Score reels on old EM games

[Kirkd2]

I have cleaned them but to me, they seem a bit "dull and not bright"
looking. What do y'll do to make them looking new?


--
Kirkd2
This USENET post sent from http://rgparchive.com

[JC]

Novus 2 works great to polish them up but use it carefully since it it
a very mild abrasive.

[richiep]

Really depends on how bad they are to beging with. You've got to be
careful cleaning them. If you get too aggressive you'll end up cleaning
the numbers right off.

You'll likely never get them to be gleaming white and shiny. If you've
got all the dirt/crud/grease off them and you didn't wipe out any of the
black number, consider it job well done and move on.


--
richiep

[caver]

I've had good results with waxing them as well, but test a small area
to make sure it won't harm the black numbers

[Pat in PA]

I've had great success using Kit liquid car wax on both metal and
plastic reels. Just go a bit easier on the plastic reels . . .
Pat

[Frank Furhter]

Kirkd2 wrote:
> I have cleaned them but to me, they seem a bit "dull and not bright"
> looking. What do y'll do to make them looking new?

Spit works :) So does novus 2, and chrome polish as well.
If you focus on just the white, you can press as hard as you want prior
to breaking things. Then I often lightly go over the black numbers with
same but just once. They are black, and nice to have shiny, but come
off occasionally if the ink has been compremised or was poorly applied,
or was poor link, or was never meant to be cleaned to with spit, polish
or elbow power.

Best of luck, you will them clean, just be patient or suffer the
consequences.

--
The Frankster, a playfield prankster
Once upon my crank her ballpark shrank.
http://PinWiki.org, Prep-H for pinballers.
CARGPB #42 (self appointed, *the* answer to LTUAE)

[hoov]

I've had good luck with Mothers Carnuba cleaner/wax.

Dave


--
hoov

[Pat in PA]

. . .more worthless bullshit . . . .

[Gott Lieb?]

Agreed on the BS comment.

I would stay away from chrome polish as most are high in ammonia
content. Ammonia is a great product, if you want to *remove* ink from
inked pinball plastics.

Stick to using chrome polish on chrome.

Jim

Pat in PA;1811814 Wrote:
> On Oct 31, 12:32*pm, Frank Furhter <fr... (AT) furhter (DOT) com>

> wrote:
> > Kirkd2 wrote:
> > > I have cleaned them but to me, they seem a bit "dull and not
> bright"
> > > looking. What do y'll do to make them looking new?
> >

> > Spit works :) *So does novus 2, and chrome polish as well.

> > If you focus on just the white, you can press as hard as you want
> prior

> > to breaking things. *Then I often lightly go over the black numbers
> with
> > same but just once. *They are black, and nice to have shiny, but come

> > off occasionally if the ink has been compremised or was poorly
> applied,
> > or was poor link, or was never meant to be cleaned to with spit,
> polish
> > or elbow power.
> >
> > Best of luck, you will them clean, just be patient or suffer the
> > consequences.
> >
> > --
> > The Frankster, a playfield prankster

> > * Once upon my crank her ballpark shrank.
> > * *http://PinWiki.org, Prep-H for pinballers.
> > * * CARGPB #42 (self appointed, *the* answer to LTUAE)

>
>
> . . .more worthless bullshit . . . .

--
Gott Lieb?

[Vic Camp]

Lots of Q-tips,Castrol Super Clean, bright light,steady hand,nerves of
steel,keen eyesight etc... makes them come out like brand new. If i
can fit in some #55 bulbs in the score wheel window... i do. The 55's
light up the score reels alot better.
Takes me few hours sometimes depending on how dirty the score reels
were to do.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9584671@N04/show/

[pinba...@hotmail.com]

Agree with Vic on the super clean for the inside of the reels.
Disagree for the numbers side. I use lanolin hand cleaner, (the non
abrasive type) on the numbers side. Cleans well and comes out nice
and shiny!

Chrome polish will take the ink off for sure.

