Doing a full cleaning and shop job on my #gameshow. Have a glad ware full of star posts that are filthy and covered in wax and grime. \
Anyone have a best way to scrub them up without full manual labour? Toss them in the silverware tray in dishwasher? Soak them? I don't have a parts cleaner.
I throw them in a sink of hot soapy water and let them soak for a while. Then scrub with an old toothbrush. Any that are cracked or split at the bottom get tossed.
Quoted from schudel5:I throw them in a sink of hot soapy water and let them soak for a while. Then scrub with an old toothbrush. Any that are cracked or split at the bottom get tossed.
Amazingly enough, they aren't cracked and broken up. This is the first pin that hasn't been. And I highly, highly doubt they have been replaced.
I made a small cart on Marco for about $26 bucks worth of light items and the shipping was $34US for fuck sakes. So giving the parts a cleaning, not a replacement.
I soak mine in Spray Nine for a bit, then I clean with a firm toothbrush individually. After cleaning, I throw out any that show cracks and replace. Most come out great. I never understood when shopping a game, the amount of wax that people use on their machines. I think people think waxing the posts, guides etc. will help protect them too. I laugh sometimes how much wax is on these playfield parts, unreal!
Some hot water mixed with a good cleaning fluid in a cheap ultrasonic cleaner and let it run for a few minutes. Will make them like new.
Quoted from Gnatty:I soak mine in Spray Nine for a bit, then I clean with a firm toothbrush individually. After cleaning, I throw out any that show cracks and replace. Most come out great. I never understood when shopping a game, the amount of wax that people use on their machines. I think people think waxing the posts, guides etc. will help protect them too. I laugh sometimes how much wax is on these playfield parts, unreal!
There was literally white wax splashed on everything, behind everything, the black wood sire rails, unreal.
Quoted from DNO:Ultrasonic is the way to go, or get your toothbrush ready. Dishwasher is ok too, but I worry about one escaping
I did the dishwasher, we’ll see if any got out, fingers crossed.
I’m going to have to search for a cheap ultrasound cleaner, then at least I’ll have one
I soak 'em in a solo cup in warm water and dish soap for an hour.
Just don't drink out of the wrong cup while you wait 
I just replace them as they are usually so faded it's unbelievable. They don't look bad until you compare side by side with a new one.
Quoted from northerndude:Doing a full cleaning and shop job on my #gameshow. Have a glad ware full of star posts that are filthy and covered in wax and grime. \
Anyone have a best way to scrub them up without full manual labour? Toss them in the silverware tray in dishwasher? Soak them? I don't have a parts cleaner.
Toothbrush and Dawn power dissolver. they used to sell it in walmart in a small-ish blue squirt bottle, but you have to get it from office supply stores now. It's great stuff. One bottle will last a LONG time since it's a gel and you can thin it out so it's not so hard on your hands.
Quoted from vid1900:@ .80 cents each, I just replace them
If you snip them off with diags, there is no chance of breaking the clear insert plastic.
I'd be all over replacing them on every pin for the price of them. It's the damn shipping that makes it cost prohibitive. The pinball companies just rape us in CAN for shipping costs. There is threads about it. It's so frustrating.
Quoted from northerndude:I'd be all over replacing them on every pin for the price of them. It's the damn shipping that makes it cost prohibitive. The pinball companies just rape us in CAN for shipping costs. There is threads about it. It's so frustrating.
Is it the pinball company charging to much or is it the shipping company charging to much?
Marco order to Minot, ND. Shipping cost - $13.99 USD -
Same exact order to Nipawin, Saskatchewan - Shipping $114+ USD
Quoted from northerndude:Marco order to Minot, ND. Shipping cost - $13.99 USD -
Same exact order to Nipawin, Saskatchewan - Shipping $114+ USD
Move to the U.S. or start up your own pinball parts company in Canada. Problem solved. It’s not Marco to blame. 
Quoted from Gnatty:Move to the U.S. or start up your own pinball parts company in Canada. Problem solved. It’s not Marco to blame.
Well, yeah it kind of is. They make International customers check out in a different way and charge the living shit out of them.
Quoted from Gnatty:I soak mine in Spray Nine for a bit, then I clean with a firm toothbrush individually. After cleaning, I throw out any that show cracks and replace. Most come out great. I never understood when shopping a game, the amount of wax that people use on their machines. I think people think waxing the posts, guides etc. will help protect them too. I laugh sometimes how much wax is on these playfield parts, unreal!
I've done that, and still end up just replacing them
Quoted from northerndude:Amazingly enough, they aren't cracked and broken up. This is the first pin that hasn't been. And I highly, highly doubt they have been replaced.
I made a small cart on Marco for about $26 bucks worth of light items and the shipping was $34US for fuck sakes. So giving the parts a cleaning, not a replacement.
Is this because it international shipping?
What would it cost if it was privetly shipped?
Have you tried pinball medic? I feel your pain with shipping cost from the states, I usually just clean my posts soaking them in simple green and a good scrub. I order from pinball medic if they have what I need. https://pinballmedics.ca/product/translucent-star-posts-1-116-high/
Quoted from schudel5:I throw them in a sink of hot soapy water and let them soak for a while. Then scrub with an old toothbrush. Any that are cracked or split at the bottom get tossed.
