nice job, wonder if some mylar would help once you get it flattened back down.

Really sad it's come to this.

An owners guide on how to repair defects in brand new $10,000 machines.

Do you guys really need it that bad? I don't. I'm over it.

pretty crazy stuff

You have some serious balls! Good job.

Excellent info. My palms were sweating just looking at the pics of the iron on the playfield though. It worked great though, nice job and thanks for sharing!

Thanks for this excellent post. Did you do "only" about the slings? Fortunately my NIB POTC had no raised clear out of the box. So the first thing I did before playing game 1, was to change out to star posts and medium density thin rubber washers. Before and after pics below. Fingers crossed this will keep any issue at bay. I will report back as well.

IMG_3781 (resized).JPG

IMG_3783 (resized).JPG

All new games should come with these instructions.

Would save customer support a lot of time dealing with pissed off people.

Just in it for the pinside fun now? That's even more depressing

No, I still have many games. But none with these issues. I couldn't take it. I'd lose my cool. And that wouldn't be cool.

I would say a heat gun with appropriate funnel attachment (low and slow) with a flat, non-stick "press" pad would allow for the same results and not involve purchasing what I think we should now call a "playfield iron."

My IMDNLE only has a tiny amount on thin posts in the upper PF... Not sure if I should be concerned?

Thus it has been named! : )
I have ordered one, and intend to share it with my local pinheads if they need it.

Thanks so much for making this thread.

What do people recommend for chipped clear in areas besides the posts? Still cut some custom mylar? Clear coat automotive repair kit?

Yeah, I'm thinking you could apply the heat to the back of the press material (metal similar to your iron) and get the exact effect. I just don't want to buy a playfield iron on principle. I'm sure someone around me will though.

not an option for people in Australia with 240V unfortunately

if my next new game comes with a xerox copy of these instructions to fix THIS, i’m seriously going to shit myself and clean it up with my wallet.

3EB05CE4-B74A-4CA4-B59A-B639A3AEDEFD (resized).jpeg

We now have power inverters for just such an application.

Might the mylar prevent the gas coming off that would allow the re-warmed clear to cure? I’ve never done any clear coating, but at what point is factory applied mylar put on, if you know? Just curious.

Except pirates developed rippling around my miniposts at the top of the inlanes. And there are metal washers underneath the miniposts. And this rippling took a few weeks to appear. So hard washers on their own do not work. You need to put rubber underneath the metal washers or you are just pushing the problem outwards. Good luck!

I think you did good to fix this as best you could, smart thinking , well done!

At least you’ve taken matters into your own hands to preserve it best no matter the outcome regarding any warranty JJP/stern/etc

Is this "fix" more dangerous to do on a playfield that is one year old, and the clear have cured a longer time?
Playfield looks about the same it did out of the box, i thought it was just the posts/washers that had sunken in the clear during populating.

But now i understand that it's just air under the wrinkles, and the print is going to ship with the clear

As a distributor I'm going to say :

1. This fix looks good and nothing negative to say about it, I admire someone trying their best to help folks... but words of caution...

2. JJP is asking people to NOT remove your posts just yet - too many people are getting curious and may be causing potential damage that doesn't exist or need to be done by removing the posts just yet. Not saying at some point JJP may have some sort of commentary and part of that is to 'remove the posts and do this or that' but as of right now I am advising my customers to not start disassembling your playfield. WAIT for the company to say something... it'll be coming I'm sure.

3. In general, doing stuff to your game and causing damage or manipulating something they do not yet have a fix for (if they will) is something that the warranty doesn't cover - the warranty covers your game as you bought it and like adding mods or things to a game and if you do additional / new damage, that's on you, so again 'wait' until JJP has something to say before you start doing home brew stuff. We have no idea if doing this or some other 'fix' is going to be counter productive to what they are going to say. I don't know - just saying wait, then at that time, if this is the best option - you can always do this.

4. Be patient I'm confident both JJP and Stern are working to figure things out at this time to determine, what happened, how to prevent it, and hopefully how to resolve things for existing customers.

5. All of the above is from me, the distributor, and not from JJP or anything official - just saying what I would tell to my customer if they asked me about this. Right now, we are all just saying 'wait', let them figure things out and comment.

Just trying to be helpful to everyone and cautious here - I think it's great this shows results - but I think it's best to wait for official word from these companies, until then a little patience may be warranted. You don't want to look back and say 'I wish I waited for the companies to say something'. Not everyone is skilled at working on games and I don't want to see anyone causing additional issues at this time. I'm sending this to JJP as well for them to see / evaluate etc... maybe it'll help them which is good.

Joe Newhart
PinballSTAR Amusements

What about the fix it kit from JJP where they instructed the posts were to be removed and replaced?

What? Nope. Are you not aware of the JJP post on their website concerning the POTC "Update Kit"? It's a post replacement kit. See link.

http://marketing.jerseyjackpinball.com/potc/Service%20Bulletin%20P-1%20POTC%20Post%20Update%20Kit.pdf

Agree, this issue has gone on for too long to rely on a future communique. Current practice for Stern is to promise a populated playfield to swap in. JJP is issuing washer kits requiring post to be removed in order to install them anyways. Yelobird’s solution removes the unsightly waves of clear, protects areas of playfield with Mylar and switches to star posts to prevent future damage.

Well JJP might. According to Stern “there’s no widespread issue”!

The question is, did heating/pressing make that area tougher by hardening the clear or getting the ink to stick or did it simply smooth it??

If a little heating/pressing helps, perhaps most of the playfield needs to be heated/pressed with a heat gun and press pad?

If this really makes the playfield better, the manufactures could use this method on all new playfields.

May or may not prevent future damage. Shop job down the road if mylar was ever removed what will it take off the PF? Regardless This will hurt resale on all these machines, this will be on everyone’s mind when buying.

actually i put the rubber washer there myself. thet's the post at the tip of the upper right flipper on JP2. it's a known problem that it keeps popping out of it's t-nut. so i applied loctite and torqued it down onto a rubber washer to give it some stability and strength. it's on location and takes a beating. it absolutely should be able to handle this without pooling up, and the fact that it doesn't is completely unacceptable to me.

Maybe Stern/JJP se this as a cheep fix and start sending machines with "ironed" playfield that fall apart after a year.
They seems to follow all other fix that pinsiders come up with. Bigger post, washers......

I'm out for now with Stern 2015- and all JJP.

Just trying to help with a word of caution... It's like when you cut yourself and you keep lifting the bandage to look to see if it's healed, you know you're not helping anything. I've heard of people saying Stern washers have sunk under the clear - you remove a post and that washer you're taking up clear and art work and creating a chip that didn't exist. Why risk it - leave it as is as the company's issue to you, not one you maybe created or made worse by tinkering around. I also fear people who are not skilled in doing this work and making matters worse - even Dave cautions about procedure... That said I commend him for what seems to be a reliable, cheap, simple fix for those with the skill to do it properly, which he obviously is. Why not wait and see what they come up with then cycle back to this if it's the best option. I'm still going to stand by don't go removing things just yet as my opinion then - the POTC post kit was when they had defective sharps posts that was thought to be a cause / contributor, this obviously is now a clear issue across multiple companies and not the same situation. Just trying to help folks, that's all... Me I'd bookmark this thread and make decisions what to do after other info is hopefully presented by companies.

As soon as I saw that I was like goodbye. GREAT tutorial though! Thanks for posting just not for me.

sage advice.