I know this had been discussed a million times, but what's a good source for new shiny balls?

Titan has the super shiny ones.

https://www.titanpinball.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=70

Dang. So I was reading the label on my can of Meguair's "Deep Crystal System Step #3 Carnauba Paste Wax", and noticed:

Totally unique formula uses pure Carnauba wax and a blend of exotic waxes, silicones, polymers, and resins.

This, immediately after applying it to my WH20 playfield. D'oh!

Some light googling turned up this list, straight from Meguiar's, listing the paint-safeness of all their products. Notably, none of their wax products - including both of the carnauba paste waxes (Deep Crystal and Gold Class), but excluding something called "High Temp Mold Release Wax" - are listed as paint safe.

Oh well. Chances are low that I'd be clearcoating this pf soon, anyhow. And maybe in the future they will have developed a foolproof way of removing silicone, or I will be a head in a glass jar, and thus unable to play physical pinball machines anymore.

Is waxing the same as clear coating? Would Blitz One Grand Wax just be enough? Also is it good to paint a playfield with acrylic paint and then wax it?

So Im cleaning my pinball game, and have spent about an hour removing all the black dust from all accessible areas.

I blew out the ball trough and vacuumed the cabinet as well as the playfield.

I cleaned out all of the black dust from under the playfield.

I removed the coil stops from the flippers and replaced the sleeves ( worn and dirty ).

Rubbed out all ball tracks with a tiny bit of novus 2.

Cleaned all the ball tracks off of the standup targets with a little RC-88 rubber cleaner on a q-tip.

I applied a fresh coat of 100% carnauba to near everywhere I could reach with my fingertips.

Shined up and polished my game, its a beautiful thing indeed!

After 3 games the ball tracking is returning....

I did not get under the tunnels, I need a little flexible cleaning pad of some sort on maybe a rubberized wire?

I guess I have to do a better job next time

If it's tracks that are just black dirt when you wipe.. then you missed some dirty spots. If they are the dull tracks... that's probably just beating back the filler the wax provided.

Subways, troughs, and scoops are usually the biggest keepers of dirt given their location and the tendency for people to skip them.

Yep, I need to rig up a sort of cleaning wand to get under stuff.
I also cleaned a ton of black off the magnet cores.

I used that Blitz Grand One on my Mata Hari today. That stuff is fantastic. Very easy to work with and no white residue left behind that I could see. Machine plays super fast now. I have to do my car with this stuff. Thanks vid1900 for the recommendation.

I'm looking for other waxes to use other than Blitz. I spend as much time vacuuming the damn chunks up as I do cleaning and waxing. It even clumps up while applying it. Gets worse each time I use it. Maybe I got a bad batch?

If you put too thick a coat of wax then you will get a lot of dust.
Really you just need the thinnest coat to do the job. Contrary to popular opinion you cant "build up" wax coats. If you did it would all grind off with the ball rolling on it anyway.

If you dont like Blitz then maybe use P21S pure carnauba in the silver can. It leaves little or no residue even if you put a little too much on, and no dust to speak of.

Also P21S goes on butter smooth so you can apply super thin coats.

That's strange. I did not have that issue. I was very pleased with how easy it went on and off.

Will adjust my technique and see what happens. Thanks!

Maybe a dumb question but I just got some new balls from titan and they ship with a little oil to prevent rusting. It says to clean them but not how. Just wipe them down with a microfiber cloth? Put a little novus 2 on and wipe off or something?

Rubbing alcohol, windex, dish soap or any type of gentle degreaser.
let them dry and your good to go.
Some people wax the balls but the wax just grinds off in seconds so dont bother.

Sometimes I wax my balls just for fun... ...makes any game extra fast, if only for a short time.

about to tear the pf's on my Black Hole down. Clean the pf with naphtha and wax? simple?

Edit: naphtha is a thinner so it freaks me out to clean the pf with it.....

Ok, I don't get it. I'm still having a lot of trouble with waxing. I don't seem to be able to end up with a slick surface any more, and I don't know what's going wrong here.

I have a brand new can of blitz. Brand new microfiber cloths.

Add water to a microfiber cloth. Rub the cloth in the wax until it warms up and starts to melt. Apply the gooey wax generously to the playfield in circles, and leave it to dry.

It dries and turns white.

When try to slide my finger over it, my finger just stops and doesn't glide--it is not slick at all. If I try to wipe it off with a dry, microfiber cloth, it takes a bit of rubbing. Again, the playfield is not slick at all and my finger doesn't slide.

Thoughts?

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Whoa Diamond Jim Brady over here with the Blitz...you win the lottery or something?

Re: "If I try to wipe it off with a dry, microfiber cloth, it takes a bit of rubbing"
Wax is still not dry, its only white on the surface.

Wax application is way heavy but ok it will wipe off. Let it dry again more completely after you wipe it off.
After you wipe off all of the wax from everywhere the surface will not glide to the touch. You finger will drag like its got wax on it.
Now take a clean yellow flannel cloth and buff the surface to a brilliant shine.

You might have to clean all the wax off and do it over with a very VERY, thin coat of wax.

You should barely be able to see where you are putting the wax, yes that thin.

