(Topic ID: 83133)

ZIZZLE POTC Clear Coat

By nodyeliab

10 years ago


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    #1 10 years ago

    I know this may sound crazy, but I just bought a used zizzle potc for cheap. My son absolutely LOVES this game and I would like to make it play better for him! My question is, has anyone on here ever tried to clear coat the playfield on a zizzle machine before and if so what did you use?

    Thanks!

    #2 10 years ago

    The clearcoat costs more than the machine is worth.

    #3 10 years ago

    Lexan
    and bacon

    #4 10 years ago

    I bought one for my nephews. I think the playfield is almost a really dense cardboard material. Not sure how well that would take.

    -Jim

    #5 10 years ago
    Quoted from KenLayton:

    The clearcoat costs more than the machine is worth.

    +1

    #6 10 years ago

    Yeah, why not buy a sheet of Lexan at Ace Hardware, spray glue on the cardboard and adhere to the Lexan?
    Put a lot of weight on it overnight.

    #7 10 years ago

    I wonder what a HEP Zizzle would go for? (In the universe where such a thing would exist)

    #8 10 years ago

    Can a Zizzle get playfield wear? I had one for quite a while and didn't notice any. I enjoyed my Zizzle. Lasted longer than my X-files.

    #9 10 years ago
    Quoted from captainadam_21:

    Can a Zizzle get playfield wear? I had one for quite a while and didn't notice any. I enjoyed my Zizzle. Lasted longer than my X-files.

    There is a little bit of wear around some of the lights, but I would think a CC playfield would make it play a little smoother, but I could be wrong. I will probably just leave it, my son would kill me if I messed it up

    #10 10 years ago

    Pinside should have a contest on the best modded Zizzle Pin.

    #11 10 years ago

    I didnt clearcoat, did 3 coats of car wax first helped quite a bit but what did great things after that was the 2 coats of armor-all's "tire gel" to the whole playfield and ball. everything got really fast with the very slicked up surfaces.
    other worthwhile "trick" is replacing stock flipper buttons with much more reliable 28mm arcade units, then using the lighter springs from the stock buttons to replace the heavier springs on the flipper solenoids themselves will increase the flippers forward hit and they'll be quieter too. while youre there, flip the flipper bushings over to put them in from the topside with the washers on top too, puts the paddles about 1mm higher off the playfield so they cant drag.
    thats kinda 3 little tricks in combination with swapping in the 28mm arcade buttons that requires some careful drilling.
    having done these things, no doubt, potential playfield wear goes way down, and ball speed goes WAAY UP!
    things can possibly go bad trying to clearcoat, lexan or polycarbonate sheeting the playfield could be a lot of work disassemling and reassembling.. ouch.

    playfield inserts that sit below level can get little chips around their edges, they can be built up with a couple layers of clear packaging tape cut to fit em. same but opposite for inserts that sit above level, building micro "steps" around them on the playfield to smooth rough transitions so the ball doesnt walk around their edges at low speeds. it'd be careful tedious "work" but it'd help. clear 2" packaging tape gets really slick with wax and armor-all applied over. kinda cheating but it'll avoid the disassembly-reassembly nightmare stuff.

    #12 10 years ago

    oh.. Aladdin, yeah that'd be cool can I count on your vote? done BUNCHES to mine lol.
    couple days ago, I copper plated the ball sure fits into the PotC theme and looks cool.
    not really DONE with it yet but found a really nice topper a couple weeks back too.

    #13 10 years ago

    Find a cheep EM for your son

    #14 10 years ago

    NO no no no no

    #15 10 years ago

    .

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    #16 10 years ago

    More signal in more places.

    #17 10 years ago

    Thanks for all the tips!

    Does anyone know the size of the pinball itself? The that is currently in the machine is really beat up, so i'm looking for a replacement.

    Thanks!

    #18 10 years ago

    I've read 7/8 a lot of places

    I need a spare too. When I folded up my Zizzles I somehow lost one or two of the balls. Oops.

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    #20 10 years ago

    if when the bumper cluster power glitches ON to burn it up, solenoid can be hand rewound, and if the channel driving it burns up, I had to do a work around using an optical relay, no problems yet!

    #21 10 years ago

    Clean and wax it, put a new ball in it, and call it good. Has anyone ever used a powerball in a zizzle? That could speed the game up. Adjust the legs to add more angle to the game. If its maxed out and still slow, try adding some wood blocks to the back legs. I added 2x4's to an Atari Middle Earth. The Middle Earth was still slow, but much better imho.

    #22 10 years ago

    What do these go for? May get one for my daughters room.

