Pinball Cleaning Tips

               Jonathan's Pinball Cleaning Tips .... v1.0
               ==========================================


This is a set of tips for making your pinball clean, fast, and healthy.

First, you need to clean the machine ... here's how :

o Remove the glass and as many ramps and habitrails as possible.  If you are
  going to do a major cleaning, also remove any mini-playfields (ala powerfield
  on TZ or Path of Adventure on IJ) or other plastics / playfield parts that
  may get in your way.  Make sure you unplug the miniplayfield or any other
  lights and switches from their wiring harnesses (turn the power OFF first)
  before removing any restraining screws.

o Remove all the pinballs from the game.  Make sure you check for balls in
  various lock mechanisms or traps (Swamp on TAF, Lock on TZ, Idol on IJ). 
  Cycling the power or switching into then out of test mode will usually clear
  the playfield of missing pinballs.

o Using diluted glass cleaner, spray the cleaner on a cloth (Do NOT spray
  directly on the playfield -- not only is it not good for the wood and paint,
  but glass cleaner conducts electricity and can short things out !) and wipe
  the surface grime off the playfield.  Repeat with clean cloth as needed.  The
  cloth will blacken quickly and become ineffective.  Do not use blackened
  cloth as it will only smear the grime.  Switch to a clean cloth.  When the
  grime is off, repeat the entire playfield to make sure it is as clean as
  possible.  When finished with the playfield, clean the ramps and other
  playfield items (TAF's Thing, IJ's Idol lock, etc.) that accumulate grime. 
  Remember that anywhere a pinball goes, grime will follow.  Note that IJ's
  Idol has an opto switch right above the kicker from the tunnel that must have
  clean plastic to see through ...

o Check the entire playfield surface for burned out bulbs (use the Test mode to
  activate all the lamps or cycle through them one at a time) and replace any
  burned out bulbs.  Also remember to check the flashlamps.  Now check for
  hidden G.I. lights that may be burned out.  These will usually lurk under
  some hard to get to piece of playfield plastic.  Replace as needed.  Remember
  to make a note of any lamps burned out that reside under the playfield as you
  will need to replace them when you raise the playfield.

o Double check that you got all the burnt out light bulbs -- some may have been
  just 'loose'.  Raising and lowering the playfield will reseat the sockets. 
  Replace any suspect bulbs (so you don't have to come back after them later).

o Raise the playfield and check for any loose screws.  Any nut or screw laying
  in the cabinet body has to have come from somewhere ... loose screws and
  bolts mean loose game pieces.  Loose solenoids will bind and burn out. 
  Tighten all the solenoids.  If you can't find where a screw comes from, check
  for loose things above the playfield ... it is not unheard of for screws or
  nuts to work loose from playfield features (Indy's Path of Adventure, for
  instance) and fall through playfield wiring holes or switch cutouts to the
  cabinet floor.  If a tunnel isn't working it is likely a screw, nut, or
  something else has fallen into the tunnel.  As an example, broken electric
  chair light bulbs on The Addam's Family tend to fall into the swamp tunnel.

o Lower the playfield and remove all rubbers (including flipper rubbers) and
  clean with rubber cleaner.  If they do not clean well or are worn, then
  replace them. Clean the flipper surfaces themselves with rubber cleaner (this
  will get the rubber gunk off).  If the game has a manual plunger, be sure to
  check the plunger tip for wear.  Don't forget to rotate the flipper rubber
  when you reinstall it so the worn spot at the tip isn't still at the tip ...

o Liberally coat the playfield with Novus #2 plastic polish.  Use a rag to
  spread evenly over the whole playfield (including plastic ramps).  After it
  dries, buff it off.  Make sure you get it all as the liquid will seep under
  metal rails, into screwholes, etc.  Be sure to get down the inlanes, outlanes
  and into the drain area.  Take extra care around any jet bumpers as these are
  high traffic areas.

o Liberally coat the playfield with My Magic 2000 polish.  Use a rag to spread
  evenly over the whole playfield (including plastic ramps).  After it dries,
  buff it off.  Make sure you buff very well and get every last little bit of
  polish.  This is like car wax -- the more you buff, the slicker the surface.
  Don't skimp here -- this will be your final polished playing surface for the
  playfield.

o Use diluted glass cleaner to clean each ball.  Check each ball for damage and
  wear.  Damaged or worn balls should be replaced as they will damage the
  playfield.  Note that special balls such as Twilight Zone's power ball will
  almost always look dirty -- the trick here is to check the surface to see if
  it looks smooth and polished.  Any scratches, pits, gouges, or scrapes
  indicate a damaged and worn ball that needs replacing.

