(Topic ID: 158053)

Hate those little mistakes that you can't take back...

By Otaku

7 years ago


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  • 58 posts
  • 37 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 7 years ago by SirScott
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    There are 58 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 2.
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    #1 7 years ago

    Getting my Domino ready for Allentown today and did a big cleaning and at the end I decided to wipe down my pop bumpers with Windex (I had been using this on a rag on the plastics (worked GREAT!), I read not to use it but also read as long as it's "wiped off" it's fine, well I was using a dribble on a rag, and I guess those people were caking it on with the spray nozzle, and it did work good on all of the other plastics with and without art, although they're done differently of course) and even just a once-over ended up taking paint off and I didn't notice until it was too late.

    In most of the spots it just kind of "faded" away but at one part where I tried to get some pretty heavy dirt off it took it all away and thankfully stopped before more damage was done as I realized what was happening. Now I'm going to have to get a new set and new caps, blah, and then I'm going to complain that they were not original to the game. It was a very nice set too, damn it, damn it, damn it...

    At least it just took a star away rather than only like half of each part of the design, and the other stuff just looks like bad fade. Sucks. It could be much worse but these things bug me. One time I was visiting another EM collector and he noticed paint that chipped off due to rubbing on his brand new backglass and it kind of put him out of it for the remainder of the visit, I guess we're all one in the same...

    Here's some gore. One is a before picture (took this like an hour before while I was comparing bulbs) and two are the aftermath. Thought the red ended up okay but actually ended up making it fade away on the top. Didn't touch 3/4 of the caps but did do all of the bodies I believe, I think besides the issues pointed out they fared okay. Checked my games downstairs that use these caps and they're all worse, stinks I found this out on a nice set. The cap wasn't perfect and I'm not overly upset about that but I'm kind of bummed of what happened to the bodies and this close to a show where I thought this thing was really gonna shine. It still will, but it'll just bother me!

    Other than that, I got a TON of work done today definitely for the better (90% brand new 47 bulbs, fixed bonus adjustment, removed LED lights somebody put in the apron ball count (don't know why, they're easy to get to), cleaned the entire playfield and the other plastics did turn out really great. Looks amazing now, just mad at myself for doing this.

    Original, after red, after yellow in that order:
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    #2 7 years ago

    Get out a small flexible steel ruler and a ultra fine tipped blue paint pen.
    With a steady hand and the ruler as a guide it can look good as new

    #3 7 years ago

    On the pop bumper bodies it left a perfect mark of what needs to be there in "clear". I guess it was part of the stamping process, even though the color is gone you can still see the design of it if you hold a light up to it and look closely. Going to try filling in the blanks.

    For the caps, might just order new ones anyways. They all could use a little love. Probably will just get them from Marco and pick them up and pop them in at the show, incredibly incredibly easy to do that part of course since it's just the caps. They look a little "off" on his site, anybody have any experience with these reproductions? Otherwise I'd get NOS from Steve Young but I think at this point in collecting he probably only has reproductions left, but who knows...

    #4 7 years ago

    Oh mannn, I'm so sorry I hate doing things like that too, I scold myself for ages afterward.

    #5 7 years ago

    Don't use windex anywhere on pinball machines. It contains ammonia and is very unkind to paint, as you've discovered.

    Use simple green instead. It removes grime, but leaves paint alone (as long as it's not flaking).

    However, since it is water-based, don't use it on wood or it will swell. In that case, use naphtha. But also note that naphtha removes wax, so if you are simply doing a light cleaning on a waxed playfield, vacuum first, then use novus 1.

    #6 7 years ago

    Really, whilst I would be annoyed at myself for doing anything that makes a game worse, in this case it really doesn't look too bad at all.

    Just looks like natural aging.

    I wouldn't touch up - would look worse.

    Remember - the enemy of good is better!

    #7 7 years ago

    Little mistakes help us avoid bigger mistakes somewhere down the road; now you'll never ruin a set of pop caps with perfect printing on them.