    #23 10 years ago
    Quoted from PEN:

    Clean and wax it, put a new ball in it, and call it good. Has anyone ever used a powerball in a zizzle? That could speed the game up. Adjust the legs to add more angle to the game. If its maxed out and still slow, try adding some wood blocks to the back legs. I added 2x4's to an Atari Middle Earth. The Middle Earth was still slow, but much better imho.

    Flipper coils aren't strong enough for that, and the assemblies are non standard so you can't just (easily) swap the coil with any other pinball coil.

    #24 10 years ago
    Quoted from Mocean:

    Flipper coils aren't strong enough for that, and the assemblies are non standard so you can't just (easily) swap the coil with any other pinball coil.

    Not strong enough for what, a power ball or more angle? Are the legs adjustable for height? If so, it is worth a shot...pinball pun intended.

    #25 10 years ago
    Quoted from PEN:

    Not strong enough for what, a power ball or more angle? Are the legs adjustable for height? If so, it is worth a shot...pinball pun intended.

    Not strong enough for the steeper angle (the legs are not adjustable out of the box).

    The ramps are smaller, so while the powerball idea is a good one, the larger ball probably wouldn't play. It's also not clear how much lighter you could make the ball and still have the roll-over switches register...

    #26 10 years ago

    with the 2-3x waxing the PF then the armor-all tire gel, combined with the minor flipper tweeks, it'll surprise ya.
    idk if I mentioned my other little mod, made four 1-3/8 x 1-3/8 x 6" blocks out of oak, drilled into the ends the size of the threads of levelling furniture glides, then bored 1/2" deep for the slightly larger T-nuts lightly hammered in.
    extended the legs 1" with the blocks, 2 screws each side of the legs (4 holes, 3 drillbit changes each, 16 total), then the levelling furniture glides raising it about another 3/4", much nicer height for playing, can level it left-right or adjust PF angle so much better now. its about 3/8 higher in back now and very fast up through the ramps, it could go steeper. I'm using 3/8 x 3" red flipper bands are a little thicker heavier and springier than the stock plastic ones, no prob.

    barebones stock, no way, it'd barely make the ramps and if you hold the ball much, the resistors to the flipper solenoids warm up to make the flippers even weaker (yeah just tap em and only use em when you need to!).
    they used single coil solenoids, no EOS switch or secondary resistor, so really, DONT lean on the buttons much.
    the stock switches under the flipper buttons sure dont seem to last long before they get tempermental-finicky how theyre pushed, mine were bad as gotten used, so the 28mm arcade buttons was 1st on the list. glad I saved the original flipper button springs, they went in as solenoid returns about 2 weeks later when I also flipped the bushings.

    85vett, you can usually find a zizzle in the 150-225 range through Craigslist, dont pay any much more than that!
    some sellers think "rare" means worth a bunch more, theyre only rare because they had problems and complaints. they only made them maybe two years and quit, parts arent available. theyre lots of fun when everything is working correctly and best TOY pinball machine I'd ever seen. use a nationwide Craigslist search engine and e-mail or call a seller. legs and backboard unbolt to fit into a 12x18x36" box might be 50 bucks shipping through the USPS isnt bad.
    it took 3-4 days for the seller to get and cash my money order before they shipped, had mine here in 7-8 days. definitely talk with them on the phone to get an idea who-how they are, know their real name, street address etc. if a joker stiffs ya across state lines they could get into a LOT of trouble for that but dont mention such, if they seem flakey-shady just avoid em completely. zizzles pop up on ebay sometimes too, if it says "local pickup only" you can send a note to a seller to ask if they're willing to box and ship if you pay costs. its not THAT big a deal.

    #27 10 years ago

    What about using mylar? No where near the pain of clear and it will do the job.

    #28 10 years ago
    Quoted from Mocean:

    Not strong enough for the steeper angle (the legs are not adjustable out of the box).
    The ramps are smaller, so while the powerball idea is a good one, the larger ball probably wouldn't play. It's also not clear how much lighter you could make the ball and still have the roll-over switches register...

    Ok. I have never seen one in person. How do you level the machine if the legs are not adjustable?

    #29 10 years ago

    bits of cardboard, paneling etc.. pain in the butt if your floor isnt level and no guarantee the pf is level even then.
    they're really a toy machine, still fun and can be modded to an extent: http://zizzlepinballmods.blogspot.com/
    main issues is flippers too far apart, in-out lanes too wide open, combining to be a notorious little drain monster.
    not difficult or expensive to do the little improvements on em, they almost become real for it.

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