(Topic ID: 186114)

Sterns new cabinets...

By daddyxxx

6 years ago


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  • 2,136 posts
  • 282 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 5 years ago by MustangPaul
  • Topic is favorited by 35 Pinsiders

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    There are 2,136 posts in this topic. You are on page 18 of 43.
    #851 6 years ago

    I know I post some far out shit on here (usually for my own amusement), but when it comes to pins, mine or especially anyone elses, I am pretty damn cautious. Sure I nudge, but I don't death save or get violent with them, ever. Why would I? These things aren't cheap! So even though I will raise my hand and say I'm to partially blame, this machine has never seen any abuse. Disappointing, but still first world problems.

    #852 6 years ago

    I'm gonna try these braces for the area near the top. But honestly I'm worried that Sterns shitty cabinets won't hold the screws tight for the long term.

    d5ab4b80-9415-4800-98a7-96a2fadb0f79_300 (resized).jpgd5ab4b80-9415-4800-98a7-96a2fadb0f79_300 (resized).jpg

    #853 6 years ago
    Quoted from thundergod76:

    I'm gonna try these braces for the area near the top. But honestly I'm worried that Sterns shitty cabinets won't hold the screws tight for the long term.

    Do you really see room to install these near the top???

    #854 6 years ago
    Quoted from thundergod76:

    I'm gonna try these braces for the area near the top. But honestly I'm worried that Sterns shitty cabinets won't hold the screws tight for the long term.

    can you pre drill the hole and puts some wood glue in there and then the screw? might help....or the pre drill may make it weaker.....but without pre drilling you could split the wood...

    #855 6 years ago
    Quoted from RoyF:

    Do you really see room to install these near the top???

    I'm not really sure. I haven't had the time. Right side is tricky because of the shooter plate being right there.

    #856 6 years ago
    Quoted from thundergod76:

    I'm gonna try these braces for the area near the top. But honestly I'm worried that Sterns shitty cabinets won't hold the screws tight for the long term.

    If you have a wire feed welder weld the gap where the two tabs meet. That's the weak point.

    #857 6 years ago
    Quoted from cliff_clavin:

    can you pre drill the hole and puts some wood glue in there and then the screw? might help....or the pre drill may make it weaker.....but without pre drilling you could split the wood...

    Incredibly sad, but don't worry about it Stern.

    You should be working on creating your next video contest to see which schmucks will have the right to drill holes in their new Star Wars Super Duper LE.

    #858 6 years ago
    Quoted from Gryszzz:

    what is the BEST solution for this? Interior brackets like others are doing?

    Probably the best solution is to take a T-square and with a brand new razor, make a straight, clean cut through the decal, down the fault line.

    That way, the cab joint can expand/contract with the seasons, nudging, or transporting the game - without a jagged tear through the decal.

    -

    If you can deform an interior bracket with a pair of pliers, it's not going to keep the seams from moving - that's for sure.

    If the screws don't EXACTLY fit the bracket holes, it's not going to keep the seams from moving - that's for sure (It could make it worse by pulling apart the seam).

    It's going to take a lot of little #6 or #8 screws to hold against many hundreds of pounds of force applied to that corner.

    Remember a little sheet metal bracket might say it's rated to failure @200 lbs, but were not worried about outright failure, were worried about how many pounds of pressure will allow the bracket to deform 1mm - which is plenty enough to crack that seam.

    #859 6 years ago
    Quoted from MustangPaul:

    If you have a wire feed welder weld the gap where the two tabs meet. That's the weak point.

    ^this

    And if your bracket is galvanized metal, weld OUTSIDE - you don't want to breathe those fumes in your garage.

    13
    #860 6 years ago
    Quoted from ledge:

    another "repair kit " !!... for a freaking NIB... sweet mother of.......
    "THEY DONT MAKE EM LIKE THEY USED TO" !

    News Flash!

    Stern NEVER made them like they used to, they were always a 2nd or 3rd tier game source. Hell, even Sega's were far better than Stern's in the day. Stern still proudly retains that tradition today, (sure they were #1 when they were the only game in town).

    We bought handfuls of Stern's like HRC, Sharkeys, Etc., back when W/B shuttered to supplement our stable of W/B routed games we stole on closeout, (CV's for $1900 for example). The Sterns constantly required 2-3X the service calls. Our pagers...yes, pagers were always going off...and...they always earned way less than B/W and even P2K.

