It's ok for shooter lanes and possibly other areas as long as the ball doesn't hang on an edge.

Thanks for your help also. Yes I will bath a lot of Steel tools and things that get rusty and just letting them soak in oil for a month or so. Brings them back to life .

I just got my machine and have played a few games, but realized after reading this I need to do a teardown and a waxing to ensure I don't wear out the playfield. When I do the shop job, what should I use to clean the individual parts? I assume once I've stripped the playfield of everything, is that when i should use the wax?

This was the best advice I heard a long while ago. I had just gotten a NIB Star Trek Pro and wanted to preserve it but was terrified of a full tear down. It is not necessary for a new game if you don't want to. You can just wax the areas that you can reach.

Now, if you have an older game that is really dirty and hasn't been waxed in ages, like the X-Files I picked up last year, than a full tear down, cleaning and waxing can make a huge difference.

This is great thanks! Any suggestions on where to buy coil sleeves? I just bought a complete set of titan rubbers to replace them.

Pinballlife.com, and it’s close to you.

Thanks! I was looking under here for Fish Tales coil sleeves https://www.pinballlife.com/wmsbally-lookup-database.html but do they have a different name (new to this)

Coil sleeves are universal. Just need different lengths. Your manual will give you part numbers. Marcospecialties.com may have a coil kit, but it'll be more $ then buying individual coils

Sorry this is a dumb question, but is there another name for the sleeves? I see coil tubing, coil assembly, and coil bracket in the manual. Is it one of these?

No dumb questions! Coil tubing is what they are calling coil sleeves.

Awesome thanks that really helps.

Thanks Vid for all the advice you have given over the years. I'm new to Pinside and have found all the essential advice more than often leads back to your involvement. I've just got my first pin and the cleaning and waxing products you have recommended work great. It's worthwhile taking the advice of people who contribute a lot to these forums as it saves time and money experimenting. You guys have already been down the path some of us are starting on.

I had a hard time sourcing the Blitz Wax from the USA to Australia so when I eventually got some I bought an extra tub to avoid the future inconvenience. The biggest barrier is the shipping to Australia and you can't buy direct from the manufacturer.

To my surprise, the tubs are huge and it seems to go along way and it works as you have described. So for all those newbies reading this thread, I have an extra tub brand new unopened and I'd be happy to part with it if you're in Australia and like me can't get your hands on it easily.

Maybe post an ad in the marketplace?

This is how I wax and clean my games. When cleaning the playfield, I will clean the mechanisms under the playfield and also the rubbers and cabinet.

Hey guys/gals,

Remember me?

It's been a few months...

I felt it appropriate to update you since I did a fair share of all my comments as a newbie on this THREAD.
I'm no longer getting MBrLE. However, I DID just purchase (yesterday) NIB JJP POTC CE. VERY excited about and it should arrive this weekend I'm hoping.

Relevant to this thread...

I'm still "on the fence" "what I do" when I get this machine:
a) Pre wax or no wax?
b) Replace the balls or the balls that come w/ JJP are fine.

vid1900 kinda scared the hell out of me and I know he is only trying to help... I appreciate it.

Basically, do or "should" I worry about anything other than enjoying my new game when I get it...

Interested to hear any feedback from others what YOU DO that wish to share.

Thanks!!!

I order cliffys when I order the game.

I always inspect the balls.
If they are shiney and look good, I clean the oil off of them and use them.

I usually play 20 or so games to dial in the game, install cliffys, then wax it.

Aye @pinballinreno,

How's it going! I remember you...

I'm sorry... What exactly is cliffys and how do you "install" it?

I appreciate this!

Thanks!

http://www.passionforpinball.com/products.htm

Agreed. Play the game, enjoy it. You are going to do no damage to the playfield by playing it at home for 20 or even 50 games before waxing. Within a week or two, wax. Just get all the areas you can reach -- no need to do a full tear down.

As for cliffys, these are optional. Check the JJPOTC thread to see what problem areas there are. For example, on WOZ, you really need a cliffy to protect the munchkinland playfield, but all others are optional. For DI, you need cliffys on both scoops. Some people put cliffys everywhere, but it is really up to you whether you want that level of protection.

