New Life Games Tech Forums

Hi all,

So I came home from work tonight in a great mood and was ready to play in the game room. So I'm playing my Super Stars Spin game and noticed some dust on the mini 4th wheel strip. I decided to clean all the strips since I have not done that since I received the game. So I get my lightly damp (windex) towel and start to lightly rub the dust off when all the sudden my towel stopped moving. I look underneath it and I see what looks like a top layer of the strips has been rubbed off!!! WTF? I was hoping it was just a layer of smoke or grime, but sure enough, it was the top layer coming right off... I tried to clean up the parts that were real bad, but it just made things worse...

I have cleaned my strips with windex before with no problems "at all". The attached picture shoes the damage. The little orange lines are the "dim" lit lights behind it (it's worse when you actually hit it). So, what was a semi faded backlit strip is now translucent colorless shell of what used to be... You can actually see the light bulbs behind the 7's and bars...

I'm freaking sick to my stomach... What on earth have I done wrong?  :99-

 :25- :30- :30- :8- :37- :60-

Rob

Rob, very sorry to hear about the strips. Yes, IGT S2000 titles used water soluble ink on their reel strips. It is still unclear until what time period that these strips were used, it seems the newer strips are more conducive to being wiped down with a damp cloth. But the older water soluble strips get trashed very quickly. I have noticed that these same strips also seem to fade quicker than the laminate type, IMO. This topic has been discussed extensively on the forum in attempts to prevent others from suffering damaged strips.

 Dan (tacman)

It may also possible that the strips were reproductions.    :37-
Don't feel bad I know exactly how you feel.   Jim at blueridge slots from the vendors above may be able to get you another set.  Otherwise post in the classifieds section and someone on the site will be able to help.  

Actually, I would think that repros probably would not be water soluble, especially back lit strips. I do not believe I have heard of any repros having this problem, but I may be wrong.

 Dan (tacman)

I'd show you what happened to one of my stips but it would give you nightmares.    Hmm maybe I shouldn't have used bleach.... (just kidding)   water was just as bad

Yeah, I messed up a set of Titanic strips with that dreaded water, should have used a milder liquid, NOT!  :25- :25- :25-

 Dan (tacman)

Been there,done that.       Had a strip with a small mark,no bigger then a pen cap and by the time I was done,I wished I had that small mark back and the7 I took off with it.

My guess is that the only way to clean the dust off of these kinds of strips is to use  a lint rag...
maybe like the kind you'd use on a LCD screen?
Some type of micro fiber material perhaps?

Has anyone tried to laminate these strips, by either doing a full lamination or by using the sticky-type of film on the back only?

Unfortunately you are probably better off "living" with the spots and whatnots on these strips.  You can identify them easily by putting a little moisture on the tip of your finger (i.e. spit on it) and the touching one of the corners of the strip.  If it feels "slimy" then you got the ones that can't be cleaned.  That being said.  I started cleaning my Munsters strips and then freaked out when I noticed things were coming off it.  So I did the following:

I took a strip and quickly ran it lengthwise through a stream of water.  Then I took a VERY WET paper towel and then, without putting any preasure, rather just gliding the wet paper towel accross the entire length of the strip one time.  Then I hung dry the strips and after they dried out, the damage was somewhat minimized and they were cleaned.  It is the ONLY set of S2000 styple strips and I now know to not do anything to them.

Also I should point out that one should NEVER use ammonia based cleaners in anything other than the glass/chrome surfaces of your machine.  Strips and mylar backings may yellow over time if you use ammonia based cleaners.  If you must use ammonia to remove stubborn stains, make sure you wipe it thoroughly with water to remove any traces of ammonia left after your cleaning.  Always opt for water based cleaners and you'll slot parts will last longer.

Bunker      I have never tryed this on reel strips but I wipe the dust off of my TV screen with Bounce fabric softeners, the ones you put in your clothes dryer. I know I don't get shocked by static elect.  when I use them and the dust is removed.  They are dry so shouldn't hurt any ink. Buzz

Buzz, the one problem that I see there is that those softener sheets are very abrasive. The strips are made of a very soft material and would scratch easily, especially on the back. I would go with the microfiber cloth as my first choice. :71-

  Maybe I should have added the part that I use used ones that come out of the dryer Buzz

Well, I still think that they're too abrasive. JMO.

I think one way to check if they're too abrasive maybe is to rub them on your b...nah...nevermind... :96-

I have laminated these types of strips with a roll laminater and they come out perfect.  Clean them with a dry microfiber cloth first.  Any dirt or grime that can't be removed will just get laminated in but after that you can use all the windex you want on them.

Laminating them sounds like a great solution.  :3-

Great idea Jeff....I wonder if there is such a thing as a lamination product that also blocks the UV rays to minimize the natural fading that occurs over time?

Just laminating them will slow down the fading process considerably.  I doubt they will fade much after that given the fact that the strips will be used in a machine in a home use environment.

Can anyone who actually laminated them tell us, was there an increased number of reel tilts afterward? The stepper motor spin up/spin down algorithm is rather closely matched to the reel moment of inertia, 80% of which is in the mass of the reel strips. By laminating them you increase the mass significantly, which can cause missed steps and reel tilts if the slip is great enough for the opto sensing to notice. I seem to recall hearing that motor torque was an issue when IGT first started using Starpoint reels instead of their own (because Starpoint had backlights), and that might be why the lamination was left off, to reduce the mass. I believe the torque problem was soon fixed and may not be an issue now, but I would try it first by fixing a lamination strip on top with scotch tape before making irreversible changes to the strips.

I can just see people laying out sheets of saran wrap and cutting them to the width of reel strips....  :72-

None the less a very valid concern. OP - how do we determine the difference between the IGT manufactured reel assemblies and the Starpoint.

I don't know, if it's not marked somewhere on the reel assembly. Starpoints are very light weight and fragile, with the reel drums molded in one piece out of clear polystyrene. There are alternatives now that look just like them but have clip-in bridge pieces between the rims. I forget who makes these, but I know of other manufacturers (can't say who) changed over to them when they found the Starpoints too fragile.

I have laminated several sets of strips, both 3 and 5 reel.  I have a 3 reel Triple  Butterfly 7s set and a 5 reel Double Diamond Run set in my machines.  The 5 reel set has been in the machine for at least 3 months now. The 3 reel set somewhat less.  No reel tilts at all.

All my 5 reel are Starpaoint