High Speed
Williams, 1986I am working on a playfield swap of a high speed. The star roll-overs are fully clear-coated . I thought it was just a small layer of clear over the opening but the opening is full of plastic. I'm assuming it's molded that way and should have been opened up. I'm looking for suggestions on how to open these up.
IMG_7192 (resized).JPGIMG_7194 (resized).JPGStar rollover sockets come with a piece of plastic to plug the hole, usually its recommended to leave it in while clearing. If it had been removed, there'd be clear all over the sides of the slot, and your star would get stuck.
Strange that there's a hole in the middle...
If it doesn’t pop out easily, as if the clear has sealed it in place, I’d suggest scoring or cutting through the clear along the star plug with a BRAND NEW, SUPER SHARP Exacto #11 blade. Slowly and patiently, like you have all the time in the world. Then pop it out from underneath.
The issue I have is the plug appears to be a part of the mold, as if it needed to be cut loose before the insert was placed in the playfield. It is not as easy as just cutting around the top edges. The center portion is all one molded part which needs to be cut apart.
That’s how they come when you buy them new. You just pop the centers out when you’re ready. It’s possible that yours wasn’t cut all the way through? Now, if it’s been cleared over that would definitely make it harder to remove, thus the need for the sharp exacto. I really do believe this is the case looking at your pics.
However, if it really is still molded together and not completely pre-cut from the factory (very unusual) then I’d pop that one out entirely and set in a new one. It’s a pretty easy job, though you should still use the sharp #11 Exacto to cut around the round insert to slice through the clear, otherwise it would lift the clear on the playfield when you tap it out. Polish up the new one so it looks nice and shiny, and install it level to the clear coated playfield.
When I clear coat playfields I use an inverted white star insert because they fit loosely in the hole and have a little handle I use pull it out before the clear flashes. I can see how using the original, tight fitting plug can make it harder to remove.
If needed, once the center insert is out, I will go back with the #11 Exacto and carefully clean up any edges so the new star insert works smoothly. Sometimes I use a small file. Sometimes I use a hot exacto blade (attached to a solder iron type device) It’s just part of the process)
Quoted from MrArt2u:That’s how they come when you buy them new. You just pop the centers out when you’re ready. It’s possible that yours wasn’t cut all the way through? Now, if it’s been cleared over that would definitely make it harder to remove, thus the need for the sharp exacto. I really do believe this is the case looking at your pics.
I believe these were never cut apart before the playfield was cleared. The center portion was one solid piece of plastic on the bottom. I have never seen this issue before.
I began cutting with a brand new #11 exacto and it is starting to lift the clear off the roll-over inserts. I have to cut through plastic too, the removable insert is not just held in with clearcoat.
I used a nail file when I did my space invaders https://www.pinballinfo.com/community/threads/space-invaders-the-reborn.39045/
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/clear-coated-star-roll-over 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.
Rochester, NY
Sandbach
Dunakeszi