Yes, muchkin edging and throne room are a must!

I didn't see anything on Cliffy's for POTC.

Now, I do see some "generic" things like Ball Eject (Shooter Lane) Protectors and Universal Switch Slot Protector.

Also, which wax to use?

@pinballinreno,

I recall this comment from you:

"Mist n shine is silicone free. JJP uses if for the final wipe down on all games. Its rated for clearcoat.
A lot of us use it for between waxing "touch-ups", and you can use it on plastics too."

I'm still an advocate of this product...

Is it okay to START "waxing" with this product after X games? Or do I really want something like blitz or P21S from the get go?

Also, can you help me with the difference between in-lanes and out-lanes. And mylar? This is used to protect these lanes or something??

Thanks so much!!

One more post from me...

Can you help me out with the coil stops, coil sleeves... coils in general really...

I lied ...

This looks pretty "solid" for a complete n00b like me...

http://pinhedz.com/

I don't understand most of it, but I like the presentation.
This was mentioned a few pages back around a year ago and virtually went ignored...

I'll actually shut up now.. =/

EDIT: I went to https://www.flipnoutpinball.com/ (which I respect more out of all the other companies listed), looked for pinhedz on their site and they had no products to show.

Hmm...

Use blitz or P21S silver.
Mist n shine isn't a wax, it's a cleaning fluid.

Email Cliff directly for what you want.

All coil stops and sleeves wear down after awile.

Flipper coil stops an sleeves wear down the fastest.

As they wear the angle of the flipper bat changes.

I change the flipper coil stops when they wear down 1/16" or more as it changes game play and I like the flippers to feel fresh and play properly.

Generally 2-3 thousand games on flipper stops and sleeves unless they get sticky.

Check the plungers also at this time and file off any mushrooming or replace them if they look bad.

Mylar over any place that the ball drops on or any unprotected edge that gets a lot of ball traffic.

When I do a serious cleaning or maintenance every 1500 games I pull the flipper coil stops, clean the sleeves with naptha and make an assessment.

I appreciate this.

So Blitz OR P21S Silver? Which do you use? Are they really so interchangeable that it simply doesn't matter?

So much to learn man..

So now the flippers have coil stops as well? I really need to do my homework and understand visually what a "coil" is...

Also, is it fair that some of this stuff depends solely on the pin you own?
Like I don't know how many sleeves or w/e my table will have.

Thanks!

Joseph5185 take a look at the manual for your game. All info is in that. Just start on page 1 and read on. A quick way to get the sleeves you need is buy a kit for your game at Marco.
Also have a look at the game manual on the flipper mech.

Good luck!

You are getting a brand new game.
Parts maintenance is quite away in the future.

Play it awhile and wax it after about 20 games.
Blitz wax and P21S are interchangeable.
Blitz is much cheaper.

I second @pinballinreno's sage advice. I use Blitz, but hear P21S is just as good.

I especially like the advice of playing a few games before waxing. Mostly so you get a good feel for the game first and then can say "holy shit" once you wax it and the balls are just flying around like a bat out of hell. It never ceases to amaze me when I have a game I haven't waxed in 5-6 months and am getting used to the play and then I wax it and balls are just zinging!!

I’m not against waxing, but wasn’t there someone several pages ago who stated that they didn’t “believe” in waxing or something.

Moreover, that waxing can create a game that wasn’t “intended.”

I haven’t the slightest clue, but I have to say waxing seems necessary...

So it should take about a pin dot of wax in total? And not just the play-field but everywhere the ball touches, so rails and whatever else right?

Does anyone get scared they use too much on accident?

Also, the slings... I think they are called slings. Ya know the things above the flippers that “sling” or ricochet the ball to hell. Now I must admit those things are practically my favorite thing about pinball, but scare the hell out of me as I think an uncontrollable drain is in my very near future.

Back on topic. There are white and black rubbers right? It looks like JJP POTC has white. Are the black ones much more aggressive or responsive? This was talked in this thread at some point I think.

I briefly played Deadpool and it had black rubbers and the ball was just going crazy. POTC not so much.

TL:DR - I’m a bit of a purest and I’m just trying to understand what is okay and not okay as far as modifications to retain the authenticity and true representation of the pin.

