Does the groove cut into any playfield artwork or is it just in the raw wood?

Game would have to be pretty flat to get stuck in a arch groove I would think...unless this is one monster grove?!

Anyway, more pitch is your freind of course, but other than waxing threre isn;t much you can easily do uinless you want to get wacky and start using bondo, paint, mylar/clear etc.
Or I guess maybe using a dropper full of clear, but that's beyond me.

Can you post a picture of this groove? I can't ever remember seeing a ball groove so deep that the ball gets repeatedly stuck in it.

I would think that if the game had so many plays as to wear that deep of a groove, it would probably have an awful amount of playfield wear, as well.

I've had it on games I've restored. The only solution I have for you is to sand it out, stain it to match, and clear it.

It's amazing the groove can get as deep as it does, but it happens.

Yeah, that's how you do it!

Probably all the way up in back, or close to it.

Get some new levelers and increase the pitch!

Evapo-rust may work better on those rusty leg levelers.

What's that in the back room? Looks like a car body? You restore pedal cars?

Dumb ass here. Don't know how I ended up in this post. Sorry.

Did i miss the pics?

/\this

Ah

Maybe mylarin the area it sticks in?
When I see this it’s usually just catching on the outer points of the groove

Variation on suggestions - how about sanding and staining just the groove itself, then applying a little clear in layers into it (like leveling cupped inserts), then sand that flat and final coat of clear?

You can use Hard as Nails in the groove. A few layers will build it up.

Everbrite self leveling, after the stain is matched.

This is the easiest solution...I've had games like that where the ball gets stuck up there - usually only near the bouncer flap and the rubber, and never when plunging the ball...it happens when the ball makes it all the way back up to that arch and hits it and sticks.

Since it's in the all wood area, you can fix it by sanding it, filling it, sanding that back down, then CCing with Acrylic Lacquer. If you sand it flat enough, it will be mostly invisible...except the track the ball made, which can be tough to completely remove when trying to sand just the groove.

However I agree with the more PF angle fix before all that...hopefully that gets you going...the rest I wrote in case someone else reads this or you end up wanting to try it...

Anybody ever try elongating the screw holes in the arch plate only *slightly* like 1/16 or less so the arch can be adjusted lower where the ball now rolls barely below the groove? I guess that would work but then you're modifying the pf... however you can still move the arch back to original if desired.

I demand pics first!

Did i miss the pics?

Give us a pick of this one, should be a easy fix. I don’t see a capture ball on hot tip.

Is there crud in that captive ball chute?
Have you checked the pitch?
4.5* is the minimum to make the pops work etc.

That's no big deal. I wouldn't even call it a groove. Mostly just worn through clearcoat. You must have had that game almost flat for a ball to get caught in it.

Excellent

Before going through the involved work of trying to sand, stain match, and clear... start with the easiest thing you should be doing anyways... FIX THOSE LEVELERS. Soak them to loosen it and get those out and put in fresh levers.

It depends on how fussy you are. You could fill it slowly with varethane. Be careful to stay within the damaged area. Thin, thin coats dry quickly. And you do not have to evacuate the neighborhood.
Then give a quick sanding if it is uneven or just leave it.
It will shrink some over time but will hold up well.

Doesn't look like much. I'd be hitting it with some magic eraser & alcohol, and cleaning up with novus 2 anyway to get some of the buildup off the edges

Outside of raising back levelers. I have tried two methods, neither perfect - so suggestions welcome. First was clean the groove, then artist brush clear into the groove. Worked reasonably well. Tried gently sanding it flat on one game which worked well to level it out, but then could never get the wood color of the sanded area to match the rest of the upper apron.

I think if you want it to match , you have to strip the finish, sand and seal in the wood area.

I have used Hard As Nails clear nail polish to fix something exactly like this and it has held up for years. Looks fine. Just brush it on.

Back from the dead on this one.

I have a Bally Monte Carlo with a very deep ball groove at the top. It is catching the ball but does eventually drop it, and I see this as an annoyance that I don't mind addressing. Yes, I have enough pitch, but this is a deep groove. I want to fill the groove in with some kind of filler, then brush on the artwork to restore the appearance since this area is all paint.

I am thinking using some slow epoxy and lightly filling the groove and letting it flow out. So, might this "Hard As Nails" stuff possibly do the same thing? Is this stuff a bit more on the thick side in terms of consistency like maybe that of epoxy? If so, I might go that route to fill in this groove.

Thanks.

It's not suitable for filling a groove. It's nail polish. Your idea of using a wood filler or may I suggest a fine hardening filler would be the best. Then clear coat with Hard as Nails or similar.

Thanks for the reply.

My current plan is to re-paint the groove then apply 30-minute clear epoxy to fill it in. I'm optimistic it will turn out nicely.

1. No denial, just move forward with the real fix.
2. Sand it out as best as you can.
3. Apply light stain
4. Brush on automotive clear coat mixed properly with hardner.
5. After dry for 48 hrs, sand and buff flat.

Sanding the groove out will mean a lot of artwork will be removed as well. This is not your typical area under the arch where you simply see wood grain. I have already touched up the groove and it really looks fantastic.

Putting the 2-part clear on tonight followed by the epoxy only if even needed. It's possible that the touch paint and the clear might fill the groove sufficiently.

pasted_image (resized).png

As usual, I did not take a before pic when it had a gigantic white stripe through that artwork, but it turned out very well. Have to wait for clear to dry to see if the ball is still getting hung up. Maybe it wont need any additional fill.

pasted_image (resized).png

Looks good. I'm curious how it turns out.

Someone here had the same machine (can't recall if it was the 4 player or single player) and installed clear posts all-over the playfiled. Man, it looked sharp. The white (or off-white as they change color) didn't look great. Just letting you know if you were planning other work around the playfield.