I usally shop twice a year and change balls during it.

Good question, I've been wondering the same thing.

Totally agree w/ Mojozone.

Every six months and maybe a tumble in-between that, if there is a spike in play time. PF rubbers I tend to change every year and every six months I do the flipper rubbers with the coil sleeve maintenance. (Yes- I am anal...)

For balls, I usually use PL's Premium Ultra-Gloss' with the carbon cores. (Now that I have more games with magnets...)
Keep those balls clean and shiny- your PF will thank you!

change every year, or before that if i don't like the look of it, also depending if i played the machine a lot.
some people rebuff them, it's so cheap i replace them.

depends on games played i'd say, as well as condition of playfield. i just check my balls and look for divots or a lack of any reflection. get the standard balls from marcospecilties for 1.59 a ball i want to say?

I have the Standard balls in one machine and some ultra glossy in the other. Didn't think I'd notice too much of a difference but you can really tell the difference.

I have switched over to silverjet. The last batch of ooohhh shinys from pbl looked hazy... like someone had tried to Polish a regular ball. The silverjets are always flawless.

Annually. I tend to use the Pinball Life premiums.

My last batch of Shiny PBL balls were also very hazy. I put them in my TSPP and you can visibly see the haze when there is ball spin going on. I've used silverjet before, they are very nice, but very overpriced. Especially if you buy from Marco where shipping is probably 20 dollars alone.

There was a poll on what balls are used and premium is winning with 55% as of now. Pretty good comments.

See here:
http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/what-balls-do-you-use-vote-for-your-method

I usually go with the premium ultra gloss from PBL but if I am going through Marco for an order I get the silverjet premiums and I don't see much if any difference between the two. Pretty soon I am going to try the premium chromium steel pinballs from Pinbits in my Congo to see how they are since that pin does not have any magnets. I change them out about every 5 to 7 months or when I start seeing them in poor condition. Since they are pretty affordable I just buy new and change them all out at the same time.

do you guys ever wax balls?

How many PLAYS does a 6 month or yearly replacement usually amount to for you guys?

Just Loaded up AFM after the Shop with 4 Highly Gloss'd ball's from in the Pict- below.. I had just 1 more pack . Packed in Oil for Long Tyme Pleasure !!

TZ_Mirror_Glazed_ball_s.jpg TZ_Mirror_Glazed_ball_s_.jpg

once or twice a year,
I order at bling

http://www.blingpinballs.com/?p=chsb

That's pretty much what I do too.

Very interesting! I've noticed exactly the same thing. I need to talk to Terry about this.

+1

So that's four of us who have noticed that the quality of PBL's "oooh shiny" pinballs have gone down. I've definitely noticed this with the last two batches that I've bought. I thought the first time was a fluke, then the second batch was just as disappointing. I wonder what the difference is?

I've got to ask...

What's your definition of "shop". I know I'm sure as heck not shopping a pin twice a year!

I am guessing a nice "Moisty-Nap" on the PF...

I use the regular PBL balls and try to remember to change once a year. I'm too cheap to buy the more expensive balls and honestly, I always stop myself and wonder if I'm being too anal of a collector rather than a player. Makes me feel better about buying regular balls. No disrespect to the shiny ball people they are cool but the quality of regular balls is quite good.

Well my 2 machines (would like a couple more-someday hopefully) are Babied to the max,they are in a CONSTANT state of being shopped.
Anything that needs addressed is taken care of in a somewhat timely manner,Always ck. for burnt out bulbs,Cleaning the playfield,R&R/Clean dirty rubbers,Thinking about mods, etc., etc.-That's what I call regular maintenance.
A shop job for me is what I just did to my WH2O,Clean the heck out of about everything,R&R some major parts that are damaged,Pretty much strip the playfield and clean it,and wax it 2 or 3 times,R&R coil sleeves and springs,Rubbers,O-Rings,Post sleeves,Cliffys protectors,Vacuum out the cabinet and things along those lines.