Dave

[Frank Furhter]

Gott Lieb? wrote:
> Agreed on the BS comment.
>
> I would stay away from chrome polish as most are high in ammonia
> content. Ammonia is a great product, if you want to *remove* ink from
> inked pinball plastics.
>
> Stick to using chrome polish on chrome.
>
> Jim

Turtle Wax green bottle chrome polish works fine on a ton of stuff, no
harsher in most cases than Novus 2. BS factor for you two is very high
and apparently unwilling to try before you blather on about topic.

http://PinWiki.org, Prep-H for pinballers.

[Frank Furhter]

Nope, done it many times and it doesn't take off ink if you are careful.
Again, YMWV. I have done it, and works fine. Then again, if you
press hard enough, friction alone will take off just about anything
including ink. The key is to be careful, pay attention, and don't just
take BS from so many strangers as gospel.

[Vic Camp]

>     CARGPB #42 (self appointed, *the* answer to LTUAE)- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Dave....is this the product use?

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=lanolin+hand+cleaner&hl=en&cid=13184568702554313900&ei=MQuvTqr8F9DbggfD9MHgDg&ved=0CAgQ8gIwAA#p

[GOCATGO]

> http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=lanolin+hand+cleaner&hl=en&c...- Hide quoted text -

>
> - Show quoted text -

P/the tip given to me by Steve Young at The Pinball Resource years
ago, use GO-JO hand cleaner...NO PUMICE! As always you should do a
small test area 1st. Works great!

Russ
www.Team-EM.com

[Gott Lieb?]

I wholeheartedly agree! I wouldn't take *any* advice from some
anonymous, nameless, misinformed person throwing out bad info on this
group. :-)

Jim

Frank Furhter;1811983 Wrote:
>
> <snip>

> The key is to be careful, pay attention, and don't just
> take BS from so many strangers as gospel.
>
> --
> The Frankster, a playfield prankster
> Once upon my crank her ballpark shrank.
> http://PinWiki.org, Prep-H for pinballers.
> CARGPB #42 (self appointed, *the* answer to LTUAE)

--
Gott Lieb?

[Pat in PA]

> >http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=lanolin+hand+cleaner&hl=en&c...Hide quoted text -

>
> > - Show quoted text -
>
> P/the tip given to me by Steve Young at The Pinball Resource years
> ago, use GO-JO hand cleaner...NO PUMICE!  As always you should do a
> small test area 1st.  Works great!
>

> Russwww.Team-EM.com- Hide quoted text -
>
> -

Go-Jo . . . wow, I remember using that MANY, MANY years ago Russ!
Pat

[GOCATGO]

> > >http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=lanolin+hand+cleaner&hl=en&c...quoted text -

>
> > > - Show quoted text -
>
> > P/the tip given to me by Steve Young at The Pinball Resource years
> > ago, use GO-JO hand cleaner...NO PUMICE!  As always you should do a
> > small test area 1st.  Works great!
>

> > Russwww.Team-EM.com-Hide quoted text -

>
> > -
>
> Go-Jo . . . wow, I remember using that MANY, MANY years ago Russ!

> Pat- Hide quoted text -

>
> - Show quoted text -

Me too Pat...and I still use it on my 'paws' besides pinball! ; )

Hope all is well.

Russ
www.Team-EM.com

[frankg]

Holy Wedgeheads Batman! You have one of the nicest pin game rooms I've
seen Vic. I showed my wife the pics and she said its nicer than the
PHOF we saw for the first time in vegas a few weeks back. Thanks for
sharing! Might have to upgrade to a bigger house. Cheers

Frank G

[Frank Furhter]

Nice Vic!!! Minty hand cream from the man himself! :)

[Frank Furhter]

But you have not seen TA's private collection. It makes Vic's 23
wedgies look like chump change.

[Sean Kavanagh]

My feeeling on these is that the numbers will stand up to more abuse
than we think, but they should be treated carefully. Sometimes the
numbers come off with almost no help, other times they seem rock-
solid. So no matter what you use be careful...and if you get a reel
where the numbers come off easy, there's almost nothing you can do but
replace. I think what happened to these was somebody used some
cleaner in the past, or sprayed some other substance meant for the
switched or something, that got on the reels and loosened the ink.