    Just gotta laugh at apologists like Icepick that don't have a clue and costantly post the same insipid, banal things over and over thinking that they might become fact if repeated enough times.

    The most ironic thing I find funny is the lack of memory with W/B in that era that hampered rules, features and such. Now with Stern, they have oodles of memory and can't afford the programming, or don't want to for profits sake.

    My recent Stern experience was buying 2 NIB's, STLE and a METPRE. The ST might have been the best Stern value ever made with the nice laser cut panels, RBG led's, etc. BM66 looks and feels like a toy compared to STLE imo. Loved the eye candy and fast play with ST but could not wait for finished software, so flipped it a push. The MET had a great rule set since it had been out for years, but it was built on the cheap (compared to ST) and the materials just felt inferior. No comparison to my B/W's & JJP's, so again, flipped it at a push.

    Imo, opening up these latest Stern titles with all the QC issues does not impart -made in the USA-.

    #861 6 years ago

    I just reached out to gary stern and got this back as a response

    "j.m.,
    if you move the plumb bob up as far as you can without the game tilting (see image below), this should [help] alleviate any future potential cabinet splitting. thanks for writing and keep on flipping!

    plumb bob (resized).jpgplumb bob (resized).jpg

    - gary

    ps
    I like vodka. we should have a drink at expo this year"

    #862 6 years ago
    Quoted from cliff_clavin:

    can you pre drill the hole and puts some wood glue in there and then the screw? might help....or the pre drill may make it weaker.....but without pre drilling you could split the wood...

    Pilot hole definitely weakens grip.

    #863 6 years ago
    Quoted from j_m_:

    I just reached out to gary stern and got this back as a response
    "j.m.,
    if you move the plumb bob up as far as you can without the game tilting (see image below), this should [help] alleviate any future potential cabinet splitting. thanks for writing and keep on flipping!

    - gary"

    There ya go... problem solved!

    #864 6 years ago

    What a Phallis sucker that guy is.

    #865 6 years ago

    I just kind of pre drilled. Use a very small bit and don't go in very far. This will give you the strength you need yet give the screw a place to take hold.

    #866 6 years ago
    Quoted from GGG:

    Stern NEVER made them like they used to

    Exactly.

    Pinball cabs were never made by Stern, Williams or Bally.

    They were made by cabinet companies like CCC, ESC or Lenc-Smith.

    ccdinccc (resized).jpgccdinccc (resized).jpg

    #867 6 years ago
    Quoted from Mike_J:

    Based upon other's past experiences, he should hear back from Stern in 2 years.
    Stern is probably hoping the buyer will drop dead within that 2 year window.

    This is actually pretty funny as I ordered AS from my isolation hospital bed- my leukemia had returned. I explained to my wife I wanted just....one...more...pin, my last! She fell for it!

    #868 6 years ago

    Damn OBX... sorry to hear that. Wish you the absolute best dude. If you beat it once, you can twice too. Atleast you live in one of the prettiest places in America.
    Best wishes brother!

    #869 6 years ago
    Quoted from wtatumjr:

    This is actually pretty funny as I ordered AS from my isolation hospital bed- my leukemia had returned. I explained to my wife I wanted just....one...more...pin, my last! She fell for it!

    Hopefully you beat it again and you can buy many more pins, my thoughts and prayers are with you.

    21
    #870 6 years ago
    Quoted from pindude80:

    Hopefully you beat it again and you can buy many more pins, my thoughts and prayers are with you.

    Thanks so much! My blood work looks good - going for bone marrow check this coming Wednesday.

    #871 6 years ago
    Quoted from wtatumjr:

    This is actually pretty funny as I ordered AS from my isolation hospital bed- my leukemia had returned. I explained to my wife I wanted just....one...more...pin, my last! She fell for it!

    All the best for your fight.

    #872 6 years ago
    Quoted from vid1900:

    Probably the best solution is to take a T-square and with a brand new razor, make a straight, clean cut through the decal, down the fault line.
    That way, the cab joint can expand/contract with the seasons, nudging, or transporting the game - without a jagged tear through the decal.
    -
    If you can deform an interior bracket with a pair of pliers, it's not going to keep the seams from moving - that's for sure.
    If the screws don't EXACTLY fit the bracket holes, it's not going to keep the seams from moving - that's for sure (It could make it worse by pulling apart the seam).
    It's going to take a lot of little #6 or #8 screws to hold against many hundreds of pounds of force applied to that corner.
    Remember a little sheet metal bracket might say it's rated to failure @200 lbs, but were not worried about outright failure, were worried about how many pounds of pressure will allow the bracket to deform 1mm - which is plenty enough to crack that seam.

