Noticed today after a few games that the right flipper is starting to feel 'loose' - not sure of a better term to describe it. The power seemed a little lower and I noticed that when the ball would dead bounce off the flipper it would move a little bit.

Is this the beginning of a coil stop issue people have been seeing with stern machines?

There is a multiball for capturing the Spinosaurus (the last Super Predator Paddock (the center column of paddocks)). That might be what you’re referring to...I believe it’s considered a mini-wizard mode.

I was getting an increasing number of side ramp rejects and then eventually my upper flipper would go limp whenever it got hit by a ball. Turns out the coil stop had completely blown out. Replacing it fixed both issues.

You don't need to be detailed if there is a tech reading it; althogh sure write down "Coil Stop bad,?" why not. For sure could be probably is coil stop.
Since it's not a JJP I don't imagine any diff'rence of electrical current from sub stations or sun spots would change anything in the game.
If the flipper cant make the ramp there is something wrong.

Update: Found the cause - broken coil stop on the flipper. Pillaged one from Star Wars and I’m back up for now!

How does a coil stop break so quickly??

Was just revisiting a thread I started about coil stops on Deadpool. Had to replace the stop on the right flipper twice in the first 1400 plays. Someone chimed in with this nugget, which I had forgotten about:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stern-s-coil-stops-are-worthless#post-4699083

I'll save you a click: Move the spring washer to the other side of the coil so it doesn't decapitate your coil stop. Seems worth trying.

About two dozen games in, flipper post came loose, and left flipper coil stop is junked. Also had the coil stop on a Star Wars pro after less than a 100 plays- took the one out a ST pro and it was a better coil stop.

There’s really no excuse for a coil stop to go bad after a few plays, and this is a known issue. The people supplying these coil stops need to be fired for real.

Same on the one I’ve been playing. Although it’s gotten a bit better since the stock coil stop was replaced on the right flipper. Still not as easy as left-to-right though.

Check the coil stop on that flipper, they’re absolutely trash.
My game has been down over a week, waiting for new stops, should be here today.

Here are fixes I've had to do during first week on location. About 180 plays at home before location. Just over 300 when i went to repair. Not sure if flipper resets when you reset audits, but right flipper was around 12k. Left flipper no issues and around 9k. Raptor target was getting stuck on left rubber ring. I just loosened the screws on the target mount and realigned it properly then tightened down, simple. Will make sure to check if it slips out of position. Right flippers became sluggish. After investigation, both right coil stops had blown out. Replacing those restored power to %100. Luckily I've read this is common so had some back up coil stops ready. I did adjust the eos switch a bit before discovering the coil stop and received a message upon power up saying something like node board 8 overenergized. Not sure what that means. Pooling has started and pretty significantly on the left sling with large washer. Other pooling spots don't seem to be progressing.

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Help a newbie out, what is a coil stop? Did something fail with the JP Pro at brewskis?

Coil stop is the metal bracket behind the coil.
You can see in the picture the part that holds the coil in place has fallen out.

EaglePin
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/jurassic-park-stern-2019-owners-club-welcome-to-jurassic-park?tq=Coil+stop&tu=

Sounds like a blown out coil stop most likely. Annoying but cheap fix

Yep, Agree with swampfire and jdroc it's a blown coil stop, easy enough to replace, (I'm a novice also and I managed to do it ) It happened to me on the same flipper 2 weeks ago, I changed all 3 just to be on the safe side, $4.95 ea from Pinball Life. Good luck

This looks like the problem. Coil stop rivet is blown out.

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Yep, you need to replace the coil stop obviously. This has been happening a few years now with Sterns. Not sure why they can't supply working coil stops.

Oh and be sure to remove the broken nub that will be inside the coil sleeve before putting a new coil stop on.

I’ve had this problem now a couple times, once with Star Wars and once on JP. While they sent me new replacements, I ordered the brass colored stops found on their earlier games like LOTR/TSPP and have discoverd they hold up better/better quality.

Both games had a coil stop blow out within a hundred games, that’s completely unacceptable.

Is this the stop that people are ordering from pinball life?
https://www.pinballlife.com/flipper-coil-stop-for-sternsega.html

That is most likely a blown out coil stop. I had to replace the coil stops on my jp both right flippers very early on, less than 300 plays i believe. I had one coil stop blow out in my deadpool less than 150 plays. But after replacing DP has gone 1500+ still strong. And JP about 2.5k still strong.

