What is the benefit of using yopps instead of putting in a new socket and led bulb? Yopps are 3x the cost.

never worry about a socket/bulb again
not sure where you're pricing yopps but they are less than a socket and led bulb - 50 in cool white are $45.00.

I dont know where that's coming from.
Pinball life also has their version

Yopps are a dollar? Get them from him directly.

Yopps don’t need an aftermarket board to run them either. But you already have that bought.

Not having to buy the aftermarket board is a nice selling point. Mine was pretty bad though and I struggle with desoldering. The old lamps look way better with the new board, I might just leave them. I kinda enjoy the endless game of wack a mole with these old sockets, it’s very satisfying to get them all working. I got a handful of replacement sockets from PBR for 8 cents a piece, Steve said they are way better than the originals. I’ll have to mull this over, you all have given me lots to think about, thanks to everyone who chimed in.

Yeah. Whether you go yopps or new sockets, you’ll never have issues again.

I've appreciated this conversation as I consider a playfield swap when one gets produced.

I'll be honest and say out of the gate I prefer my 80's games with incandescent bulbs. I don't buy the energy savings argument for games that aren't being operated and I've always preferred the look of real bulbs. But during this conversation the Yopps have started to move the needle for me. If I'm going to have sockets in my game I might as well have really lights in them... but if I can get rid of the sockets altogether... well... now that is worth thinking about.

Really appreciated the pictures of the bingo cards done with Yopps. I'm also considering the anarchy boards though, they look like they have the diode on them so one less step for me to do.

Sockets for 8 cents?! Is Steve having a clearance sale?

That’s the number that was in my head, I could be remembering wrong though. I’m pretty nervous when I’m on the phone with him and it was just a dozen to tack onto a bigger order in case i had to replace any on Paragon. Feel free to give him a call and get a quote though! Lol

At 8 cents we'll all take a few hundred of them

I’ve also heard of people soldering in a resistor and an led for 5 cents a piece, not sure how that works but might be worth checking out if you have a bunch to do.

I called to fact check myself, busy signal. I don’t want to misrepresent anything.

Probably, more like 80 something cents looking at the website-

https://www.pbresource.com/sockets.html

resistor on the nipple/tit one side and lamp base the other.

I was way off, he said they can be up to $1.50 each now depending upon which one you need and the price keeps going up every time he orders them. Sorry about that everyone! The PbL yopp for 80 cents when you order 200 is looking like a better deal by the minute.

The biggest advantage for me on LEDs is the heat savings parties used to get over ninety but now with mostly LEDs temp stays twenty degrees cooler.

I did the red and greens, it looks way better. I can’t get a match for the rest of it, I’ve tried a bunch of different combos and nothing gets close. Should I spray a light clear over it next? I was able to get the inserts fairly level by just pushing on them from underneath.

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If you were able to push the inserts up to even, then you need to consider removing them and epoxying them in. Otherwise they will just sink again.

And that is a dirty play field. You should consider getting it good and clean before you think about applying any clear.

Well I have joined the club with the machine mentioned on page 37 that was for sale, came with another playfield, a couple boards, extra spinners and the damaged runaway transformer. Looking forward to this project when I get time, just moved and the games room won't be ready for a few months but it is the garage and its been powered up for some testing. So far I have found out that all the controlled lamps are very dim and flicker a lot, but otherwise it all seems to work ok. So other than the bingo card pcb's and the Siegecraft led adaptors (I really don't want to solder a zillion resistors on sockets) for the led upgrade, what are the must have/must do things for this machine? I haven't had a classic Stern since I sold my Quicksilver 15 years ago and am used to working on Williams machines mostly. Stoked for this one, love the old Stern sounds and bonus countdowns

Nice score. Try to save that broken transformer.

I'm partial to this game; Get ready for fun.

I much prefer new LED lamp boards over adaptors. Boards are just a few dollars more. But it is just a preference.

I am also partial to my set up: Titan frosted rubber rings. Make all 4 flippers the 475s. 31" legs on the back for a 7% slope/back legs adjusted down all the way/adjust from front legs. The 31s make for a more stable machine compared to a machine with the back levelers kicked up all the way---but that will work.