Thanks again!!

JJP pins are very adjustable. You can adjust the power of every coil to suit your taste. On location, they always feel a bit dead to me because the coil power is too low. I tend to turn up at least the flipper power at home. And, yes, you will have many many many uncontrolled drains from the slings in your future.

These are all valid questions and concerns. I'm still new like yourself, and ask questions often, and from so many people.

I remember pinballinreno suggesting just a fingerprint level of wax. I know with my first wax I was a bit chunky for sure. I tried to get to as many areas as possible, didn't wax the ramps though. I've used Mist N' Shine on them though.

Wizards High Gloss Car Detailing, Surface Cleaner Spray, 22 oz https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002U729UA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_8s6NCbC7E2PE0

Waxing is a matter of preference.

If you are going to run the playfield until the clearcoat wears out and the paint wears thru, and then replace it (if you can get one for $2000 in the future from a collector) then dont wax.

If you would like to preserve the finish of the playfield to make it last many years and possibly never replace it, and have it look new decades later, then wax it.

I dont think people understand what pure carnauba wax is.

Its not candle wax or beeswax.

If you found it in nature you would think its a chunk of granite rock.

Its as hard as a rock. Solvents are added to soften it for application.
When the solvents dry out, what is left is rock hard carnauba wax on your surface.

Pure carnauba leaves the hardest surface.
Wax blends that have some carnauba in it are softer and less durable on the surface.

You apply a very thin coat, think what fingerprints on glass look like, yes- that thin.

This is so that the wax can dry out to its hardest surface in a short amount of time.

Thinner coats dry harder and dry out faster.

On a pinball machine you want the surface to be cleanable and renewable.

When applying new wax the solvents in the application melt off the old wax, and lay down a new fresh coat.

It has been proven over and over again, that its better and cheaper on the long run to wear out the wax surface, than the painted surface of the playfield.

Rubber is based on durometer numbers. different colors have different durometer readings.

White rubber is bouncier than black, its softer.

Black rubber lasts longer than white, its harder and more resilient.

White rubber needs to be cleaned pretty often, it gets dirty fast from the black dust from the coils stops as they break down.

Route games always have black rubber (or urethane now) for the best durability.

In a home environment you have choices of rubber.

Since its your personal game, you can put whatever rubber that you think plays the best for that game.
A lot of home games have white rubber because it plays bouncier and has more action.
It will last a very long time in a home environment.

Waxing the ramps keeps the ball tracks down to a minimum.

Its not perfect but regular use of wax on plastic ramps can hide the ball tracking quite a bit.

vid1900 I have cleaned the pf with Novus 2 (it was really dirty) and laid down a coat of chemical guys wax. How can I get the whole playfield to get as shiny as the part that has little ball travel?

CC09E5CD-F702-4AE9-86D7-96396A90AC6E (resized).jpeg

Micro scratches in the clear cause it to be dull.

Use a 3 way polishing technique.

Carefully use a 2 or 3" sponge buffing mandrel with suitable pads for clearcoat in an orbital buffer or screw gun. Orbital yields the best results.

If you completely tear down the topside you can use a bigger pad of 4 or 5"

Run it at 200-300 rpm or lower to avoid burning the clearcoat.

Do not let it ever go dry. Add drops of water as needed. I use a paintbrush and flick water as needed.

1. Cut the surface to rub out scratches with rubbing compound. Use care and dont rub thru the paint.

GO SLOW

2, remove rubbing compound scratches with an intermediate polishing compound to bring up the shine.

GO SLOW

3. Rub out with a swirl remover or mirror glaze.

GO SLOW.

Any areas that need additional work will show up as you go.
Rinse/repeat.

Lastly wax a couple coats and buff to a suitable sheen with a lambs wool polishing pad.

IF there are areas that need additional work, the playfield may have to be sanded, clearcoated and repolished.

His game might come with Titan silicone rings. JJP uses them in DI. Not sure about JJPOTC.

WOZ and TH come with STC rubber rings and some silicone post sleeves. Latex flipper rubbers.

Silicone rings are ok.
I have used them.

Not as durable as urethane but clean up pretty good.