I had this exact issue a few days ago. It was caused by a broken coil stop.

I contacted my distributor and had a few replacement coil stops sent out.

jurassic_park_broken_coil_stop_1 (resized).jpg

jurassic_park_broken_coil_stop_2 (resized).jpg

How do you know when coil stops break? Do they start feeling sluggish then give out?

My right flipper feels like it lost some power and is sluggish. I’ve never experienced a broken coil stop before.

Probably just need to replace the coil stop

Just need a new coil stop. Replace all 3 while your at it.

My new coil stops arrived. I invited some buddies over to help with this simple repair; just 2 screws out, put the new coil stop in and screw it back together. Did all three no problem.
What I took out was the plate with a hole and the spring washer- for all three coil stops. I thought the coil stop disintegrated or something.
We got the game running again, however, the flippers only moved half way. That didn’t seem right. We followed the simple instructions.
But then I had an idea- what if the button was still in the coil sleeve!
We took a look, and sure enough the buttons were in all three coil sleeves.
We took the buttons out, and this time also remembered to put the spring washer back on the new coil stops too.
My audits say that I had 50,000 left flips and 70,000 right flips.
How do these coil stops break so easily? Are the a bad batch or a cheap batch?
I’m glad it was a simple fix, and the shots are now quick and snappy!

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https://www.pinballlife.com/flipper-coil-stop-for-sternsega.html

I was informed that our route JP pro has a "weak" lower right flipper. I haven't inspected it yet, but the upper flipper flips great, so curious if anyone has tips before I go. I am hoping the coil stop didn't snap off and is just causing it to be funky, although that would be the easier fix...

First guess would be the coil stop.

Post keeps coming loose even with blue loctite :/

Also the coil stop rivet was broke and that is why my right flipper sucks.

Snagged a coil stop from my sega and it fixed it.

Anyone have an issue with the ball plunging (manual) up the 180? Is this the same issue as the shim for the shooter lane? Auto plunge works fine but manual the ball bangs around and has a hard time going up the ramp

I did the post replacement fix last night & found that the coil stop was also blown out. Luckily I did happen to have an extra coil stop so that was replaced as well. I positioned the flipper what seems a bit off as the side tower shot is not easily achieved. The flipper is very slightly positioned forward from the right orbit path. The flipper now has full strength, but it seems it needs to be moved back slightly?

003 (resized).JPG

Anyone else seem to have a weak right flipper? I have it cranked up to the highest setting, 255, in the settings and it still just doesn't have the snap it should.

I replaced the coil stop today and it looked fine.. no change there.

I don't get it, maybe they reduced the power because of the Trex shot ? Not sure. Just thought I'd mention it... Not a huge issue it just seems like it barely has the power at times to go up the left ramp..

Before you replace the coil, have you checked the coil stop to make sure that isn’t the problem? It’s been a somewhat frequent issue causing weak flippers.

This early on, your plunger probably isn't in need of replacement (but worth checking) and certainly not a full rebuild kit.
A bunch of brass dust in the cab under said flipper is a dead giveaway though.
These coil stops are notoriously bad.

Order 3.

https://www.pinballlife.com/flipper-coil-stop-for-sternsega.html

Yep it was the coil stop fixed it today thanks.

Pull your coil stop good chance you will see it’s shot once you take it off

You the man, that’s what it was. The only coil stop I had was for Bally/Williams games and it works but the stop is a hair, I mean hair shorter. Is it fine that I used it?

Get a few of these...
https://www.pinballlife.com/flipper-coil-stop-for-sternsega.html

Replaced my 3rd coil stop today.
Total games: 670
All 3 original stops separated the same way.

Luckily I had one on hand. Time to catch some dinos.

Check your coil stop. I had a similar issue and the coil stop had broken loose.

I know there have been several posts about this previously but I wanted to share my experience with coil stops. I have played over 1000 games on my machine and check the stops for obvious signs of failure which didn’t seem to be the case. Tonight I was fed up with missing the S shot due to weak power and decided to replace the left flipper coil stop and clean the coil sleeve while I was at it. I will include a picture of the old and new coil stop for reference but immediately I could hit the S shot easily. I will replace the other coils stops another night but the right flippers don’t seem to need as much power and aren’t sticking or anything.

