(Topic ID: 269870)

FIXED - DE Jurassic Park: Intermittent & Weak Left Flipper

By scootss

3 years ago


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  • 27 posts
  • 11 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 1 year ago by lmarchese
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#1 3 years ago

**Fixed! It was a bad rottendog flipper board. The board had the wrong transistors on it. Honestly, this is ridiculous. This is a known issue from SEVEN years ago (https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/rottendog-flp023-data-east-flipper-board-issue). My board has a manufacture date of 2018 and I received it last month. Replaced the board with an original DE board I got on eBay and all is good**

I had two great weeks with my JP after a prior flipper issue (https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/de-jurassic-park-flippers-fire-amp-blow-fuses) and am now back in the flipper dog house.

The left flipper occasionally fires well but most of the time slowly moves its way up to the stop position. When the flipper fires correctly, I see the flipper LED light up on the flipper board. When the flipper slowly moves, the LED doesn't light up.

Originally, most of the time the game was fine and the problem would fix itself. Now it happens during every game.

I have taken a look at the DE pinball repair guide, but it doesn't mention the LED at all. Based on prior pinside threads, I cleaned the flipper button leaf switch contacts with a business card, but that hasn't fixed the issue.

Any help is greatly appreciated. thanks!

#2 3 years ago

Check and clean the eos switch. You can also shorten the eos switch to check if the power returns, Just don't hold the flipper up for a long period of time because it won't drop to the low voltage hold circuit.

#3 3 years ago

Ya, most likely the eos switch under attached to your flipper assembly. Clean the leads with alcohol and a qtip. Do not use sand paper or you will ruin the contacts. Make sure the switch is closed in the down position and should open in the up position.

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#4 3 years ago
Quoted from BuckNaked:

Just don't hold the flipper up for a long period of time because it won't drop to the low voltage hold circuit.

This statement is not true for DE games.
DE flipper acts on time based. After defined time (30-40 msec) the voltage drops to low level.
The function of EOS is only to detect the upper position of the flipper, and in case of raptor coil backfire, the voltage moves back to higher level for short time in order to keep the flipper at high position.

#5 3 years ago

Thanks guys. Good news / bad news...

Good news...cleaned the contacts as suggested and it seemed like it fixed it!

...but then a minute later, the flipper stopped altogether. This time...the cause is obvious. One of the wires to the coil broke off. But it looked fishy to me when I went under the hood, so I also have a "before" picture.

My question is...can I just solder this back on? Or does the condition of the terminal (no longer a full circle) and the condition of the wire (a little singed maybe) mean that something else is wrong?

(also Scoot - great name. maybe we're related

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#6 3 years ago
Quoted from scootss:

Thanks guys. Good news / bad news...
Good news...cleaned the contacts as suggested and it seemed like it fixed it!
...but then a minute later, the flipper stopped altogether. This time...the cause is obvious. One of the wires to the coil broke off. But it looked fishy to me when I went under the hood, so I also have a "before" picture.
My question is...can I just solder this back on? Or does the condition of the terminal (no longer a full circle) and the condition of the wire (a little singed maybe) mean that something else is wrong?
(also scoot - great name. maybe we're related
[quoted image][quoted image]

You should be good. Just hit it with a good solid dab of solder and it'll work good as new.

#7 3 years ago
Quoted from scootss:

Thanks guys. Good news / bad news...
Good news...cleaned the contacts as suggested and it seemed like it fixed it!
...but then a minute later, the flipper stopped altogether. This time...the cause is obvious. One of the wires to the coil broke off. But it looked fishy to me when I went under the hood, so I also have a "before" picture.
My question is...can I just solder this back on? Or does the condition of the terminal (no longer a full circle) and the condition of the wire (a little singed maybe) mean that something else is wrong?
(also scoot - great name. maybe we're related
[quoted image][quoted image]

That wire looks like it is a bit toasted. I'd cut down the wire a bit and unsheath and solder on. That blackend wire will not tin very well and in a month, you will be doing this again.

#8 3 years ago

Thank you Scoot fattrain BuckNaked - we’re back up and running.

Was really hoping to play but my kids jumped in once they saw it was working again.

Thanks team. Greatly appreciated.

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#9 3 years ago

argh....spoke too soon.