    #8 7 years ago

    Yea go clean your score reels with Windex, see what happens

    Allentown just around the corner, lots of parts to sift thru and to haggle about...

    #9 7 years ago

    Don't use metal Polish on your habitrails, then use the same rag to wipe down something that looks like metal but was plastic. Happened to me on my Lethal Weapon. I was so proud my first project it looked so nice. Then 10 minutes later the shooter started turning white. I freaked out. I ruined it and you can't buy another. Well after I calmed down, I researched for the best chrome spray paint. Fixed it and it looks better than before. It will always haunt me though.

    #10 7 years ago

    Yeah I'd get new caps from PBR and not think twice about it. I put them on all my EMs and it looks great.

    #11 7 years ago

    Don't ever set down a spray bottle of anything on the card tray. Also, the paint and webbing on the card tray and upper arch is very fragile. Mild cleaners, and even plain water can remove the printed numbers on score reels in some cases. You have to proceed with caution when cleaning any stamped, screened, or painted item on a pin. Most of us have learned this the hard way.

    #12 7 years ago

    One of my worst was trying to make a backglass perfect and somehow as I was doing it I left a roll of packing tape out and then somehow a piece got on the back of the glass and pulled a whole section of ink off.........I am now super careful!

    #13 7 years ago

    I got one. I was having a plafield clearcoated and sanded the first layer a little too much and one of my water slide decals came up. My clear coat guy asked if I wanted to run home and grab another. I said nah, clean it and stick it back down. Well it looked fine until it got cleared over. Now the insert has a hazy look to it. Crap crap crap!!!! It's off to the side of the playfield but man that one burned me up. Lesson learned. No way to get that sucker out now unless it's sanded down to that layer, removed and the whole playfield shot again.

    #14 7 years ago

    Yea, happened to me once too using Windex when I was a rookie, but I am sure it happens to everyone at least once, just part of the learning curve. Never happened again though as I only use plain water and a paper towel to clean them. I had to replace my caps and bodies as well because crap like that bugs me too much and will set me off in a bad mood all day as well.

    Note: Novus 1 and Windex work well on just plain plastics like guide lanes, posts, and Playfield Plastic sets.

    Ken

    #15 7 years ago

    Then there are those that think sealing a backglass will make it better. Triple thick glued to paint only makes the paint heavier...

    #16 7 years ago

    I did the same rookie mistake on a Abra-Ca-Dabra. Luckily pinhead52 had the same pop caps. I also started to do the rookie mistake of windex on the score reels. Luckily I stopped on the first number and was able to touch it up in a manner where you couldn't tell at all.

    #17 7 years ago

    Going to far with magic eraser on a playfield.

    #18 7 years ago
    Quoted from jhanley:

    Going to far with magic eraser on a playfield.

    Been there done that but luckily on a spot that was heavily covered and the spot was very tiny.

    #19 7 years ago

    a coat of wax will protect fragile paint from being lifted of by accident.

    #20 7 years ago

    Trying to get a sticker off the tray, kept upping the solvents until I was desperate and tried lacquer thinner. Oops!

    #21 7 years ago
    Quoted from jwilson:

    Trying to get a sticker off the tray, kept upping the solvents until I was desperate and tried lacquer thinner. Oops!

    Use a wet/soaked paper towel folded up to what the size of the sticker is and let it soak for a while then try with your finger nail to get it up, if it needs more time just make sure to re-wet the paper towel so the sticker soaks up the moisture and it will come off with no ink loss to the apron, but patience is a must! Works every time for me.

    Ken

    #22 7 years ago
    Quoted from jwilson:

    Trying to get a sticker off the tray, kept upping the solvents until I was desperate and tried lacquer thinner. Oops!

    Use peanut butter. It will take off the sticker and the residue.

    Water will remove the ink from Gottlieb score reels. Not, however, Williams score reels.

    #23 7 years ago
    Quoted from EMsInKC:

    Use peanut butter. It will take off the sticker and the residue.

