You need to grip the nut thread right below the plastic with a pair of needle nose and hold it firm while you turn the nut driver. Take your time and try to use the very end of the pliers only. And be careful not to scratch the underside of the plastic where it's printed

Darin at Phoenix Arcade made the foil credit button decals eons ago. They should be on the website along with coin door decals.

Link - https://www.phoenixarcade.com/products/stern/stern-credit-decal

Door decal link - https://www.phoenixarcade.com/products/stern/stern-coin-door-decal

FWIW, PA products are top notch!

Jim

Someone over-torqued the nut and blew out the threads. You will never be able to get it unscrewed.

The only way I know is a Dremel Tool with a cut-off wheel. You will waste the screw and the plastic post, too. Both are replaceable.

Oh the fun of owning old games LOL. So who has replacement screws, and where can I buy just one and not pay a bunch for shipping?

The Marco logo decals are perfectly serviceable. I did a side-by-side comparison of ones from Pinball Rescue and noticed some font kerning differences (PR’s were marginally better, fwiw) but the print qualities were pretty similar. Marco’s matte credit button decals are shit though.

Are these what you are looking for.

ebay.com link: itm

s-l1600 (3) (resized).jpg

Same seller, just adds $1.00 to cover EBay fees.

Pinball Rescue...

Until June. Then Pinball Rescue will be closed forever.

Unit price for those decals is reasonable.

Shipping is expensive.

http://www.pinballrescue.net/Decals_Coin_Door.html

closed forever? oh man that sucks-

They are just carriage bolts. You won’t be able to replace it with the same type of bolt because the wood is stripped out on the bottom of the playfield.

Drill the hole a little larger from the bottom about 1/4” deep and insert a t-nut, then thread in a standard machine screw from the bottom. They don’t make the exact length machine screw so you’ll need to cut it to proper length.
9362EE8D-AF9A-4C68-ABF0-42690450843D (resized).jpeg

good to know, nice alternative to the one at Marcos

That's a great looking product. Anyone who has ever gotten shocked from a board in the back box can appreciate this.

Yeah I placed an order last week as soon as I heard they were going out of business. Missed out on a blue Nine Ball apron decal. Hopefully someone else will step up & produce these, because to my knowledge, Pinball Rescue is the only person who produces the Stern apron decals.

darn i wanted to order a few now just in case but they are already out of stock of several apron type...

Pinball Rescue does. If they're still taking orders, I would hit them up.

Pinball Rescue announced that they’re closing down the business and selling off their inventory. They’re not making anything any more.

Correct.
But they may still have some in stock.

Anyone know where I can find a standard classic Stern apron? I don’t think anyone reproduces these.

The one I took out of my Meteor is in nice shape. It has the tournament sticker too. It would be a sin to take a grinder to it just so I can repaint it green. I’d also like to reuse it for another project someday.

So if you have one in your parts pile, let me know

Found one

Pinball Rescue still has some credit buttons in stock. But the apron decals are gone, except for the Hot Hand apron decal.

I got their last set of Quicksilver plastics, but Mirco also supplies Quicksilver plastics.

But if there is anything you think you want from PR, you better start shopping.

I’m ordering a few final things from Pinball Rescue right now. I’ve got a few extra of the credit button decals in my list. Happy to hook people up with some at cost.

Yeah for sure, I bought a few things & Lee said they were run off their feet with orders, so all the remaining sought after stuff will all be gone probably very soon.

I think I have one that was pulled from a Stars and painted over white. Might be perfect for what you are looking for. Let me try and pull it out to take some pics for you.

PM sent.

hard to find for sure... :/

Big Game has a normally unused continuous solenoid turns on when it flashing all 7's on the displays Figure it is some kind of unused attract mode feature to advertise the new 7 digit displays.

Anyone ever seen anything extra added to these games? Maybe some topper, external lighting, or something?

Wow, someone is going to have a good time with pf swaps!

cant be that hard right?

