I've got a Popeye Saves the Earth that just started having an intermittently weak right flipper- the weakness comes and goes every few games or so, but eventually comes back to almost full strength (it's still definitely weaker than the left flipper).

However, when I cycle the flipper coils in the test menu, it seems to fix itself for awhile, but soon gets so weak that it will barely even cradle a ball.

So my question is: should I do a full rebuild of the flippers and hope it's just a failing coil? Or could this be a sign of something else wrong?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Didn't know that the opto could make a flipper weak, but after reading around on other threads, I see that it can trick the opto into thinking it's flickering on and off rapidly. This makes sense.

I did recently replace the Flipper opto plastic interrupter on the right side. And I'm not sure if it matters, but the old interrupter was black and the new one is white.

It's also really damn tight next to the interrupter when the flipper button is fully depressed. It almost rubs against the ball shooter solenoid. However, I get the same results when I slightly raised the playfield giving full clearance while filpping, so I'm pretty sure it's fully opening and closing.
I'll try cleaning the opto first, and maybe just order a full flipper rebuild kit to have on the way.

Thanks for the tips! I'll report back tomorrow.

A quick twirl of windex on a Q-tip did the trick right away!

And they somehow feel even snappier than before. I've got the parts order, so maybe when I get around to shopping it out, I'll do the full flipper rebuild.

Thanks for the tips everyone!