I have botched a wax job before by putting too much on it and had to start over, the Wax was so thick it didn't stick, just balled up in clumps and never shined up.

I have not had super good results trying to buff out with microfiber. Im using yellow flannel now just as I have been for 30 years.
As you buff it out the flannel cloth will slide easier and easier ultimately. Turn the cloth often allow the surface to breathe and dry up some more as you go.

Remember the thinnest possible coats of wax give the finest results. And dry much faster.
Dont put water on your applicator ( makes the wax dry times too long), if you must the applicator should be only slightly damp never wet. Heat friction and motion melts the wax as you apply it.

wax will be very much 'drag' until it's residual is removed and the surface is buffed. You don't need to add water really.. just mist the rag and work it into the wax until the wax is allowing wax to get on the rag.

Wax will be a little tough to wipe but as you remove the excess.. keep moving to a clean part of your rag. As you buff the surface, it will get slick. When you can't remove the dried wax fully.. your rag is dirty, or there was way too much wax or it's not dried yet.

I recommend watching the guy from Buffalo Pinball's cleaning/waxing guide too - very informative and full of great tips:

Ok, trying this again...

I basically buffed it on this time, which I originally did in the past, instead of basically slathering it on, which I basically did in the photos in the previous post.

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After 10 minutes, it seemed to wipe off easily with a finger.

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However, not so easy with a cloth. There was a lot of friction. So, I stopped.

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I went back to it after a few more minutes, but there was still a lot of friction.

I finished wiping off the wax, buffed the playfield with a clean cloth, but still the playfield is not slick, and offers a fair amount of friction, just like before.

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I think this is where you're going wrong. The water is going to make a mess of the wax. I like to use an applicator pad, but I'm sure microfiber is fine. You don't need to scrub the cloth in the wax, just rub it around on the top of the wax. Then apply it to the playfield. Wait about 10 minutes and come back with a towel and wipe it off.

I'd bet money that the water is what's making a mess of things.

Hi Vid, I just wanted to confirm that using Naphtha will not do any damage to the Bally Safari EM I picked up last night? Just put some on the towel and wipe it down? Any post cleanup work to do?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Klean-Strip-1-qt-Varnish-Maker-and-Painter-s-Naphtha-QVM46/100122813

I tried it without water the second time. It didn't make a difference.

If you can wipe it with your finger it is still too wet. I usually let the wax sit 20-30 minutes and then take a cloth and do a soft circular motion over the wax. The wax should look dry before you wipe it. The playfield should shine and surface should feel a little slick after you wipe.

Too much moisture, either in the pad or too heavy a coat of wax still.

Let it dry, overnight of thats what it takes. It has to be "bone dry" in order to work.

The wax is still "green", probably still too heavy of an application for the drying time expected.

Wet wax will just re-wax as you are trying to get it to lay down and ultimately just rub off without laying down a coat.

Each coat of wax removes the prior coat.

Remember, the thinnest possible coats work the best. It should be so thin that you can barely see it when applying.

Use an applicator sponge that is fairly dry, maybe 4 drops of water if its super dry and wring it in a towel.
Rub the applicator on the pot in a circular fashion until it liquefies scrape off excess wax into the pot before application.
If you have to, wipe the applicator pad onto a rag to remove excess wax before applying.

Well, I applied a very thin layer of wax and let it sit over night. Wiped it off in the morning, and the playfield still doesn't seem like I've actually done anything to it.

However, I also waxed the metal ramps, and those seem slick, like I would expect. The wax just doesn't seem to be taking on the playfields of the last couple games I've worked on.

Before that I wasn't having a problem, and I haven't changed any of the cleaning products or wax I've been using.

Hey ForceFlow,

Is it possible something happened to the wax since the last (successful) time you used it (chemical change due to age, stored in hot or cold environment, etc.)?

Maybe try a new can of wax of same brand?

I dunno, but what a strange problem -- good luck.

This is a new can

Ok, I'll give that a try.

I'm having a real hard time getting this Mata Hari shooter lane clean. I've tried Naphtha, Magic Eraser, Simple Green, alcohol, (not all at the same time, I let them dry!). Anything else left to try? I got a lot of it off but the rest looks like it's not coming off. I think I may have got a little too zealous with the Magic Eraser. It may have removed some of the original lacquer or Tuff Coat as Bally called it. Or maybe it's just the wax that's removed. Not sure. Anyway I will re wax the lane but I'm hoping vid1900 or somebody has a suggestion to finish cleaning this. Thank you.

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Well, that seemed to have done the trick.

You will probably have to sand down the shooter lane. All that discoloration is embedded in the wood, not on the surface.

Thanks, I was afraid of that.

I botched a wax job on my TR-3 years ago.
I waxed the car at night, applied too much wax, night was overcast that started to rain/drizzle.
Even after the wax baked in the sun it would ball up and not polish or stick right.

I ended up wiping the car down with white gas and rewashing the whole car.

The next wax job was flawless, same can of wax etc...

I did try sanding it a little. It's a little better but not great. I didn't want to go crazy with it right now. It does look like some of the lacquer is gone. For now I only rewaxed it. Is that good enough or am I asking for problems down the road? How do I Mylar the shooting lane with the groove in there?

That's probably what I'm going to wind up doing, thanks.