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Yep that'd make a huge improvement!

Oh a few other things:
1. The early JP's seemed to have a bad batch of flipper coil stops, so you may find that a flipper goes all weak. This was typically seen in the first couple of hundred games. The knob of the coil stop detaches from it's bracket. So worth grabbing 3 spares as you'll most likely need them.
2. While the newer code will have dialed down the default power setting for some of the coils, it's worth checking the trough kickout into the shooter lane - people were noticing chipping in the shooter lane opposite to the kickout hole. So you might want to lower the power right down (I think mine is on the lowest setting)

First time pin owner so pardon my inexperience. Came home from vacation to a noticeably weaker right flipper. Skill shots aimed at left ramp hitting somewhere around the raptor cage. I took a look at the flipper assembly and coil stop and didn’t see anything initially. There is some black powder that I could wipe off, not nothing looked out of place. What recommendations do you have for getting my flipper back to working order? I checked the game menu to confirm my right flipper power is still set to where it was before vacation. Thanks in advance.

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Looks like a bad coil stop. Do a search on that term here on pinside, and you'll know where to buy them and what to do.

How many games on the machine? Looks like alot of black dust, which usually means something is wearing more quickly. You confirmed that the power setting is correct, so it is likely a mechanical issue. The coil sleeve comes to mind, but could be the stop. Should be some quick and easy diagnosis of the assembly to confirm what is going on. Question: When you manually move the plunger rod, does it feel like the left flipper and retract the same way, with the same 'feel'?

jacksparrow0112
When you buy a new coil stop, just buy 3 now. They are all likely going to fail. Best to have some on hand.

Recent Stern titles are notorious for coil stop issues, so best to just swap them out.

I know the feeling of being a first time owner, as I had a flipper issues with my first NIB game, and I felt lost.

So to make things easier for you, grab yourself a few of these:

https://www.pinballlife.com/flipper-coil-stop-for-sternsega.html

And a few of these:

https://www.pinballlife.com/2-316-coil-sleeve.html

I also would personally grab a few of these:

https://www.pinballlife.com/segastern-flipper-extension-spring.html
https://www.pinballlife.com/sternsegadata-east-rubber-bumper-pluggrommet.html

If you're unsure of how to install them, just post here and someone will help out. It might seem daunting, but it's actually super easy.

Cheers.

Thanks for all the great advice everyone. Last night I ordered 3 Stern coil stops from pinball life. Today at lunch I removed the right and left flipper coil stops to have a closer look at the flipper assemblies. My untrained eye didn’t locate any glaring issues/difference between them, and both coil stops did not appear damaged to me. Also both assemblies felt like they had the same level of play/movement before and after the stop removal. I did notice that the end of the coils that slid out of the sleeves appear to be chamfered. Not sure if that is correct or is those are supposed to be ground flat. I’ll try installing the new stops when they arrive and report back.

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Is the part that the plunger hits still firm in the bracket or can you move/wiggle the middle part of the coil stop?

Thank you for directing my attention to that. Sure enough, the right coil stop has a slight amount of play where the middle part can be moved back and forth slightly. There is zero play in the left coil stop. Guessing that slight amount of movement is causing the issue I saw. Fingers crossed the replacement fixes the issue.

It's the L-bracket with the nub attached to it. If you keyword search this forum topic for "coil stop" you'll see some posts where people showed pictures of them. When you check it, the nub could be a little bit loose or missing altogether (if it's missing then it's likely inside the coil). You'll need to remove the bracket to check it. The replacement part is the bracket with the nub attached, so it's a very easy part to replace.

This it?

Product ID: 515-6308-01
Flipper Coil Stop For Stern/Sega

I purchased 3 new coil stops from PBL in preparation for my JP coming in late October. My question is if anyone thinks Stern will have fixed their coil stop issues in the upcoming production run or should I just replace them day 1 as a preventative measure?

I've been in the hobby for about 5 years, and have never had one fail (never owned a Stern). Is this something common with them, or did they just have a bad batch?