The flippers are strong and handle the slope well. It plays fast.

Best rubber is rubber

I could use one of those extra spinners if you're looking to sell one . I have a restore in my future too... other things I'm considering beyond what you've noted is putting new drops in, not sure where to go in that regard actually, swinks has had new blanks manufactured, I believe there are lots of posts about the wrong drops not dropping so I haven't figured out what to do there. I also picked up some new plastics as not all of mine were correct and some were yellowed and warped.

What do you use for epoxy? I have rubber cement that has a brush and would be easy and gorilla glue that would be harder to work with. I have done one pass with novus 1 and a microfiber. I typically go novus 1 twice and then carnauba, I didn’t want to pull up anymore paint though. For clear, I have rust oleum 2x, I just want to seal the cards, I don’t want to take it to an auto body shop.

You have options.

https://www.amazon.com/J-B-Weld-ClearWeld-Syringe-25mL/dp/B09C6R4VSQ/ref=sr_1_4

or

Titebond, or Elmer's, or Gorilla Glue (not the stuff that foams and expands).

https://www.amazon.com/s

https://www.amazon.com/Gorilla-18-Ultimate-Waterproof-Natural/dp/B08J1MJ28D/ref=sr_1_21

You can buy all this stuff at your local hardware store. Amazon is just an easy search.

Remove the loose insert. Clean the hole up.

Get a popsicle stick. And a small hammer, and a block of wood. Dob just a small amount of glue (it does not take much glue) to the inside of the insert hole then push the insert in part way. Using the wooden block and hammer knock the insert in so it is flush with the play field. Hopefully, no glue squeezed out onto the play field. If you do have squeeze out then wipe it up with a damp cloth. Let the insert set for 24 hours.

or

You can try the rubber cement. It might work.
================================================

It's your play field so I won't tell you what to do, but it can be cleaned up. Look at this area by your left slingshot. The light color of green is the proper color. The darker shade is dirt. But since you are not clear coating you can work on clean up at another time.

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You can get some Magic Eraser and clean it up. Magic Eraser is a mild abrasive so you don't want to over do it, but working your play field surface with a damp Magic Eraser will clean things up. Just don't overdo it.

For Magic Eraser, stay with a name brand. Don't buy the cheap ME on Amazon for it is crap. You can get good quality ME at your grocery store in the cleaning supplies dept.

https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Clean-Original-Cleaning-Durafoam/dp/B07MF3DY3C/ref=sr_1_4

Thanks for the options. I use novus 2 and magic eraser on ramps and it works great, I’m just nervous to do that on a playfield for fear of paint removal. I’ll do a test area and see how it comes out. We’ve been able to find a decent match mix for the “white” in the bingo cards. White, reddish yellow, deep coffee comes fairly close. Definitely better than bare wood.

I wouldn’t recommend off the shelf regular old rattle can spray clear on your playfield. It likely won’t live up to the rigors of pinball and make things worse. The 2x name isn’t the same as something like Spraymax 2K which is a two part auto clear.

Don't be afraid of Novus 2.

Krylon Tough Coat works well

Try that area just below the left sling shot on that leopard's butt.

Apply the glue for the insert from the bottom side of the playfield ?

Correct, apply it to the lip that the insert sits on from underneath.

Paint the inside of the insert hole with glue by using the popsicle stick. Then push the insert in. This should push any excess glue toward the bottom.

If you were to paint the outside of the insert with glue and then push into the hole, you would have glue squeezing out all over the play field.

info on the fairly new classic stern tombstone drops can be found here
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stern-tombstone-drop-targets-13a-11-any-interest

PBR and Planetry make the hooded drops but they are more flexible and contribute to bricking. My targets are still PA12 solid nylon but a little more firmer.

I went over it with magic eraser and novus 2 and then a second application of novus 2. It’s definitely better but could probably use another hit in spots.

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I see improvement but you have a ways to go. But stop when you are happy. It is your game.