I've also had decent luck replacing obliterated numbers with water-
slide decals. A game I did recently had just one number bad on some
of the reels, and on those I did the water-slide thing.

There's some good info in this thread:
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.pinball/browse_frm/thread/8015233c4399b59c/43400881975db887?q=timme+kavanagh+group:rec.games.pinball

Sean

[pinba...@hotmail.com]

> There's some good info in this thread:http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.pinball/browse_frm/thread/80...
>
> Sean

Your first comment Sean, was going to be my response to Frank "I don't
have the nuts to identify myself" Furhter.

Vic, Russ has it right ...any lanolin hand cleaner with NO PUMICE
works fine in my experience. My concern when you mention Super Clean
is even on reels where the ink is pretty solid as Sean describes,
Super Clean will make you cry if come gets on the wrong area.

Sean, I like the decals idea.

Dave

[Frank J]

I agree with GOCATGO. Steve Young told me to use it decades ago after
I wiped the numbers off of a score reel. He agreed to sell me a used
reel, as long as I got the Go Jo. He also warned me that if I chose to
use something else to go ahead, but he was done selling me used score
reels.

Frank - PBR customer #152 - SE Wisconsin

[Pat]

I see lots of different types of Gojo hand cleaner on the 'net. Russ,
can you describe exactly which one? Or are there a few different
types?

-Pat

[Sean Kavanagh]

Allow me to step in for Russ...

The NON_PUMISE type is the important part. Pumice is the gritty stuff
in most hand-cleaners. Most of the GoJo brands have pumice since it's
really good at cleaning your hands! Surprise, surprise. ;o) The one
you want is the CREME hand cleaner...usually comes in a blue tub - I
get it at Auto Zone or Advance...not sure which one, they're so
similar. I haven't bought any in a while, so I'm not sure they
haven't changed labels...so the long description is in case you don't
like to read, in which case you haven't gotten this far
anyways... :o)

Sean

[Sean Kavanagh]

On Nov 1, 8:18 am, "pinballd...@hotmail.com" <pinballd...@hotmail.com>
wrote:

> Dave- Hide quoted text -

>
> - Show quoted text -

The decals worked OK, but you can see them when looking across the
face...this bothered me and should have been obvious, but I never even
pretended to be smart about all this...LOL. A really nice use for the
decals though, and I can see someday having to do this as a rule once
my stock of acceptable replacements dries up.

I did the decals on one or two of the Flip-a-Card/FAC/Card Trix
trifecta project I've been working on since May...someday you'll
probably get to see the result first hand at a show. If I ever get
them done!! :P Good news is I'm back on it...shootin for PinFest.

Sean

[Frank J]

On Nov 1, 12:43 pm, Sean Kavanagh <seanspinballb...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Nov 1, 1:16 pm, Pat <wormhole1...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > On Nov 1, 6:43 am, Frank J <fjbr...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > I agree with GOCATGO.  Steve Young told me to use it decades ago after
> > > I wiped the numbers off of a score reel.  He agreed to sell me a used
> > > reel, as long as I got the Go Jo. He also warned me that if I chose to
> > > use something else to go ahead, but he was done selling me used score
> > > reels.
>
> > > Frank - PBR customer #152 - SE Wisconsin
>
> > I see lots of different types of Gojo hand cleaner on the 'net.  Russ,
> > can you describe exactly which one?  Or are there a few different
> > types?
>
> > -Pat
>

Correct. Blue writing Go Jo Creme hand cleaner. UPC 01141

Frank - SE Wisconsin

[Vic Camp]

On Nov 1, 7:18 am, "pinballd...@hotmail.com" <pinballd...@hotmail.com>
wrote:

> Dave- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Dave.....I am extremly careful and feel comfortable using a long neck
double sided Q-tip with Super Clean and never touch a black number on
the score reel.Maybe i will try the lanolin but on a used old stock
score reel first to sse if it works without taking off the black
numbers.

[Pat]

It looks like this is the particular type of GOJO that is recommended:

http://tinyurl.com/6lo9dj4

The link takes you to advance auto parts and shows you the pic of the
item.