    Where did you find this, "Hints from Heloise"?

    #24 7 years ago
    Quoted from jrpinball:

    Where did you find this, "Hints from Heloise"?

    I have no idea where I learned it. I've known it forever. It works. It will remove sticker residue without removing any paint or anything else. Leaves the game smelling good, too.

    #25 7 years ago

    I'll give it a try sometime! Smooth, or chunky?

    #26 7 years ago

    LOL, smooth. I don't eat chunky peanut butter.

    Stuff is death on sticker residue. I think it's the oil in the peanut butter that does the trick. It's better on the residue than the actual sticker but I think it will help remove that too.

    My wife claims she told me about it. I guess that is possible.

    #27 7 years ago

    I bought a '64 Pontiac that had been sitting in a garage since 1967. The vinyl seats were perfect yet sticky. Very sticky. Nothing I tried would clean them. My mother suggested using peanut butter to clean them and it worked beautifully. And only kind of smelled like peanuts afterwards. So, yup, peanut butter.

    #28 7 years ago
    Quoted from EMsInKC:

    LOL, smooth. I don't eat chunky peanut butter.
    Stuff is death on sticker residue. I think it's the oil in the peanut butter that does the trick. It's better on the residue than the actual sticker but I think it will help remove that too.
    My wife claims she told me about it. I guess that is possible.

    Yeah, I don't like chunky either. I wonder if just peanut oil would work. Who was it, George Washington Carver I believe, who wrote a book on the uses of peanuts. Add cleaning sticky residue from pinball card trays to the list!

    #29 7 years ago

    I feel your pain. I literally did the exact same thing on my 2001 when I first got it years and years ago. No worries, man. At least it was only a pop bumper part.

    #30 7 years ago
    Quoted from jwilson:

    Trying to get a sticker off the tray, kept upping the solvents until I was desperate and tried lacquer thinner. Oops!

    Vegetable oil on a paper towel. For those of us with a peanut allergy.

    #31 7 years ago
    Quoted from jrpinball:

    Yeah, I don't like chunky either. I wonder if just peanut oil would work. Who was it, George Washington Carver I believe, who wrote a book on the uses of peanuts. Add cleaning sticky residue from pinball card trays to the list!

    According to Eddie Murphy on SNL, George Washington Carver made a phonograph needle out of a peanut...

    #32 7 years ago

    W/a steady hand and a super fine tip Sharpie you can touch up the caps. For the gold letters a gold sparkle gel pen is perfect. The trick is not to stop your 'coloring/lines' w/the pen as it will leave a 'dot'.

    #33 7 years ago
    Quoted from EMsInKC:

    LOL, smooth. I don't eat chunky peanut butter.
    Stuff is death on sticker residue. I think it's the oil in the peanut butter that does the trick. It's better on the residue than the actual sticker but I think it will help remove that too.
    My wife claims she told me about it. I guess that is possible.

    I have some crazy residue from mylar I pulled up, do you think its okay for playfields?

    #34 7 years ago

    Score reels: warm water and dawn dampen a bounty towel , never lost ink.

    Pop bumpers my bad : novis 2 "melted" the ink

    #36 7 years ago

    When I brought home my Centaur, I didn't check to see that the brackets in the head holding the lamp panel were tightened down, so all the way home one of them was banging against the otherwise perfect backglass with every bump. Wore a very small hole in the ink, luckily in a solid black area so it was easily touched up......but STILL! Dammit! Last time I'll ever make that mistake.

    #37 7 years ago
    Quoted from brettybluevein:

    I have some crazy residue from mylar I pulled up, do you think its okay for playfields?

    use the rubbing alcohol and flour method it's slick

    #38 7 years ago
    Quoted from jibmums:

    When I brought home my Centaur, I didn't check to see that the brackets in the head holding the lamp panel were tightened down, so all the way home one of them was banging against the otherwise perfect backglass with every bump. Wore a very small hole in the ink, luckily in a solid black area so it was easily touched up......but STILL! Dammit! Last time I'll ever make that mistake.

