Will be joining the club very soon! 
I only have so much self-control till I cave...
(Topic ID: 61134)
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Seawitch
Stern Electronics, 1980
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2 weeks later
Quoted from jay:I couldn't stand it... cobbled together something that looks a bit more like Beatles and it works great. Both the spinner and ball launch easily make the orbit. This was an exercise in patience though, and needed a few random ball guides that had to be hacksawed, filed and ground into a usable shape.
It took me a few watches to understand 
Your Seawitch had a baby with Big Guns and now it launches the ball off a ramp into the orbit LMFAO 
That’s one hell of a way to fix the issue!
2 weeks later
I officially joined this club on Friday, and I love my game. I’m having issues with the right flippers fluttering a lot on ball impact. The bottom was rebuilt and I’ve cleaned the contacts on the upper flipper. What else could be the issue?
I plan to do the left orbit mods:
Adjust flipper down
Move entry post.
For those who did the wire gate + spinner mod, easiest/best recommended way to go about it?
This game will be going out at my arcade, meaning it will be left on from 10am to 9pm any suggestions to make sure this gal doesn’t throw a tantrum in those demanding conditions?
Quoted from jay:Make sure there are no crispy pins (male or female) on your rectifier board (inside the cabinet). Do the ground mods, replace the big electrolytic caps and touch up all the solder on all the male header pins on the solenoid board. Check for cracked solder joints on the lamp board and mpu. Clean or replace cabinet flipper and eos switches. Clean and adjust any other switches that need it. Solder up or replace loose lamp sockets. That should mostly do it if the game is going on location. Unfortunately there’s not really a simple solution to the orbit shots. Contact Stern for Beatles parts is probably simplest?
This game has a new weebly soundboard, MPU and rectifier, what ground mods are needed? The bottom flippers have new switched, the top do not. I’ve cleaned the crap out of the top ones and still get a flipper stutter. Not sure what else to do there.
Otherwise it seems solid. Also the flipper buttons are still arcing blue sparks a lot. Will I just have to live with it?
3 weeks later
Quoted from Madmax541:It looks like resistors are only on two top flippers.
Resistor value?
I can check tomorrow.
Turns out the issue for the stutter is an improperly gapped EOS. It’s difficult to perfectly adjust. It doesn’t always stutter. I think the issue is that it’s not breaking quickly enough at the end of the stroke.
Quoted from cottonm4:I had mine set up at a little over 5% and it played well and balanced. I was told I needed to raise it up to 6.0- 6.5. I did that for awhile. The responsiveness sort of went away. The orbits were much harder to target, especially the spinner. I backed it off to about 5.5% and it plays much smoother and the spinner is a little easier to target.
I have my Big Game set to 7.5% and the flippers kick like mules. It is powerhouse that I will never lessen the slope on.
Nine Ball seems to work very well at 6.0%. As does Catacomb. Dragonfist at 6.2% has good action. But not Seawitch.
Whoops! My bad. I thought Seawitch was supposed to be at a 7° angle. I’ll lower her down. I enjoyed how fast and brutal she was playing and I can nail the hell out of the left orbit via the upper right flipper. My only issue was how difficult a perfect shot on the spinner was. I’ve achieved it multiple times and find it to be so incredibly satisfying that I debated whether making is “easier” would ruin the reward of finally ripping the hell out of the spinner.
The other issue I have: was the left orbit EVER intended to be achievable via the bottom right flipper? It seems like with just a quarter of an inch more clearance you could *just barely* make that shot. The big ol’ Stern flipper takes up too much space.
So all in all, spinner shot on from the bottom left is hard but doable. Flap is hardly an issue for me since the game is so steep. But the bottom right flipper to left orbit quite literally cannot be made and it really seems like it should be a feasible shot and I would like to modify that. Anyone know if Kubin originally intended it that way? With a modified figure 8 style it sure seems it.
Yes I’m really inspired by your mod here, but was that orbit EVER attainable BEFORE that mod? Or was the geometry never intended for that? I really like the flow of that shot. Very torn over if it makes the game too different and “easy” versus the constant stuffing of the original state.
3 months later
I ran into something odd.
Just finished cleaning my old wall-hanger Seawitch and cleaned all the posts by hand.
I just realized the posts are totally different than the ones on my personal game, and even seawitches I see for sale.
Can anyone shed some light on the reason or origin of these strange posts?
They’re actually bright blue using white LED light but they show up red with incandescents! How neat.
6CF394BD-5FD5-40EC-828E-08ED39D7183A.jpeg9BD2A587-C529-41CB-857E-7BEAFF724853.jpegFB7A633B-271E-4266-88EA-4810F6987081.jpeg 2 months later
Quoted from Krupps4:I’ve tried to do the research, but definitely no clear answer. I’ll see if I hear from anyone else, but I’m guessing it is all blue, all yellow or maybe a combination of the two. While I have your attention, are these the right acorn nuts for a Seawitch? I put in a order for some that ended up being too big. I guess I’m not that seasoned enough to just look at the post and know the size. Thanks in advance.
[quoted image]
Those stupid pal nuts are garbage throw them in the trash. Just use the nylon or rubber ones. Those pieces of garbage always grab the stud and pull the whole thing out. I hate them so passionately it’s difficult to put into words.
