Do DMD's get dirty faster than SS or EM's ?

[goodolddays]

Gday all.

I only have one DMD , CFTBL.
As some of you may recall, I purchased this game earlier this year from Luke (SpecialWhenLit on here I think ?).
 Shortly after I got it I stripped the playfield down , gave it a good clean and replaced any black rubber with white (except for some post rubbers which were replaced with green rubber), and flipper rubbers of course (also green).

I also removed and cleaned the ball return shute under the playfield . The only black rubber left is on one of the VUK's .

I have found this game gets dirty really quickly , as in the white rubbers have lots of black marks , and playfield has black gunk on it after only a few months of use .

I have just put the playfield back together again today after stripping and cleaning it for the second time .
The game gets a failr bit of use (pretty much played daily .. say .. 10 - 20 games a day ) .

Is it normal for a DMD to get dirty so fast? My SS and EM games don't suffer from this .

I have noticed there is a fair bit of black dust/dirt in the bottom of the cab that I have yet to vacuum out .

I have no idea if this game was a Euro import (have read they suffer from this)  Is there any way to tell ?

I'm hoping not to have to strip the playfield down every few months .. it aint a 5 minute job thats for sure .. hours of work each time .

Cheers
Dave 

[Homepin]

I doubt that the "Euro imports" are any different as they all came off the same assembly line and at the same time. I think that nonsense is an "old wives tale" and I should know - I've got an old wife - 

They play a lot faster than SS and EM so maybe that has something to do with it....

[Marty Machine]

Hmmmm, Time clean your playfield weekly???

The age old problem of the ball 'bringing' carbon-dust from the underside ball-lanes up onto the playfield and rubbers etc.

I've read all kinds of thoughts & theories about the old 'black powder'.


It can be reduced by having good clean switch contacts on all the solenoid EOS positions etc (flippers, kickers, bumpers).
Dirty (resistive) switch contacts (and partial/worn contacts) will tend to arc far more than clean new switches.
This is really only a problem on the HiVoltage/HiCurrent switches, which are usually always EOS switches in  flippers & bumpers etc.


I considered installing some form of catchment around each of the switch contacts, something like a small material 'bag' so the dust settles into the fibre, instead of tipping out of a plastic scoop when you lift the playfield.
My other concept was to MOVE the switching contacts down into the furthest part of the cabinet, preferably inside a contained box, there's no reason that the switches need to be right next to the solenoids, other than "it's handy to wire them there", and there aren't really "that many" EOS-type switches to move elsewhere.
You could probably just mount them in a handy box that sits in the coinbox tray, so you could empty/vacuum the container with ease simply thru the coindoor opening.


My other concept was to install an Electrostatic precipitator(ESP), a High Voltage device that would sit inside the cabinet and attract all the carbon dust into it, instead of letting it float around the underside ramps and playfield etc.
Various types of ESP's are used in Aircon ducts and hospitals to filter the air as the dust pases thru and is captured on the hi-Voltage plates...."High Voltage" being around 10kv to 20kv at very low current.
In fact the Horizontal Output transformer from an old monitor will do this fine.
(which is also why old TV's have a pile of dust around the EHT/HV Aquadag plug on the rear of the tube).


Hope this kinda helps anyone out there???
MM

[Extra Ball]

have heard it said, that the dirt in the cab is constantly circulated throughout the machine, so vacuum the cab, and see if it improves. Subway ramps are often left uncleaned, and the balls bring the dirt up with them. I spose we get too fussy about appearance sometimes.

[Marty Machine]

Need a teflon-coated ball that NOTHING sticks too  ;-)

[goodolddays]

Thanks for the feedback so far guys  .

Will vacuum out the cab and also have a look at EOS contacts etc ..

Any more ideas out there ?

[Strangeways]

Vacuuming the machine is a great idea. A reconditioned machine should not only be vacuumed, but WASHED as well. Playfield subway ramps should always be washed as well. I've seen countless "reconditioned" games with filthy subway ramps. When I check games I've restored months previously, I EXPECT the playfield to need a clean. Otherwise, I know the game is not being played.

I would not worry too much about the game's playfield being dirty after a couple of months. One of the reason's black rubbers were introduced to DMDs was because of the white rubbers became dirty too quickly.

DMDs attract more dirt because there are more moving parts.

[Pop Bumper Pete]

I'd start by cleaning the subway
As Nino said, many people never clean it, then every time the ball foes though it it drags up a little more carbon

[goodolddays]

Thanks for the feedback Nino and Pete .

I've vacuumed out the cab today and cleaned the ball return ramp again (I did clean it when I stripped the playfield down last time as well) . Will see how it goes .

Because the 3 ramps on Creature cover at least half the playfield  its not possible to clean all the PF on a weekly (or even monthly ) basis unfortunately.

Its such a great game 

[MartyJ]

Generally speaking, if the game was shopped correctly when sold, apart from a wipe down and wax every 6 months it certainly should be all it needs.

Like Nino I've seen games where this work was 'claimed' to have been done, but simply a quick clean of the easy to reach areas is all thats done.

The cabinet should be clean, each and every mechanism under the playfield cleaned, all inserts (underside) cleaned, lamp boards, subway ramps, ball trough, all above playfield ramps etc.