Worked great for an hour. Strong flips and no issues. Then, midway through a game, the left flipper stops working altogether.

I turned it off and came back 30 min later and it is back to its old behavior. No LED on the flipper board and the flipper moves very slowly.

One other strange thing I have noticed is that I leave the ball in the shooter lane and hold the left flipper button, it will auto-fire. I can't say if this ever happened before, because I was never pressing the left flipper so much.

I feel like I'm close! Thanks for all the help thus far.
-S

#10 3 years ago

We’ve been seeing quite a few DE games with this issue as of late. Most have been the cabinet switches. They look good. Check good. Gapped good. But they don’t work. The switch from Steve Young has been great! We’ve had a few issues with some others.

#11 3 years ago
Quoted from scootss:

argh....spoke too soon.
Worked great for an hour. Strong flips and no issues. Then, midway through a game, the left flipper stops working altogether.
I turned it off and came back 30 min later and it is back to its old behavior. No LED on the flipper board and the flipper moves very slowly.
One other strange thing I have noticed is that I leave the ball in the shooter lane and hold the left flipper button, it will auto-fire. I can't say if this ever happened before, because I was never pressing the left flipper so much.
I feel like I'm close! Thanks for all the help thus far.
-S

Mine did the very same thing. Everything looked good, tested good, but the flipper would work for half a game and then crap out. So I decided to replace it. When I took it off, the metal leaf was broken by the insulated spacers and fell apart in my hands. Never would have known unless I removed it. Out in a new switch and everything was perfect.

#12 3 years ago

I have also had cold solder joints ( Hook) on the flipper board causing this.

#13 3 years ago

Thank you. Called up Steve and a new cabinet switch is on the way. Hopefully that does the trick.

The flipper board is a new Rotten Dog, so hopefully cold solder joints aren't the issue.

Switch arrives in a few days and I'll report back.

#14 3 years ago

Unfortunately, I'm still in the flipper doghouse. Got a new switch from Steve Young...and I'm still having the same issue.

In the video below, you can see the first few flips are strong..and then it starts to just inch its way up. This has nothing to do with the ball hitting it.

Then the video goes into the cabinet to show the flipper board and the left flipper LED. I'm basically pressing the left flipper constantly but the light is rarely going on. You can see it lights up a few times and when it does, you hear the left coil fire.

I cleaned the EOS switch earlier in the thread... but does that have anything to do with the LED not lighting? What else can cause it not to light up?

Any suggestions on what to try next?

Thanks so much.
-S

#15 3 years ago

What if you short the flipper cabinet switch terminals at the flipper board? If the LED doesn't light then, seems like a definite board problem if the power to the board is good.

FWIW - I've had issues with this product (Rottendog DE flipper board) not working right out of the box, but Jim has always been good to me w/ replacing when issues like this arise. I don't see his schematics on his website anymore (rottendog.us), so can't provide a whole lot more insight. Although you should probably double/triple check your dip switch settings and fuses on the flipper board before reaching out to him, if you decide to do that.

If it were me, I'd look for an OEM flipper board on eBay or Pinside and give that a go

ebay.com link: Data East Pinball 3 Flipper Board 520 5076 00 Guaranteed Works 100

#16 3 years ago

Can you elaborate a bit on shorting the flipper switch terminals at the board? I haven’t done that before.

That DE original board is tempting. May try and troubleshoot a bit more first but that is a solid option. thanks for the link.

#17 3 years ago

Do you have a jumper? If so, you can jumper the pins together at the flipper board that are wired to the flipper cabinet switch.

#18 3 years ago

First start by the coil,
cut a piece of the wires, strip the wire and solder the clean wires back to the coil.
Check the coil sleeve and make sure to place the coil is in good position back in.
Check the returnspring on the mech while you are at it.
Inspect the eos.

Check the conectors wires fuses and fuse clips on the flipperboard.
If your up to it, reflow the flipperboard, cold solder joints can sometimes be almost invisible remember there is a shaker in this game.
And even new boards can have a problem
Check the voltages coming to the fippers, flipperboard and connection in the backbox
Is the board set for jp and is your powerboard ok?

