Star Tech Journal

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September 1993
STAR*TECH Journal
BALLY CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON
PLAYFIELD MOUNTINGS
&
PLYWOOD HOLE REPAIRS
Pat Lawlor
Williams Electronic Games
Chicago, Illinois
Dave Fowler
D&L Amusements
Chamblee, Georgia
SUBJECT
FACTORY RESPONSE
ADDITIONAL HELP
Does you have one of these
games? If so, have you had as-
semblies fall off the playfield
yet? Like the vertical up-
kicker on the right side, or the
drop-chute on the left, etc.? We
have.
Unfortunately, there is a new
reason that we seem to be ex-
periencing screw/strip prob-
lems: There are problems with
the availability of plywood.
Even though our plywood is
I find that if you are at a loca-
tion and find the stripped hole.
Not having a dowel, you can
insert 4 or 5 toothpicks and
break them off. That seems to
work for me just as well ... and
most of the locations will have
a good supply of them.
Dave Bushey
Russell Hall Vending
Holyoke, Massachusetts
The game seems to do very
vell, but the major assemblies
can't stay screwed to the
playfield. It had only been out
for a week, and everything else
seemed OK, but· the screws
that held the v.u.k. looked like
they were ripped out of the
playfield, and there are pins
that stick into the playfield so
you cannot turn the assembly
slightly to get to good wood to
re-mount.
The drop-chute on the left is
not the usually welded assem-
bly. Instead it's two pieces that
are screwed to the playfield
and the wood that the deflector
is screwed to, is not even 1/4"
thick! I think the guy doing the
1ssembly work had his screw
gun turned up on the torque
setting just a little too high (or
they didn't plan this out too
well).
Steve Brittner
Three Rivers Coin
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
hard maple covered, the inLe-
rior plys can be similar to other
wood. Plywood quality has
been a recent issue we have
been addressing with our sup-
pliers.
For anyone new to pinball
playfield repair, the correct
way to handle a stripped screw
is to take a small diameter
piece of wooden dowel rod and
pound it lightly into the
stripped hole. Break off the
dowel so that it is flush with
the top of the plywood. Then
re-drive the screw into the
playfield. (I always keep a
small piece of dowel in my tool
box for this reason.) Hope this
helps.
MORE HELP
STILL
Regards the playfield prob-
lems with Bally Creature.
What I found to work is to use
Epoxy in the old screw holes,
then coat the new screw with
Vaseline and put the screw
into the epoxy.
This enables you to unscrew
the screw after the epoxy
dries.
STARE*
TECH~