Getting close to installing my spinners on my QS, and I've been reading some bookmarked posts about spinner adjustments to get them dialed in. I'm using all new parts, including the spinners themselves from PBR. I know this is covered quite extensively here, but I'm curious for everyone's most important suggestion?

I also would like to know:

1) I bought a bunch of long length rods with extras to spare. So I'll have to cut/bend it to the correct length. I also understand that you want some tension from spinner to switch, but not too much & not too little. So how do I determine this "Goldilocks" zone & determine the correct rod length? I suppose it's game dependent.

2) What does everyone use for lube at each pivot point. I bought some Bicycle Chain Teflon lube. I was just going to apply a very small amount to the pivot points using a q-tip.

3) I've also read the screws securing the bracket should not be over tightened, or it may make the spinner spin less. Is that true? I would think that getting the spinner arm wire adjusted in the forward/back & up/down axis is the most important thing.

Obviously I will spend as much time as possible to get these spinners perfect. I will not settle for anything less than THIS!!!

I spent HOURS (and I mean HOURSSSSSSS) getting my F2K spinners tuned in. I have no tips other than godspeed. Also yes, don't overtighten your bracket.

Four playfields? I guess I don't have enough projects afterall. Well, I guess the Big Game playfield is out being restored right now, so we're actually kinda even.

2021-04-26 (resized).jpeg

you can add to the list, "drilling holes in the bracket a little bigger and sanding spinner ends a little" to make even less friction when it spins.

Do you mean opening out the holes if it's a snug fit with the wires to make it quite a loose fit? or just opening out a tiny bit to allow for more wire movement?

I just tuned my QS spinners this afternoon.

1) I'm using the spinners from PBR as well as the longer rods, and rather than trying to find the perfect cut/bend point I just 3D printed a spacer to lift the switch to roughly the correct height, and adjusted the leaves from there. The key is to get the two contacts just touching at the top of the spinner's stroke, so that the leaf attached to the rod just barely bends the other leaf. Too much bending and you're robbing energy.

2) Zoom-Spout Turbine Oil. I apply just enough to wet the wire where it leaves the bracket, work the spinner back and forth horizontally, and of course rotate it a few times. Then blot any excess oil with a paper towel - you want to leave a film but no standing oil. Repeat for the other side, and where the rod meets the spinner arm.

3) It's not so much the relative tightness of the screws, its what tightening the screws does to the plumb of the bracket. Saw that myself today, where a spinner that was zipping while I holding the bracket would bind up after I installed it. Found that it had been pulled out of square by the screw, so I backed it off and held the bracket tight while locking the screw down. Also make sure there is no wobble on the ends of the wire - use pliers to straighten. I always take the spinner wire to the buffer to remove any paint and smooth it till it shines, figuring that would remove a tiny bit of friction as well.

IMG_6300 (resized).JPG

Plus a Star Gazer that is in work.

Dragonfist should be arriving shortly. Mirco missed his first dates so I will not say anything other than soon. Very soon.

My Cheetah play field is at the restorer's shop.

Catacomb and Seawitch will be the easiest to swap since it will be sliding all the parts from the old play field to the new.

Hopefully, the spinner itself is in balance.

You need to find your zero starting point.

X axis) This spinner measures 1.25 from top to bottom.

IMG_6301 (resized).JPG

Y axis) The midpoint of the spinner is .62. You need to try and get both spinner axles lined up on center.

IMG_6302 (resized).JPG

Z axis) For forward and reverse, you need to try and get the spinner axles centered up inside the "sandwich" area for lack of a better word.

IMG_6305 (resized).JPG

You are trying to zero all three planes X, Y, and Z.

Once you have this part set up, mount the spinner with its cage onto two posts that are either on the play field or on a board you have drilled for the occasion. Do not install the switch blades at this time. Try to get the spinner to get a balanced spin before you hook it up.

Your up and down adjustment on the X axis can only go so far; If you get too far from center on the X axis, then the spinner will bump into its cage frame.

Give the spinner a few spins and see how it stops. If you are too far off the X axis the spinner can develop an out-of-balance feel.

