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Dummies (newbies?) guide to pinball maintenance

Nickbs

Nickbs

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Joined
Jan 12, 2014
Messages
371
Location
Sunny Exeter
Having read Paul's excellent intro guide to pinball maintenance I have a couple of naive cleaning/maintenance questions:

1) Having acquired an Indy500 in 'sparkling' condition (care of @Fintan Stack & before that I believe @kevlar of this parish) a few months ago I need to carry out a very minimal amount of cleaning to keep it in 'tip-top' condition ( a few small trails of grunge appearing on some of the runs and parts of the play field etc). Is the Novus cleaning product (#1 or #2 grade) the right thing to use to clean both the play field and the bottoms clear acrylic ramps/runs? Just concerned that even #1 cleans by abrasion so will wear areas (especially clear plastics) if used regularly, but sparingly, over time.

2) on the inner right-hand lane (where the ball gets 'dumped' very firmly when it comes out of the 'turbo' at speed) the 'rollover' (correct term?) that lights the 'd' doesn't always register. Having got the play field up and looked at the underside the spring in the micro switch (correct term again?) appears sluggish/ slow to return to default position one pressed down & is probably the root of the patchy operation. Is this maintainable, and if so how, or do I need a new part ?
 
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You're lucky - Mine looked like this when I picked it up from @Fintan Stack ....

fintan.jpg

;) Well i guess i did buy it as a project...!! :D

Novus #2 (Medium) or Novus #3 (harsh) will be what you are really after - To be honest #2 will do the job nicely on most ball runs and plastics unless really bad, in which case a touch of #3 may be required to get the dirt off :)

With regards to the switch, make sure that it's not catching on the side of the rollover wood/plastic (dont have that specific machine, so not completely sure of exactly where you are reffering). It may well be that the metal is slightly bent out of shape - more than likely - you need to roll a ball lightly over and see if you can hear the light "click" of the switch, either this or enter the Switch test menu and see if it is registering (probably much easier to do). I suspect the slugish return isnt affecting anything as long as it actually registers.

Worst comes to the worst - they are replaceable and arent expensive.... (@pinballmania can supply new ones)
 
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Paul said:
You're lucky - Mine looked like this when I picked it up from @Fintan Stack ....

View attachment 7572

;) Well i guess i did buy it as a project...!! :D

Novus #2 (Medium) or Novus #3 (harsh) will be what you are really after - To be honest #2 will do the job nicely on most ball runs and plastics unless really bad, in which case a touch of #3 may be required to get the dirt off :)

With regards to the switch, make sure that it's not catching on the side of the rollover wood/plastic (dont have that specific machine, so not completely sure of exactly where you are reffering). It may well be that the metal is slightly bent out of shape - more than likely - you need to roll a ball lightly over and see if you can hear the light "click" of the switch, either this or enter the Switch test menu and see if it is registering (probably much easier to do). I suspect the slugish return isnt affecting anything as long as it actually registers.

Worst comes to the worst - they are replaceable and arent expensive.... (@pinballmania can supply new ones)
Click to expand...

Thanks Paul - the switch registers sometimes, but not always ( which is having a devastating affect on my attempts to set a new high score obviously), so I suspect it's not always returning to the 'rest' position (or isn't depressing fully when ball goes over). I'll experiment a little, but suspect a replacement will be easiest solution.

Re:'project' so were their the bits of a pinball machine in there somewhere ( or was it just the discarded bits from the IKEA flat pack returns department???
 
You are right Nickbs, I am one of the previous owners of this very nice machine. The inlane rollover switch worked perfectly while I had it. One thing I've found with this type of switch is if you overtighten the 2 screws that hold the switch in place this can make the switch slow to return or even stop it altogether. Try backing off the screws a tiny bit to see if the switch frees up.
 
Paul said:
You're lucky - Mine looked like this when I picked it up from @Fintan Stack ....

View attachment 7572

;) Well i guess i did buy it as a project...!! :D

Novus #2 (Medium) or Novus #3 (harsh) will be what you are really after - To be honest #2 will do the job nicely on most ball runs and plastics unless really bad, in which case a touch of #3 may be required to get the dirt off :)

With regards to the switch, make sure that it's not catching on the side of the rollover wood/plastic (dont have that specific machine, so not completely sure of exactly where you are reffering). It may well be that the metal is slightly bent out of shape - more than likely - you need to roll a ball lightly over and see if you can hear the light "click" of the switch, either this or enter the Switch test menu and see if it is registering (probably much easier to do). I suspect the slugish return isnt affecting anything as long as it actually registers.

Worst comes to the worst - they are replaceable and arent expensive.... (@pinballmania can supply new ones)
Click to expand...

Dean was only reminiscing about that project yesterday with a lil tear in his eye lol
 
kevlar said:
You are right Nickbs, I am one of the previous owners of this very nice machine. The inlane rollover switch worked perfectly while I had it. One thing I've found with this type of switch is if you overtighten the 2 screws that hold the switch in place this can make the switch slow to return or even stop it altogether. Try backing off the screws a tiny bit to see if the switch frees up.
Click to expand...

