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Sterns useless playfield lifting mechanism

kevlar

kevlar

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10 Years
Joined
Apr 11, 2013
Messages
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Location
Newport, South Wales
Why is Sterns playfield sliding/lifting mechanism so pathetic? I have 3 Sterns, SM, RBION and TSPP and think their mechanism isn't even fit for purpose. There's NO WAY I would fit mirror blades or side decals as much as I would like to, if you have these fitted then it's a miracle if you haven't damaged them ( yet! ) even if you have felt strips fitted to the sides.
 
At a guess - coz Bally/William patents prevented anyone else developing a similar mechanism to theirs....? o_O
 
Carl Spiby said:
Have you pulled the playfield off the rails and/or scraped the side of the cab?
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No incident in particular, its just something that winds me up every time I have to lift one of them. Even trying to get the play field back in is pathetic, you have to slide it back So far and pull down on the front to lift the back up or literally ram it backwards. How they haven't come up with something as good or better than the BW sliders ( which have problems of their own! ) after all these years is puzzling.
 
kevlar said:
No incident in particular, its just something that winds me up every time I have to lift one of them. Even trying to get the play field back in is pathetic, you have to slide it back So far and pull down on the front to lift the back up or literally ram it backwards. How they haven't come up with something as good or better than the BW sliders ( which have problems of their own! ) after all these years is puzzling.
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It's even worse now they've started using those support pegs on the Pro's.

I have to physically lift the whole playfield on my LW3 to get it back in. So, thank Data East.
 
I've got Bally's, William's, Stern's and Data East machines from pretty much all generations, they are almost all as crap as each other for playfield lifting mechs

To say that Sterns mechanisms are crap you must have been spoilt by late William's/Bally WPC games :D
 
And yes as Carl points out above, the Stern pro's are going backwards in terms of evolution, with their crappy support pegs and clip down lockbars. What's next? Woodrails? Score reels instead of DMD's? ;)
 
kevlar said:
No incident in particular, its just something that winds me up every time I have to lift one of them. Even trying to get the play field back in is pathetic, you have to slide it back So far and pull down on the front to lift the back up or literally ram it backwards. How they haven't come up with something as good or better than the BW sliders ( which have problems of their own! ) after all these years is puzzling.
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Steve Ritchie pointed out how to me how properly slide it back in.
you get it so far,and when nearly there put weight on the apron,this help lift the back(ie translight end)up,and then it will slide into place

poi
 
GrizZ said:
Yep - its basically continuation of the DE system ....which I dont think any of us like. I really hate lifting the pf's on my DE/Sega games :mad:
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The earlier Data East like Batman,Star Wars etc had the really ****e support arms,that half of the time seem to be bent/damaged or snapped off
 
TYHO said:
The earlier Data East like Batman,Star Wars etc had the really ****e support arms,that half of the time seem to be bent/damaged or snapped off
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There's only one on mine, the other has been ripped off the underside of the playfield.
 
Cos the merde design only has two screws-at least they eventually learnt and changed it
 
"Why is Sterns playfield sliding/lifting mechanism so pathetic?"

It is crap beyond words, installed an AC/DC LE as a favour for Phil PH in a local pub mid-summer, it was a tiny sauna bar with people trying to eat while we did the deed, all went fine until I realised we had to remove part of the lower playfield to install that ball, told the owner that the cab was going to get damaged if I removed the glass because the Stern design was not fit for purpose but we would try our best, managed to get it upright without issue, 2 people held it solid while the ball was fitted with makeshift tools, 3 of us very carefully returned the playfield into place and still managed to mark the cab.

All I could say to the guy was "sorry mate, told you so", it upset me for days, never again will I raise a NIB Stern PF or any Stern that does not belong to me (don't own any so that works just dandy)

Late Bally Williams rule ;)
 
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Other than late Williams/Bally WPC, what sliding mechanisms do you guys actually think are good?

Has no one on here had an older pin, none of which even have a sliding mechanism and you have to manually lift the playfield out and stand it up on supports
 
Bally-Wms, centre pivot hinge (TAF, T2 etc) is also crap, OK not as bad as Stern but it does make it awkward to clean/service etc.
 
Working on Gorgar is great. It has no mech at all. Just lift and angle against back box. If I want to work on the underside just flip the whole playfield over and can have it horizontal in the cab. Easiest flipper re build and drop target banks ever
 
Mooseman said:
Working on Gorgar is great. It has no mech at all. Just lift and angle against back box. If I want to work on the underside just flip the whole playfield over and can have it horizontal in the cab. Easiest flipper re build and drop target banks ever
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Until it falls on your head.. :)
 
Various mechs I have encountered.
TAF Mech: OK, does job
CFTBL-IJ-AFM Mech: Didn't like it at first, appreciate it now. Was using a broom to hold it up at an angle as no prop
DE A13 Mech: Just WTF. I have to go to the back of the machine to lift it back in or fear damaging it. There is a prop, I tried to use it, I bottled out.
Hit The Deck Gott 78 EM Mech: Odd wooden rails that the end of the machine rests on, used a broom, fell on my head. Better than DE.
 
My Gottlieb one is abit rubbish. To pull it forward you have to wrestle with it for ages. Doesnt scrape the sides though.
 
As I was working on a bunch of machines last night including two Data East's I don't see the problem with them, they are in fact some of the best I have decided, especially when compared with Bally's, which are hooked on with some angled slots which mean that you have to lift up the playfield at a funny angle to get it onto the second support. Then try and put a Bally back down again without manually lifting from the rear of the playfield (near impossible when you have it sandwiched between two other machines)

Data East :-

Lift up and pull forward, then the playfield rests down on it's 2 support legs (for access to the flipper mechs etc)

If you want access to the rear of the playfield, lift and pull forward as far as it goes, and then the whole playfield stands up on it's rear supports

When sliding it back in, you hit a bit of a hump as it clips back into the hinge bolt, but no big deal it's easy when you've done it more than once

Data East FTW! :rofl::rofl:
 
I got a BK2K last week and it is easily the best mech I've had. The top pf lifts and supports itself, the bottom one just pivots, no sliding or pulling.

The DE ones scare me as they seem like a little nudge away from falling on my head.
 
lukewells said:
Then try and put a Bally back down again without manually lifting from the rear of the playfield (near impossible when you have it sandwiched between two other machines)
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Which machines are you talking about there? I have The Shadow and Getaway which have the same slide/tilt mechs fitted and don't have that problem getting the playfields back in, just lower down and the pegs on the cab open the sprung locks, slide back and lower in. I don't have to lift the rear of the playfield. Maybe you are talking about older machines with different mechs?
 
Mooseman said:
Working on Gorgar is great. It has no mech at all. Just lift and angle against back box. If I want to work on the underside just flip the whole playfield over and can have it horizontal in the cab. Easiest flipper re build and drop target banks ever
Click to expand...

The pivoting type of playfield mounting, which was introduced on High Speed, is a hindrance when fittings at the very rear of the playfield require attention. F'r instance Party Zone - this regularly used to break the diode on the switch for the rear ball popper. I could see the problem with the playfield pivoted, but resorted to taking the playfield out to change it, since I couldn't reach in to solder with the switch nearly touching the floor of the cabinet. With the older arrangement or the later slide mechanism, it would've been a lot easier.
 
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