My current record is 40 loops. My past record is 49..

HOLY S%$#!

I did 80 something at the DW that was at Cal Extreme. On my own DW my record is 78. I've seen a lot more then that done though. The last DW I played at league loop champion was 150 or something. It's also easier to do loops on DW if the ball drops to the upper flipper in a consistent place and at a similar speed. This depends a lot on how worn the ramp diverter is and how much denting there is on the PF under the diverter.

Mine's only 12 and I have 8 on HS2.... weird.

Well Jay I would suggest you loan me your Doctor Who for a year or two so I can get it adjusted perfectly to maximize your loop potential.......

Hi, I have a Doctor Who pin at home and I've had a problem since I got it about 4 years ago. It's next to impossible to make the upper loop. I watch a video on youtube of someone making the loop off the upper left flipper one after another. When I hit the ball with my flipper in the same or similar way, the ball usually goes to the right outlane. Is the machine not leveled right or something? I adjusted the front leg levelers to be almost all the way up with the back leg levelers all the way down to try to resolve this issue. It didn't work. The level on the bottom right corn of the playfield doesn't seem to work, so I can't follow what the manual says on setting the pitch of the playfield. Can anyone help on this issue? I'd like to beable to hit this upper ramp, for it looks and sounds fun.

Thank for any suggestions,
Jason

It sounds as if maybe you're just hitting the ball too late. You have to hit it closer to the base/middle of the flipper than the tip. Usually if you hit it at the flippers tip, it tosses it to the outlane as you described.

It is. It gets you that playfield multiplier as well. An absolute must for high scores.

Sounds to me like that flipper need some rebuilding!

You have to replace the following parts of that flipper:
http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=249&parent=53
http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=273&parent=61
http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=90&parent=57

Take a look at your bushing to see if it needs replacing (if it's broken or severely worn):
http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=270&parent=60

You don't have to order at pinball life perse. There are plenty of other pinball parts stores out there!

For example, Marco Specialties offers Pinside members a 5% discount.

Hi Jason, Welcome to Pinside..If your machine is not leveled correctly it will
not play right and that's no fun at all.The back legs must be higher than the
front so the playfield will be slanted.Do you have a leveler in your machine?
It would be located near the ball through.

Wow, nice Robin. I didn't even think of the flipper being the problem... my bad.

Sorry jp, didn't mean to impugn your ability. Robin is probably right on the flipper rebuild call.

jp_isshin: As Robin said, you need to rebuild your flipper. My Dr Who was like that as well when I first picked it up. It was pretty much impossible to make that upper loop.

Buy an inclinometer from an auto store and set it right on the playfield. Then have it set at somewhere between 6-7 degrees or so...

The manual says between 6-6.5...

Before you rebuild the flipper, try taking it apart and adjusting it first. some minor adjustment could work wonders.

Make sure the all the parts are working together correctly, make sure the coil is straight, check to see if the flipper bushing is too tight. check the coil sleeve, clean it, make sure the flipper plunger moves through the coil smooth, check to see if the plunger is mushroomed at the end and causing drag.
reflowing the solder on the coil lugs wouldn't be a bad idea.
See that the end of stroke switch is being activated correctly, at the very end of the flipper's stroke.
check and see that the flipper rubber is not hitting against the metal guide coming out of the "H" hole.

just a few things to get you started.

I keep mine closer to 8. Steeper table means faster ball speed.

Steeper table also means more ball control, doesn't necessarily make the game harder. in fact, less steep tables mean more random ball drains from the slings also.

Too many people get games and do all the little things BUT rebuild the flippers. For williams games, this isn't very pricey, and makes a massive difference. When you get a new to you machine, the first thing to do is take apart the flippers, examine and see what needs to be replaced.

ALWAYS always always replace bushings and sleeves, they are cheap and make a massive difference. Honesly, every time, I'll replace bushings, sleeves, pawl/link/plunger, coild stop and spring.

Flippers make the single most significant impact on play. A rebuild for two flippers costs about $22 (these come without bushings though) - even on a $1,000 game, that is so little to pay given the overall value. If you buy in bulk, as I do given the amount I have, through PBL, you can almost cut flipper parts in half.

I bet about 10-15% of the help needed threads on this and RGP would be gone if everyeone took this advice.

One simple tweak made me jump from 16 loops top to where my high is now, 98: I made sure the flipper rubber touches the metal 'ramp' ("H" hole). That way a much earlier flip is needed to reach the "O" ramp.

I found this thread by searching for: "100 loops doctor who pinball" because I was curious if there was some kind of bonus once you get there. Last weekend I watched someone get 99 in a heads up match in a tournament.

I don;t remember it being a big deal...but probably focusing on more loops at the time.