Modern pinball machines are remarkably durable, but they still need regular care. A clean playfield plays faster, wears more evenly, and is much easier to maintain than a machine that is allowed to accumulate months or years of ball trails, rubber dust and metal debris.
The good news is that maintaining a modern clear-coated playfield does not require aggressive polishing or constant waxing. In most cases, gentle cleaning and regular inspections are all that is needed.
For a home-use machine, we recommend giving the game a good cleaning and inspection roughly every 500 games, or sooner if you begin to see visible ball trails or dirt buildup. That interval also lines up with Stern’s current maintenance guidance for modern machines.
For routine maintenance, you do not need a huge collection of chemicals and specialty tools.
Our basic cleaning kit includes:
One tool we especially recommend is the PinSnake from PinSnake.com. It is designed to reach through orbits, tunnels, covered lanes and other areas that are difficult to access without taking large portions of the playfield apart. The tool uses a microfiber cleaning surface and is approximately the same diameter as a pinball, allowing it to follow many of the same paths the ball travels.
This may be the most important maintenance item on the entire machine.
Inspect your pinballs every time you clean the game.
If a ball develops:
replace it immediately.
A damaged steel ball is effectively being launched around your playfield hundreds of times per game. Even though modern automotive-style clear coats are tough, a rough or pitted ball can accelerate wear on the playfield, ramps and other components.
Stern specifically recommends checking and cleaning the pinballs during regular maintenance and replacing balls that become excessively worn or scuffed, noting that dirty pinballs accelerate game wear. At the 5,000-game overhaul interval, Stern recommends replacing the pinballs altogether.
Pinballs are inexpensive compared with repairing a damaged playfield. When in doubt, replace them. Our recommended Pinballs are Shinerz Premium, but any new, scratch free pinballs will do.
For normal cleaning, Novus #1 and a quality microfiber towel are usually all you need.
Apply a small amount of Novus #1 to the towel rather than flooding the playfield. Work one area at a time and remove:
Use a clean section of the microfiber towel frequently. You will often be surprised by how much black residue comes off a playfield that looked relatively clean.
Novus #1 can also be used on most standard playfield plastics, making it useful for cleaning ramps, plastic protectors and decorative plastic pieces as you work around the game.
For areas your fingers and towel cannot reach, this is where the PinSnake becomes especially useful. It can reach under ramps and through ball paths without requiring a major playfield teardown.
There is a big difference between cleaning a playfield and polishing one.
Novus #2 can remove heavier marks and fine scratching, but it is an abrasive polish. It should not be treated like an everyday cleaning product. Pinball restoration guides generally distinguish Novus #1 as a cleaner and Novus #2 as an abrasive polish intended for situations where more correction is necessary. (There is almost no instance where Novus #3 should be used on a pinball machine)
For a modern clear-coated playfield, our approach is simple:
Use Novus #1 routinely. Use Novus #2 only when there is a specific reason to polish an area.
In extreme circumstances, stubborn marks can sometimes be addressed with 91% isopropyl alcohol and a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.
However, this should be viewed as a last-resort technique.
A Magic Eraser is made from melamine foam and works through micro-abrasion. In practical terms, you are performing a very light form of sanding.
On an older damaged playfield this can sometimes be useful. On a modern clear-coated playfield, there is rarely a reason to reach for it.
If you ever do use one:
The same conservative approach applies to strong concentrations of isopropyl alcohol. Modern clear coats are durable, but there is no benefit to repeatedly exposing them to aggressive cleaning techniques when a mild cleaner will do the job.
Not necessarily.
Modern playfields are generally protected by a durable clear coat, so the old practice of frequently waxing a playfield is much less important than it was on earlier machines.
Many modern owners simply clean with Novus #1 and play the game. Some experienced owners recommend a light Novus #1 cleaning every 100–200 games if visible ball trails are forming, while manufacturer-style maintenance schedules use approximately 500 games as the more comprehensive service interval.
If you enjoy going the extra mile, a quality pure carnauba wax can still be used on a modern playfield.
Apply it sparingly, allow it to haze according to the product instructions, and buff thoroughly with a clean microfiber towel.
Avoid cleaner-waxes or aggressive automotive compounds that contain additional abrasives.
Waxing is optional. Keeping the machine clean and using good pinballs is much more important.
Flippers take an enormous amount of abuse.
Every time you service the machine, check each flipper for:
Stern recommends checking flippers for excessive wear during its 5,000-game overhaul service and specifically notes that excessive sloppiness or weakness indicates that a rebuild may be necessary.
