(Topic ID: 188669)

Flipper flutter problem (Bally 1981)

By nibre

6 years ago


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Topic Stats

  • 15 posts
  • 5 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 6 years ago by nibre
  • Topic is favorited by 4 Pinsiders

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#1 6 years ago

The lower left flipper is fluttering on my Medusa.

I have “cleaned” the contact points of the blade switches (by pushing them gently together and then pulling a thick paper through them) both at the button and at the coil.

I have checked the coil wires and cannot see that any of them are broken (as far as I can tell). See image below (there is a thin piece of tape holding them in place which makes it hard to see). I guess that the purpose of the tape is to protect the wires.

During the fluttering (flipper active) the contact point A (see image below) has a connection and B is disconnected. An interesting observation is that there are “flashes” flying between the contact points at B during the fluttering (creating a sparkling sound).

Any suggestions?

Could it be any of the diods? (What type are they?)

Is there a way to measure the coil and/or diods without desoldering anything?

Any other tests?

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#2 6 years ago

Sounds like the Hold side of the coil isn't working...(It's the smaller wire, I think Left side in first pic)

#3 6 years ago

Measure the resistance across each diode with the flipper held up

#4 6 years ago

3 ohms on the high power side (the same when the flipper wasn't held up)
and
6 ohms on the low power side (zero ohms when the flipper wasn't held up)

#5 6 years ago

I also measured the resistance on the healthy side and the results were exactly the same.

The fluttering and "sparkling" take place when the flipper is up.

When I closely study the contact points of the blade switches, they look a bit weird, like someone might have used a file or something. See images below.

Another thought: could the problem have something to do with the coil stop?

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#6 6 years ago

Try filing them, they look bad

#7 6 years ago

Check the resistance across closed eos switches .You should read around .03 ohms across clean tightly closed contact. If you get higher readings try lightly cleaning contacts with 400 grit sandpaper . The contacts in the picture look toasted ,and should probably be replaced. Also check the cabinet flipper button switches

#8 6 years ago

I measured the resistance across closed switches and it was 0.0 ohms. Despite this, I tried the sandpaper cleaning and it did the trick!

Maybe I should change all the switches anyway because they really don't look well (that goes for both the coil switches and the button switches). After playing a while, I get the impression that every now and then, the flippers are weak and maybe that has something to do with bad switch contacts.

Thanks everybody for the advice!

#9 6 years ago
Quoted from nibre:

Maybe I should change all the switches

Never hurts, and especially after finding that one was bad, I'd replace them all too

#10 6 years ago

Having problems finding the correct switches (aren't there any parts catalogues for Medusa?).

Are the correct flipper button switches ASW-A10-41?

Which are the correct flipper coil (double) switches?

#11 6 years ago
Quoted from nibre:

(aren't there any parts catalogues for Medusa?).

http://www.planetarypinball.com/reference/partsmanuals/BLY_Parts_1981/index.html

For the double you'll probably need to combine ASW-A20-34 and ASWA-10-45 (I assume the second switch is the one that powers the upper flippers)

#13 6 years ago

The Planetary Pinball link shows a catalogue which ends with page 47 (and the swithes are on pages 85-87).

#14 6 years ago

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#15 6 years ago

Thanks, zacaj and Atari-Daze!

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