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Fill Em Up questions:
1) can someone confirm the dimensions of the original balls? (I saw 1/2" and 34/64" in there)
2) can someone confirm the dimensions of the original glass?

Happy to say... I got one!!!



An operator had removed the far left and right pins to make them losing columns, but really I don't mind. Makes it harder and it's fine for home playing.

And it plays pretty great too.
The only issue is that when a win goes in and raises up the rear flag/catch, you rotate the knob and the plate sweeps to the back, catching that lip and moving the inner plate forward, which then raises the stopper that allows the knob to move the whole way. My problem is that the stopper doesn't quite move enough by the time it is engaged. Sometime jiggling the knob will work, but any ideas where to inspect and see what part of that cascade of action should be adjusted?
Trying to leave it as original as possible, so while I certainly could modify the metal catch a tad, I'd prefer not to.

Follow-up: the payout levers seem to work fine now, perhaps just some old cobwebs needed to be shaken out. But now sometimes the payouts aren't quite 1 coin per ball, so I might have to look into that. Are thin coins a common problem with payout mechs like these?

My write up: http://pinballnovice.blogspot.com/2020/ ... y-inc.html

Ball dimensions of the Fill Em Up and similar machines have been discussed before. My machine didn't have any balls and I put 35 in at 9/16 inch diameter on the thought that being British they are most likely to be imperial. It works perfectly but I believe others have had success with close metric equivalent. Whilst cobwebs may have caused problems it may also be that balls are sitting in the gully that sits behind the ball exit hole - scoop them along with a suitable implement to release. It's always best not to use thin coins. Try filling the hopper and playing with only Elizabeth pennies.

What's the difference between "generic pre-decimal pennies" and "Elizabeth pennies"?
I'll try the standard 9/16 bearings. But you should really put 45 in, to accommodate a maxed-out board. ;)

I put 45 balls in my post of March 13th,2014 under the heading 'What's My Line', but due to a typo/memory loss put 35 this time. Elizabeth pennies, as in our queen, were the latest old pennies to be minted and as such should be the least worn in terms of thickness.

cait001 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 07, 2020 4:03 pm Follow-up: the payout levers seem to work fine now, perhaps just some old cobwebs needed to be shaken out. But now sometimes the payouts aren't quite 1 coin per ball, so I might have to look into that. Are thin coins a common problem with payout mechs like these?

The payout slides might need a clean, that's what caused mine to pay incorrectly as they were sticking sometimes.

13rebel wrote: ↑Tue Apr 07, 2020 4:43 pm Ball dimensions of the Fill Em Up and similar machines have been discussed before. My machine didn't have any balls and I put 35 in at 9/16 inch diameter on the thought that being British they are most likely to be imperial. It works perfectly but I believe others have had success with close metric equivalent. Whilst cobwebs may have caused problems it may also be that balls are sitting in the gully that sits behind the ball exit hole - scoop them along with a suitable implement to release. It's always best not to use thin coins. Try filling the hopper and playing with only Elizabeth pennies.

Here's something interesting: 9/16" balls don't work for me! in 2 of the columns the tolerance is just off and they get stuck.
I used my micrometer and all the balls in the machine measure 35/64, and all the new ball 9/16. That's a 1/64 difference, but it makes all the difference in the world!
so times for me to try and clean up the old balls as best I can and save the 50-pack of 9/16" balls for another day/project.

13rebel wrote: ↑Tue Apr 07, 2020 9:01 pmElizabeth pennies, as in our queen, were the latest old pennies to be minted and as such should be the least worn in terms of thickness.

thank you!

magikkk wrote: ↑Tue Apr 07, 2020 10:29 pm The payout slides might need a clean, that's what caused mine to pay incorrectly as they were sticking sometimes.

Unsure if I'll do a full tear down, but I will eventually look into cleaning all of the slides. I've found the 3-ball columns reliably have issues, giving a full 6 coin payout, while almost all others are good.

Meanwhile, I have this all nicely set up...

They look good together. Was that wooden pachinko cabinet custom-made?

cait001 wrote: ↑Sat Apr 11, 2020 4:23 pm I used my micrometer and all the balls in the machine measure 35/64, and all the new ball 9/16. That's a 1/64 difference, but it makes all the difference in the world!

There has been debate previously re 9/16" balls, which is pretty much standard size for most allwins. I recall that the correct size appears to be 14mm. Given that these machines were manufactured in the late '50s/early 60s, the use of metric size balls would have been somewhat progressive!
As 14mm balls are probably going to be far easier to source than 35/64", that's probably the way to go (there's only about 0.004" difference).

Hi,
Not sure if it helps but I have just restored my "Fill Em Up" and there were 40 balls in there. Also had the same problem with payouts, but just needed cleaning and adjustment. Great machines and engaging to play!
Liking the little base ball in your picture by the way. Would you sell/swap it maybe?
Pics attached of mine after 8 hours of stripping/sanding/varnishing etc.

pennymachines wrote: ↑Sat Apr 11, 2020 10:11 pm They look good together. Was that wooden pachinko cabinet custom-made?

The trim was added to the pachinko cabinet by whomever was operating it. The stain on the trim is the same as on the machine itself, so I imagine it was a decoration, but early on in its life.

pennymachines wrote: ↑Sat Apr 11, 2020 10:11 pm They look good together. Was that wooden pachinko cabinet custom-made?

The trim was added to the pachinko cabinet by whomever was operating it. The stain on the trim is the same as on the machine itself, so I imagine it was a decoration but early on in its life.

deano67 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 12, 2020 1:48 pm Hi,
Not sure if it helps but I have just restored my "Fill Em Up" and there were 40 balls in there. Also had the same problem with payouts, but just needed cleaning and adjustment. Great machines and engaging to play!
Liking the little base ball in your picture by the way. Would you sell/swap it maybe ?
Pics attached of mine after 8 hours of stripping/sanding/varnishing etc.

Your Fill Em Up, like most others, have great colours compared to mine! Mine are so faded. Ah well, I still love it.

Base Ball is an interesting little game. It's funny how tiny and light the case and the balls are in it compared to Fill Em Up.
I would consider trading it, but there is only a limited range of things on my wish list. Plus, I'm in Canada.

Ah sorry, didn't realize you were so far away! Yes the backflash is good on mine but then I paid good money for it (680 GBP). Can you not get a repro backflash done maybe?

deano67 wrote:I have just restored my "Fill Em Up" and there were 40 balls in there

Assuming that in the unlikely (but possible) event, all of the columns were full, then the total amount of stacked balls would be 42 (column ball capacities = 1,2,3,4,5,6 x 2), therefore one more ball would be required to trigger any column so total balls in the machine should be 43.

deano67 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 12, 2020 5:13 pm Ah sorry, didn't realize you were so far away! Yes the backflash is good on mine but then I paid good money for it (680 GBP). Can you not get a repro backflash done maybe?

I'm sure it's possible to get a reproduction done, but it's only original once, right? It has some bubbling/buckling, so if it ever cracks and impedes gameplay I'll look to replace it, but for now I'm just going to leave it.

Cleaned all the 35/64" balls, but wish I had a tumbler to get any pitting out.
One day I'll get around to cleaning the payout slides.

On my machine it would need 44 balls to fill all columns and plus one more to trigger a win. I also wondered why there were only 40 balls. Maybe they are stuck in there somewhere, or just were removed at some point, or just never there to start with. Like you say, would be quite unusual to have all columns full before a win was triggered I guess?