Ideally, you want the spinner to stop with the bottom always stopping on the bottom. You make that happen by adjusting the X axis. You can manipulate the X axis by pushing down on the top of the spinner, or by turning the spinner bottom's up and then pushing on the X axis.

If the spinner is consistently rotating so the bottom winds up on bottom but it is either leaning forward or backward, then you will need to adjust the Z axis.

If the bottom is leaning backward, meaning the bottom is farther back than the top, then push the spinner backward away from you to pull the Z axis toward you. If the spinner is leaning backward with the top being farther back, then pull the spinner toward you to throw the Z axis to the back a little bit. You can do all of this with the spinner mounted in its cage.

Once you have that done, then mount the spinner actuator rod and look under the play field and try to get a visual on how far the actuating rod sits below the surface of the play field; Then work to adjust the active spinner switch blade so that is is at neutral, on the same level where the rod will hook up to the spinner when the spinner is at rest. Objective: You want the switch blade be as close to neutral as you can make it so that is does not exert pulling action on the spinner at rest. If you adjust the switch blade too high in relation to the actuator rod, then it will push the bottom of the spinner up and your spinner will start leaning.

Spot on. Everything.right down to wiping that zoom spout oil off the bottom of the pf glass about a week after you do all of this

I must be stingy with my oil as I've never had that happen. I'll try to do better!

I thought spinner tuning was an art, but here comes Cotton with some hard science! Sweet I'm reaching for my calipers now, but I've always read that the bottom of the spinner should be leaning slightly away from the flippers. Do you adjust yours to be exactly perpendicular to the playfield? Have you found that to improve performance at all?

I'm also looking for a classic Stern apron, as the one I have really is in too nice of a shape to attack with a sander.

If anybody has a beater they'd let go, hit me up. Oh and of course looking for a 16B-6 as well....I know, but figured it was worth a shot!

I think we should have a spin-off. I take great pride in my spinners. I also think it's the primary reason I loves sterns. Gotta got dig out the camcorder at some point.

Thanks for correcting this oversight. I try for straight up but if there is a leaning situation, I would go with having the bottom leaning away from the flippers ever so slightly.

Someday I may have one for sale. Someday.

But this is the brick wall you are running into. Until these play fields are put together, we are hoarding parts

17dd19c061528e017291cc38f787a8430726dfd9 (resized).jpg
2398c2386cefc58b2a61c773fd70bea2ffdcfcb7 (resized).jpg
2443018da0df64fdca16543e16df06c2cf627e9a (resized).jpg

It's official, we're all nuts.

That lineup is my kind of insanity!

Long time sys 11 guy here, more recently converted to classic Stern lover; picked up Galaxy this January, sold my Diner and purchased Stars and a project Lightning with the proceeds. So far I’m really enjoying Galaxy and Stars, Lightning hasn’t been started in on just yet (kinda hoping somebody makes a repro playfield, but otherwise will restore.)

My question to this group at the moment is, what is it about classic Stern flippers which makes dead flipper passes so iffy? Unless the ball is really moving, many times allowing it to bounce over just makes it kind of die and drain SDTM. This doesn’t happen on the system 9 and 11 Williams games I’m more familiar with, or on the 90s pins I have worked on. Is it the “extra weight” of having a metal plate in the flipper body, making it less “live”? I really love the games, have yet to play a classic stern O didn’t enjoy, but it does require an adjustment in the “feel” of playing. Anyone have any insights on this?

Thanks for the spinner tips everyone. Now I know why I bought a digital caliper months ago! I’ll report back

All reproduction playfields likely to be paired with all original aprons...because there are no aftermarket aprons?

Could it be the somewhat more declined angle of the flipper bat when you align it with the alignment pin? When I first got my early sterns I thought it looked odd so I would adjust the bats to align with the inlane ball guide. I learned over time that it's critical to align with the pins to be able to make all the shots.

OK. Which Stern pin does your apron go with? What colors are your apron? You might be able to do some trading.