o Reassemble the playfield making certain that playfield parts with solenoid
  shafts sticking through them (ie: the back ramp on IJ with the ball stopper
  shaft sticking through it and ball diverter shafts) don't bind.  Use a dry
  cloth to wipe down any fingerprints you may leave on the playfield as the oil
  from your fingers will attract grime.  Be sure to make sure each and every
  post, nut, and screw is tight and secure.  Loose things will come loose and
  mess things up.

o Reinstall the balls and play a test game.  After checking ball travel, grab
  the ball and try each ramp,specialty item, and tunnel for proper operation.
  If you rack up too many points in doing so, be sure to slam tilt prior to the
  third ball to avoid messing up game statistics.

o Clean both sides of the playfield glass, reinstall the glass and lockdown bar
  and you're done !!

Now preventative maintenance needs to be performed .... any of the following
should be performed as needed depending on machine use.

o Remove the flipper solenoids and wipe down the flipper shafts and check the
  shafts and sleeves for wear.  Replace as needed.  Wipe the solenoid down and
  reinstall.  Check the E.O.S. switch and rubber for wear and replace as
  needed.  The flipper should move smoothly without any kind of resistance
  other than the spring.  Any felt resistance should be investigated and
  corrected as it indicates something is binding somewhere.  Fix it before you
  have to replace it.

o Check near the flippers for things coated in flipper dust.  This includes
  playfield inlays, light bulbs, and just about anything else within 10 inches
  or so of the flipper solenoids.  Make sure you check near every flipper.
  Wipedown anything badly coated.  Use a Q-TIP on the inlays to prevent
  scratching the plastic.  Note that a coating of flipper dust on bulbs and
  inlays will make them very dim ... just wiping the bulbs and inlays will
  often restore an impressive amount of brightness to a dark, dim game.
  Replace any blackened/burnt out light bulbs and flashlamps.  Flipper dust
  creates heat, is conductive (ie: short circuit) and is generally not good.




Hints :

Use a small plastic bucket to keep loose hardware or (even better) reinstall
nuts and screws back in their holes/posts after removing whatever they were
fastening.  This will help you avoid the "where'd this screw go ?" syndrome.

Use soft cloth -- standard industrial paper towels WILL scratch most
playfields.  ROAR or chamois cloth work fine.

Be sure to rotate flipper rubbers to keep the flipper tips from wearing thin.

Check the leveling on your game often -- well used games will wear down carpet
and shift on floors causing changes in the leveling.  Even a slight slant left-
right can cause big problems.

Flaky Opto switches are often caused by one of two things : dirty optics and
loose wires.  For the former, use glass cleaner and a Q-TIP to clean the
emitter and detector.  For the latter, heat the solder joints to correct any
small cracks and reattach any broken wires.  If in doubt as to where a wire
goes, DO NOT attempt to figure it out unless you know what you are doing --
hooking up a 12 volt detector source to a 5 volt emitter supply will blow the
emitter and you will have to replace it.

NEVER use cleaning spray or compressed air on an opto-switch.  These blow cold
air (frigid air if the can uses freon) that can and will damage sensitive
opto switches.

Keep any eye out for delicate playfield parts.  For an example, it is really
easy to damage the Powerfield switches on Twilight Zone's mini playfield while
removing the rubbers for cleaning.

Make sure you don't bend slingshot switches when removing slingshot rubbers for
cleaning or replacement.

Never use anything other than a leaf switch adjustment tool to adjust a switch.
Bending it with your fingers is just asking to have to replace the switch down
the road.

Pay close attention to your game's diagnostics -- Williams/Bally games
especially are very good about reporting game malfunctions and bad switches. 
Watch for a "." after the credits number as this indicates a problem the game
wants you to check out.  Note that some recent games have permanent problems --
prototype TZ and Judge Dredd machines had a nonexistant switch marked as bad. 
This is generally not the case, however, with production machines (or even
prototypes with production ROMs).  Note also that sometimes a switch can be
marked as bad but is still good if nobody has hit the switch recently.  A
perfect example is BigFoot Bluff on White Water.

Finally, play your game often ... a sudden difference in gameplay will alert
you that something has gone wrong -- this is often the best way to find a
problem with your game.  Your game sense is usually sharper than the game's
diagnostics.


Hints compiled by Jonathan Deitch  (musjndx@gsusgi2.gsu.edu)