Repair or replace a pinball circuit board: which to choose for your machine?
🛠️ Your Pinball Machine No Longer Starts? Repair or Replace the Circuit Board?
Is your pinball machine no longer starting, restarting on its own or showing strange behavior?
The problem often comes from the main circuit board: CPU, driver, power supply or sound board.
At Pinballs.Store, we specialize in new circuit boards for Gottlieb and Williams pinball machines. This question comes up every day: should I have my original board repaired or replace it with a new one?
Here is a complete, honest and practical comparison to help you choose the most reliable, economical and durable solution for your machine.
Option 1: Have an original circuit board repaired
✅ Advantages
- Lower initial price: between 40 and 90 € for a simple repair.
- Authenticity preserved: often preferred by collectors.
- Eco-friendly approach: limits electronic waste.
❌ Disadvantages
- 40-year-old components = uncertain reliability.
- Scarcity of parts: some chips are impossible to find (e.g. System 1 Gottlieb).
- Long lead times: up to 3 weeks, depending on the repairers available.
- Little or no warranty: in the event of a new breakdown, everything has to be redone.
Option 2: Buy a new board from Pinballs.Store
We offer new boards compatible with:
- Williams System 3, 4, 6, 6A, 7
- Gottlieb System 80, 80A and 80B
Based on the open source projects LISY.dev, our boards are designed to perfectly replace the originals, while offering modern performance and reliability.
✅ Advantages
- Maximum reliability: modern components, built-in protections, increased lifespan.
- Easy installation: Plug & Play, no soldering, instructions included.
- Bonus features: Freeplay, diagnostics via LEDs or web interface.
- Human customer support: responsive and passionate.
- 15-day satisfied-or-refunded warranty + 6 months of coverage in case of a manufacturing defect.
- Our boards include socket-mounted fuse components, which protect the board in the event of a wiring error. This way, you will not have to repair everything if a wrong move occurs.
❌ Disadvantages
- Higher initial cost: between 99 € and 349 €, depending on the board.
- Less "authentic": some purists prefer the original boards.
🔍 Repair or Replacement Comparison
| Criterion | Repair | New Pinballs.Store board |
|---|---|---|
| Full cost (System 80) | ~€220 + €45 (acid) | €349 (GottFA80_Plus) |
| Lead time | 2–3 weeks | Shipped in 24–48h |
| Installation | 3 boards | 1 single plug & play board |
| Reliability | Average (old components) | High (new components) |
| Diagnostic tools | Original test | LEDs and original test |
| Respect for the original gameplay | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes (identical ROMs) |
| Compatibility | 1 pinball machine at a time |
The entire Gottlieb System 80, 80A and 80B range grouped into a single switch bank |
| Warranty | Variable or absent |
15 days + 6 months after-sales support |
📦 Our most requested boards
- GottFA80_Plus : replaces CPU + Driver + Power supply System 80/80A – €349
- Lisy80 : diagnostic CPU with web interface – €199
- Godri80 : modern driver – €99
- Gosof : sound board perfect for US speech, even on the Export version – from €129
- WillFA7 : CPU + Driver for Williams System 3 to 7 – €349
✅ Why trust Pinballs.Store?
- 🔧 Vintage pinball specialists
- 📦 Tested, reliable and warrantied boards
- 💬 Human and passionate customer support
- 🚚 Fast delivery across Europe
🛒 Ready to play, not to tinker?
No more weeks of waiting, uncertain quotes and recurring breakdowns.
Order your board now and bring your pinball machine back to life as on the first day.
1 comment
J’apprécie l’aide que vous m’apportez, je vais pouvoir monter ma carte plus sereinement. Il y a bien une page de documentation mais je n’étais pas très sûr de moi.
Je reviendrai vers vous si besoin . Merci. Cordialement.