One option if you don't want to clear coat but want some protection is to lay down some frisket over the bingo cards. It is designed for masking and peels up easily. When a piece gets worn, replace it with a new piece.

While remote, there is a possibility it could lift some paint, so you take your chances.

https://www.amazon.com/Original-Frisket-15-Inch-10-Inch-52808/dp/B004O7AENS/ref=sr_1_7

Hobby Lobby and Michael's carry frisket if you want to buy locally.

Thanks for the tips, I'll check out the boards as well. Sounds like a good setup you have, I will have to get flippers working better first as they are all somewhat weak. Looks like all the EOS and flipper switches are in bad shape

Sorry but the spinners in the machine are going to be replaced as one is bare metal and the other one is kinda banged up. Luckily all the drops look to be in real good shape, just mechanisms need a thorough cleaning

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remember this ? I wonder how that worked out

The updates are out there spread across different classic Stern threads...

57 days ago...

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/price-check-1980-sterns-quicksilver-stargazer-seawitch/page/167#post-7520989

5 days ago...

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stargazer-club/page/13#post-7603434

Do you guys order 2 of the pbl rebuild kits for the flippers or is there a more efficient way?

All you need is one kit for one machine. Unless you are talking Big Game or Seawitch. Then you need 2 kits. At 54.00 per kit.

https://www.pinballlife.com/classic-stern-flipper-rebuild-kit-left-and-right-flippers.html

image (resized).jpeg

For another 10 dollars you can buy the complete assembly which includes a coil and the flipper base. And don't ask me, but somehow flipper coils just start fluttering and die.

To buy a coil by itself is $17.00.

https://www.pinballlife.com/full-flipper-assembly-for-classic-stern-machines-031980-to-021982.html

image (resized).jpeg

10 for only 1 flipper so it's a bit misleading.

Plus this is Big Game

I think cotton was posting in another thread at the same time and didn’t realize this was the Big Game club. So looks like I’ll be sending $108 to pbl, Steve Young is out of most of the parts in the kit.

Yeah. What was was trying to say didn't come out right.

The Eos switch on the upper flippers is different that the one in the pbl kit. Does anyone have the part number for the upper flipper Eos switches? They are double stacked.

The best thing to do with this is to disassemble your existing stack and the new switches, and swap the blades over. That way your spacing and lifters are correct.

You can also wire them up to use a single EOS and just parallel it. The original purpose of that double stack is to let the double stack flipper activate first, then activate the next flipper to reduce stress on the bridge rectifiers. Since most people now have 35amp bridges on their rectifier boards vs. the original 8amp ones, not as needed. Also Stern games specifically spec out larger fuses on the solenoid circuit to handle the extra flippers, and I feel response time is better with parallel wiring.

https://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/images/9/97/Stern-parts-catalog-1981.pdf

See page 29 for the flipper parts which does show the secondary switch if you still want the original part numbers. I find swapping the blades over easier than trying to source the 'correct' parts (which are just someone somewhere's attempt to duplicate the original stuff.) At this point I usually just make my own using parts from pinball resource when I need new switches, yeah, it doesn't look 'original' - but it works great and is much cheaper than buying something already made up.

That’s a good idea, I can probably rebuild with parts on hand. What is parallel wiring? Here are pictures of mine.

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The solenoid wiring gets paralleled from that flipper with the double stack to the next one down so that the secondary EOS switch (which actually closes at the first flipper's full stroke) is not used to switch the voltage to that lower solenoid. Then you just use one normally closed EOS switch on each flipper in that chain.

It's actually the equivalent of having that secondary normally open switch closed all the time, so you can keep the switch and wiring intact and just jumper that switch closed all the time. This is the way gottlieb did it on their multi flipper games and it works just fine. For multiball games I'd say stick with the staged flipper setup as you can do more flipper tricks, but for single ball games I want the instant response.

@slochar, from factory are the primary flippers on Big Game wired to the upper flippers with the secondary being the lower flippers per @sullivcd40's pictures?

I've owned 3 and they all had upper as main/primary and lower as secondary

Yep. That is way staging is weird.