(Topic ID: 262359)

Bally Fathom EOS arcing. Low or high current contacts?

By woolwaffles

4 years ago


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#1 4 years ago

I have a Fathom with pretty significant arcing on the EOS switch contacts. Is this normal?

The game currently has what I believe are low-current switch contacts for EOS and due to the arcing I am seeing some significant pitting and material transfer between the contacts. This has started to cause intermittent problems with dead flippers.

Should I install high current (tungsten) switch contacts instead?

What about capacitors? I've tried installing capacitors before but it didn't seem to help, and also caused other problems like false triggers on switch inputs. Has anyone managed to tame the arcing?

The game has a mix of old and new flipper coils. All three are marked AQ-25-500 34-4500. The flippers are the original linear style.

IMG_0581 (resized).jpgIMG_0581 (resized).jpg
#2 4 years ago

The switch that goes to the coil should definitely be high current

#3 4 years ago

They need to be high current contacts, which it looks like yours are. If they were the low current gold ones they'd probably be gone by now. Where did you get the switches? You might need a larger gap.

#4 4 years ago

The arcing you see is normal on Bally games of that era and earlier. No need to be concerned.

Don't waste your time trying to modify the circuitry. Those machines brought in thousands of dollars when they were new with the original design.

#5 4 years ago
Quoted from slochar:

They need to be high current contacts, which it looks like yours are. If they were the low current gold ones they'd probably be gone by now. Where did you get the switches? You might need a larger gap.

There's 2 sets of contacts in the photo. These are for the lower (main) right flipper. I believe the left set of contacts (the closed contacts) are the trigger for the upper right flipper. This is the only flipper that has a 2nd set of contacts like that. They are definitely high current (tungsten) contacts.

The right set of contacts (the contacts that are open to show the damage) are the EOS contacts for this flipper. They look like lighter duty contacts to me but I'm not totally sure what they are. They are the ones that have been damaged by the arcing.

#6 4 years ago

I assume the contacts shown in the picture are for the lower right flipper. The right side has 2 flippers and because of this the lower flipper has 2 high current EOS switches. The first is the EOS for the lower flipper, the second activates the upper flipper. The 2 switches should be adjusted break-make so that you are not attempting to full power both flippers at the same time. It's a fine adjustment that needs to be just right or you could blow fuses and have lots of arcing.
Push the flipper plunger in slowly. The first EOS should open at about 80% of stroke and a fraction later the second EOS should close.

#7 4 years ago

Thanks for all for the info and advice. Just to be clear, the EOS switches should all be high current (tungsten) contacts, correct? If some of them are not high current that might explain the rapid wear, right?

#8 4 years ago
Quoted from woolwaffles:

Thanks for all for the info and advice. Just to be clear, the EOS switches should all be high current (tungsten) contacts, correct? If some of them are not high current that might explain the rapid wear, right?

Except for the lane change switch, yes. I don't know where the lane change is located on this game though...

#9 4 years ago

I just found the receipt for the last time I ordered switches. The EOS switches are from Marco.
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/ASW-A20-34
I can't tell if these are low current or high current contacts.

#11 4 years ago

Marco is saying that both sets of contacts are tungsten, but the contacts on the left look considerably thicker. Is it possible that the contacts on the right are tungsten as well, despite being thinner?

I've got some of the thicker tungsten contacts from pbresource and I am tempted to replace the EOS contacts with those. Has anyone done this?

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