Having an intermittent problem with ball return on my '67 Gottlieb Sing Along. Recently restored the game (posted some pics and already received some help from pinside - thanks).

Here is the deal....

Ball return is sluggish and maybe one out of three balls won't make it up the ramp. This despite:

Cleaning ramp when game was apart
New coil sleeve installed
Checked for any binding (none) in the kicker mechanism. Spring on kicker arm seems firm as I heard it should be.
Cleaned and checked gap on hole switch, relay and score motor
Did the 'old leaf switch under ramp' adjustment to make sure ball is seated properly in the hole (as seen on RGP)

I think the kicker is throwing the ball too high, as it does not have as much forward momentum as it looks like it should (watching it work when apron is off), and I noticed some wear marks on underside of apron which indicate rubbing from the ball.

With everything done and the apron off, the ball will consistently make it up over the ramp (but just barely, almost pathetic). With the apron back on, it fails the 1/3 of the time (approximately) I mentioned. I know you can bend play field kickers (usually L and R), not sure how to adjust for more of a forward vs. upward motion with this kicker.

Kind of at a loss. More of a nagging issue than anything else as the game works nearly perfectly except for this.

Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks

Greg

DirtFlipper -

Thanks. I'll double check on the coil #. It is the double fork kicker.

I cleaned and SuperLubed the plates before so I will move onto the spring.

When you mention the spring, are you talking about the one on the arm itself or the one on the plunger? (I think you are talking about arm). I can swap the spring from my KOD and see what happens.

I'll also check the outhole switch, I do think it might be riding high.

Thanks, I will report back.

Did my checks...........

Coil is the correct one.

Outhole switch was not too high.

I swapped the spring with the one from my KOD and while the springs looked identical, the mechanism did seem a little snappier and so far the ball has made it up over the hole all the time (only about 5 games worth so far). .

Another unexpected difference between my KOD (sample game) and Sing Along. KOD is a single fork on the kicker mechanism.

I looked and I don't think the ball is hitting the edge of the hole and there does not seem to be much in any wear in the hole. Looks like just one of those things were it works just not as crisply as I would like. I'm fine with it thanks for the tips.

Dirt -

Old spring works in the KOD with no noticeable difference (it is a single fork flipper).

I can tell what you mean about the 'zone' with the spring and my hunch is even this one is a bit too firm.

Next time I order from PBR, I will get a new one and then see if I can maybe weaken the current one a bit. I also have a bunch of springs laying around and I might try them. As I said, it works but I think it is still probably flipping a bit too high and the ball is losing some momentum. Definitely need the 'Myth Busters' high speed camera!

Thanks for the help. Just fully rebuilt the flippers with dot coils from PBR (heresy to some, I know) and it plays just how I want. Can make the trap shot up to the #3 target on either side with some power!