Lens leveling, how?

Angry_Radish

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On my Cyclone I have 2 of the pointed triangle type lenses that are raised up a bit from the playfield.
I held a hair-dryer to the underside of one of them for almost 5 minutes with no change in adhesion, is there another method I should try?
 
Here is the basic overview of insert removal -
http://www.pinrepair.com/restore/index3.htm#sunk

I have found on a few occasions that someone already attempted a "repair" and left the insert too high or too low - using epoxy, super or crazy glue. In those cases I had to just break the insert out and replace it. Not sure how easy it would be to locate the wedge shaped inserts you are dealing with so I would proceed very carefully.
 
On my Cyclone I have 2 of the pointed triangle type lenses that are raised up a bit from the playfield.
I held a hair-dryer to the underside of one of them for almost 5 minutes with no change in adhesion, is there another method I should try?

Welcome to the dark side...in no time you will be replacing all those silly arcades with pins! ;)

Easiest way to flatten would be a heat gun from the bottom, and a nice clean/flat piece of wood on the top. Hit the wood with a mallet ever so slightly and you should be good to go. Sinking them flat is much easier than bringing them back up. I had a Funhouse where each insert around the clock (very common) was raised almost a quarter inch... Took about 30 minutes to knock em all flat...
 
Hehe, trust me I alreday have my eyes on some of my less-favorite vids thinking about what pin I could fit in their place :)
In fact, Congo Bongo went into the garage last night with the plan of putting a LOTR in it's place later this week.

I'll have a longer go at the hair dryer thing and try a little force. I was heating it from below and initially trying to press down with my fingers to see if there was any movement, planning on following up with pressing down with a small piece of marble. I wasn't thinking about tapping it with anything, I just thought it would slide down as if it was in a goopy mess..
 
Yes I need this application as well...

I have some that are up as well, so what were doing here is sticking the hair dryer up on the particular insert and on the other side of PF we have a towel, then flat piece of wood, and rubber mallet? What next? What are the side effects, like the hair dryer gonna melt something else, the piece of wood scratches up playfield when mallet is applied with force. Like some detail to this and some pic's if possible? thanks.
 
I have some that are up as well, so what were doing here is sticking the hair dryer up on the particular insert and on the other side of PF we have a towel, then flat piece of wood, and rubber mallet? What next? What are the side effects, like the hair dryer gonna melt something else, the piece of wood scratches up playfield when mallet is applied with force. Like some detail to this and some pic's if possible? thanks.

Sorry, no pics of the process, but it really isn't that difficult. As long as you are using really smooth wood and not trying to crush the insert back in there with the mallet, you will be fine. I cut an old shelf (with a laminate finish) down to about a 6 inch square. Smooth side down, heat applied from underneath and tap (not smash).

To really do it properly, most people would remove the insert, clean of all the old glue and residue, reglue, then reseat. Since mine was not going back into an arcade environment, the heat build up is not an issue for rewarping. A reseat is all that is needed.

The glue is not going to turn into a goopy mess (At least in my experience). If there is that much heat, I imagine the insert would turn into a goopy mess in short order as well. The heat is more or less to make the glus a little more pliable. The inserts have a beveled edge that sit on a beveled lip (that I imagine is gunked up with hard glue). If you can get it with your finger that is good, but I have always needed a bit more force....
 
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