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Playfield Protectors

Biff

Biff

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10 Years
Joined
Jul 21, 2011
Messages
1,249
Location
Near Grantham
Hi

Looking at getting one of these for PACman when i swap over the playfield, any good, bad and ugly info about them is welcome please?

Playfield Protectors

Playfield Protectors - Full Protection for Your Pinball Machine... Established 2013
www.playfield-protectors.com www.playfield-protectors.com

Cheers

JB
 
Always a lot of discussion on these.

The ball will play and act differently to just bare wood and then again against a cleared playfield.

If you plan to sell the machine on and want to leave it in a near mint condition then this will help.

I was tempted myself once to go down this route but in all honesty a proper 'cleared' playfield with the usual playfield cliffy protectors and well placed mylar I believe is the best route.

Ultimately its your machine and your choice. You could always just put one on and if you don't like how it plays, remove it. The cost isn't that bad considering.

Scott
 
The most obvious thing to point out is that they effectively add depth to the playfield - meaning all switches will need adjusting accordingly. Not a problem for you seeing as you are planning on a full refurb and know what you're doing :).
It also is completely flat, so would 'level out' any sunken inserts or cupping.

I've only played a machine with one fitted a couple of times and there isn't a massive difference to the way they play in all honesty. There is a difference in spin and how it rolls, but not massive. Note I said different, not better or worse.

I don't know how well they stand up over time, whether they create scratches and swirls, just protecting the playfield which will eventually need replacing, or is it harder wearing so would never need replacing?

I would think that a new playfield, or refurbed/touched up playfield would look better with a proper clearcoat, rather than a protector.

Either way looking forward to playing it once it's done.
 
Biff said:
Hi

Looking at getting one of these for PACman when i swap over the playfield, any good, bad and ugly info about them is welcome please?

Playfield Protectors

Playfield Protectors - Full Protection for Your Pinball Machine... Established 2013
www.playfield-protectors.com www.playfield-protectors.com

Cheers

JB
Click to expand...
I have them on a number of my games and in general I'm very happy - they get rid of the effects of sunken inserts, and provide a nice gloss and fast finish, as well as preventing any existing areas of paint loss from spreading.

There is one major issue to be aware of though

In the course of one league meet the driver boards on two of my Williams (Sys 7 and 6) games were damaged as well as two bumper coils being destroyed

This was because the playfield protector moved slightly and the edge of a bumper skirt became trapped underneath, causing the bumper coil to lock on
I've read that others have experienced this problem too
I'm now in the process of fitting a fuse board to each of my Williams games to protect each "special solenoid" ie bumpers, kickers individually
I don't know if Bally games are similarly at risk

I also had a small problem with one protector - the section that goes down the shooter lane could not be made to line up properly, so the ball jumped every time it was fired and would not make it out of the shooter lane - I've solved that 95% now by using a bit of mylar over the end of the protector

The only other downside I can see is that dust does work its way underneath gradually so the protector will need to be removed from time to time for cleaning, but they are easy to fit and remove, so that isn't a major issue
 
And in reply to Wayne's comment I have hardly ever had to adjust any switches after fitting a protector, and the latest generation of protectors are thinner than the ones I used initially
 
DAD said:
I have them on a number of my games and in general I'm very happy - they get rid of the effects of sunken inserts, and provide a nice gloss and fast finish, as well as preventing any existing areas of paint loss from spreading.

There is one major issue to be aware of though

In the course of one league meet the driver boards on two of my Williams (Sys 7 and 6) games were damaged as well as two bumper coils being destroyed

This was because the playfield protector moved slightly and the edge of a bumper skirt became trapped underneath, causing the bumper coil to lock on
I've read that others have experienced this problem too
I'm now in the process of fitting a fuse board to each of my Williams games to protect each "special solenoid" ie bumpers, kickers individually
I don't know if Bally games are similarly at risk

I also had a small problem with one protector - the section that goes down the shooter lane could not be made to line up properly, so the ball jumped every time it was fired and would not make it out of the shooter lane - I've solved that 95% now by using a bit of mylar over the end of the protector

The only other downside I can see is that dust does work its way underneath gradually so the protector will need to be removed from time to time for cleaning, but they are easy to fit and remove, so that isn't a major issue
Click to expand...
Thanks Dave. would have making the hole in the protector bigger have avoided this issue? Does the pop bumper have to come off before fitting or does the protector go over the top?
 
On my Williams, and Bally Playboy, I didn't need to remove the bumpers, but on my two Gottliebs I did.
It depends on the size of the top part of the bumper body after the cap is removed - looking at the pics of Pacman on IPDB I suspect you may need to remove them

You will also need to remove the flippers and any gates
 
I was about to write that it does, with the Bally modular bumper used on Pac Man. Some retaining tangs can be released to detach the plastic ring from the bumper body.

An early Bally solid-state game wouldn't lock-on a bumper (or slingshot) coil if the switch remains closed. They're 'matrix' switches, so the coil would pulse when the contacts closed, after that the coil would be out of action, but not burnt out.
 
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Thanks all.

Anyone used them with star switches? I see they just cut a circle out for the switch, wondered if the edges were chamfered as the ball can go very slow at the top and just wondering f it is likely to get stuck?

Re Dave issue of jamming the bumper skirt, one thought could be to use a couple of pieces of very small double sided sticky tape in areas that are not obvious to keep it fixed in one position by temporarily sticking it the the playfield - i am talking a couple of 5mm square dots of tape not inches and feet :) as marked by X below:

1646304776900.png
 
There are 2 star switches on my high speed, and got stuck there once out of loads of games but they are in the orbits, shook free.
Not ideal they way they are cut out but ok, has to be a very very slow ball like virtual stand still to get stuck.
 
The balls don't get stuck on my star switches, but I have my games steeper than yours 😂

Re the tape - yes it's a possibility. I've actually now clamped the protectors in position by getting an edge under something that screws down where possible
 
DAD said:
The balls don't get stuck on my star switches, but I have my games steeper than yours 😂

Re the tape - yes it's a possibility. I've actually now clamped the protectors in position by getting an edge under something that screws down where possible
Click to expand...
My games are all 7+ pitch😎
 
Got one on my funhouse. Silky smooth and eerily quite. I didn’t have to adjust any switches at all. For an older playfield with the odd slightly wonky insert they’re perfect.
 
With respect to coils locking on as per @DAD s comment. on the bally ss games all the playfield coils bar the flippers go via a 1 or 2a fuse under the playfield. this generally blows if a coil is on for too long. if a power transistor on the driver board fails and shorts the fuse blows protecting the coil. if a switch gets stuck on, activating a coil for too long, the fuse blows, protecting the driver board transistor.

the williams games really need the upgrade to add the 6 fuses to the special solenoid circuits - a kit is available
 
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