Hi Kevlar - thanks for the tip, I've tried that and it has loosened up the switch so it returns more quickly:). Unfortunately that hasn't fixed the problem :(. On closer inspection and with a bit of 'glass off' experimenting it appears the problem is the ball bouncing over the switch sometimes when it is dropped from the inlane/turbo lane above. On very close inspection of the lanes/switches I notice the orientation of the switch on the equivalent (pit) lane on the other side is reversed, which may catch the ball better. I may try switching the switch to see if that fixes it (although a quick skim of google images seems to indicate that the current orientation is as per factory specification:hmm:
 
Sounds like it might be worth a try. Is the switch wire sitting up high enough? Maybe it just needs bending up a bit.
 
Hi Kevlar - thanks for the follow-up.


Not yet is the answer - I initially tweaked the wire a little bit, but that doesn't appear to have made a difference.

I've not got appropriate cleaning kit etc from @pinballmania & am planning to have a longer 'fiddle' at the weekend (I' a also found a loose 'widget' on the floor of the cabinet which appears to be part of the return spring mechanism for one of the main rubbers, so will be trying to work out how it fits back together)
 
Just remember when having a "fiddle" to do it with the power OFF - obviously do the testing with the power on, but you'll end up at some point doing something stupid with the power on that's likely to end in a new CPU board (most of us have done it at some point)
 
Guilty of the above, and there's only one winner.
The bloke who has a cpu for sale, that's who.
 
mufcmufc said:
Just remember when having a "fiddle" to do it with the power OFF - obviously do the testing with the power on, but you'll end up at some point doing something stupid with the power on that's likely to end in a new CPU board (most of us have done it at some point)
Click to expand...

Fair comment - a point well made & something I shall be suitably wary of!
 
Had a bit more of a 'robust' fiddle/tweak (powered off:cool:) with the rollover as suggested by @kevlar and bent it up further & that seems to have done the trick (registered on all but one occasion in 10 or so games) - thanks for the advice!

Also given the play field/ramps a bit of a 'polish up' courtesy of Novus #1 from @pinballmania ( thank you for super prompt service:clap:) and machine playing well.

Couple of minor glitches on the machine that I'm 'struggling' :hmm:with, but as very specific I'll put on a separate thread in the Technical Forum
 
Hi everybody -- so I noticed that some scuffs and scratches on my Starship Troopers cabinet have been touched up with (I guess arcylics) well, I decided to do fill in the rest with some acrylics too. the colour's good but it doesn't have the smooth shininess of the untouched rest of the cabinet.

Any ideas as to what I could do to fix that? or should I just leave it.
 
You will never replicated the original artwork, if I were you I would just leave it if it's not to bad.
 
now that's it's dry I've used a damp cloth to wipe down any excess paint and it looks nice.

I'm not re-painting, I am only covering where there is wood visible.
 
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of course, now i am daydreaming of rebuilding/cleaning the flipper mechanisms!

Does anybody offer this service? or can a noob attempt it?

This obsession is dangerous!
 
RudeDogg1 said:
It's easy you can get rebuild kits from pinball mania
Click to expand...
it's not easy at all, not the first few times. i've done it a few times and i still find it tricky, but i'm not that handy.
i always felt like i needed an extra hand to hold (1) the flipper bat and (2) and (3) both ends of the thing on the underside being tightened.

start by taking it apart, replacing the end stop and coil sleeve with new ones.
 
ok - I am going to try it - my 3rd flipper is definitely weaker than it was and is causing missed shots... wish me luck!

ps. I emailed pinball mania and got no reply. I can't seem to find any flipper rebuild kits for the THIRD (small) flipper. Does anybody know where I can find these?
 
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cooldan said:
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(3) both ends of the thing on the underside being tightened.

.
Click to expand...

Get the type that don't have an allen bolt with a nut. They have a notched washer where the allen bolt head part usually is, eliminating the need to have an allen key in the head and a spanner/socket on the nut. One hand on the flipper bat with a credit card wedged between the flipper mushroom and the base of the bat, and tighten the nut with the other hand. Pretty easy using those parts
 
Cheers Russ. Have you got a link for the bit you're on about? Is it just a bolt or are you on about the whole pawl thingamijig?

Oh, and what's the flipper mushroom? I think I know where you mean with the credit card, the place the funny sporkesque tool goes, under the bat but over the white bushing grommet thingy
 
I can't see the need for a spacer, you just end up with a load of up-down play in the bat which saps energy, as long as your bushing is good, there's no chance of flipper drag anyway.
 
http://www.pinballheaven.co.uk/shop...ipper-rebuild-kit-1986-1991-13524-p-1303.html

Look at the pic of the flipper mech at the top, and you will see (barely) a flat washer where you would sometimes see an allen bolt head. Most of the flipper rebuild kits I have got recently all have the newer notched washer design.

Carl, If you don't have the correct space between the flipper mushroom (aka bushing), and the bottom of the bat, you can get premature wear, and weak flippers after long play times. May not be the case on some other machines, but all Williams/bally machines I ever had played faster and lasted longer with the correct gap set.

Also, setting the pawl to a certain gap underneath (i.e: as straight as possible) helps the shaft slide in and out of the sleeve that little bit better I found.........*Not a wizards one, Dan* hehe.

31484-i.jpg

Heres the 'proper' tool:
http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/03-8194
 
cooldan said:
it's not easy at all, not the first few times. i've done it a few times and i still find it tricky, but i'm not that handy.
i always felt like i needed an extra hand to hold (1) the flipper bat and (2) and (3) both ends of the thing on the underside being tightened.

start by taking it apart, replacing the end stop and coil sleeve with new ones.
Click to expand...

Then ur rubbish :0p only trouble I had the first time was not doing up the pawl tight enough otherwise was a doddle
 
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