Quoted from cb1234:
-Cleaning the playfield. I’ve seen just about every answer out there, from Novus to Naphtha to other things. Seems everyone has a different opinion. My question – what should I use? The playfield is original, and a bit worn (some exposed wood especially near the bonus lights where paint faded).
The enemy of good is better. Clean gently. Then wax with a carnauba based wax. I would use novus 2 maybe once but I would accept a little ground in dirt. The more aggressive you are the more paint you will remove.
Quoted from cb1234:
-Drop targets. When the repair people worked on it five years ago, they put in new drop targets. These targets have a “hood” on the top, unlike the originals. Now, when there’s a solid direct hit on the targets, they don’t drop – I guess they just “bounce” off the rubber behind the targets (or maybe the ball is staying caught on the hood) and they stay up. Any guesses on solutions? I’ve seen advice like replacing the springs, but they seem fine, (they’re 1 inch long – is that right? I don’t know the proper length and can’t seem to find the answer.) Don’t know what else to do here.
I can't speak for Stars with the hooded drop targets, but they usually function OK even if they are not "correct". Hard to tell what is up without pics. So do the drop targets with the hood act noticeably different?
-Second drop target issue – Likely a spring issue. The spring holds the target forward and when it is hit it gets "unhooked" and falls. If it doesn't stay up there is probably a problem with the spring tension. You could cut a little length of the spring and bend it so you can reattach it and see if that works. I would go for 4-5 coils to start.
For the Fixtures that won’t light. -Soldering is not too bad. If you don't like soldering you really won't like the other things that can go wrong.
For bulbs that won't light it is either the socket, the wiring (rare), the connection between the board and the wire, or a problem on the board itself.
If you have a good bulb in there and put it on lamp test and then wiggle the bulb and socket you can usually see if you can get the bulb to light even for a second. If it does your problem is on the socket. If it doesn't light at all I like to jumper that socket to a working socket to see if it then lights (take a piece of wire and hold it to another controlled light that is lit where the colored wire connects on each socket). If it does light then your problem is not the socket, it is not getting power as when it got power it works.
There are fixes to make a socket work again if that is the problem (https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/nics-american-pinball-tour-aka-im-coming-to-fix-your-games/page/14#post-3805597) or you can just replace the socket. I also find that if I am feeling lazy sometimes just adding extra solder to the bulb end itself will make the connection tighter.
If the problem is a connection on the board you should look at the schematics https://www.ipdb.org/files/2366/Stern_1978_Stars_Manual.pdf and then wiggle that wire at the board. sometimes that will show you that that is a flaky connection. If so you are probably trying to re-pin that connector.
The problem could also be on the board itself, but start at the socket and work back.
-Paint/refurbishing. - This is better left to a professional or do a lot of reading on it. Often times it is better to leave it alone. The enemy of good is better! Most people prefer a slightly worn playfield to a poorly touched up one.
Stroudsburg, PA
