(Topic ID: 137689)

Cleaning and Waxing Pinball Machines - Vid's Guide

By vid1900

8 years ago


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    There are 2,197 posts in this topic. You are on page 9 of 44.
    #401 8 years ago

    Is there any intermediate step for an EM between cleaning with Naphtha and waxing with carnauba wax? Apologies if this has been covered explicitly; I tried a quick search on an old netbook and didn't have any luck.

    Fantastic guide, Vid! Much appreciated! I wouldn't have thought Naphtha would be a good cleaner for lacquer finishes before, so this is a game changer for me. Seriously, thank you so much.

    #402 8 years ago

    What would you use to clean this ball shooter cover? You can see it's dirty around the screws. It's from a 1949 United Mfg. pinball machine.

    Bruce

    20150927_204200.jpg20150927_204200.jpg

    #403 8 years ago

    Like dissolves like is what I recall from my Chemistry studies . Polar molecules are soluble in polar molecules and nonpolar dissolve in nonpolar. Naphtha is a blend of hydrocarbons,probably hexane ,heptane,octane,ect.Hydrocarbons are nonpolar.Wax is a hydrocarbon starting about C18,as the molecular weight increases hydrocarbons become a solid at room temp.This is why naphtha removes wax so well ,it's this same thing just bigger. Isopropyl alcohol is more polar and would not remove oil based lacquer as well as naphtha. Alcohol would remove silicone better because silicone is more polar.I would think this biggest problem with alcohol that it is very hydroscopic ,likes to pick up water and contains water.I don't see how naphtha would be less harsh on the topcoat,if anything it's removing more on the lacquer.

    #404 8 years ago
    Quoted from vid1900:

    Woodcraft is a good store.
    They sell total crap from China like HF does, but they also carry great quality stuff like SawStop and CMT.

    and dat festool

    1 week later
    #405 8 years ago

    Bump because I still want to see pictures of some freshly waxed playfields.

    #406 8 years ago
    Quoted from Law:

    Bump because I still want to see pictures of some freshly waxed playfields.

    I'll try to get some pics of the proper amount of wax to put down.

    #407 8 years ago

    Where can you buy Blitz One Grand wax?

    #408 8 years ago
    Quoted from angryjeep:

    Anybody else use this on metals?image.jpeg
    I worked at a motorcycle dealership for a few years. Most sell it. Works really well on alum and stainless.

    455820.jpeg455820.jpeg

    I have used simichrome for years on old woodworking tools and more. My pin legs were rusty, I cleaned them up with naval jelly and then polished with this stuff. They look like new now

    #409 8 years ago
    Quoted from mcclad:

    Where can you buy Blitz One Grand wax?

    Pinball Life has it (currently on back order)

    #410 8 years ago
    Quoted from Platypus:

    Pinball Life has it (currently on back order)

    OK. Thanks.

    #411 8 years ago

    Thye outer cabinet of my 1988 machine has bad planking issues. I believe that with our humidity swings here in Wisconsin that the problem only gets worse overtime. I considered clear coating the outer cabinet to at least seal it up, rather than a complete restore. I was reluctant to wax it being concerned that any wax residue could interfere with a future new top-coating. But it sounds like Naphtha will effectively remove any old wax if needed in the future.

    So do others recommend that I wax my outer cabinet to help protect the wood and reduce moisture transfer?

    #412 8 years ago

    The thing about Blitz wax...

    My wife sees me working on the machines one time and bursts out in laughter. I ask what's up and she says,"Do you really use butt wax on pinball machines?"

    BUTZ.jpgBUTZ.jpg

    #413 8 years ago
    Quoted from Law:

    I ask what's up and she says,"Do you really use butt wax on pinball machines?"

    All the married guys are forced to use plain 'ol missionary Sex Wax.

    Sexwax.jpgSexwax.jpg

    #414 8 years ago
    Quoted from Platypus:

    So do others recommend that I wax my outer cabinet to help protect the wood and reduce moisture transfer?

    As long as the planking is not flaky, can't hurt.

    #415 8 years ago

    ARE PROFESSIONAL WAXES FLAMMABLE?

    =================================

    Pinball_Saul sent me an email saying "C*** is full of shit" and "professional waxes are not flammable" because auto detailers often use a torch to apply them (Saul owns a dealership).

