Heat it with blow dryer and use soft wooden block to tap it down.

Whatever you do, DO NOT tap it to hard! I messed up the big "banana shaped" insert above the flippers on my No Goof Gofers by hitting it with a wooden block and hammer with to much force. This really sucks, I have no idea how to fix this.

gofers.jpg

My FH has little air pockets between the inserts, and what I assume is the mylar covering. I assume the adhesion between the two released with age. None of these have broken open, but I'm concerned that they will. Has anyone successfully fixed this sort of thing?

You can take a pin and poke a hole in the Mylar, then put a drop and smooth in clear acrylic varnish to reattach the two. Problem is that the bubble never goes completely clear again. The other option is to take a razor and cut the bubble away. Neither option is that great, but if it is just a Mylar bubble, the cutaway seems to have worked the best for me. Be careful not to cut away the decal. If it is close, try the acrylic first.

I considered getting a needle syringe for this task, but was hesitant about what product to use as filler, and feared doing more damage than good. I will experiment with the Clear acrylic varish. Thanks for sharing your experience.

I am curious, what would happen if you used a heat gun to soften the mylar?... I have heard of using this method to make cloudy plastic troughs clear again.

I am curious, what would happen if you used a heat gun to soften the mylar?... I have heard of using this method to make cloudy plastic troughs clear again.

I wouldn't use the heat gun technique on a mylar bubble. You might melt the glue holding the mylar down around the bubble.

The best option is to remove the mylar entirely. I used to be afraid to do this, but its really not that bad. You can research the various techniques on the web. I have had success with both freeze spray and a hair dryer.

To add to what twizz said, I also use super glue to keep the insert in place. Just add a little around the edge from the bottom before leveling it back down.

My FH has little air pockets between the inserts, and what I assume is the mylar covering. I assume the adhesion between the two released with age. None of these have broken open, but I'm concerned that they will. Has anyone successfully fixed this sort of thing?

I have bubbles in the mylar on my BK2000. I shouldn't worry too much about it, just play and enjoy the machine!

20032011696.jpg 20032011697.jpg

Yeah, outlane... they are exactly like that! When I play with the glass off, you can actually hear the ball "krinkling" over the bubbles. I can't believe that 20 year old mylar is resilient enough too not blister open. It doesn't effect the game play a bit, but it just kinda bothers me to know about the defect.

I found a local pinhead retailer, who is also into drag racing. He has "automotive clear-coated" the playfield of some restoration pins. I don't want to change the subject about my air bubbles, but how does that compare to mylar?

Hawkeye, thanks for the reply. I don't want to tackle an entire playfield disassembly just yet, but those were great tips. I had a pin friend also tell me that you can use compressed air and a blow nozzle to strip away the aging mylar with good success.

If you clearcoat the playfield it will look like glass, Way better than mylar and last forever as long as you clean and wax regularly. Just make sure it is done properly.

In bad cases (if there is no mylar) you may need to heat up the inserts and tap them out from below, clean them up and re-glue them properly.
You have to be careful to support any thin wooden areas while doing this. I did this with a fun house and a couple of old Stern games when I couldn't get the inserts to sit flush.

That is the last resort though, most just tap down when heated from below.

ah good I need to fix a couple of raised inserts on my FT. So blow dryer to heat it up, soft wood block, hammer it softly until smooth on PF, then do people say to super glue from the bottom side, so it does not raise again?

That's what I've done, and so far it has worked like a charm.

Heat with blow dryer from underneath? At high heat or low heat...and for how long? And what is considered "soft" wood? And do you hit with the wood...or place the wood over the insert...than use a hammer from above?

Alll these things will count towards getting it right!

I did this a little on my T2. I used a cork filled coaster against the playfield and tapped it with a rubber mallet. It worked great and I was very happy!

Your body weight should be enough. Worked for me.. I'd never take a hammer to a machine.

Tare off the Apron and use a flat wood block on each side of the PF and a long clamp.

Do you have any recommendations?

I tapped my Cyclone inserts down with considerable success by heating with a hairdryer then placing the corner of a wood block (singling out one insert at a time, best as I could) then gently tapping the block with a rubber mallet. Heat, repeat. they're not perfect but they are nearly flush, and much better than they were. This did nothing to help the mylar bubbling in those areas, but it didn't worsen it either.

Hi there,

Sorry to necro an old thread but I'm about to totally overhaul my DINER I just picked up. It has several raised inserts ( Guests and D-I-N-E-R lights) and I was wondering if anyone has had issues with inserts raising back up even after they are glued from underneath. I'm debating whether or not to totally remove the insert, prep the edges, and re-seat them into the field with new epoxy. I don't want to get into a situation where a month or 2 down the road the inserts are back up. Thanks !

Check out vids thread on playfield restoration, he covers raised inserts very well.

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/vids-guide-to-ultimate-playfield-restoration

Can't tell what happened by the picture. Did one end of it get pushed down too far? If it did, about the only thing you can do is cut a wooden die the same shape, heat again, and tap it up from underneath against a block. On a side note, we had a machinist mill us some various size billets to fit under round inserts, along with a small block of aluminum. We heat the insert from above with a heat gun to the point of soft, then place the block on top and use the billet to push the insert up from below. This pushes the softened insert up against the cold block, squishing the insert flush with the playfield and immediately cooling it back to solid. Works perfect!

This might be a dumb question, but do you heat the insert from the top or underside of the playfield?

I would assume on top because all the wires and parts are below

Underside.

Uh oh, we have conflicting opinions here. Maybe they both work?

I am assuming, so don't take my opinion as gold

I have always used the underside.
Both sides will work, but you take a chance of getting to hot on the top and messing up the art work or mylar near by.
The underside it just safer if it is accessible and if it is not I would opt to make it accessible as opposed to putting a heat source on my artwork.