If PBL sold you cliffy parts, then ask Cliff to sell you the missing part.

I did from day one

The shooter lane protectors PBL sells aren't Cliffy Protectors. They are a competing product. That's why they are different

I bought them too I forgot about cliffy
Will he sell the one missing piece?

You don't need them. Adhesive felt from Hobby Lobby for $1 is the best!

And what a great F ing pinball machine this is!

It's a bit confusing.. because PBL is a Cliffy reseller.. but these products in particular are not Cliffys, but a competing product now called 'Pinguards'.

Buying Cliffy's can be challenging at times because the resellers don't usually carry all the different products he has, and stock is even more variable. The most direct way is to just contact Cliff directly through his website. He does sell direct himself, and can address items not in stock, etc. Or maybe Cliffy will chime in here.

Cliff is very easy going. I'd goto his website, use the contact link, and let him know what you're interested in. http://www.passionforpinball.com/

Yes

Just re-heat the tab and wire and they'll melt together w/o any issue.

Removable vinyl or removable mylar is a low tack adhesive...like twice as strong as a post it note.
It stays in place, put peels off reasonably clean. I find it stickier than cling, which has moved on me.

I love cliffy products to cover or fix wear, but for me, when Ive removed a few years later on a NIB scoop, it leaves the indent, or
"lip end" marks.
So pretty much once on, it stays on.

Ive since changed in some cases to this method.

I dont believe my method is best, on games that get a heavy, amount of play.

Cliffys still rule!

Coat the solder on each piece with flux, and it will flow better and yield a stronger joint.

I've noticed Stern assemblers do this on pretty much all the solder joints on my GB machine. I'm sure its faster for them.

You really do want to solder it. If you have soldered before you will be fine.
(Options)
* Close with a dab of flux paste - heat it back up with your iron
* Add some fresh flux core solder - heat it back up with your iron

Art, could you please post a link (amazon) this product you like to use ?
There are tons of options, but not sure what best suits pinball needs.

You can buy mini-Mylar® sheets from Marco Specialties, which can be cut to fit most pinball applications...

-- Option 1 (5" wide): http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/66-MMFT
-- Option 2 (22" wide): http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/66-MFT

My personal preference is to use a Sharpie fine-tipped "permanent" marker pen to mark the outline of the Mylar strip, cut the Mylar strip with scissors while the backing sheet is still in place, remove the Sharpie ink with rubbing alcohol on a paper towel (again, with the backing sheet still in place), and then apply the Mylar strip like a decal to prevent trapped air bubbles.

A note about soldering directly to a switch tab: Many currently available switches have a defective plating on its terminal where the plating, usually tin, breaks loose from the base terminal which is brass. Normal procedure is to plate the brass terminal with copper, then plate the copper with tin, which makes up the finished terminal.

If the copper plating isn't prepped properly, the tin won't stick. Same thing with the brass terminal prep vs. copper plating.

It may take a bit more heat and flux to penetrate the brass, but visual observation during soldering will show when the solder flows properly into the base metal.

If you haven't soldered in awhile put something under your work area so excess solder doesn't fall into your cabinet or down to other parts if you have it upright. I'm an average solder person on a good day (can do monitor cap kits and simple wires) and I find I often drip solder when working under a playfield when reheating an old connection giving me trouble. Be mindful of what is directly below you and position the playfield accordingly.

Granted - new game new solder should flow easily unless you have issues the previous poster mentioned about the brass switches - but better safe than sorry no matter what!

OK that's it. That's IT! Frustration boiled over with those left and right drains. They are pure evil and need some major attention.

So.

I am going to add an extension to the outer rails and make them just a bit longer - and taller. In other words, where they enter the playfield at the top, I'm going to build a piggyback rail to "extend" the end of that rail and make it a bit closer to the back box. It appears that lengthening the starting point of those rails will narrow the gap and prevent the drain from gulping the ball when it's nearby. A little less space will be a big game-play advantage as far as I can see. Actually it's marginal anyway, since the STDM seems to have its way with me anyway.

Make any sense? I will have to drill two 3/16" holes into the playfield on each side to add this extension. But I'm committed. I've had it with those drains and will fix the issue. I realize I'm treading on thin ice and breaking the law by drilling into the playfield, but I can't go another round with those nasty designed-to-limit-ball-time drains.

