Haunted House lower playfield ball-drop mod

[solar value]

Hi All,

Just wondered if anyone has ever done or considered doing some kind of mod to Haunted house so that the balls don't drop from such a height onto the lower playfield. Most lower playfields seem to be pretty badly beaten up because of this. I was thinking that a subway ramp (wire-form, maybe?) could be devised to catch the balls as they come down from the upper playfields which would then divert the ball over to the side of the lower playfield where they could roll out gently onto the surface.

Pipe dream maybe but what do you think?

Anyone ever made a wire-form or know how it could be done?

Cheers, SV.

[ktm450]

There would be a little work in it but it would be definately possible to make a wireform for it.  But to save the trouble why not just use the thick 3m mylar, perfect for that

[solar value]

There would be a little work in it but it would be definately possible to make a wireform for it.  But to save the trouble why not just use the thick 3m mylar, perfect for that

mmm....maybe so, but personally I'm not a fan of mylar. Also, I imagine that if you ever wanted to take the mylar off you'd lose a lot of paint, seeing as the artwork in the area would have been destabilised by the ball dropping on it both before and after the mylar is applied. The way the ball drops down from the upper playfields isn't that graceful either. I reckon it would be better if the wireform took the ball around to the right and up the lower playfield to the area above the pop bumper. If the ball was released there it would roll down into the bumper and start off the play on the lower playfield with a bit of random ball travel.

How would you get started with making a wireform?

[ktm450]

I would use thick stainless TIG welding wire and fashion into shape.  It bends fairly easily, to make circles you could wrap/tap with hammer around something the same size as you require.  Once all the shapes are made you would then just tack weld together (TIG obviously) you would need a little plate made of stainless to mount ends. Plate with holes would screw to the underside of upper PF and somewhere to secure the bottom part of the ramp, to the top of an existing post or something similar.  Polish up and would look a treat.