    I had only ever seen woodworkers apply wax with a propane torch, so this was news to me.

    I asked Saul if his detailers used Blitz, but he said he believed they mainly used Chemical Guys.

    -

    So I decided to see if professional wax burns like a can of Sterno, or if Saul knew knew something others did not.

    #416 8 years ago

    First I took a good size glob of Blitz wax and held it over my very non-flammable tile floor.

    1-Glob-of-Blitz.jpg1-Glob-of-Blitz.jpg

    #417 8 years ago

    Next I took one of those long lighters that keep you safely away from whatever you are lighting on fire, and held it to the Blitz.

    The wax began to melt from the flame.

    2-It-melts.jpg2-It-melts.jpg

    #418 8 years ago

    When I pulled the flame away from the wax, the wax itself did not sustain any type of combustion.

    Saul was right! Professional auto waxes do not burn.

    Almost immediately, the wax began to harden again.

    3-instantly-hardens.jpg3-instantly-hardens.jpg

    #419 8 years ago

    Here you can see the wax returned to it's original form.

    Another pinball old wives tale put to rest.

    Thank you Saul for your insight!

    4-hard-again.jpg4-hard-again.jpg

    #420 8 years ago
    Quoted from vid1900:

    When I pulled the flame away from the wax, the wax itself did not sustain any type of combustion.

    Proving that Blitz doesn't contain a high percentage of volatile solvents. As you stated before if your Blitz is chunky heat it up a little.

    #421 8 years ago

    Blitz really surprised me -- it has almost no smell to it. My "Mother's pure, yadda yadda" reeks in comparison.
    -mof

    #422 8 years ago

    WAXING THE PLAYFIELD

    ============================

    OK, now we are going to put everything we have learned into practice; we are going to go through the routine of actually waxing a playfield.

    1. DOES THE PLAYFIELD NEED WAXING? - Drag your fingers over the playfield right in front of the flippers. Does it have the waxed feel? If you can't obviously feel the protective wax layer, it's time to wax.

    2. DO ANY RUBBERS NEED REPLACING? - Replacing rubbers makes a mess of little crumbs and released dust. Do this before you go further.

    3. VACUUM FIRST - Now before you do anything, you need to vacuum up all the abrasive coil dust, and anything else that is laying on the surface of the playfield. A vacuum cleans areas that a rag can't reach (like under the Pop Skirts), so don't skip this step.

    4. WIPEDOWN - Now here is where you need to make an intelligent decision, so remember what you have learned.

    You want to use the LEAST DESTRUCTIVE wipedown step possible.

    -

    You probably DON'T want to remove the existing wax from the playfield. For a routine cleaning, there is no reason to remove old wax.

    You DON'T want to use water, alcohol or ammonia based cleaners on playfields with Varathane clearcoats, cracking, planking, peeling, or wear exposing the underlying wood.

    -

    This playfield in question has an excellent, intact Clearcoat, so I wiped it with Novus1.

    WIPE-UP.jpgWIPE-UP.jpg

    -

    You can see that the Vacuum step removed 95% of the dust and dirt, so the Wiping step came back with very little dirt.

    ====

    Q: Why did you not use Naphtha for the wipedown?
    A: It would have removed the existing wax layer.

    #423 8 years ago

    5. NOVUS2 - If there were ball trails dug into the Inlanes or deep scratches in the playfield, then this would be the time to polish them out. This playfield had only tiny scratches, so I was not going to waste time and wear down the clearcoat for nothing - so I of course skipped the Novus2.

    6. APPLYING THE WAX - This is it, the big moment. Dampen a soft cloth with ONE DROP of water and scoop up a small amount (1/8 teaspoon) of wax. Making small swirls, apply the wax in a circular motion - doing small sections of the playfield at a time.

    Wax the playfield, shooter lane, ramps, rails, target faces, anything the ball touches. Obviously, don't wax the Plastic Posts (some cheap brands of wax require extra work to get the dried wax out of the flutes), Printed Decals (solvents in the wax could smear the ink), or the rubber parts.

    Don't use too much wax. You only need a film.

    APPLY.jpgAPPLY.jpg

    #424 8 years ago

    7. ALLOW THE WAX TO FULLY DRY - If you don't let the wax dry, it won't stick to the playfield.

    Allow 15 or so minutes and check it with your finger. If you finger smears the wax, it's not dry. Leave it for another 10 minutes.

