My Carnival Queen: the game with issues

My Carnival Queen has broken down for the nth time.

Even my non-bingo pinball buddies recognize the Carnival Queen for being temperamental. A.K.A. Always broken. With good reason! This game is worn down to the whitewood. It was operated for 29 years continuously. In it's heyday it was played from opening to closing of the bar or tavern it was in. It's the first magic screen bingo I ever fixed. Since then, I've fixed a few!

 

 

It's most recent failure was the search wiper hub grenading. Probably due to the bad batch of neatsfoot oil I used when I last lubricated the clutch washers. Too much drag. The bakelite part just couldnt take the pressure anymore and broke.

Fortunately I had a spare hub. The replacement was simple enough. I re-lubed the search wiper clutch and it was good to go.

 

 

I remember the mood I was in when I first fixed that game. I was down. My marriage was falling apart. I was fixated on fixing that game. By the time I finally got the game working, my now ex-wife had already moved out.

 

Maybe it was the time of year. Maybe it was the red wine. But when I played the first game after this most recent repair. The machine all lit up and jaunty. It brought a shrinkwrap of tears to my eyes.