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Rubbers - it don't matter if you're black or white? (or clear)

Durzel

Durzel

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Noticed quite a few Sterns, Tron included, have black rubbers even on themes where I wouldn't have necessarily thought it "fit" (e.g. Ghostbusters).

Is there a reason for this? Is there a downside to swapping them out for, say, white or translucent? Anyone done this and care to comment on whether it made their game better or worse as a result (I've heard apocryphal stories that black is more flexible, so switching slingshots out to a different colour can make them less sensitive).

I've also heard that black rubbers are not great because they create more dirt on the playfield? Not sure why that would be the case, but I can't say for sure.

The genesis of this is that I was thinking of swapping out all of the (presumably stock) rubbers on my Tron for translucent. It looks like a massive ballache to do it, including removing the ramps, so I am reticent to do it if it's going to adversely affect the game.
 
I was always led to believe that black rubber is harder wearing and of course doesn't show dirt - so perfect for operated games. Hence new games come from factory with black. It could be cheaper as well which may be the main factor.

Have always felt white rubber gives a bit more bounce. And it looks a million times better imo.

Sent from my D5833 using Tapatalk
 
I just prefer black rubbers on a game, as @Sgt GrizZ says - don't get dirty and maybe my Emo days of listening to Alkaline Trio and Blink 182 (by Emo days, I mean still today :rofl:) make me lean towards this.

I cannot comment on the differing play style of either, I just don't know.
 
I think there is less difference if you go silicone (Bee, Titan etc), I much prefer it and am replacing rubber with silicone as I go. Titan do loads of colours but I'm in the traditional camp (normally white) saying that have some translucent on slings that let more light through. Not sure if Sterns black rubber is silicone, I would hope so it does suit their games.

Overview%204-200x200.jpg
 
James said:
I just prefer black rubbers on a game, as @Sgt GrizZ says - don't get dirty and maybe my Emo days of listening to Alkaline Trio and Blink 182 (by Emo days, I mean still today :rofl:) make me lean towards this.

I cannot comment on the differing play style of either, I just don't know.
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Not to nit pick but blink is new age punk not emo
 
Black definitely leave more dirt of p/f.

I like TITAN's - just like the way they look and play.

A pain to change rubbers though.

My sling shots seem more responsive with TITAN than factory black.

Just remember to buy spares if doing order from USA as they are not as durable as black.
 
astyy said:
I think there is less difference if you go silicone (Bee, Titan etc), I much prefer it and am replacing rubber with silicone as I go. Titan do loads of colours but I'm in the traditional camp (normally white) saying that have some translucent on slings that let more light through. Not sure if Sterns black rubber is silicone, I would hope so it does suit their games.

Overview%204-200x200.jpg
Click to expand...

I was looking at Titan's silicone stuff (they have a great community driven kit thing on their website, you choose your game and you get a list of different kits that people have put together) but I've read some anecdotal reports on Pinside that they are prone to splitting, particularly on slingshots. I guess they're all prone given enough usage / abuse.
 
Durzel said:
that they are prone to splitting, particularly on slingshots
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I hadn't heard about that. Tbh, my main kit is Bee Bands silicone, a dutch company that a lot of the EU suppliers stock
https://bee-light.nl/products/bee-bands
The whites are really white and the dust and muck just wipes off really easy. Supposedly they don't perish/crack over time like rubber.
 
I was under the impression that it used to be the colour of the rubbers was an indicator of the 'bounce' of them.

Red being bouncier than black, for example.

Now however, with the silicone bands, they are all the same and the colour of the band doesn't affect the bounce.

I prefer using clear silicone for a couple of reasons. Firstly they let more light through, and create a better effect if you are using coloured bulbs. They also tend not to wear the same way as rubber, thus not leaving as much dirt on the playfield, and not needing as much cleaning.

Although black rubber doesn't show the dirt as much as white, it does create more 'visible dirt' so it's a payoff between the 2.
Silicone and rubber definitely do have a different bounce, and interaction with the ball - not saying which is better - just that they're different. It's most noticeable on the flippers. Silicone tends to be 'grippier', exaggerates the spin on the ball and isn't as bouncy.

Personally I now prefer using silicone, especially on the flippers but YMMV
 
swapping out all of the (presumably stock) rubbers on my Tron for translucent
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I went with Titan translucent when i did my Tron recently and it plays great :thumbs: Looks loads better than black rubbers too.
 
Nice, silicone I presume? Any issues with any snapping or anything like that?

I need to work out what size the band behind the drop targets is, it's not even listed in the manual (nice one Stern).
 
Yep silicone :thumbs: No issues at all, to me they seem less prone to snapping than normal rubbers tbh
 
Cool. :) I don't suppose you have your order handy do you? I'd like to get a more authoritative opinion on which ones are actually needed. The Stern manual is useless, and I have an LE which has (at least) one rubber behind the drop targets.
 
I just went with the kit on the Titan website from what I remember. Pretty sure it came with everything but if not I'd have just used something from my rubber supply :oops: :)
 
Ok, cheers.

Looks like there is discrepancies in different kits.. like this kit has 2 x 1 1/2" rings, and this one, apparently for Tron LE, has 5 x 1 1/2" rings. Also has 10 x 3/16" vs the other kit's 9. At first I thought maybe there were extras, but in some cases they have the same amount. :(
 
I sometimes wondered if a football themed game like World Cup '94 would suit black and white bands alternating on its double-band posts, i.e black upper/white lower in one location, white upper/black lower in its neighbouring location, and so on
 
Yup that's what I've been looking at, but as said above in the instance of Tron there are two kit recommendations with different numbers of rings on each, without any explanation about whether they are extras, etc.
 
titan for the win. When needed I replace with Titan with the colour at manufacture for the most part. titan is the only silicon that gives the same bounce as normal rubber.
 
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