Saturday, March 16, 2013

Simple Tip For Adding More Speed To The Ball

The other night I wanted to make the play field surface pop a little more. I don't have wax, which is what is used on real pinball machines. I don't know how well wax would work in this case because the artwork on the surface is actually just paper permanently adhered to a piece of medium density board. I did however had a bottle of Armor All. Yes folks, this stuff ain't just for cars. I use this on a ton of other stuff like hardwood furniture, speaker cabinets, etc.

Rather than spray directly to the surface (not recommended) I sprayed just a little bit on a folded up paper towel and started to gently wipe it around the surface. Then I wiped the excess off with a clean paper towel. This leaves an invisible slightly oily layer, making the surface slippery and smooth. When I started up the machine again and started playing.... WOOAH!!!! That ball just flies all over the play field. This added much more speed and drastically preserves the energy to the ball when hit by a flipper or bounced by a bumper. So count surface friction as another factor in the slow-ball movement issues. It's ridiculous how different it feels now. It feels far more like real pinball machine gameplay.

It's obvious now to this amateur that even though the ball is perfectly spherical and rolls around, much of the time it's slid around. Something I never thought of before. There's a reason bowling alleys heavily wax and lubricate their bowling lanes. If you watch the ball carefully, much of the time it's sliding rather than rolling, so a slick surface is critical for the ball to keep speed. Pinball machines are no different in this regard.

With each little simple adjustment the much maligned Zizzle machine is just keeps getting better and better, and dramatically so.

Now if you'll excuse me, I got some pinball to play...

6 comments:

  1. Over the course of the long term, could the Armor All possibly contribute to deterioration of the paper artwork. I've got Armor All. But I also have some spray Silicone. I wonder if one would be a better choice than the other.

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    1. Probably not. Armor All is pretty mild and is mostly oil based. I haven't used spray silicone. Best bet is to do what I did most recently, which was to get synthetic car wax ("Mother's" is an excellent choice) and buff the heck out of the play field, then add a generous layer of Armor All for extra surface slickness.

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    3. Greetings landronartifacts,
      Where in the Chinese site called 'Deal Extreme' are the flipper buttons you used located? I couldn't find them anywhere.
      Thank you very much!
      Best regards!!
      W.H.

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  2. Fantastic post, thanks for sharing. We all can enjoy and appreciate Pinball Machines in different ways. You may be a pinball player, hobbyist, collector or an enthusiast by association. You could even be a combination of any of these.Ghostbusters pinball mods


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  3. Wow Nice post, thanks for sharing. Pinball Machines are available in a wide range and promise unlimited action and challenges. Most machines have all the regular features like ramps and flippers, with a few differences here and there. One has to master the correct and most effective use of the controls to be able to utilize them to their fullest extent.Pinball Mods

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