(Topic ID: 190111)

Flipper Maintenance Help

By Da-Shaker

6 years ago



Topic Stats

  • 7 posts
  • 4 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 6 years ago by Da-Shaker
  • Topic is favorited by 1 Pinsider

You

Linked Games

No games have been linked to this topic.

    Topic Gallery

    View topic image gallery

    detail (resized).jpg

    #1 6 years ago

    Hey I just picked up a TSPP and I wanted to get some more snap in the flippers. So I read some articles and thought I could fix them up no problem. I took my flippers apart and grinded down the slight mushroom off of all the plungers with a dremel and did the same with the coil stop. I didn't grind much, they weren't to bad. I also put in a couple new post sleeves and cleaned the other 3 with alcohol. Also sanded the plungers slightly with 400 grit. I did all of this before to my POTC and it turned out great, all but the alcohol. I'm wondering if the alcohol gummed up the plungers. Anyway, I believe the coils are straight and the plunger is sliding like it should. One of them might be a little stickey (lower right), but not to bad.
    Also, I noticed my lower left flipper does not have the plastic piece that bumps into the switch. I don't know if this just happened when I was working on it or it was like that. I know it needs to be fixed. See picture to help describe the part.

    detail (resized).jpgdetail (resized).jpg

    #2 6 years ago

    Sorry, the problem is some of the flipper won't go down after using them. It'll only go down if I use the opposite side flipper or I push it down.

    #3 6 years ago

    To save stuffing around, each time we buy a second hand Stern machine we fit.

    http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=3747

    Takes the machine back to standard and has everything you need.

    Good luck!

    #4 6 years ago

    Here's the part you are missing from the left side pawl:

    http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=1094

    There should never be a need to "sand" the plunger. If the plunger appears worn, just get a new one.

    If the flipper plunger is gummy, I clean it with lighter fluid (NOT alcohol). Then I polish the plunger with either Simichrome metal polish (prefered) or Brasso (2nd choice). Don't forget to install a new flipper coil sleeve too. When adjusting the position of the bat shaft, use an old credit card thickness to set the spacing between the pawl and the nylon bushing. It must have about a 1/32" end play. Otherwise the flipper will bind as it heats up from playing the machine.

    #6 6 years ago

    If the flipper(s) stay "up" after you let go of the button, this is probably mechanical binding. Grab a flipper bat, pull up and push down on it (gently) and it should move about 1/16" (1.6mm) total. If you don't have this up-and-down play, you may get binding as the flipper rotates.

    Don C.

    #7 6 years ago

    Yes, I have adequate play. However it feels like they're staying up because possibly they are still magnetize. If I push the plunger and links in, they move freely. Also when a flipper stays up it's not staying powered on. I can gently push it down and it'll fall on its own the rest of the way or I can push the opposite side flipper and it'll fall. The only thing I can think of is maybe I left some metal fragments on the plunger after grinding and theyre staying magnetized, but I cleaned them off with alcohol and only grinded the outside of the plunger. I also grinded a couple coil stops and flattened those out a little bit.
    It seems like I'm just going to have to buy 5 flipper rebuild kits. Thanks for all your help

    Reply

    Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.

    Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!

    Donate to Pinside

    Great to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!


    This page was printed from https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/flipper-maintenance-help and we tried optimising it for printing. Some page elements may have been deliberately hidden.

    Scan the QR code on the left to jump to the URL this document was printed from.