    NOT-DRY.jpgNOT-DRY.jpg

    #425 8 years ago

    When the wax is dry, your finger will wipe off a smooth stripe of the wax.

    DRY.jpgDRY.jpg

    #426 8 years ago

    8. WIPE OFF WAX - With a soft cloth, wipe off the film of dried wax.

    With good wax, there won't be any dust or flakes of dried wax; it just cleanly wipes away. Good wax also does not leave white residue in the flutes of the plastic posts (if you accidentally got some wax on them).

    9. VACUUM - If you used cheap wax, vacuum up any of the dusty residue. If your cheap wax got into the flutes of any plastic posts, simply brush it out with a soft toothbrush.

    10. EXAMINE YOUR BALLS - While the wax is drying, examine ALL the balls for scratches or pits. Nothing wears your playfield down faster than scratched steel balls. Don't forget any captured balls.

    Nice balls have that "deep black" look to them.

    DONE.jpgDONE.jpg

    #427 8 years ago

    And that's it.

    It's not a difficult job.

    Don't overthink it.

    Don't "over-clean it"

    Don't "over-polish it" (those tiny scratches go unnoticed with the glass on).

    Don't use Water, Alcohol, or Ammonia based cleaners on cracked, planked or bare wood. (use Naphtha instead).

    Don't "over-wax it". You wipe most of the wax off, so no sense in painting on a thick layer that takes forever to dry.

    #428 8 years ago

    Is it a good idea to remove the old wax if it's a different brand from the one you're planning to apply?

    For example: Remove the old Mother's wax and replace it with Blitz or is it OK to apply Blitz on top of the Mother's?

    Bruce

    #429 8 years ago
    Quoted from PinballFever:

    Is it a good idea to remove the old wax if it's a different brand from the one you're planning to apply?
    For example: Remove the old Mother's wax and replace it with Blitz or is it OK to apply Blitz on top of the Mother's?
    Bruce

    I've put Blitz over Mother's, no problem.

    The only wax I routinely remove is old, yellow Johnson wax - that stuff is awful.

    #430 8 years ago

    What sort of soft cloth do you use? micro fiber or will my old teeshirt suffice. And can I keep that polish cloth dedicated for that use?

    #431 8 years ago
    Quoted from Platypus:

    What sort of soft cloth do you use? micro fiber or will my old teeshirt suffice. And can I keep that polish cloth dedicated for that use?

    I just steal "Softwipes" from work, but you can use any soft cloth.

    #432 8 years ago
    Quoted from Platypus:

    What sort of soft cloth do you use? micro fiber or will my old teeshirt suffice. And can I keep that polish cloth dedicated for that use?

    I get the big packs of microfiber cloths from Home Depot. Like 15 bucks for 30 of them. Lasts me like 6 months.

    #433 8 years ago
    Quoted from Platypus:

    What sort of soft cloth do you use? micro fiber or will my old teeshirt suffice. And can I keep that polish cloth dedicated for that use?

    Microfiber helps on removing... but they aren't needed for application. The same foam pads used for cars works great.. or any soft cotton rag. The pads are nice because you won't be fighting yourself by removing wax as you apply it like you would with a cloth with a lot of surface area. MF works great for removing/buffing the waxed surface.

    #434 8 years ago

    If you are following along at home.
    Just going to post these before and after photos. Cleaning and waxing a 40 year old pin.

    Before:DSCN0820.JPGDSCN0820.JPG

    After:DSCN0830.JPGDSCN0830.JPG
    Note the reflection of the fluorescent tubes in the playfield. More of a defined image. That layer of wax is now a sacrificial layer between the ball and the playfield.

    #435 8 years ago

    I understand that Naphtha is the go to for a clean, but what would you recommend to quickly clean the playfield if I don't want to remove the wax? Is there any liquid? Or do I just have to use a vacuum?

    #436 8 years ago
    Quoted from jonesjb:

    I understand that Naphtha is the go to for a clean, but what would you recommend to quickly clean the playfield if I don't want to remove the wax?

    In post #422, he uses Novus 1. It won't remove wax.

    #437 8 years ago
    Quoted from yancy:

    In post #422, he uses Novus 1. It won't remove wax.

    Perfect, thanks!

