Godzilla (Premium)
Stern, 2021Finally get the pin of my dreams and this is the first one with so many multi balls per game. After about 100 games, I am seeing marks on the balls. I plan on taking them out and cleaning them, but the question came up, when to replace them and what are folks doing?
Everyone is different. Every game is different too. On modern games with lots of
Multiball like GZ or Wonka they seem to get beat up fast and I replace every maybe 100 games. Older games like funhouse much longer. I probably could go longer but balls are cheap imo. I buy a few hundred and have no qualms changing them out often.
If you see any discoloration, clean with a little metal polish and a microfiber cloth. If it takes more than a couple minutes each of polishing to get them looking shiny, which it inevitably will, get new ones. They're not expensive and your time is probably more valuable. I like Blue Magic polish, but most any metal polish you find at an auto parts store will work. Shine (your eyeballs) vs Polish time tells you when to buy.
Don't buy extras as they degrade if not kept in an oil bath.
If they're perfectly smooth, I keep them. If they're not perfectly smooth, I replace them. I don't care how old they are - for me it's all about feel. I've had balls a few years old with no issues, and I've had NIB balls that I was horrified to see corrosion on (thankfully before I played).
Quoted from Pinplayer1967:Once a year I remove them and throw them in the tumbler with some metal polish.
Which tumbler do you use? Like a rock tumbler?
Thanks!
Quoted from robnotto:Which tumbler do you use? Like a rock tumbler?
Thanks!
I use this one and have had great results using a metal polish called White Diamond added to the media. Cabela’s sometimes have these for sale.
7E07C380-CC31-41BD-AA7F-C892377A5EC1 (resized).jpegQuoted from jackd104:I replace every maybe 100 games
Ha, my location Godzilla would have gone through 1,200 balls by now with this math!
Quoted from Asmig:I use the 300 play guideline but condition is always the deciding factor. Games with only one or two balls I change in as little as 100 plays if I see the ball starting to dull.
Heh, I do the same.
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Utica, MI
Edmonton, AB
