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Flipper Alignment/Fall Back Position Problem - Gottelib System 3


Muzac

Question

Hi good people,

 

I have a nagging quirk with my Cactus Jacks regarding the flipper positioning and I'm hoping someone can help.

 

I have rebuilt the flippers, painstakingly aligned then and they are working beautifully.

 

However, when you activate the right side flipper and let it go again it will fall back into a position that is a few millimetres higher than it should be. By activating the left flipper a few times, the right will drop back in increments to it's correct position.

 

The right side will also drop incrementally if other solenoids are firing, especially when the drop targets reset.

 

Any ideas and/or assistance would be greatly appreciated.

 

Cheers!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Aussie Arcade

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Sounds like there isn't enough vertical height spacing to me?

 

Grab the flipper bat and you should be able to pull it vertically a few mm at least - possibly even up to 5mm.

 

If not, you will need to make some clearance.

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Flipper Alignment/Fall Back Position Problem - Gottelib System 3

 

1mm is fine.

Check that they are not binding and the return spring tension.

 

I assume that if you rebuilt the flippers that new plungers were used so aren't the problem.

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Sounds very much like something is binding in the assembly somewhere and freeing up when vibrations from other coils loosen things up. Check that there is no slop in the assembly and that motion is smooth.
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Sounds very much like something is binding in the assembly somewhere and freeing up when vibrations from other coils loosen things up. Check that there is no slop in the assembly and that motion is smooth.
Yep, I'd agree with that. Lots of little things that can cause that.

 

I have a Flash Gordon that did the same thing and it was a bit of mylar that had curled up and was catching the underside of the flipper.

 

Have the coil plungers got a burr on the end of them?

 

Can you get it to stick, turn machine off, remove glass gently, raise PF very gently and if still sticking, gently touch some of the mech. pieces one at a time to see what makes it move to the fully return position.

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Said he'd rebuilt.

 

 

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Read that, but did he de-burr the existing plungers and polish with 1200 wet and dry or are they new plungers??

Were new coil stops fitted or are the old ones magnetised?

 

Sounds like a mechanical issue and most importantly;

 

Why were the flippers re-built??

 

Was this problem there before the flippers were re-built??

 

These are all steps in trying to help with long distance diagnosing;)

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If the flipper is sticking slightly above the rest position and moves down with vibration, that strongly suggests a mechanical problem. Things I can think of:

 

- One of the joints in the assembly is binding a little

 

- Coil sleeve is worn

 

- Flipper assembly is mis-positioned slightly and the flipper shaft rubs agains the playfield

 

- Return spring is weak and worn out

 

If you think the problem is with the coil sleeve, a tiny squirt of Teflon dry lube can work wonders.

 

Michi.

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Some good tips already so no need to repeat them so I figure I will give the bazaar ones I have seen over the years, very rarely but you never know.

 

Bent flipper assembly mounting plate. Yes, the whole plate that all the parts mount to.

 

Bent flipper bat shaft. Bent on a brand new flipper and was a pig to find. I swapped the flipper with another and problem gone. I put a straight edge on the shaft and yes, it was slightly bent and probably would have worked fine except the machine had brand new parts.

 

Coil sleeve to long. My bad and was fixed with a Stanley knife.

 

Coil sleeve out of shape from squeezing inside an old coil that was working perfectly but was obviously swollen.

 

Like I said, not the usual but all able to cause issues.

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Read that, but did he de-burr the existing plungers and polish with 1200 wet and dry or are they new plungers??

Were new coil stops fitted or are the old ones magnetised?

 

Sounds like a mechanical issue and most importantly;

 

Why were the flippers re-built??

 

Was this problem there before the flippers were re-built??

 

These are all steps in trying to help with long distance diagnosing;)

 

Yeah.

Suppose that's the difference between rebuilt and refurbished.

 

[emoji3]

 

 

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Thanks everyone!

 

Just saw all these excellent suggestions, got some work to do....

 

For the record, all the parts were replaced except the brackets attached to the underside of the playfield that house the flipper mechs. They were removed and cleaned to put the new bushings on etc..

 

It was a flipper rebuild kit from Marco's & I did it when I first acquired CJ because it hadn't been done for a long time and the parts were quite worn and dirty.

 

I agree that it appears to be a mechanical fault but am unsure if the problem was there prior to the rebuild. I only noticed it afterwards.

 

One issue I had with the flipper mechs pre-rebuild (that I noticed) was a very pronounced blue spark on one of the EOS switches. When I attached the new ones that came with the kit the switch contact on that side was pulverised in a very short space of time! Marco sent me new ones free of charge...

 

Now that I think about it, I think this occurred on the same side as the current problem.

 

Could the EOS switch be a contributing factor?

 

Z :)

 

 

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