    I would probably go the old school route for brackets.

    Make up some triangle wedges, glue them with PVA and staple them into to corners.

    Once that glue dries, the corners will never move.

    Here's the inside of my KISS ... you can see the bottom of the cab has wedges (where the legs are) but there is nothing at the top. Running a wedge up as high as you can would make a big difference.

    Paint em black and they'd look factory too.

    rd

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    #873 6 years ago

    What's PVA RD?

    #874 6 years ago
    Quoted from Gryszzz:

    What's PVA RD?

    Poly Vinyl Acetate. You can see I got 90% in woodwork at High School.

    Wood glue.

    rd

    #875 6 years ago
    Quoted from wtatumjr:

    This is actually pretty funny as I ordered AS from my isolation hospital bed- my leukemia had returned. I explained to my wife I wanted just....one...more...pin, my last! She fell for it!

    Sorry to hear about your situation wtatumjr. My thoughts and prayers are with you. You beat this once, you can beat it again! You are going to love your new AS game, it's alot of fun! Did you get the pro, premium, or LE? Come over to the AS thread and hang out.

    #876 6 years ago

    Ordered a premium but switched to pro.

    #877 6 years ago
    Quoted from wtatumjr:

    Ordered a premium but switched to pro.

    Awesome, I have the Pro also and its loaded with features. You're going to love it, game is so much fun.

    #878 6 years ago
    Quoted from rotordave:

    I would probably go the old school route for brackets.

    Make up some triangle wedges, glue them with PVA and staple them into to corners.

    My concern is that the paint won't let the glue seep into the wood's pores, so it won't have very good strength.

    #879 6 years ago
    Quoted from wtatumjr:

    Thanks so much! My blood work looks good - going for bone marrow check this coming Wednesday.

    Best of luck to you! I have a feeling you have many more pins in your future.

    #880 6 years ago
    Quoted from vid1900:

    My concern is that the paint won't let the glue seep into the wood's pores, so it won't have very good strength.

    I don't think it'd be an issue .. the cabinets paint isn't thick, just a one coat blast. The staples would help too if put in skewed (45 degrees to the cabinet)

    Of course, Stern could easily fix the problem for a few cents a cabinet when they are making them. Either:
    A/ run the wedge right to the top
    B/ run 2" screws through the joint and putty the hole. The decals go over the top so you wouldn't see it. Homepin has gone this route with their cabinets
    C/ use more glue!

    rd

    #881 6 years ago
    Quoted from rotordave:

    I don't think it'd be an issue .. the cabinets paint isn't thick, just a one coat blast. The staples would help too if put in skewed (45 degrees to the cabinet)
    rd

    You could try it, but that paint looks very non-porous on mine.

    Staples are only there to hold the position until the glue dries.

    #882 6 years ago
    Quoted from vid1900:

    You could try it, but that paint looks very non-porous on mine.
    Staples are only there to hold the position until the glue dries.

    Vid is right, no matter what kind of glue you use it has to have something to hold onto.
    There are some amazing glues now in the autobody repair business but even they need a rough or porous surface to adhere to

    #883 6 years ago
    Quoted from vid1900:

    Staples are only there to hold the position until the glue dries.

    That's certainly one reason to use staples, but if they are skewed, they will also add strength to the joint.
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toenailing

    If you just drive staples in straight (like you can see Stern does in one of the pictures in this thread) that does nothing, the staple will just pull right out.

    rd

    #884 6 years ago
    Quoted from wtatumjr:

    This is actually pretty funny as I ordered AS from my isolation hospital bed- my leukemia had returned.

    You should probably tell the dog to stop smoking cigars around you.

    #885 6 years ago
    Quoted from Who-Dey:

    The thing you have to realize is some of the cabinets may have been damaged or weakened by the shipping company, and some may have been damaged by their Jackass owners, we just don't know.

    hah.

    not likely

    #886 6 years ago
    Quoted from GGG:

    News Flash!

