How to clean the score reels on an old pinball machine
Got a vintage electro-mechanic or EM pinball machine with score reels? Those grungy old score reels are tempting to clean but watch out – the numbers are very delicate!
Pinball machines from the mid-seventies and back to the 50s used mechanical reels to keep score. The problem is that the numbers on the score reels were put there using some kind of printing process.
Depending on when they were made, which brand of machine it is, how the machine was stored and perhaps how awake the factory guy was the day they were made, these numbers can be rock solid or liable to blow away on the wing of a dove.
Seriously, I had a machine that was stored for a time under a barn everything was covered with layer of fine dust. Used an air blower to blast away the dust and some of the numbers went with it.
So you have to be careful otherwise you’ll be painting on a bunch of numbers by hand.
How to Clean Pinball Score Reels
Remember: The numbers are printed on with ink! Any liquid on them is likely to remove the ink.
The best way to clean the score reels is to clean around the number with a q-tip. Remove the score reels from the mechanism to work with them. Don’t try to do something crazy like put them in the dishwasher – all of the numbers will be gone!
You can try some warm water with some Dawn dish soap mixed in. Wet a paper towel with it and carefully test out a small area.
You’ll find some reels are fine. Others can be just waiting to flake off due to previous cleaning attempts or heat damage from the light bulbs.
I repainted a few of my missing numbers using black acrylic paint, a small brush, and a steady hand.
While you are cleaning the reels, you might as well clean the whole mechanism as shown in the above video.