Have you double checked that the coil stop on the flipper assembly is still solid - this has been an issue especially with JP. The coil stop nub has a tendency to become loose and eventually detach itself from the bracket of the coil stop that it is fixed to - this quite often results in a weak flipper

I have a question about the coil stops... When the coil stop is just loose should I replace them or is it just indicative that they will probably fail soon? I have a couple on hand because I own six modern sterns and heard this is something that fails often. Does it hurt anything to leave them until they fail?

I was hoping if someone can please give me done advice ...

My right lower flipper is not as powerful as the left one...

I changed the coil stop to be on safe side, the power in the options menu is at 255 ( maximum strength) which is the same as the left...

The left one is as snappy as shit while the right just doesnt have that nice feel to it...

I dont know what to do...

Can someone please give me a tip ..

Thnx in advance

Yes - it’s a threaded stop under the coil with a jam nut to lock it. Takes 5 min tops. You’ll be mad at yourself for waiting so long to fix it.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/jurassic-park-stern-2019-owners-club-welcome-to-jurassic-park/page/181#post-6068332

A coil stop bit the dust last night. 660 games played. I had three waiting for the day it happened. Curious what amount of games others had at the time of failure.

I don't understand this deal with the coil stops - I had some dust and replaced mine. However, the stop is just that L-shaped metal thingy on the end. What makes the factory Stern ones crappy vs. the replacements? I also replaced the internal tube/sleeve thing. Just seems like kind of a simply, low-tech thing to be failing.

The rivet/bump on the coil stop has had issues with coming loose. Happened on my JP2 but so far so good on my AIQ. This post shows what it looks like when it completely comes off, but it can cause problems for the flipper even if the rivet just becomes loose.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/jurassic-park-stern-2019-owners-club-welcome-to-jurassic-park/page/48#post-5275530

And yes the coil sleeves/tubes can get dirty over time and cause some slight loss of power in the flipper so replacing them occasionally with clean ones helps.

While coil stops will wear down over time due to the pounding they endure from the plunger and need to be replaced over time, the Stern ones actually fail. The coil stop nub (cylindrical part that goes in the end of the sleeve) is attached to the coil stop bracket, however there is a brass collar that separates the 2 components to stop the bracket becoming magnetised. The nub and brass collar are pressed into the bracket as part of the manufacturing process however with the Stern coil stops this fixture is not able to withstand the continual impact of the plunger and eventually the nub loosens in the bracket and will eventually break off from the bracket. This is possibly because the nub and collar aren't long enough where they go through the bracket and it limits the amount of material holding the bracket after being pressed.

These be the ones??

https://www.pinballlife.com/flipper-coil-stop-for-sternsega.html

Yep, I am sure. No metal underneath the flippers and all the flippers still work great. Our Munsters had coil stop issues, we just replaced the coils stops and sleeves. Easy.

I do not know where Pinball Life buy their stuff from.

If something is broken, I just fix it. We keep around 20 Stern flipper kits and we have purchased them from different suppliers. I can tell you that every coil stop we have replaced has never come apart like the faulty ones you see in these threads.

Hey Everyone,

The lights near my flippers are inconsistently on and occasionally flicker while playing. Anyone have any ideas on what could be causing this? I just replaced a coil stop on the bottom right flipper could I have loosened a wire?

Thanks,

Dan

If this is a new machine, it might be worth checking the coil stop on the flipper mech.

Otherwise pull the glass off and test/inspect. Try manually moving the flipper bat by hand and see if you feel it catching on anything. Also raise the PF (take the balls out first), reach around the front of the PF and move the flipper bat by hand but this time watch the flipper mech to see if you spot anything. If nothing mechanical is obvious, with the that PF raised power the machine on and test the flipper to see if you can recreate the issue. Let us know how you get on

First thing to check is the coil stop. Stern has had issues with these. Easy fix if this is the case.

The nub will be loose on a bad coil stop. It’s not always blatantly obvious but replacing them is cheap and easy.

Check the stand-up target in the back of the raptor pen.

