The Walking Dead (LE)
Stern, 2014
The Walking Dead (Premium)
Stern, 2014
The Walking Dead (Pro)
Stern, 2014I was getting some wear around the magnets so I contacted Cliffy. By my surprise,he sent me 2 protectors to test made of carbon fiber. Only have a hand full of games on it with them installed but that's about to change with having a new software update. So far so good. I'll report back after more play.
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20150510_214154.jpgQuoted from Ramjet:They look good, keep us updated. What would we do without Cliffy?
Have shitty looking games
My PRO with about 12k plays doesn't have that wear. Wonder if your magnet tops are to high ? I hope the carbon doesn't warp like the metal does cause that would be sweet!
Quoted from capguntrooper:I am down for a set, where do we order?
Cliffy will have them for sale on his Web site as soon as I give him the go ahead. He also sent me a metal protector that goes under the left ramp to test but I'm going to see if he'll make a smaller carbon fiber one instead.
Sounds great. Had the metal version installed twice but both curled up and had to remove them.
Are these expected not to curl up?
Quoted from perryd:No curl
If no curl, that would be sweet. The carbon fiber must dissipate the heat from the magnet better than the steel ones. I'll be ordering several of these.
The steel ones are awful I had them on three games and they all curled. Now they live in the garbage
A lot of people bitch about Stern but the new magnet core assemblies are great. The cores are still nice an flat and the surrounding play field area is practically un-harmed.
Quoted from exflexer:A lot of people bitch about Stern but the new magnet core assemblies are great. The cores are still nice an flat and the surrounding play field area is practically un-harmed.
yes, I had no wear on my machine after hundreds of play, but wasn't taking any chances so I got the protectors just in case.
Just put mine on last night and am wondering how they are holding up for those of you've that have had them on for months?
Quoted from NickBuffaloPinball:Just put mine on last night and am wondering how they are holding up for those of you've that have had them on for months?
I've had mine on for months now and they are holding up pretty good so far. The only thing I would caution you on is the edges disintegrate into a sort of powder and leave little pepper like carbon fiber pieces on your playfield in that area so you want to clean that area regularly because you don't want that Carbon fiber pepper to scratch and ruin your playfield.
Quoted from QuarterGrabber:The only thing I would caution you on is the edges disintegrate into a sort of powder and leave little pepper like carbon fiber pieces on your playfield in that area so you want to clean that area regularly because you don't want that Carbon fiber pepper to scratch and ruin your playfield.
Yikes! This sounds worse than having no protector in the first place!
Thinking maybe I should take them off??
Quoted from QuarterGrabber:I still have mine on, I just clean regularly, no big deal.
soooooo do I give you a smiley face because of a good comment or a plain face for valuable input or a frown face because i do not like pepper flakes......AAAAAARGH TOO MANY CHOICES! why is this so difficult now
Quoted from capguntrooper:Screw it you get a friggin gold star
Or a trash can 
I would caution against using these and I wish I never installed mine. Besides the "flakes" which may or may not scratch up the playfield, the magnet protector by the prison door was causing the ball to hop and often times go higher than the prison door optos, causing them not to register. I would say this happened about 30% of the time.
I ended up pulling them off using the hair dryer method and thankfully no paint came off. It did seem to leave a stitching pattern indentation around the area where the Well Walker magnet is, but that's only seen in a certain light (sort of like playfield dimples). I'm not excited about that, and I'm out $30, but now my prison is registering hits 100% of the time again and I don't have to worry about obsessively cleaning because of flaking.
I love Cliffy's protectors and use them on all my games. But in this case, I don't think the magnet is needed, based on Stern's new magnet design and evidence out there that this area really doesn't wear. If someone insists on getting them, my recommendation would be to NOT put them on until there is some damage in that area. After all, this protector covers the area that's damaged, so why not wait until there's actual damage there in the first place? An even better method would be to make some protectors yourself made out of vinyl. I've used vinyl magnet protectors in other games and they work perfect. They are thin and the adhesive is strong enough to last, but not strong enough to damage the playfield should you decide to remove it.
