Shooter Lane

[Flipper Ripper]

Hey guys, I notice a lot of people put emphasis on the shooter lane when purchasing a pin. Why, and what does it mean?

How do you keep it pristine?

And finally. I notice a lot of black marks on mine that I easily take off by just rubbing my finger on it. What's this black dust that appears every 15-20 balls. I take off the glass, clean it off and then put it back and it appears again 20ish balls later.

Any help and guidance is greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[Golden Graham]

It is like wanting a virgin for a wife....

No seriously, It is strictly cosmetic. Kind of shows that a machine has low plays and is taken care of if there is little show of shooter lane wear. Doesn't affect gameplay, and I believe that no matter how hard we try to keep it perfect, eventually it will always wear (then you start the restore process).

Black dust could be from the coil, plunger tip, wearing rubbers...anything. Routinely cleaning the entire machine, replacing rubbers, balls will help to keep your machine looking its best for longest.

Honestly, it is a status thing (I am included), people get way to hung up on shooter lane appearances (I am included).

 

[luch]

agree with everything above , if you have black rubber change it to white , less black stuff and alot livelier rebounds

 

[Flipper Ripper]

Yah I think it might be the coil, as I take a peak at the plunger and there seems to be some black dust in there. I looked under the playfield and watch videos on how to remove coil sleeves, but it really only pertains to flipper coils, as I don't see a coil stop on the plunger coil and don't really know how to approach replacing a coil sleeve on a plunger. Is this something that is done? Seems like flipper coil sleeves get all the attention for maintenance.

 

[luch]

what game is this ?

 

[Flipper Ripper]

what game is this ?

Monster Bash Remake

 

[luch]

does it have white rubber ?

 

[Flipper Ripper]

does it have white rubber ?

I'm a newb, this is my first machine, so please forgive my ignorance. Where would I look for white rubber? Like underneath the play field. I decided to take pictures of top and bottom, instead of guessing what you are talking about, so hopefully that answers the question. From the top you can kind of see the tip has black residue on it.

I'm going to take a shot here and you're asking about the white rubber at the end of the coil in the bottom pic?

 

[MrMikeman]

He means the rubber rings all over the game like the slingshots, the posts, the flipper rubbers, etc. Black ones disintegrate faster and make the game dirty. White rubber lasts longer with not as much residue.

 

[MrMikeman]

You can keep your game pristine by folding it up, wrapping it in plastic and storing it in a climate controlled time capsule. Or you could just enjoy it and play the hell out of it. Not EVERYBODY is anal about this. It's not a work of art. It's a pinball machine. A piece of equipment designed for commercial use as a money maker.

I do put some protectors on my older games but generally speaking I don't on new or newer games. There is no way I will ever put as much wear and tear as a commercial operator. It's meant to be on 16-20 hours a day and played most of that time.

Obviously I keep an eye on my games, keep them clean and waxed. If I see some wear developing somewhere I will address it.

BTW I realize my opinion differs than some of the folks here on this issue.

 

[Flipper Ripper]

You can keep your game pristine by folding it up, wrapping it in plastic and storing it in a climate controlled time capsule. Or you could just enjoy it and play the hell out of it. Not EVERYBODY is anal about this. It's not a work of art. It's a pinball machine. A piece of equipment designed for commercial use as a money maker.

I do put some protectors on my older games but generally speaking I don't on new or newer games. There is no way I will ever put as much wear and tear as a commercial operator. It's meant to be on 16-20 hours a day and played most of that time.

Obviously I keep an eye on my games, keep them clean and waxed. If I see some wear developing somewhere I will address it.

BTW I realize my opinion differs than some of the folks here on this issue.

Thanks, as for rubbers, they are all black except for the flippers, they are purple.

I respect your opinion. However, this machine wasn't meant to make money, it was meant for home use only enjoyment. I am anal, I purchase cars, and I don't store them in the garage everyday, I drive them...but I also like to clean, wax, take care of and maintain them. So I'm asking how I clean and maintain my machine properly. I'm just trying to figure out why black dust gets shot into my shooter lane every 15-20 games. Trying to prevent it from staining, and having to clean it off all the time. I figure it might be a coil sleeve needs cleaning and I'm inquiring on how to take the coil sleeve out of plunger coil.

 

[MrMikeman]

I didn't mean not to maintain your game but I was trying to make the point that it wasn't DESIGNED to sit as a pristine entertainment piece in a collector's basement. It's designed to get abused for a few years and that's it. Yes I fully realize that times are changing and that individual collectors are now buying these "industrial" machines as toys. I believe manufacturers will need to adopt new philosophies on the design and construction of these things given the changing nature of the usage.

The black dust will always be present. It's kind of like a soot. Coil sleeves don't really get dirty. It's a piece of white plastic that acts as a bushing for a metal plunger. The coil sleeve just slides out of the coil once you remove the coil (no need to remove wiring). For example on the flippers you remove the coil stop. That's the back plate that holds the coil. Once that is removed you can slide the coil off the metal plunger. The sleeve will either slide out on it's own or you can just remove it. Remember which way it goes in.

That black soot is also the reason you never lubricate anything under the playfield unless specified in the manual. The soot congeals in oil into a thick paste. Some folks think it's grease lol. It's not.

In your case the biggest contributor of black gunk is most likely all the black rubbers on the game. Black rubber wears quicker. You can change them to silicon rubber or plain white rubber but the elastic properties/hardness are all different and it can make the game less enjoyable if it's too bouncy or "sticky". White rubber is more resilient but more bouncy than black rubber. Silicon rubber is also more bouncy but also stickier which induces spin in the ball (If you play pool you know what spin can do). Makes the ball do weird things sometimes.

 

[luch]

this will help https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/cleaning-and-waxing-pinball-machines-vids-guide