Theoretically the washer should help, as it increases the contact area and spreads out the downward pressure, lessening it onto any given point. Apparently it's not enough though.....

Is it just me, or are the JP2 LEs taking a LONG time to ship compared to previous Stern releases, as if they are being held up for some reason? Heck, even the code release yesterday was PRO only, which confirms that no LEs haven't shipped....

90% of their customers (both Pinsiders and non-Pinsiders) will never see this on their playfield as an issue on their own. However, over the last 18-24 months It has now occurred long enough & often enough that a critical mass of complaints has been achieved.

The other thing is that timing wise this couldn't have come at a worse time for Stern. Their last 2 cornerstone pins (Munsters & BKSOR) were not all they hoped to be in sales, and now that they have a very high possibility of a massive hit on their hands in Jurassic Park these playfield issues finally come to a boil.....

As I mentioned in the other thread, looking at that LE playfield up close makes me think that they may have resolved the bubbling issue at the posts. All the bubbling and pooling on Pros and other Stern pins shows the paint underneath adhering to the clearcoat as it bubbles up, making it look like an adherence issue between the artwork and the wood. By not having artwork there and only clearcoat it *may* resolve it, as they may have found that the printed artwork being the issue when stressed at a post.

I really don't think it's a clear issue, to me it has always looked like an adhesion between artwork and wood. Things that support that theory:

- Pictures of bubbling/pooling/ripples always show the artwork coming up with the clear
- Stern & Mirco(JJP) both having this issue, using a direct artwork digital print technique
- CGC not having the issue, and last I've seen is they still use screened printing

While I can't find the reference, I've also seen posted on here where Stern quit using CGC for the playfield printing about 18-24 months ago to do their own, and the timing of these issues starting around the same time.

All these point to the digital ink having some kind of adhesion issue from the digital process, probably due to the specific type of ink being used by these digital printers. That digital ink is probably not designed to such a high stress usage printed onto a surface that continues to contract & expand over it's life.

I do agree with you it would be nice to get some kind of confirmation of what actually did happen once the smoke clears (no pun intended)....

There is a pic in the thread that shows all posts, even under the ball guides, now have no artwork under them. Just check thru the topic gallery.

I don't see how ANY playfield, no matter what it's painted with, is going to withstand that type of damage from a misinstalled or misdesigned ballguide. That damage those ballguides caused, and I agree its ugly, would happen on ANY playfield when a metal edge ball guide is torgued down that hard. They needed to install a washer at those ball guide rods to avoid that, to raise that metal edge so that it no longer digs into the playfield.

Incorrectly installed ball guides causing damage to playfields has been going on since they started being used. While I 100% agree Stern & JJP have had some serious artwork and clearcoat issues, one could have used the most expensive clearcoat/paint in the world and not prevented a ballguide doing damage like that when it's misinstalled.

Technology and manufacturer change. They went from contracting to Churchill/CGC making playfields via screen printing to doing it in house via digital printing.

The JP2 LE reports so far are encouraging, so maybe there is some hope going forward. Unfortunately that still leaves a lot of people with issues from the last few years.....

Mezelmods is a US distributor for PU Parts in Europe, and others may carry it as well

I have them on my GOTG and BM66, great product

double

With you getting a spare PF I'd get the stuff together to do those repairs that Yelobird detailed and fix the one you got....

Yes, it's a problem, but a different problem than the pooling/chipping that 95% of this thread has been about. This was human error/carelessness during the assembly by putting gouges into the playfield and NOT a clearcoat/ink adhesion issue causing pooling.

Apples and oranges.....