I'm rebuilding my flippers on my 1971 Gottlieb Playball using a rebuild kit from pbresource. I was able to get the left flipper aligned without issue - but the right isn't cooperating. I think the spring is pulling the plunger-link assembly just enough to cause it to stick. I thought a stronger spring might do the trick, but after creating a little more tension on the spring the problem is still there. I've spent the last 2 hours trying every thing I can think of without success.

Anybody out there ever experience the same issue?

TIA

Allen

Hi Alex - nice to hear from you!

The flipper bat is sticking and once energized it won't go back to "off" position. I've tried increasing the play thinking maybe it was rubbing against the plastic bushing on the playfield, but that doesn't appear to be the source of the sticking. I've even got a working flipper to compare alignment to, but can't seem to get it right. I think somehow the spring is causing the plunger link assembly to misalign. This old Gottlieb flipper is a lot different the modern Williams and Bally's. It looks really simple but it's thrown me for a loop.

After another hour or two, I finally got it working. Instead of leaving a gap between the bushing and flipper, my machine needed the flipper to be as close to the playfield as possible. Having even a small gap would misalign the coil and plunger.

Thanks for the help!