A pinball machine that gets played needs maintenance just like a car. The four basics: cleaning and waxing the playfield, rubbers, a flipper rebuild, and the small jobs that make the difference. All of it can be done at home with simple tools.
How often
| Job | Home use | What you will see if you put it off |
|---|---|---|
| Playfield cleaning and new ball | Every 6 months | Black lines along the ball path, dull playfield, slow play |
| Waxing | Every 6 to 12 months | The same, plus wear of the artwork where the ball hits |
| Rubbers | Every 2 to 3 years | Hard, cracked rubbers, a "dead" ball on the slingshots |
| Flipper rebuild | Every 3 to 5 years | Weak flippers, play in the shaft, noise |
| Board batteries | Every year | Leakage and a ruined MPU (see the FAQ) |
1. Cleaning the playfield
Lift the glass, take the ball out, and remove whatever plastics and ramps come off easily (photograph them first). Go over everything with a vacuum cleaner for the dust and the bits of rubber. Then:
- For a playfield with varnish or clear coat in good condition: a cleaner like Novus 2 (or an equivalent mild multi-purpose cleaner) with a soft microfiber cloth, in circular motions, a little at a time. Wipe off with a clean cloth. Finish with Novus 1 for shine.
- For an old playfield with flaking artwork: only a light pass with a little isopropyl alcohol on a cloth, never rubbing. The artwork comes off with the cloth.
- Mylar: clean it like varnish. Do not try to remove it if you do not know how; under an old mylar the artwork often lifts off together with it.
- What to avoid: cleaners with ammonia (they cloud the plastics), solvents, sponges with a scouring side, anything "for cars" with abrasives.
Plastics and ramps are washed with lukewarm water and a little dish soap and left to dry on their own. Same for the pop bumper caps.
2. Waxing
After cleaning, a thin layer of non-abrasive carnauba wax (the well-known pinball brands, or a pure carnauba car wax without "cleaner" or "polish" on the label). Spread it with a cloth, let it haze over, buff with a clean cloth. The wax makes the ball roll faster and protects the artwork. Do not put wax on a playfield with flaking artwork and no varnish, it will get into the cracks.
3. Balls
The ball is the cheapest part and the one that does the most damage. A ball with rust or scratches is sandpaper for the playfield. Replace them every six months, always as a set, and throw the old ones away. Balls: 27 mm (1 1/16"), chrome-plated steel. The standard "carbon steel" ones are just fine; the "ceramic" ones are for machines with magnets.
4. Rubbers
Rubbers (rubber rings) harden over the years and the ball "dies" on them instead of bouncing. For every machine there is a ready-made kit with all the sizes, cheaper and safer than measuring on your own. Colour: white is the classic, black does not look dirty but "paints" the playfield with black dust. The modern silicone ones (e.g. Titan, Super-Bands) last much longer and do not shed dust, but they play a little differently. Replace them one at a time so you do not mix up the sizes, and look at the posts while you are at it: a broken post gets replaced now.
On the flippers the rubbers are a separate item. The right size for your machine (standard or mini), and they get replaced whenever you see cracks.
5. Flipper rebuild
The job that brings the power back to the game. For each flipper you need a rebuild kit for your system and era (they differ: Williams System 3-7, Bally, System 11, WPC Fliptronics). It contains:
- Plunger and link: they wear at the point where the link engages the flipper crank. Play there means lost power.
- Plastic coil sleeve: the most often worn part. If the plunger does not slide freely inside it, the flipper is weak. It is never oiled.
- Return spring and the coil stop that the plunger strikes. A "mushroomed" stop creates play.
- End-of-stroke switch (EOS) on machines before Fliptronics: it gets burnt by the arcing and must open at the moment the flipper reaches the end of its stroke, neither before nor after. On WPC with Fliptronics the EOS is small and carries no power current.
- Bushing of the flipper shaft, if it has play.
The procedure: photograph, remove the flipper bat from the top (the clamp screw is underneath), remove the mechanism, replace everything worn, reassemble. The coil is not replaced unless it is burnt. Set the flipper angle according to the marks on the playfield. One hour per flipper the first time, twenty minutes the second.
6. Small jobs that get forgotten
- Pitch. With an inclinometer on the glass (or a phone app on the playfield), 6 to 6.5 degrees. Adjusted with the leg levelers. And level it left to right. A wrong pitch changes the whole game.
- Switches. Once a year, go through the switch test. Those that do not respond: clean them with a business card between the contacts and adjust the gap. No sandpaper.
- Pop bumpers. The rings and the skirts wear out. If a bumper does not fire when the ball touches it lightly, its switch needs adjusting.
- Glass. Clean it on both sides. If you replace it, go for "anti-reflective" glass, it makes a huge difference in a bright room.
- Cabinet and legs. Tighten the leg bolts (they work loose) and put leg protectors between the leg and the cabinet if the artwork is intact.
- Connectors. Every time you open the backbox, look for blackened connectors. A burnt connector you catch in time costs 2 euros, one you do not catch costs a board.
For maintenance parts (rubber kits, rebuild kits, sleeves, balls) see the article Parts from abroad: how it works today.