Hope this helps.
Cling vinyl all the way around for me.
I think it looks great QB and that's why I won't use Cliffys and a bunch of metal all over my pins but carbon fiber looks cool. It ls ashame it leaves carbon dust.
My goal is to wear my play fields out in my lifetime! I can always replace them 
Quoted from NickBuffaloPinball:I would caution against using these and I wish I never installed mine. Besides the "flakes" which may or may not scratch up the playfield, the magnet protector by the prison door was causing the ball to hop and often times go higher than the prison door optos, causing them not to register. I would say this happened about 30% of the time.
I ended up pulling them off using the hair dryer method and thankfully no paint came off. It did seem to leave a stitching pattern indentation around the area where the Well Walker magnet is, but that's only seen in a certain light (sort of like playfield dimples). I'm not excited about that, and I'm out $30, but now my prison is registering hits 100% of the time again and I don't have to worry about obsessively cleaning because of flaking.
I love Cliffy's protectors and use them on all my games. But in this case, I don't think the magnet is needed, based on Stern's new magnet design and evidence out there that this area really doesn't wear. If someone insists on getting them, my recommendation would be to NOT put them on until there is some damage in that area. After all, this protector covers the area that's damaged, so why not wait until there's actual damage there in the first place? An even better method would be to make some protectors yourself made out of vinyl. I've used vinyl magnet protectors in other games and they work perfect. They are thin and the adhesive is strong enough to last, but not strong enough to damage the playfield should you decide to remove it.
Hope this helps.
Ah, thanks for this info! That's why my prison Optos only register 50% of the time. I tried everything to fix it. I guess mine are coming off too for that reason 
Quoted from QuarterGrabber:Ah, thanks for this info! That's why my prison Optos only register 50% of the time. I tried everything to fix it. I guess mine are coming off too for that reason
Be super careful and take your time. Like I said in my post, the hair dryer method worked fine. But it was tense thinking I may pull up paint while doing this procedure.
Quoted from QuarterGrabber:Ah, thanks for this info! That's why my prison Optos only register 50% of the time. I tried everything to fix it. I guess mine are coming off too for that reason
removing mine as well as I had some complaints about the same thing
Also, pull towards the magnet, not away. You run the biggest risk of pulling up the clear coat at the edge of the playfield.
Quoted from NickBuffaloPinball:Also, pull towards the magnet, not away. You run the biggest risk of pulling up the clear coat at the edge of the playfield.
What do you mean pull towards the magnet?
Quoted from QuarterGrabber:What do you mean pull towards the magnet?
Start peeling it up from the outside of the sticker, not the inside.
Just installed the carbon protectors on the prison door magnet and the opto began missing hits about 50% of the time because the ball would jump over the protector. Taking it off tomorrow. Might try freeze spray for this.
I think I'll just put down some Mylar around that magnet and make sure it's a bit higher than the pf.
I'll leave it on the well walker as not having any problems there.
Quoted from Gorgar1:I've played 1000's of games and my prison magnet is like new bar a few dimples Why bother with magnet protectors for a home use game? And you've created a problem now with the opto's lol
Not concerned about dimples on the magnet. The protector is for the playfield around the magnet which is prone to wear like:
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But this new magnet design used in TWD with the larger metal plate surrounding the magnetic core probably eliminates a lot of the problem. And Ive raised the magnet slightly above the PF which should also help.
Quoted from Gorgar1:Fair enough on MET but with the new TWD design I was unaware it was prone to PF wear also.
Yeh, with the new magnet it looks unlikely. In the photo above I think the magnet might be below the PF slightly which is causing the wear on the edge. Ill just run with some mylar - not having the prison shots register sucks - and makes a hard game even harder.
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