Let's see what I can still remember:

-Swapping the manual plunger inner spring to the orange version (https://www.pinballlife.com/ball-shooter-plunger-inner-spring-orange.html)
-Align the top edge of the three flipper bat plastics to the alignment holes, not the centers like normal.
-The left fork of the shooting lane ramp often needs a few washers underneath to stop the ball from drifting left and rejecting out of the half-pipe
-Keith Elwin recommends a playfield pitch of seven degrees (I prefer 6.5, but that's me)
-Replace the stock black rubbers off the table to keep the playfield cleaner
-Tighten the upper flipper post; a loose post will start chipping the playfield. Protective washers or rings are also a good idea.
-Make sure the stand-up target in the very back of the raptor pen doesn't rub or catch on the post rubber right next to it (Shim one side of the stand-up brace with washers under the table to lean the target if needed)
-Use tape to block the lower portion of the opto holes in guides/ramps for the orbit and T-Rex ramp to catch faster moving shots or airballs. You can also put washers underneath for a cleaner looking fix.
-Upgrade the thrust bearing on the truck assembly (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QLWRTBN)
-Order replacement coil stops for all three flippers. Stern's shipped coil stops used to (and still may) break loose or fail prematurely (https://www.pinballlife.com/flipper-coil-stop-for-sternsega.html)

Almost forgot:
-Drop the ball trough eject strength to the lowest setting

I’m over 2650 plays on my LE that I got NIB in Oct 2019. About 1800-2000 of those are me. Still plays awesome. No issues ever other than a failed coil stop. I never restart games. In fact I have it turned off in the settings. You can’t even if you want to.

Is it still drifting to the left? Any pictures of the washers under the fork?

You could also try a blue spring like I have, but I'd advise against doing a full plunge to avoid hitting the right orbit shot from the shooting lane via making a hole in the half-pipe. It might be a good idea to check the auto-plunger coil and assembly under the playfield to make sure there isn't a mechanical issue like the coil sleeve causing binding or a loose/broken coil stop.

Have you checked or replaced the coil stops yet? Coil stops were prone to early failure when JP first started shipping in 2019 and may still be problematic. I highly recommend swapping out all of the coil stops on Stern tables. Try checking continuity on both the flipper and EOS leaf switches to be sure, although I suspect the coil stop "button" is broken off and floating around in the coil sleeve. If so, also replace the coil sleeve for that flipper if the inside of the sleeve is damaged.

It's certainly possible if there is a weak or failing connection, although I would expect the CPU to pick up intermittent flipper failures. You can try swapping the node8 and node9 boards (Requires changing jumper settings after swapping connections). I really suspect the coil stop, though, and highly recommend checking that first since it's a common known issue and a much easier test/solution.

Yes, there is an EOS switch. Stern uses single wound flipper coils and rapidly pulses power instead of an alternate lower power hold coil. There is some debate on the functionality of the EOS switch on SPIKE2. For Sega/Stern Whitestar, if a ball impact causes the flipper to drop and close the EOS switch, the board will send a full longer pulse to push the flipper back out which should re-open the EOS switch, and go back to pulsing the coil power to hold the flipper up. Presumable nothing changed for SPIKE/SPIKE2, although it isn't confirmed. For JP/SPIKE2, the EOS switch either does little to nothing except signal the CPU, or the EOS switch handles rebounds the same way it did in the Whitestar era.

I'll get out to my JP today and confirm the coil stop. Would a faulty coil stop stop it from flipping at all though?

Took off the coil stop, looks brand new. All switches appear good. I’m at a loss.

Did you get your flipper issue sorted?

I can already tell you that your issue is not metal shavings from a coil stop falling apart.

Nup... not sorted yet. I contacted Stern and they've asked me to look for "gold dust", from a failed coil stop I presume. The coil stop is perfect though :-/

Let me ask the group of question related to lower flipper power.
I noticed this on my previous premium to a degree, but on my pro I also noticed the same thing.
The question relates to the lower flipper power. I notice it mostly on the right. It seems that after a 2-3 games of play, the power of that right lower flipper seems to get a bit wimpy (I noticed this mostly in its reliability to get the ball up and around that T-Rex ramp at times).
It's not a coil stop issue, coil stop is ok.
Factory setting already has it at its highest strength.
Do you think this is an issue with heating of the coil (which seems more and more to be a growing trend with some of these newer spike/spike 2 games) and if so, has anyone tried the coil fans provided by Pin Monk on their JP? If so, have there been noticeable results after adding those fans? Any other suggestions?
Thanks!!!