They have an ok bounce to them also.

In my opinion they dont play as good as latex, but that's just me.

They dont rot as fast as latex that's for sure.

They can crack off of slings vs shedding of latex.

Newer modern games with endless multiballs benefit from more durable rubbers regardless of bounce quality.

Old latex burns up quickly on route.

I use a combination of rubbers on my games.

Urethane or silicone for posts or hard to reach areas or high traffic.

White rubber where I want a more lively bounce. I an using a 2" white rubber on the upper sling in my WOZ. The slow bounce there really needs it.

Black latex on slings etc.

Perfect play red flipper rubbers.

I try to match up the rubber to the gameplay.

For example: older EM's greatly benefit from white rubber.
Its way more lively and fun to play.

basically you need to do a polish like you would on a car.

You use a suitable level grit polish on a machine driven pad (use a drill mounted pad or random orbital polisher) then follow up with waxing. Or, if after a test the polish doesn't have enough cut to bring the gloss back, you go to a more agressive compound, then follow up with your polish, and follow with your wax.

From your photo, it looks like a compound + polish will be enough and you don't need to go all the way up to high grit sand paper... which would have been the next level beyond compounds.

It's way easier to do this when the top side of the PF has been torn down.. otherwise, tape things off to reduce splatter and use a small 3" drill mounted pad. Don't mix your pads with the different grits. Get a system like the Meiugars professional line.. or 3M and get a fine polish, and a medium cut compound.

The people that sell 'PF restoration kits' in pinball are just doing the same thing, packaged up in a bundle.

Goto walmart and in their auto section you'll find all you need. Edit: see you are Norge.. so try your local hardware or equivalent that would sell auto care products.

Big thanks @flynnibus and @pinballinreno !
I have been waiting for an excuse to buy the 3m kit, now I have one. I will get that and drill pads and update on the results. Than you very much!

Hi all

Found this pinball game 2 weeks ago. This is my second pin but my first was a gottlieb spirit of 1976. Unfortnately I sold that about 10 years ago. Anyway, this old Bally Sea ray have seen better days. At a distance the playfield looks nice but at closer examine it has a lot of imperfections.

Not sure what to do. What I know is that I will do a teardown of the playfield ( not the underside, only on the play side) so it will be easier to clean and wax.

I guess the way is to use nafta and then try to polish and last do a good waxing. However, I found the cracks a bit disturbing, is there something to do about them? Read that doing a spot repair is not good. But for example, repainting the light green coulor means about repainting 50 percent of the pf and more or less it is the same with the other colors. There is only 5 colors used ( 7 with black and white color ) and the fields are big. After all, the game is 48 years old and I´m not sure if it is correct to paint over all the original paint.

Some suggestions?

By the way, new to this forum and happy to found it.

Thanks

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Vid has a pf restoration thread too you should look that one up.

That's a lot of deep planking (cracks) and ball swirls. To make it go away and do it well, you're looking at a nearly total repaint. If you're up for it check out Vid's guide to playfield restoration. Otherwise clean it, wax it and enjoy it. Well cleaned and waxed with fresh balls in a heated home environment, it probably won't degrade a bunch more.

Looking at the close up photos, it appears that someone has already used a Magic Eraser on the playfield, as the ball swirls look like they are cleaned out.

Well, I tried a magic ersaer similar thing ( same sort of foam but different brand ) on one of the ladys leg. Otherwise nothing is done. This pin have been at the same spot for at least 10 years ( the place I brought it from ) and that guy have never done anything to this. I do not think this pin have had any attention for at least 10 to 20 years.

Anyway, so clean, polish, wax and enjoy?

Thanks

Yup - just go easy on the cleaning. Overdoing it with the music eraser is going to pretty much take off whatever is left of the original lacquer clearcoat. Keep the alcohol away from the playfield and keep the naphtha and abrasives to a minimum. Personally, I'd just vacuum it really well, give it a light wipe with a soft cotton rag slightly dampened with naptha (this will also remove old wax and crud if there's any there), wax and enjoy.

I agree. Yes, it is not a perfect playfield. But not worth a full repaint unless you were doing a 100% restore. Clean, wax and play!