Anyone else with me on this?

After I posted, I figured Id get in trouble....I didnt buy any, it was a gift from a Pinhead local, who
works at Disney Imagineering, and they were tossing it.

If it helps, Its tackiness is not Cling, so avoid cling.
The verbage to search would be "removable".
It may or may not include "Mylar" or simply "clear plastic".

I always tested a small square away from the play area first, in the past, but I feel pretty good that removable, now is
relatively uniform in the market.

Lastly, it is on my list of things to create, as I have a handful of flat decal products on the boards for my son to
run in a new business.....I wouldnt wait for me, and I cant promise it will happen.

But I have a neat universal sheet in the works that would cover Shooter lane, drain, pops, shapes, etc, that
will be of help to all of us!

Hopefully ready in spring.

Not me.

Why not just take a rubber ring and cut it and slip it over the end of the rail? I did this, actually a stack of two rings, maybe 5/16". It will reduce the mega gap and also provide bounce so the ball doesn't just slip into the outlane.

Not a physical issue, but Id like to see the ball save time extended AFTER the light turns off, it angers me to no end when you let it drain since the ball save is going and it stops flashing as its settling in the trough and ends the ball! Just a second or two to give it time.

I thought about slipping a piece or rubber tubing over the rail, but it won't give me enough gap reduction. I need around 5/16" of reduction to effectively limit the gap. Tubing doesn't fill enough of it. A rubber ring would close the gap more, but I would want height along with length.

Additional height over and above the 3/4 in. that the rail measures will come out to about 1 inch total height and will help the jump-over a bit.

I don't want to eliminate the drain, just limit its opening and raise the height. Rail seems to make the most sense.

Worst case, it doesn't work and I have put holes in the playfield, small ones anyway. I'm willing to roll the dice on this one.

There are many outlane covers out there, and I have used PBL one.
It stops the rail bounce to the outlane.

However, I have one being made by the big guys, clear or with a nice decal, that not only achieves this, but also acts as a Sling plastic protector.

There are others out there, but I think Ill have one thats better.

Its stalled at cutting with a Backlog at Laseriffic, but should appear soon.

I hope to have the price much more reasonable, of course, than what is in the market.

I also had tested gluing a split clear mini post, and anchoring under this guide for more of a "Bounce" and it worked fine.
The Artwork covers the metal rail, and ads "mystery" to the ball movement..

Heres a pic.....

GB Lane Gaurds (resized).jpg

GB Lane Gaurdsw (resized).jpg

right as i have done, keeping the external plots at factory settings (medium apperture)
as it its working just "perfect" for me, i'm feeling it plays as all others games, not to easy, not to hard

Tap your rails up a 1/4 of an inch and learn how to nudge = play better

Thanks Art,
Keys words Clear Repositionable removable Adhesive.
I found some I think will work. I will test & take pictures nest week.

Nudging is my favorite sport. I have nylon glides and have removed all of the tilt mechanisms on all of my machines. By the end of my game, the machine is maybe a foot away from where it started

But nudging doesn't have much of an effect on those side drains. In fact, it sometimes aggravates the problem. When the ball is willing, it simply loops around and drains. I'm blaming design on this flaw. Or blockbuster, depending on where the machine resides...lessens the ball time considerably.

I'm convinced the side drains need a revamp. Taller rails will help a bit, but longer rails will help a lot. Pictures of my mod soon to be posted.

There used to be a guy on here that something similar I would use for the shooter lane but he fell ill. Anyway please report back on your findings. I am interested.

Expecting my Premium next month and was wondering if the Scoleri Bros drop target springs are still an issue and if I need to get the replacement springs from PinballLife. It seems the captive ball wire support is no longer needed as it is being resolved at the factory.

Thanks!

This looks nice.

Also, where is the PBL one? Cant find it on their website...

I cut a black post rubber in half, trimmed the pieces a bit more and put it on the end of the rail. It works real well.

Rob

did you listen to me and pound your wire rails up 1/4"? Cuts down on side drains by 30%. Yes 30% just from raising the rails to where they are suppose to be.

I'm gonna try that. The playfield is 1/2" and those rails fill the hole, so lifting it up 1/4 inch give the playfield only half the engagement. Should be just enough as long as the rail doesn't get a major hit.

I'll see what happens. If it works for me, THANKS for the advice.

