playfield swap

All posts tagged playfield swap

Who likes self punishment? I do, it seems. My BoP 2.0 machine came with a touched up and clear coated playfield when I purchased it 14 months ago and it’s a task I knew I would get to at some point. But when you’re having fun playing a game, it’s hard to take it offline for some major changes. Playfield swaps are a time consuming process, so it’s not something I’ve been looking forward to. I gained some excellent experience when I did my Pinbot CPR playfield a couple of years ago and I’ll be rolling that knowledge in to how I approach this one. The up side here is the replacement playfield is an existing playfield, so all screw holes (both sides) are already there. New playfields have (most) screw holes dimpled, but can be up to 1mm out in any direction (according to CPR – not sure if that also applies to other playfield makers). On my Pinbot playfield, I found many dimples missing on the underside. This can be a pain for assemblies under the playfield that are made up of 2 or 3 components, consisting of up to 12 screws, which all need to line up in order for it to operate smoothly. The current playfield in my game isn’t bad by any stretch as mylar across the central playfield and pop bumper areas has protected most of it. I actually think it would make a great drop in replacement for someone who has a trashed playfield or someone who wants to touch up and clear coat one for themselves. Time to begin the process.

Bride of Pinbot 2.0 Playfield Swap

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While the finish line is in sight for the playfield swap, there is still a fair bit of work to do as I have playfield parts spread across two pinball machines which need to go onto the new one. With the underside of the playfield back together again in my last update, it’s time to sort out the top. The playfield was put back into the machine and the connectors all joined up again. I then installed the 6 flasher lamp sockets, four of which required wires to be soldered back on. The holes were drilled using Brad tipped drill pieces to remove some of the clear around where the screw goes into the playfield to prevent any cracking of the clear. I then moved onto installing various plastic posts, ball guides, pop bumper rings, apron clips and trough guides. I also added LEDs to the playfield, along with a few of the Titan rubbers. The flippers were aligned and tightened in position. Populating the new playfield had begun well and was starting to take shape.

Pinbot Pinball Restoration
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