    Stern NEVER made them like they used to, they were always a 2nd or 3rd tier game source. Hell, even Sega's were far better than Stern's in the day. Stern still proudly retains that tradition today, (sure they were #1 when they were the only game in town).

    basically, that was a general quote about pretty much most things these days... but yes in my opinion
    it does include Stern....

    i will say, ive had spiderman, sopranos, TF, austin powers, and a few others and they had all held up pretty well... certainly without the issues we are seeing recently.

    #887 6 years ago

    Gb is the 15th stern pin I've own.....never had any issues with any of them...I think when you buy a new pin there a small chance you might get a lemon....jus my take on it....

    -1
    #888 6 years ago
    Quoted from ledge:

    hah.
    not likely

    I wouldn't think that is unlikely at all truthfully. I'm still trying to figure out why people believe that we have this big serious cabinet problem when only about 20 people have came forward. Even if it was 50 people I probably wouldn't be too alarmed about it considering Stern probably sells thousands of games a year. I know of quite a few new pins that have been bought and only one of them has a cabinet issue and it's in a bar so you can imagine what kind of treatment it may be getting.

    #889 6 years ago
    Quoted from 0geist0:

    Vid is right, no matter what kind of glue you use it has to have something to hold onto.
    There are some amazing glues now in the autobody repair business but even they need a rough or porous surface to adhere to

    So you sand the area and remove the paint before gluing. Spray it black afterwards.

    #890 6 years ago
    Quoted from wtatumjr:

    This is actually pretty funny as I ordered AS from my isolation hospital bed- my leukemia had returned. I explained to my wife I wanted just....one...more...pin, my last! She fell for it!

    You got this! You gotta recover so the joke's on her... "suuuuckeeeer!"

    Enjoy your new game.

    #891 6 years ago
    Quoted from Manic:

    So you sand the area and remove the paint before gluing. Spray it black afterwards.

    Something about doing that and also HAVING to do that to a multi-thousand dollar one year old game (or less) seems very sad to me. Very unfortunate.

    #892 6 years ago
    Quoted from Otaku:

    Something about doing that and also HAVING to do that to a multi-thousand dollar one year old game (or less) seems very sad to me. Very unfortunate.

    Absolutely agree.

    #893 6 years ago

    Spent some time today reinforcing my BM66 cabinet that had begun to split. Even spot welded the gap between the tabs on the top brackets. On a whim I sprayed the top brackets black. Even shot some glue into the top joints and a little on each screw. We'll see how well it holds.

    IMAG0303 (resized).jpgIMAG0303 (resized).jpg
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    #894 6 years ago

    That joker should never come apart.

    #895 6 years ago

    Just as a curious side note, I was working on my '77 Gottlieb EM cabinet today and noticed it had the same overlap joint as the current Sterns. However, there's only some minor splitting after 40 years. I think the difference is they put the wedge piece all the way from the bottom to the top, and used a nicer grade of plywood.

    #896 6 years ago
    Quoted from thundergod76:

    Spent some time today reinforcing my BM66 cabinet that had begun to split. Even spot welded the gap between the tabs on the top brackets. On a whim I sprayed the top brackets black. Even shot some glue into the top joints and a little on each screw. We'll see how well it holds.

    Bally/Williams style leg brackets or SEGA/Stern version?

    #897 6 years ago

    No cabinet splits, but added a little insurance to BM66 and GBLE today. Williams plates work fine, but if you are going to put the long end up, you will need to use a hole saw to cut around the area for the tournament button....in my case it is an external volume switch.

    gb2 (resized).jpggb2 (resized).jpg

    gb4 (resized).jpggb4 (resized).jpg

    #898 6 years ago
    Quoted from J85M:

    Bally/Williams style leg brackets or SEGA/Stern version?

    Bally/Williams new style from Pinball Life.

    #899 6 years ago

    It's disappointing that Stern does not put the Williams style brackets on their $5k-$15K games out of the box... Has this always been the case or did older Stern like LOTR and TSPP have them?

    #900 6 years ago
    Quoted from PanzerFreak:

    It's disappointing that Stern does not put the Williams style brackets on their $5k-$15K games out of the box... Has this always been the case or did older Stern like LOTR and TSPP have them?

    Stern isn't actually building the cabinets, but they are built to a Stern spec. I think the brackets changed a few years ago to a wood wedge and small metal plate. The plates they used have changed some over time, but they have been doing it this way for a while now.

    There are 2,136 posts in this topic. You are on page 18 of 43.

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