Any more I go to the dollar store and buy the orange cleaner to soak posts, rollover buttons and stars in. The stuff will even clean the apron and not take off the ink. (always put on rag, never on part)
Quoted from Tablewicked:Have you tried pinball medic? I feel your pain with shipping cost from the states, I usually just clean my posts soaking them in simple green and a good scrub. I order from pinball medic if they have what I need. https://pinballmedics.ca/product/translucent-star-posts-1-116-high/
Thank you for that link! I havent seen them yet, I feel dumb for not having come across it. Same price maybe even a couple cents cheaper with exchange.
Titan rubbers have star posts too. Cheaper than or about the price marco has them. I picked up some during their awesome Black Friday sale and they are good quaility. Maybe their shipping to Canada wouldn’t be as bad.
Quoted from northerndude:Marco order to Minot, ND. Shipping cost - $13.99 USD -
Same exact order to Nipawin, Saskatchewan - Shipping $114+ USD
Then ship your parts to me and I will send them to you.
First, I separate out cracked and broken posts.
For the rest, I do a couple heated ultrasonic cleaning cycles in a 50/50 simple green & water solution.
If any look bad after that, I separate those out and just keep the good ones. I then rinse them off with warm water, then let them air dry.
It's basically just a few minutes of effort. I usually end up keeping a little more than half, and replacing the rest with new posts. Thankfully, the translucent posts don't end up looking all that different from original posts. Solid color posts usually do just because the new ones aren't color matched. White Gottlieb posts, especially (I avoid using new ones if possible since the are certainly not white).
Quoted from Tablewicked:Have you tried pinball medic? I feel your pain with shipping cost from the states, I usually just clean my posts soaking them in simple green and a good scrub. I order from pinball medic if they have what I need. https://pinballmedics.ca/product/translucent-star-posts-1-116-high/
How much is shipping within Canada for those?
Quoted from GRUMPY:Then ship your parts to me and I will send them to you.
Thx for the offer, I actually have a couple US based guys that I have that will help out also.
I’m not getting crazy with this as it still is a “Game Show”. I cleaned the parts and they are surprisingly bright and cleaned up.
More of a time crunch for this as it’s torn down, and I’m giving it a shop job and put er back together all spiffy and ready to play.
All shipping to Canada is bad. Not only is the cost high, we get dinged with a custom charge of $10 plus taxes of total purchase value. A small order of bulbs (say $100) from comet is $20 usd for shipping, plus $10 charge and $11 for taxes in Saskatchewan. Now I'm $145 in just for a really small box of bulbs. If it was marcos or pinball life the shipping charge would be $35 or $40 plus customs.
Quoted from 2pupPinz:Titan rubbers have star posts too. Cheaper than or about the price marco has them. I picked up some during their awesome Black Friday sale and they are good quaility. Maybe their shipping to Canada wouldn’t be as bad.
Quoted from dirkdiggler:All shipping to Canada is bad. Not only is the cost high, we get dinged with a custom charge of $10 plus taxes of total purchase value. A small order of bulbs (say $100) from comet is $20 usd for shipping, plus $10 charge and $11 for taxes in Saskatchewan. Now I'm $145 in just for a really small box of bulbs. If it was marcos or pinball life the shipping charge would be $35 or $40 plus customs.
Free healthcare ain't free after all.
Quoted from MustangPaul:How much is shipping within Canada for those?
Not sure on the posts but usually under 20 Canadian when I make a order. The big problem is getting hit with customs at the border. I had to pay close to 100 bucks this week for two separate orders, one from Marco and one from comet.
Quoted from Tablewicked:Not sure on the posts but usually under 20 Canadian when I make a order. The big problem is getting hit with customs at the border. I had to pay close to 100 bucks this week for two separate orders, one from Marco and one from comet.
My Comet customs bill was $21 
Quoted from RCA1:Note to self:
Start a side business smuggling prescription drugs back to the US.
And Kinder Surprise Eggs too while you're at it.
Quoted from schudel5:And Kinder Surprise Eggs too while you're at it.
You guys don’t have Kinder???
Wow,
Is this off topic, who cares though!
Quoted from northerndude:You guys don’t have Kinder???
There's a law on the books somewhere that says food items can't contain non-edible objects with the idea that they could be a choking hazard.
Quoted from northerndude:My Comet customs bill was $21
Yep mine was $40, it's always a gamble sometime you don't have to pay anything. We usuall do tho. Hope you Like pinball medic, not a big selection like Marco but it's good for some stuff.
http://www.theplaydiumstore.com/category_s/2188.htm
Better to call and talk to Doug. In case you didn't know, P1 will order from Marco, PBR, and a couple of others and then send your parts out in 1 shot for a reasonable price.
Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.
Great to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!
This page was printed from https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/cleaning-star-posts-suggestions and we tried optimising it for printing. Some page elements may have been deliberately hidden.
Scan the QR code on the left to jump to the URL this document was printed from.
Minneapolis, MN
Leduc, AB
Sana'a
Eatons Hill
