It's insane the amount of coil stop screws and other flipper plate screws I have break off or won't twist down right and the head breaks off. Seriously, this is crazy. Is there a good manufacturer of steel screws I can look towards to replace all these because whatever is in Stern flipper bracket plates and whatever you get from most of the suppliers is dog crap.
Sounds like they could be zinc screws, rather than steel. Most big box stores have them, and I once made the mistake of assuming all their screws were steel, when only some were steel, and some were zinc. The heads on the zinc screws twisted right off.
boltdepot, fastenal, albanycountyfasteners are the main sources I use for screws and whatnot. Sometimes I'll grab stuff from the various pinball suppliers if I'm already placing an order and need something specific and/or only in a small number.
Quoted from 0geist0:Go to your local hardware store.
They don't always have all the necessary screws, and not all of them are steel--some are cheap zinc screws.
Sounds like I need to make a list of all the sizes I need and just place a good size order and do a day of replacement. These zinc ones, which is what they have to be as brittle as they've been, are just infuriating. Thanks all!
Quoted from ForceFlow:They don't always have all the necessary screws, and not all of them are steel--some are cheap zinc screws.
They will have them if you go to a real hardware store and not a big box store.
Quoted from LTG:If you want a deal on a bunch of them in stainless steel, check Ebay.
I went back and looked at my last purchases for SS screws, they all came from Ebay, shipped from China but still through Ebay.
DO NOT BUY STAINLESS SCREWS! They are more subject to wear, leaving that thin film of black dust around you flippers. When a new machine comes into the PHOF, we always add a flipper fuse to each coil, replace the crank bolt with a GRADE 8 or 10 hardened cap screw (10-32 X 3/4) and replace the crappy screws that hold the coil stop with 10-32 X 3/8 hardened cap screw(What Williams used to use). Hold screw up to a strong magnet. If the attraction is slight, you have a high Nickel stainless. If it grabs and holds tight, it is steel.
Quoted from timarnold:DO NOT BUY STAINLESS SCREWS! They are more subject to wear,
That hasn't been my experience in commercial use, haven't had one break yet.
Quoted from timarnold:thin film of black dust around you flippers.
I haven't noticed any more than from the ones Williams used. Easy to clean.
Quoted from timarnold:cap screw(What Williams used to use).
I've found them to break off. And difficult to remove for normal service. Seems like all the pounding on them kind of welds them in place on the threads.
LTG : )
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