New improved Sound Dampening!!!

[Eddie]

I just figured out how to not only dampen the sound of the balls dropped into the Upper Feeder and lower Ball Return Trays but to have them funneled to the center of the upper ball tray without using extra walls or devices.

The lower ball tray mod should be Universal for all Pachinko Cabinets.

the Upper mod was designed around the original Upper Ball Feeder tray Design of the Ken524 Cabinet. (Incorporating curved wood to channel the balls to the center) but it may work for other cabinets if tailored to them.

I used a pice of 1/8" rubber cut from Van Floor Mats. If you can find a place that sells smooth Rubber sheets of that thickness by all means go with that.

The mats have two different sides one for shoe grip the other for gripping the carpet of the vehicle.

To prepare the mats you must shave off the carpet grip pins on the bottom
to get a smooth surface. The whole process is really easy and very quick just requiring a razor blade. The pins come off without any effort at all.

Again this process can be skipped if you can purchase a smooth piece of rubber to begin with.

For the bottom tray simply cut the piece you need using sharp scissors.
( Yes scissors, They cut the rubber like butter and leave a nice sharp straight edge.)

Facing the machine...
Cut the piece to the Width of the floor up to the wall sides and to the Depth of the Tray FLOOR... INCLUDING the Front and Rear inside Wall height of the tray area.

Insert the piece smooth shaved side up.

From there its just a matter of using very small wood screws to mount the piece using only the front and rear edges screwed to the TOP Insides of the FRONT and REAR walls. Not overlapped to the TOP of the walls.

For the top feeder Tray make the cuts the shape of the upper tray FLOOR like this

Facing the machine..

The width of the floor plus the inside wall height on both ends.

The depth of the floor plus extensions to 3/4 the height of the Rear and Front walls and a few inches short of the total width on either end. If thats not clear see pic.

Now simply cut a hole for the balls. insert the rubber and mount using screws to the extensions on the inside Front and Rear walls.

By adjusting the height of each extension you can funnel all of the balls into the center hole.

You can make all of the adjustments and test the balls before you use the screws as the rubber sits very nicely on the tray surface.

Photos 1and2 show the material fornt side and rear where the pins have been shaved off.

Photo 3 Shows how nice the edges can be cut with the Scissors.

Photo 4 shows the Lower ball tray finished

Photo 5 shows the mounting screws on the front inside wall taken by the camera sitting on the tray facing out

Photo 6 shows the upper ball tray insert with only the rear extension showing. The upper ball tray pics were taken prior to the screws being used on the extensions (3 each) and the insert worked fine even before the screws were used. The extensions just pulled slightly up on each side to funnel the balls stayed in place due to the friction of the rubber on the wood.

Then there is the vid of the balls in action in the tray. Sorry about the lighting but I just did all of this tonight and was excited to take a vid but the Lights had to be out. (So that Adina could sleep ) Ugh!!! I used a flashlight
and made my quickest vid yet LOL

The sound of the balls is really dampened and the funneling works just great as you can see in the vid. It is too dark to see but I am dropping the balls from every surface area to show that the balls fall to the center no matter where they are dropped. In the vid it looks like I am dropping them close to the center. Try to listen for the difference in the sound of the balls from being dropped on the rubber and when they fall onto the machines plastic feeder tray which is still fairly loud.

Its all a simple very clean, good looking and quiet mod.

No need for channel walls in the feeder tray and the rubber still sits on the tray floor so it looks like magic the way the balls drop toward the center.
No Glue no fuss. !!!

YouTube - Pachinko Cabinet Feeder Tray Mod

[luckydog]

I like pachislos with metal trays, and I love hearing balls and tokens flying around and making noise

You should hear the ball shooter hammer banging away on my Cutie Honey

[jc1444]

I would think that the sounds would be part of the experience of playing the machine

[Eddie]

I would think that the sounds would be part of the experience of playing the machine

Yes the sounds are part of the machine but even toomuch of anything can be bad.

The Machine is still loud from the balls flowing through the machines chutes and of course when they hit the glass within the cell.

These sounds as well as the Music are what I consider to be Gameplay sounds which I like and add to the Pachinko experience.

The sounds that I try to eliminate are the sounds of the balls as you load the Top Cabinet Tray which in my opinion is not an exciting sound. And the balls falling lower ball return tray.

Ever hear the racket when you have to dump the balls from the machine to service the back???

Its not pleasant at all especially in the late eve when its usually the only chance you get to work on the machines.

The sound I have created is now a nice warm sound that you can still hear but it is not grating.

[fronzdan]

I may try this to line my ball ramps and trays in my cabinets. I like the sound of the balls on the pins, hitting the payout tray etc. But I can do without the extra sound as the played balls exit the machine and work their way to the front of the cabinet. I tried that no-skid foam rubber stuff that you can line drawers with because it really dampens the sound. But it disintegrates over time/use and little foamy particles get all over the place...ugh.

Edited to add:

LOL, just saw your other thread about what NOT to use. This is the stuff I tried. That crap gets all over the ball trays, into the ball hopper everywhere! Once I saw it work its way onto the payfield that was it.