    That's why I always bring a #6 screw w/ me when I buy a machine. Screw that sucker in there so I know the lamp panel won't come unlatched when I transport the pin.

    #39 7 years ago
    Quoted from indypinhead:

    That's why I always bring a #6 screw w/ me when I buy a machine. Screw that sucker in there so I know the lamp panel won't come unlatched when I transport the pin.

    Oh, all the hardware and screws were there. I was just so eager to get it home that I didn't check that they were tight. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

    The whole pinball hobby is basically just one long long learning experience. Every single thing you buy, fix, check, move, paint, clean, etc. comes with its own little set of caveats, and after just a few years I have a long list of "I'm never doing that again's" or "I must remember to do that next time's".

    #40 7 years ago
    Quoted from jibmums:

    Oh, all the hardware and screws were there. I was just so eager to get it home that I didn't check they were tight. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

    If you look at the latch, there usually evidence that an additional screw had been installed into the lamp board at some point in time. The location of this screw hole is inside the slot that is in the latch sheet metal. By tightening down an additional screw, inside this slot, the latch has no way to move.

    That's what I'm talking about.

    #41 7 years ago
    #42 7 years ago
    Quoted from 1974DeltaQueen:

    Score reels: warm water and dawn dampen a bounty towel , never lost ink.
    Pop bumpers my bad : novis 2 "melted" the ink

    This is very specific to each manufacturer. Gottlieb stuff hates anything water based. I have had aprons, score reels and pop caps all bleed with cleaners that are water based.

    #43 7 years ago
    Quoted from stashyboy:

    This is very specific to each manufacturer. Gottlieb stuff hates anything water based. I have had aprons, score reels and pop caps all bleed with cleaners that are water based.

    Ive only cleaned gottlieb reels with a damp bounty towel & Dawn never had ink bleed. Maybe I'm just lucky

    #44 7 years ago

    Like 85 percent of these can be avoided by abiding with the time tested and true law of "ain't broke don't fix it."

    Come on folks! It works.

    #45 7 years ago
    Quoted from 1974DeltaQueen:

    Ive only cleaned gottlieb reels with a damp bounty towel & Dawn never had ink bleed. Maybe I'm just lucky

    My late buddy "Big Dave" once told me he cleaned his "Flip A Card" score reels with Castrol Super Clean. I nearly dropped the phone. I asked him how they looked with no numbers on them. He said it didn't take off the numbers at all! I've seen where plain water will remove the numbers from those early Gottlieb decagon score reels, but he apparently did no damage with a strong cleaner. I really believe each case is different, as with sealing backglasses, cleaning playfields, etc. Proceed with caution with any type of cleaner on any type of surface, and test any cleaning procedure in as much of an inconspicuous area as you can.

    2 weeks later
    #46 7 years ago
    Quoted from indypinhead:

    That's why I always bring a #6 screw w/ me when I buy a machine. Screw that sucker in there so I know the lamp panel won't come unlatched when I transport the pin.

    I always put a screw in the latch too. I've never had one come open but I have bought machines with glass wear from it.

    #47 7 years ago

    Yeah, i wish i had moved the end of the cord from the top of the machine before i moved it. The head fell forward(not hinged, the backbox bottom came off) and hit the end of the cord and shattered(shadoobie) the BG.

    17
    #48 7 years ago

    It's a small thing, but how many times have you put a backbox on only to discover you forgot to route the power cord thru the groove BEFORE bolting the head on?

    #49 7 years ago
    Quoted from dasvis:

    It's a small thing, but how many times have you put a backbox on only to discover you neen to route the power cord thru the groove BEFORE bolting the head on?

    more times then I wish to mention

    #50 7 years ago
    Quoted from dasvis:

    It's a small thing, but how many times have you put a backbox on only to discover you forgot to route the power cord thru the groove BEFORE bolting the head on?

    I did that twice this month alone LOL

    There are 58 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 2.

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