#19 3 years ago

adalogue - so that would effectively act like the flipper button was pressed, right? If the led lights, then problem between switch and board. If it doesn’t light, problem with board. Is that right?

jorro - board is new and shaker hasn’t been used, so shouldn’t have shook any solder joints loose. But I understand that new boards can be bad, too. If the LED isn’t lighting up, can that be an issue downstream of the board (like the flipper itself)?

#20 3 years ago

Short version - Happy to report that this seems to be resolved. After cleaning the EOS on the left flipper with a business card, I'm back in action.

Longer version - I had cleaned the EOS with alcohol and q-tip as some had recommended. Didn't fix it. adalogue pointed me to an original data east flipper board to replace my rotten dog one. He even provided a link to a board on ebay from Nabours Novelty (https://www.pinballplace.com/). I ordered it.

I got to talking with Tim Nabours before the board shipped and he offered to talk through my issue. It caused me to revisit cleaning the EOS. After cleaning with a business card, I now have strong flips every time. Tim was just happy that my issue was resolved and kindly cancelled my order for the board. He doesn't have a huge inventory, but seems well respected for board repairs. I couldn't recommend more highly based on his way of doing business.

So...pinside was right. Clean it.

Thanks all.

3 weeks later
#21 3 years ago
Quoted from adalogue:

FWIW - I've had issues with this product (Rottendog DE flipper board) not working right out of the box

Hopefully final update. It wasn’t a bad/dirty EOS. I was still having issues. Replaced it. Still having issues. Went back to @adalogue’s original suggestion (thank you!!) that the rottendog board could be bad so I replaced with the DE board. Solved!

#22 3 years ago

Hopefully final update... It was a bad rottendog flipper board. The board had the wrong transistors on it. Honestly, this is ridiculous. This is a known issue from SEVEN years ago (https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/rottendog-flp023-data-east-flipper-board-issue). My board has a manufacture date of 2018 and I received it last month. Replaced the board with an original DE board I got on eBay and all is good.

h/t to adalogue who called it a month ago!

1 year later
#23 1 year ago

I know this is an older thread, but I have to report that I also have issues with a FLP023 Rottendog DE flipper board. It is burning through fuses for the right flipper, and in fact seems to get "stuck" sending a continuous 50v to the coil, causing it to heat up like crazy and burn up the paper sleeve. I replaced it with an original DE board, checked all voltages with a DMM, and all is good. Will try to get a refund for the RD...

#24 1 year ago
Quoted from lmarchese:

I know this is an older thread, but I have to report that I also have issues with a FLP023 Rottendog DE flipper board. It is burning through fuses for the right flipper, and in fact seems to get "stuck" sending a continuous 50v to the coil, causing it to heat up like crazy and burn up the paper sleeve. I replaced it with an original DE board, checked all voltages with a DMM, and all is good. Will try to get a refund for the RD...

Did you change the dip switch settings for the game that you put the board in?

#25 1 year ago

Hi! I most certainly did adjust the dip switches for TFTC, and checked it twice. For some reason, the board must have sent a continuous 50 volts to the coil, effectively frying it. The 50v cycle is handled by a timer on the board, so it seems that this timer did not "work." I reverted to an original board, and all is good. I am trying to return the RD board. As a backup, I just ordered an aftermarket board from a German company PinLED, and I will try it out. I love DE games, and I worry that parts will get too scarce, so I always want a backup...

#26 1 year ago
Quoted from lmarchese:

Hi! I most certainly did adjust the dip switches for TFTC, and checked it twice. For some reason, the board must have sent a continuous 50 volts to the coil, effectively frying it

I asked because I did a local on-site repair where someone changed the board without reading the directions and just expected the board to work in the game and it kept blowing one particular flipper fuse.

Sounds like a transistor could be shorted. Time to test them with a diode or ohm test. Also, best to inspect to be sure the board has the correct transistors installed, as on the link to the thread mentioned in post #22.

Quoted from lmarchese:

I love DE games, and I worry that parts will get too scarce, so I always want a backup...

I really don't think a backup flipper board is really necessary. Original DE flipper board failures are rare.

#27 1 year ago

The seller agreed to take a return on the Rottendog board, so all good there. I am receiving the PinLED board in a couple of days, so I will give it a try. I agree that I probably don't need a backup, but couldn't hurt... Might be able to help somebody else out in the future.

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