(Topic ID: 308073)

advice about upgrading Stern flipper coil

By tampa12

2 years ago


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  • 22 posts
  • 11 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 1 year ago by PinMonk
  • Topic is favorited by 1 Pinsider

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#2 2 years ago
Quoted from tampa12:

My son and I play Avengers infinity pin every day and after awhile we get flipper fade because flipper coils gets hotter then weaker, so we ordered cooling kit which should help. However still want faster shots and make shots up the inverted marvel ramp easier which ball REALLY struggles every time to climb even when flipper settings are maxed out and rear feet lowered. long story short we ordered 2 of Stern's strongest flipper coils for Avengers Infinity Pin which is 1 grade higher than what is installed and want to know if anyone has experience upgrading their flipper coils. You can see in the Pic my Godzilla pinball has coil 090-5020 no diode and game shoots amazing up the invert ramp. So we want that coil installed for our Avengers pin too.
see pic, my Godzilla pin has 090-5032-ND / 22-1080 coil on left and right coil is 090-5020-20-ND / 22-900 no diode.
Avengers infinity pin has 090-5032-ND / 22-1080 for both flippers and want to upgrade both flipper coils to 090-5020-20T coils but they have a diode. is wiring the new coil the same and is coil diode going to make a difference? I know diode allows voltage in one way and not the other, so i think it's protecting the coil or circuit. can I install these coils safely with diodes or should diodes be cut?
any advice is welcomed, I also have 10+ years experience fixing tech and some experience fixing Pins and changing coils.
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

With the active cooling of the Tibetan Breeze kit you ordered, you should be good to go - it will eliminate the fade. I would not recommend changing out the coils. I would instead look at optimizing your current setup to correct the coil performance:

1. Check EOS isn't triggering before flipper is at peak (use switch test and manually move flipper slowly and note when EOS triggers - adjust if it's before the flipper is at peak)
2. Check coil stop (REMOVE it and try to move the middle - visual inspection sometimes looks good when it's not)
3. Check coil sleeve for free movement.
4. Wax the playfield with a carnuba wax like P21S. Buff with lambswool pad.
5. Check that flipper switch blades at the flipper buttons are making solid contact when the button is depressed (both levels if there are 2 flippers on a side) instead of BARELY making contact which can cause the coils to flutter power and feel weak.
6. Check coil resistance with a multimeter (ohms setting) to make sure you don't have a bad or out of spec coil robbing you of power.
7. Check power settings in system menu for coils. With active cooling, you can afford to turn this up to give more power. (you did this, but for posterity's sake of other people with the same idea, adding to the checklist).

Here's a Stern coil strength chart, most to least (part, resistance in ohms, windings, wire gauge):
090-5020 3.4 900 22
090-5032 4.3 1080 22
090-5030 5.1 1100 23
090-5025 9.5 1570 24

For your vertical ramp, slo-mo it with a cell phone video and see if there's something about the ball entry that's robbing it of power.

Do this instead of changing out coils. Too-strong coils break stuff faster. Not a good idea, especially since you now have the active cooling covered to keep the performance consistent once you get it dialed in.

#5 2 years ago
Quoted from Shogun00:

Indeed! AIQ's game/note code was designed based around the stock flippers. Swapping out the coils for more powerful ones could blow a node or the coil.
If you want faster play, then wax your playfield. That will get the ball zooming faster than you'll ever imagine.

I think it's very unlikely to blow a node or coil (they don't customize node boards per machine, and this node is in other machines with bigger coils), but it CAN break stuff on your playfield with stronger shots than it was designed to handle.

Wax is a great suggestion I forgot. Too obvious. D'oh.

#9 2 years ago
Quoted from tampa12:

Not one plastic was harmed during gameplay and no bounce outs on ramps or wire forms. [quoted image]

The damage to playfield components from too-strong coils doesn't happen immediately, but over time. If you turned the power down, that's good, but using the stock coils and doing the stuff on the list probably would have achieved the same result with less wear and tear on the machine over time.

But it's your machine for YOUR amusement to do with as you wish.

1 year later
#20 1 year ago
Quoted from JayLar:

How are things doing now, 11 months later?
I bought a Godzilla Premium NIB and from the start I felt the flippers are weak (right from the start, before coils get hot so not flipper fade). Done most of the steps on Pinmonks list without result. I hade a TMNT Pro before and the flippers were so snappy and nice, really miss that. I find your solution very appealing as it makes sense that it´s all about the coils. (I also have a weird feeling that Stern Pro´s have more snappy flippers than the Premiums.)

Godzilla uses a mix of coil strengths, where TMNT uses the same coil size for both flippers. That may be where your perception of comparative weakness is coming from. It's also good to check the resistance of your coils when they're dead cold to make sure you don't have a defective coil for the strong one on GZ and the weaker stock coil on for the other side, giving you the perception of two weak coils.

Also, look carefully at your flipper switches inside the cabinet by the button. If that contact point (looks like a dot on the end of the switch blades) is uneven, it won't make good contact (poor/not full surface area), even if the blades are close enough for it to touch properly, and will make the flippers feel weak.

#22 1 year ago
Quoted from JayLar:

Thanks for the tip Pinmonk! Just out of curiosity, why are there different coils in Pro vs Premium? And what do the diods do?

I'm not aware of flipper coil differences in Pro and Premium trim levels, just differences between actual different machine models (i.e. GZ to AIQ, Maiden to RUSH). It's up to the designer which coils he feels the machine needs.

The diode (either physically one the coil or on the board that drives the coil) is just to make sure that current only flows TO the coil and doesn't surge back up the line and damage the components it's connected to.

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