the playfield). Maybe the wear was just poor maintenance over a long period of time. Sounds like yours has been treated even rougher than mine – luckily though they are tough machines and with the right attention, can be brought back from the dead to live for a long time yet. Good luck with the printed overlay – I would have liked to try myself, but it would require a lot of time that I wasn’t willing to give. Have you re pinned all the connectors in the headbox? These System 80 machines are notorious for issues due to poor connections on the edge style connections on the boards. I ended up selling mine a few months back to make way for a new machine. A fun game though – would love to see how yours ends up if you manage to get the artwork overlay done! Cheers, Andrew.

    • I’ve picked up a few machines now that originated in Italy. Some pinball suppliers here source machines from overseas via large containers, with Italy being one source. I find it amazing to think about the journey a machine has taken through the years from starting in Italy, to its life on the streets, to private ownership and then finally here to Australia. I imagine some machines would have some very interesting stories 🙂

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