Its the product with the Center Post.

If it doesnt show up, Terry has his settings to "Not Display" when out of stock.

You nudge before the ball gets there... or control the ball better. Basically, you try to avoid the risk. Just like on STTNG you need to nudge well before the ball is actually over the outlanes... by that time you are dead.

Ghostbusters is a brutal game... minus the airballs and lane hopping its 'design' is fine. Just giving some tips while he was playing, I coached pezpunk to like 3x his usual scores last night.

Getting 40+ million SuperJackpots during super loopin feeeeelsss goooooood

Got my cliffy kit now where do these go?

IMG_3410 (resized).JPG

The two on the top are the switch protectors.

I am assuming the others are the rail guard and shooter lane eject areas... Although they do look different. Perhaps the drain hole protector?

Can you take them out of the packaging?

Where are the switches located?

IMG_3411 (resized).JPG

These protect the switches that are under the ramps where the ball fall out from. Look under the ramps.

The other pieces I believe are the Scoleri Brothers drop target protectors and I think the longer one to the right is the drain hole protector..

Did you get the 3 piece rail guard/shooter lane protectors also?

Switch Protectors from Cliffy's website - to give you an example of how they sit..

cliffy (resized).jpg

You want to put them on the switches under where the ball drops from the ramps

One of those is for the outhole the other is for the scolari bro drop targets

Yes I got them. Do the Scoleri have to be dissembled? or do you pop them up and fit them in? I think I saw a photo where the metal is on the backside of the target?

So far so good. Beautiful playfield with nice thick clear. Definitely different than ones I've seen. Thick like me TWD. Has stamp and hand written date. Build 11/10, playfield 11/3.

They raised the outline guides , slimer don't hit and quality control looks waaaaay up on this one.

Hope it stays this way on this GORGEOUS game

IMG_6530 (resized).JPG

IMG_6531 (resized).JPG

IMG_6532 (resized).JPG

IMG_6533 (resized).JPG

IMG_6535 (resized).JPG

IMG_6536 (resized).JPG

IMG_6537 (resized).JPG

IMG_6543 (resized).JPG

IMG_6544 (resized).JPG

Bottom right is the out-hole. There are 2 for drop targets and I think you have one "squeezey" for the outlane switch.

Anyone have any tips for getting a back box bolt to thread? My Ghostbusters has only one bolt in currently as I can't for the life of me get it to thread cleanly on the right side. If I drop the back box it threads fine but when in the up right position it always binds up. It's home use so I've just been using one bolt but would be nice to get it secured properly so any tips are appreciated.

Only thing I've thought of is sanding out the hole in the cabinet to get a better angle but that seems a bit excessive.

I had same issue on both my bolts, I used the internal holes to secure the head....

Rookie question and also I don't have my machine handy, where are the internal holes? Do they take the same size bolts?

There is always a small manufacturing tolerance for movement with the head in the upright position. If one of the bolts is binding, the bolt alignment is usually a little off center, so you'll need to shift the head to one side or the other, or even up and down, using the manufacturing tolerance to your advantage, to improve the alignment.

With this context in mind, remove the one bolt that is already secured, and lower the head. Run the bolts through each side to clean up the threads, and then raise the head again. Try to partially thread the first bolt at least a full turn. Move to the other side and try to partially thread the second bolt at least a full turn. If either bolt binds at all, IMMEDIATELY back the bolt out, and shift the head to one side or the other, or up and down, to improve the alignment. Then try again. Once both bolts are threaded at least a full turn without binding, shift the head again to improve the alignment one last time, and then slowly tighten both bolts.

Remember, if either bolt starts to bind, IMMEDIATELY back it out to prevent stripping the threads, and then start over again.

Let me know if this helps.

Maybe Little Shop of games can chime in here. In the photo, you will notice this wont work from the Premium LE since the ball drop looks like it will hit the protector. (unless this is an optical illusion), but since the bigger one offers both options, it only makes sense that there's a need for both.
littleshopofgames (resized).jpg
compare prot (resized).jpg
The LittleShop site only offers one version.
http://littleshopofgames.com/product/ghostbuters-extended-sling-protectors/

But on the big one with drain-post, they offer both PRO & Premium-LE
http://littleshopofgames.com/product/ghostbusters-extended-sling-protector-with-center-post/