Topic: Playfield edges

[pedleboy]

Hello everyone, first post.  I just got amazingly lucky on Craigslist and bought a PERFECT condition grey marble coin op for $200.  Guy had no idea what he had.  Anyways, it took some time to clean everything out but now it's playing like a charm.  The only thing I don't like it that it has the white edge strips on the playfield (not sure the real name).  Can you remover those without taking the table apart?  Thanks!
D. 

[FabMan]

How wide are they? Can you slightly lift one end to see how much gap is being covered and determine how they are attached? I purchased some that are double sided tape for adhesion.

[hackjob]

Good news for you... it comes off with a little effort and no table disassembly... However, I find the process is far easier if you remove all the rods and take your time to do it right.

I have done this flawlessly with 3 of my tables; mainly by being very carefull not to gouge, scratch, or chemically damage the playfield.   I very very carefully used a plastic putty knife to gently scrape and pry off the white strips.  They will probably crack apart but who cares.    Reluctantly I used a razor blade parallel to field for the tough spots being super careful to cut adhesive/strip and not formica playfield. 

Once removed you will expose a very  resilient combination of pop, beer, spit, vomit, mold, adhesive, and prima donna tears.  I removed this gumbo with superlube lubricant and maybe a bit of goo gone.  My advice here is to cover small sections liberally with super lube and wait some time to soak into the dried adhesive.  It will make it a gummy like snot that can be worked off gently.  Use the plastic putty knife and a light scraping to work the big stuff and shop towels to get the small snot off.

Once it is all removed, be sure to clean with alcohol 99 and formula 409 to remove any lubricant and dust then apply the new side strips with clean hands and some kind of plan to roll it on perfect so you don't mess it up.  It's kind of a one shot deal or you will have stips that might peel off prematurely.

I chose the super-lube because it is something I had on hand.  As synthetic lubricant it is very safe and intended for use on plastics and rubber it is not going to damage the playfield.  fyi Silicone lube won't soften this glue.  There is definitely better solvents or oils that will make short work of this but you gotta know what your choosing.  The first time, I think I tried aerosol synthetic teflon spray or wd40, and because of a tiny bit of carrier/solvent in it worked very very well to loosen the glue.   I have used the superlube the following times because that's all I had on hand, I knew it was safe, and it  worked quite well.

superlube:
http://shop.foosball.com/fts-110-360.html

clear side strips:
http://shop.foosball.com/fts-110-060.html

[pedleboy]

Thanks guys.  I figured it would just peal up but wanted to check.  Do you need to have a strip at all?  Does this table have strips? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqKEwTjyt-8 
I'm pretty sure its the standard strip that comes with the table.  It's super annoying when doing a slingshot and will bounce away half the time.
D.

[masterfoos]

without a strip the ball will get stuck against the wall.
there is an updated strip that is clear and not as high
you can buy them
here
http://www.tornadofoosball.com

[hackjob]

They are not necessary if you side roll the ball forward or back, or just wall bounce it... beginners prefer them tho