There is no universal rule that says every flipper must be rebuilt at an exact number of games. Usage varies tremendously. A machine with brutal high-power flipper shots may wear components faster than another title.
The better rule is:
Inspect regularly and rebuild when performance begins to deteriorate.
For heavily played machines, the 5,000-game point is a good time to perform a particularly careful inspection.
Inside each flipper coil is a plastic coil sleeve that guides the plunger.
Over time, heat and mechanical wear can cause the sleeve to become:
A worn sleeve creates drag and can make the flipper feel sluggish.
Whenever a flipper is rebuilt, we recommend replacing the coil sleeve. They are inexpensive, and rebuild documentation commonly treats a fresh sleeve as part of the normal rebuild process.
If you disassemble a flipper and the sleeve does not slide freely in and out of the coil, inspect the coil carefully as well. A heat-damaged coil can distort enough that a sleeve no longer fits properly.
At the end of the flipper mechanism is the coil stop. The plunger repeatedly strikes this component every time the flipper fires.
That makes it a wear item.
Inspect coil stops for:
Worn stops can contribute to poor flipper performance, sticking and inconsistent feel.
Marco Specialties’ current mechanical inspection guidance specifically recommends checking flippers for worn plungers, linkages, damaged sleeves and related mechanical wear, as well as inspecting coils and solenoids for damaged coil stops or sleeves.
Modern Stern machines still use end-of-stroke, or EOS, switches in their flipper assemblies. Current Stern documentation lists these switches as part of the flipper assemblies and switch matrix.
The EOS switch tells the machine that the flipper has reached the end of its travel.
During maintenance:
Modern electronically controlled flipper systems behave differently from much older machines, so adjustments should be made according to the manufacturer’s procedure for that specific game.
Modern machines make preventative maintenance much easier because much of the hardware can be tested through software.
At your regular maintenance interval, run:
Use a pinball or your hand to actuate switches and confirm that the correct switch appears in diagnostics.
Stern includes this directly in its regular 500-game maintenance procedure.
This is an excellent way to catch a switch that is beginning to fail before it becomes obvious during gameplay.
Every few hundred games, raise the playfield and simply look around.
You are looking for things such as:
Pinball machines vibrate constantly. Hardware can work itself loose over time.
Stern specifically recommends inspecting the underside of the playfield and the bottom of the cabinet for loose parts, broken wires and excessive wear during regular maintenance.
Inspect rings around:
Replace anything that is:
A broken ring can change gameplay immediately and may allow the ball to strike hardware that normally would be protected.
Silicone rings tend to last longer than traditional rubber but should still be inspected for cuts and damage.
Cleaning is also a good time to check the physical setup of the game.
Verify that:
Modern Stern machines include a playfield level bubble on the side rail, and Stern specifically includes checking pitch and level in the regular maintenance schedule.
A machine that is slightly out of level can dramatically change gameplay and can easily be mistaken for a mechanical problem.
Clean both sides of the glass while it is removed.
For ordinary glass, use a quality glass cleaner and microfiber towel.
If your machine has aftermarket anti-reflective glass, follow the glass manufacturer’s cleaning recommendations. Some coatings can be damaged by ammonia-containing household cleaners.
Always spray the cleaner onto the towel rather than directly over an open pinball machine.
For a typical modern home machine, this is the schedule we recommend:
Do a quick visual inspection.
You do not necessarily need to perform a full teardown or detailed service every time.
Perform a thorough cleaning and inspection.
This roughly matches the regular maintenance interval specified in current Stern manuals.
Perform a deeper mechanical inspection.
Pay particular attention to:
Stern specifically identifies 5,000 games as its overhaul-maintenance interval and recommends checking flipper wear and replacing pinballs at that point.
The easiest pinball machine to maintain is one that never becomes truly dirty.
Once black ball trails, metal dust and rubber debris are repeatedly driven into the playfield by a fast-moving steel ball, cleaning becomes harder and the potential for long-term wear increases.
A few minutes of preventative maintenance every few hundred games is much easier than trying to restore a machine that has gone thousands of games without attention.
For modern clear-coated machines, the basic philosophy is simple:
Keep it clean. Keep good balls in it. Watch the flippers. Fix small problems before they become big ones.
Do that, and a modern pinball machine can stay looking and playing excellent for many years.
Need help maintaining or repairing your pinball machine?
CMK Amusements provides in-home pinball cleaning, maintenance, repairs and upgrades throughout New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania, Delaware and Northern Maryland.