-Pat

[Kirkd2]

I had great luck cleaning them. Only thing I dislike is that the machine
has been sitting and the zeros, 0, are yellowed from time. I think
simply the plastic has yellowed permanently.

[Frank Furhter]

Kirkd2 wrote:
> I had great luck cleaning them. Only thing I dislike is that the machine
> has been sitting and the zeros, 0, are yellowed from time. I think
> simply the plastic has yellowed permanently.

Air pollution (think bar, smoking), heat or direct sunlight would do
this along with age.

[Kirkd2]

Maybe someone here can try this;

http://retr0bright.wikispaces.com/

And let us know how it goes. I have finally figured out that any
question can be answered via the Internet.

[Frank Furhter]

Kirkd2 wrote:
> Maybe someone here can try this;
>
> http://retr0bright.wikispaces.com/
>
> And let us know how it goes. I have finally figured out that any
> question can be answered via the Internet.

Works well on old computer plastic, not so good or not at all with
pinball plastic.

[Mike Berger]

I'm using GoJo Creme Hand Cleaner right now on the 20 Gottlieb plastic
score reels in my Big Indian.

Works perfect. Not a bit of black ink from the numbers have come off.

Go Gojo!

Mike Berger

[Mike Berger]

I'm, uising Gojo on my 20 plastic reels of a GTB Big Indian. Works
like a charm...no black ink flaking at all...and I'm rubbing pretty
hard.

Mike

[Kirkd2]

But does the Gojo remove the yellow?

[Frank Furhter]

Kirkd2 wrote:
> But does the Gojo remove the yellow?

Not likely. The yellowing issue on pinball plastics has been discussed
here before. You are likely just hosed :( There needs to be a chemical
in the plastic which the retr0bright solution reacts and effectively
'reverses' the yellowing. Not possible in plastics without that
chemical present (likely all pin plastics, but often found in computer
parts plastics.)

[Mike Berger]

they look pretty white to me.

Mike

[Frank Furhter]

Mike Berger wrote:
> they look pretty white to me.
>
> Mike

They were white to begin with, the retro system doesn't make yellowed
pin plastics white again. Its been done, doesn't work.

[Mike Berger]

True, photochemical yellowing is irreversible.

But yellowing due to physical changes such as nicotine, smoke residue,
etc., is removable.

Yes, that crud has been removed...and they look white now.

Keepin it real,

Mike

[vivasantana]

On Oct 31, 9:06 am, Kirkd2 <Kir...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> I have cleaned them but to me, they seem a bit "dull and not bright"
> looking. What do y'll do to make them looking new?
>

> --
> Kirkd2
> This USENET post sent from  http://rgparchive.com

I like the yellow tinge, C'mon guys these machines are 40+ years
old.
I do not want them to look brand new, just like i do not want the
cabinets to be free
of nics, scuffs and dings.. It is all part of the pins past.
Rob

Rock on Carlos,, Rock on!

[Frank Furhter]

Awesome! Thanks for the update. Got before and after shots?
You may consider doing a PinWiki entry on this topic, others would
benefit from definitive knowledge/experience along with photos. Reels
are a common themed question thread thing here and need some detailed
definitive knowledge online.

[Frank Furhter]

More or less, less is more. Bright white reels on a light shop job
looks unbalanced.

[Kirkd2]

Mine are definitely of the photochemical reaction type. I guess it
really isn't that big of a deal, I was just being anal.
Very cool info - thanks for everyone's input.

[Frank Furhter]

Kirkd2 wrote:
> Mine are definitely of the photochemical reaction type. I guess it
> really isn't that big of a deal, I was just being anal.
> Very cool info - thanks for everyone's input.

EMs are wonderful machines, glad you are having fun with yours. One of
many great things about the hobby of pinball restoration and ownership
in general is you can go from the continuum of playing to restoring to
being anal and then not caring at any given time. You get to choose,
and learn along the way. Generally at very little cost if you are
thrifty and a cheap ass bastard that is anal about reuse, reduce, and
recycle.