    #438 8 years ago
    Quoted from Darcy:

    If you are following along at home.
    Just going to post these before and after photos. Cleaning and waxing a 40 year old pin.

    That sure looks nice, is that all original or was that playfield redone/touched up?

    #439 8 years ago
    Quoted from xsvtoys:

    That sure looks nice, is that all original or was that playfield redone/touched up?

    That is all original. No signs of touch up. It does have the usual ball arch wear. There is some planking in the artwork, but over all it looks great, for a game made in 1974. I will just keep waxing it.

    #440 8 years ago
    Quoted from vid1900:

    Don't "over-wax it". You wipe most of the wax off, so no sense in painting on a thick layer that takes forever to dry.

    Vid, what's your thought on the number of coats of wax to apply? I know over two coats seems like overkill, but I'm thinking one coat might not be enough if there is any variability in the application. Two coats would seem to even out the variability.

    #441 8 years ago

    If you look at those test results a few pages back, sometimes the 2nd coat dissolves the 1st coat and the net result is less than a single coat (crazy, I know).

    Pro waxes dry to a haze, so you will clearly see that you missed a spot.

    And even if you miss some tiny area, you will probably be waxing again in a few months, and will surely hit it then.

    #442 8 years ago

    Yeah blitz definitely dries to a haze, so it's easy for me to see spots that I missed.

    #443 8 years ago
    Quoted from vid1900:

    If you look at those test results a few pages back, sometimes the 2nd coat dissolves the 1st coat and the net result is less than a single coat (crazy, I know).
    Pro waxes dry to a haze, so you will clearly see that you missed a spot.
    And even if you miss some tiny area, you will probably be waxing again in a few months, and will surely hit it then.

    Good to know. I use blitz, so I'll save that extra 20 minutes in the future and just do one coat. Thanks!

    #444 8 years ago

    Unfortunaltely the Blitz product is not available in Europe but I found this one - is this also recommendable?

    Meguiars Mirror Glaze M16 Professional Paste Wax

    #445 8 years ago
    Quoted from ClarkKent:

    Meguiars Mirror Glaze M16 Professional Paste Wax

    It says "no cleaners or abrasives", so that's good.

    It says "blend of waxes", but I don't know what those are.

    #446 8 years ago

    Very interesting. So if I have a routed 2003 Stern and I have no idea what was put on it, should I remove whatever was put on it using naptha, or should I go minimal starting with the vacuum and progress through your steps as needed? The playfield is in excellent condition.

    #447 8 years ago
    Quoted from ForceFlow:

    Harbor freight has a vacuum attachment kit in-store: http://www.harborfreight.com/8-piece-micro-vacuum-attachment-kit-32994.html
    No waiting several weeks/months on an ebay/amazon order to ship from Hong Kong.

    So I have been using this kit to vacuum. The long of the short is that it works great to get into tiny spaces, and the brush is great at removing overspread dried wax from say, post. The only negative I can think of is that the suction is not super strong. It is still sufficient though.

    #448 8 years ago
    Quoted from lb1:

    So I have been using this kit to vacuum. The long of the short is that it works great to get into tiny spaces, and the brush is great at removing overspread dried wax from say, post. The only negative I can think of is that the suction is not super strong. It is still sufficient though.

    The adapter twists to make the four air holes in it smaller or larger to change the amount of suction.

    I'm not sure it would be a good idea to cover those holes entirely, though. It might put too much strain on the vacuum's motor and burn it out if it's used that way for too long.

    #449 8 years ago
    Quoted from vid1900:

    It says "no cleaners or abrasives", so that's good.
    It says "blend of waxes", but I don't know what those are.

    Hmmmm. Now I'm almost as smart as before. But thanx for the info!

    #450 8 years ago
    Quoted from ForceFlow:

    The adapter twists to make the four air holes in it smaller or larger to change the amount of suction.
    I'm not sure it would be a good idea to cover those holes entirely, though. It might put too much strain on the vacuum's motor and burn it out if it's used that way for too long.

    I was actually surprised that it didn't twist all the way to completely cover the holes. As you point out, it's probably to avoid burning the motor. I use my hand to cover the holes when I need a bit more suction. Not having a lot of suction isn't a major deal as the brush does all the work of detaching particles that stick to the playfield so they can be sucked in.

    There are 2,197 posts in this topic. You are on page 9 of 44.

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