Hey! I'm not the only one. I too have suspected an intermittent weak flip; It doesn't seem like fade to me due to the intermittent nature. I've changed both the coil stop and coil sleeve, seemed to help a bit, but it still there. I've got >3000 games played and it may be time for a full flipper rebuild, I'm thinking it could be a loose linkage. If you figure out what it is, let us know.

Yes, it's an intermittent weak feeling from the lower flipper, predominantly the right flipper. I too changed the coil stop and sleeve, not much difference. Again, it's not that I can't get the ramp, it's just it definitely feels to intermittently get weak and I noticed this mainly with nice clean shots to the left ramp just barely getting up and around sometimes. I am going to try those coil fans and see if that proves beneficial. If it does, awesome, if not, I may switch those fans off to my Iron Maiden. I will report back either way.

Interested in this as some games I struggle particularly with the left ramp as if it simply doesn't have enough power - I swapped out my coil stop early on when it fell apart but have put alot of games on since. How hot are you flipper coils getting? Definitely let us know whether the cooling fans address the issue

The coils do get hot, as expected, but I can't report a specific degrees, but I too am curious if these Pin Monk flipper cooling fans will help here. Seems as though there are several Spikes/Spike 2 games that have been benefiting from these fans, so I figured why not give it a try.
The flipper mechanism itself is perfectly fine, new coil stop, fresh cold sleeve, EOS switches are fine, no rattling of the ball at the ramp entrance has mentioned above.... Right lower flipper just seems to intermittently feel weak (noticed mainly by getting up that left ramp at times).
I'm hopeful this fan works and I will definitely make sure to report my findings when it arrives and is installed.

Anybody know the part number of the machine screw for the flipper coil stop bracket? Or otherwise what thread it is? The 2 coil stop screws are bigger than the ones used on the coil support bracket on the other end of the coil but unfortunately the manual doesn't say what they are. Discovered the head had snapped for on one on the upper flipper mech and luckily I was still able to get the rest of it out (which had locktite on it)

JP Flipper Mech (resized).JPG

Don't know for sure, but here's what I'm seeing. I ordered a coil stop screw for my POTC last year and it was a #10-32 x 3/4", but it was a socket head bolt.

When I just searched Pinball Life's website for "coil stop" some of the first results on the page were for a couple types of screws that are #10-32. One of those screws says it's for fastening coil stops to Stern flipper assembly bases. Here it is:

https://www.pinballlife.com/10-32-x-38-serrated-slotted-hex-washer-thread-forming-screw.html

Also, when you look up the Stern coil stop on Marco Specialties' website and click on "Related Items" on that page it shows the same #10-32 screw as Pinball Life. Here it is:

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/237-5985-00

There's also this forum on Pinside that seems to suggest #10-32 is the correct size:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/are-stern-s-flipper-screws-all-made-out-of-aluminum

Finally, a site called Action Pinball has this in a product description: "One set does one coil stop. Includes two #10-32 x 3/8 slotted hex washer head screws (non-swage)". Here's a link:

http://www.actionpinball.com/parts.php?item=HWRKIT3

So not 100% but putting these pieces together it seems like that #10-32 size is likely it, and you'd just need the correct length of that size. Hope this helps.

Awesome - thanks! I got thrown off in my searches by the fact that my coil stop screws have 1/2" of thread (while the bracket on the other end of the coil has 3/8" length screws - I'm guessing now that they are 8-32 x 3/8"). I wonder whether Stern have changed to 1/2" screws on the coil stops??

Based on the Pinside thread you found, it seems that these screws are zinc (not steel) and prone to their heads coming off ...

What do you mean when you say the flipper feels a bit loose? Is it that you're hitting the button and there's a delay in the flipper activating, or is it that the flipper doesn't seem to have as much power anymore, or something else?

If the flipper seemed fine before and now it's acting differently, then the leaf switch for the button likely wouldn't be the issue unless you recently did something that caused the leaf to get bent differently than it was before.

If it's that the flipper doesn't feel strong or seems like it's giving a bit when the ball hits it then I'd check the rivet on the coil stop on the flipper mech first. If that rivet is loose then the flipper can lose power and seem a bit loose. It's a very easy part to pull off and check.