I bought this TOM from photos. When it arrived, I thought the playfield was dull, but a good cleaning would make it shine. I do not believe that any more.

Notice how the reflected light doesn't show the individual LEDs in the hazy area.

TOM_170205 - 1 (resized).png

Is this haze "ball swirl" I hear so much about? It is in really good condition - but the haze is VERY noticeable. I have it torn down. So there is no better time to address this.

I picked a spot and scrubbed with novus 2, and I was able to reduce the haze, but only slightly.

Will novus 2 remove the haze with enough scrubbing? Will I be removing the protective coating in order to get the haze to match the shine I see under the slingshots?

It is unlikely a spill. It is pretty much everywhere the ball could go.

I did the fingernail test and it is definitely not mylar (I wish it was). It does feel smooth to the touch. There is mylar around each of the illusions. You can see dirt around the edge of the Straight Jack illusion. There is haze in the mylar as well.

I've never used magic eraser. In Vid playfield restoration thread, he says not to use it unless you are wanting to clearcoat the playfield. And I definitely DON'T want to do that.

I used some significant elbow grease with novus 2, and I got it to shine enough to be able to see the individual LEDs in the reflection. But I don't think novus 2 will ever get the finish to match the areas under the plastics. And it will literally take me hours of scrubbing to get the whole playfield.

Is there any chance this is from abrasive/rusty balls? This machine came from a seaside area. The balls in it were fine; but they may have been replaced days or weeks before I got it.

I was really hoping someone was going to give me good news. I am now even more concerned.

This is perhaps a better image. Notice the haze in the mylar. And notice the spotted haze appearing in an area where the ball doesn't go.

FYI, I have cleaned the entire playfield with naptha.

haze00 (resized).png

Oh, one more thing...there is a small place on the playfield where there are some DEEP gouges. I don't know what that's all about, and I don't care that much. My only point is, there is a solid layer of clear coat.

Yep. It was definitely there before.

It's good that naptha didn't harm mine; but it sounds like somebody used a product that had a similar reaction to yours.

I'll research, then experiment in less visible areas.

thanks for the offer. Had I read this in time I may have taken you up on it. I went ahead and ordered one from Amazon. It was supposed to be next day delivery, but the snow came. It would have been nice to have it for the snow day.

I have been using an attachment on my drill, and the two compounds I already have: novus 2, and Meguiar's ScratchX2.0. Novus 2 seems to work better. I haven't been able to get ALL of the haze out - but I am encouraged.

Hopefully an orbital buffer will help. I also bought Novus 3 and Meguiar's Ultimate Compound (which is supposed to be more aggressive than ScratchX2.0).

I am going to be very careful. I don't want to repeat what the previous owner did.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I decided to give the 80 grit sandpaper a try. JK.

I spent about an hour and a half tonight with the orbital buffer. I started at the top of the playfield, where it's less visible. Then I moved down to the worst of the haze - just above the flippers. I started with Novus 2, and switched to Meguiar's Ultimate Compound.

The spotted area at the top of the playfield cleaned up fairly quickly. I probably spent a total of 10 minutes on that: first with Novus 2, then switched to MUC.

Before - notice the spots around the reflected light. This is where the ball cannot go.
TOM_120207a - 3 (resized).png

After
TOM_120207a - 26 (resized).png

The bottom area took A LOT longer. I dare not break out the Novus 3. I just kept at it, checking my progress along the way. I probably spent 40 minutes on this area - again, first with Novus 2, then switched to MUC.

Before
TOM_120207a - 13 (resized).png

After - still not perfect, notice the haze line running through the reflected light.
TOM_120207b - 1 (resized).png

I really didn't think this haze would go away. It's going to take a while, but I think it will be good enough for me. This is a "refurbish", not a "restoration".

Here is what I have deduced. A product was applied that "ate" into the clear coat and mylar. The speckles tell me it was sprayed on; and since no ball can travel where I found speckles, this tells me the plastics were still installed.

It probably didn't look hazy right away, but it may have softened the clear just enough for pitted balls to do the real damage. Because the bumper area was actually LESS damaged indicates that the bumpers were still installed at the time of the application, and that less product was used there.

FYI, the mylar shines up MUCH easier than the clear. This shouldn't be surprising; and shows just how hard the clear coat is.

What product, left on a playfield for an extended period, would eat into the playfield?

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2016/05/ten-things-that-can-really-mess-up-your-paint.html
According to this, here are some of the kinds of materials which will damage the clear coat:
* Gasoline
* Silly String
* Shaving Cream

Right? Or maybe birds were pooping on it.

I spent about 3-4 hours with the orbital buffer, over the entire playfield. I mostly used Meguiar's Ultimate Compound. I know I could have switched to Novus 3 (and I did experiment a very little bit with Novus 3), but I was afraid of doing irreparable damage. I used two different buffing pad. The one I used the most, began looking pretty black. My guess is, the black was clearcoat.

I didn't get it perfect. There are ball trails in a few places. On those, I can feel the depression in the clearcoat. I was not interested in removing that much clearcoat. I was mostly wanting to remove the haze. Mission accomplished.

Maybe when I am more experienced, I will be more bold. This is a "refurbish" not a "restoration".