(Topic ID: 60577)

Gottlieb Surf Champ fliiper behavior

By Cruzin1a

10 years ago


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  • 30 posts
  • 8 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 10 years ago by PM_Jeremy
  • Topic is favorited by 2 Pinsiders

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#1 10 years ago

I have an issue with the flippers on an EM I just purchased. The flippers activate as they should. However, when holding the flipper button down and the ball hits flipper it jerks and sends the ball back up the playfield. Both flippers behave this way and I can simulate with my hand. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

#3 10 years ago

Cleaning makes sense. I've used 400 grit to clean the contacts. Something tells me their not adjusted right. I'm just not sure how to do that. I have several leaf switches with blue arc'ing when they make contact.

#6 10 years ago

So The switches shouldn't actually touch when the plunger or coil activates to close the circuit?

Mind I'm doing quite a bit of reading also. My heads swimming a bit :0)

#8 10 years ago

Yeah I've been doing more reading. The higher voltage for the flippers means Tungsten contacts and that requires an automotive points file to clean them up. I'll keep reading and take a closer look tonight.

It just seemed that this was a specific condition. The flippers are strong. They just snap the ball if I have them in the up position and the ball comes down the playfield and strikes them. I don't remember my Mustang doing this.

Thanks all for the tips. I'll keep working it and reading...

#9 10 years ago

Another visual inspection of the flippers didn't reveal much. I didn't find anything loose in the flipper or the wiring. The coil looks ok. With them behaving the same, is it possible it's a volts issue? How would I measure that?

#11 10 years ago

In light of that, I have to ask, is it normal for the ball to move the flipper from a full upright position enough to engage the EOS switch? This happens regularly making it near impossible to tip aor pass the ball. Possible coil issue?

#13 10 years ago

Pinkerton is a nice school :0)

I can manually get it to do it with my hand. With the playfield up and the flipper held up by holding the flipper button on the cabinet, I then press down on the flipper, about a half inch or so and the EOS switch opens and the flipper snaps up against my hand.

It just seems odd that a falling ball on the playfield gets the flipper to move that much. I'll post a picture this evening when I get home.

1 week later
#16 10 years ago

I finally had a moment to take a few videos. You're correct DirtFlipper. The main flipper switches close driving the flipper which in turn opens the EOS switches. That all "seems" to be working fine. You will see some arcing on the EOS switches in the last video. I did attempt to clean them but, I am new at this and I'm not sure if it made a difference. I used a Plastone Emery file on the EOS switch and a metal contact file on the main switches for the flippers. Both purchased from PBR. I don't have any audible buzzing when the flippers are left engaged like I did on my Mustang.

In the last video I am holding the flipper button and then pressing down on the flipper itself just slightly so you can see it's behavior from the underside. At the end I press the flipper button a few times normally.

If you see something in these vids that maybe you can recreate on yours ReallifePin, that would be great. Thanks for checking out my issue and the assistance.

#18 10 years ago

I will take closeup pictures of both coils tonight. I do believe they match. I'll work a little more on cleaning the EOS switches this evening. Is it possible to ruin a switch by cleaning it? Sounds like a stupid question but I thought I would ask.

#20 10 years ago

OK, I can do that. Now I know the flipper switches are high current that require a "points" file, which I've purchased from PBR. I mentioned above that I believe the EOS switch has standard points and they should be cleaned with a "Flexstone" type emery file. Just trying to clarify that. Either way, I will be sure to take my time and proceed carefully.

I can say that after my first attempt at cleaning the EOS switches the flippers wouldn't work, which I thought was odd. I then cleaned them again and the flippers started working again. Being that the EOS switch is closed until just before the flipper reaches it's end of swing, it makes sense that the blue arc you see is indicating a problem.

I'll post a picture of both flipper coils and the flipper switches after work.

#22 10 years ago

Yeah the contacts on the EOS switches looked larger than normal. That would make sense being that they are part of the higher voltage flipper circuit. I suppose maybe after an attempted clean with the flexstone I may have had some residual stuff left behinda ffecting the contact. Should I do something to clean the contacts after filing? Like maybe a blow with some compressor air?

#23 10 years ago

OK, so I cleaned the EOS switches with my points file several times. I still have the blue arc. Yes, you are correct, I do not have the A-5141 coils. I've attached two pictures. The springs on both flippers also looked a little mis-matched. I think a flipper rebuild kit and two coils should be ordered and installed. You're thoughts?

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#25 10 years ago

What would the purpose of a bridge rectifier be?

#27 10 years ago

Excellent, thank you for all of the information. It's been super helpful. I may bring this over to Pinball Wizard and have Sarah take a look. It would be nice to return the flippers to their original design.

ReallifePin, if you have a chance, a picture of your flippers would be great.

Thanks again guys, I'll keep you posted.

1 month later
#29 10 years ago

So I ended up taking the pin over to Sarah at Pinball Wizard after discussing this with her. Plus I had a few other things that needed to be checked. She did some testing and in the end rebuilt the flippers to their original state. They now work great. These are the standard coils.

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