Quoted from Krupps4:What are the original flipper band colors for a Seawitch? I’m looking at the flyer online and it seems like yellow for the upper and blue on the lower. The Marco rubber set comes with all red. If anyone knows for sure, I’d really appreciate some definitive clarification. Thank you!
Mine are all blue but I bought an original playfield that was junked and it was all yellow. Probably just whatever Stern got a good deal on at the time.
9 months later
My right flippers just died. Everything else works but they won’t fire in game or in test.
Is this a transistor? I haven’t done this in a long while... what are you supposed to test? No spark at the button, seems like it’s not even getting any power to the leaf switch.
Quoted from cottonm4:Check the flippers wiring. Look for a break in wire at all solder joints.
Sometimes broken wires are hard to see.
I couldn’t find one on the lower, would a break at the upper right also affect both?
Quoted from cottonm4:I had my Seawitch left upper flipper go dead. I looked all over for the problem. No luck. I ran a jumper wire from the lower flipper to the disabled upper flipper. That solved my problem. Several months later I am having to do something the the area of that upper flipper. Buried deep under all of the play field stacked on the platy field, way down low, one of the black wires that helped with correct flow, had broken at the solder joint and the wire sort of slid underneath the flipper base plate. I desoldered the broken wire and removed my jumper wire.
Now, to answer your question, the flipper power wire is the blue/white wire from the rectifier board. It feeds the upper flipper. And then a jump wire comes on down to add current to the lower flipper. But it was one of my other wires that broke.
If the b/w wire breaks above your left upper flipper it will take out both flippers. If the b/w wire breaks below the upper flipper then your lower flipper would also be affected.
Since both of your right hand flippers are dead, I would trace that b/w wire from the 1 amp fuse block under the play field to the flippers. If the lleft side is working then you do not have a transistor problem ( better electrican's than I are welcome to correct my thoughts process on this) .
This is incredibly bizarre.
I started a game and in fact the lower left flipper solenoid is moving EVER SO SLIGHTLY. And if I push it, it engages fully and the upper left flipper flips just fine.
So apparently the high voltage winding is not getting sufficient power at all...? Never seen anything like this honestly.
Cleaned the contacts and it’s good as new. They arc like crazy on my game and the switch stacks are BRAND NEW. Just rebuilt last year, I can’t believe they already pitted to the point of nearly severing the connection. Anyway to reduce to arcing?
My buttons are also very crappy, they only engage off the leaf switches. Is that how they should be or is there something to brace them and add some rigidity?
1 month later
Quoted from slochar:https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/SW-10A-48
See the outside stiffener blade? That's supposed to act as a spring to push the flipper button out (since there's no built in springs in Stern flipper buttons).
Pictured below is an extra from the Gamatron instruction manual where they show this (although the flipper switch pictured has no outside stiffener blade). Otherwise your buttons are just moosh.
Are you sure you got high voltage end of stroke switch contacts on your rebuilt kit? They shouldn't pit that quickly at all.[quoted image]
Thanks for this help! I was able to adjust and fix it all.
I now have a new issue, the right slingshot is briefly shotgunning when the flipper spins. I have adjusted them quite a lot and it seems that plainly whenever the spinner closes the slingshot will fire. It’s very aggravating.
Also my GI has gone out and the connector on the NEW WEEBLY rectifier board has burn marks. Can I put LEDs in the GI? Clearly it just isn’t rated to handle the incandescents.
For reference this game is on location at my arcade and gets the absolute shit played out of it and the guys tilt and shake it like mad even though the tilt is set very tight.
3 weeks later
Quoted from cottonm4:One of your sling switches is not adjusted correctly. The ball hits the rubber ring and bounces. The rubber ring will bounce around and push on the switch blade and it makes contact.
Put a piece of paper between one pair of switch blades. Then bounce a ball off the rubber and see what happens. If that solved your machine gunning, then switch the paper to the other switch and try again. Your machine gunning should return and you know what switch to need to adjust.
This was not the issue. I blocked the 2 leaf switches on the sling with paper and closed the spinner and it would randomly shotgun, not every time, but most of them.
Also having intermittent issues with the inlanes not scoring unless the ball rolls very slow. I’ve cleaned them with course paper (arcade tickets actually) and it briefly fixs the issue for a day.
AND the left flipper is driving my FAH-KING nuts!!!
I’ve adjusted the hell out of the EOS. The switch stack is brand new, Crispin redid these. Even when I bought it he said it was finicky, and it’s been acting up worse and worse. I’ve cleaned and filed the cabinet switches. They’re not the issue. The right flippers work perfect. The left double flips, it doesn’t fully extend, then it falters and then fully flips. Sometimes the ball hits it and it just gives
Quoted from Mad_Dog_Coin_Op:Seawitch S Ball Deflector. Wow - these went quick. I have 3 left. $35 free shipping in the US. Includes 3 nylon nuts. I have no plans to make these again. PM me if you want one
[quoted image]
How did you bend the Lexan like this? It looks fantastic. Love the color too.
1 week later
Quoted from cottonm4:Black is the correct color. Other than the blue stars from PBR, I don't know where you will get any with stars, of any color, on. Use the blue, if you wish. No one will ever notice. And no one will care.
Wow, I always thought it was Blue. The ones I’ve seen ways had the blue! It looks better with the theme, so go with that!
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