I own one pinball machine, Gottlieb's Stargate, which has an upper right flipper that I'm trying to fix. Don't have a lot of experience with pins but am trying to fix it myself.

1. Flipper stopped working. Was consistently blowing a fuse.
-- It worked for a while ( 7-8 games) before blowing fuse again. Eventually stopped altogether.
2. Removed coil and found that coil sleeve was melted.
3. Purchased new flipper rebuild kit (included new switch) and a new coil.
4. Bought a learned the basics of a digital multimeter (I think).
5. Got flipper working but found that flipper was slipping. Part of flipper bat was damaged.
6. Replaced flipper bat assembly.
7. Put it back together but it is not working. Probably wired it wrong.
8. Hoping that sending a few pictures to some of you that know more about pinball machines (probably all of you) will help me see the error of my ways.

Confirmed that:
- flipper is receiving 46v of power coming in to one of the 3 terminals on the coil. 0 volts on other 2 terminals.
- the lower, working flippers have 46v on all 3 terminals of those coils.
- have continuity between the two wires attached to the switch leafs.
- have less than 1 volt coming out of each of the two wires coming from the switch.
- I replaced the wire on the switches with wire I purchased from local electronic store.

Attached is a picture of the replacement coil and the replacement wire for switch (in case this is part of my problem). I've looked at videos on line where the person replacing the flipper knows which terminal should get the wire with the incoming power, which one gets the outgoing power (sorry I don't know my electrical terminology), and which ones get attached too which switch leaf. I'm trying to follow the picture I took of the flipper assembly before I took it apart but can't figure out what I'm doing wrong.

Appreciate any advice you could provide that would keep me from having to pay someone to come look at my machine.

Reattaching images.

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The pic with red coil is the pic from BEFORE I rebuilt flipper and replaced coil. I’m using this pic as a reference for wiring it back.

Pic with white coil is lower right flipper. Slightly different coil. Wire colors are different on this flipper so it’s not that much help.

Was hoping someone could confirm based pic I sent earlier which terminal should get incoming power. Hoping it would be obvious to someone else.

I’ll wire the new flipper in again and send that pic tomorrow. Thanks

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To clarify my testing of continuity on switch leafs, I tested without the switch being connected to the coil. Specifically, I tested the end of the wires connected to the switch leafs.

Regarding testing resistance between lugs, know how to measure resistance between lugs with multimeter. What kind of numbers am I hoping for? Thanks

Just checked continuity on coil. Looking left to right like in earlier coil pic, I have continuity between lug 2 and lug 3. No continuity with lug 1. I’m assuming this is okay because coil is new and I get same result on a 2nd new coil I plan to use on lower flipper at some point. Sound okay?

Resistance between lug 1 and lug 2 is 2.8
Resistance between lug 1 and lug 3 is 2.8
Resistance between lug 2 and lug 3 is 3.9

Sound okay?

Kyle5574, what do you mean by the terminal on the “banded side of diode”. The diode on my coil seems to be in the middle. Which lug would this be on my coil? Thanks for your patience.

Okay. I’ve got voltage on all 3 lugs. I can put machine into test mode and activate the right flipper. Should right, upper flipper be working also in test mode? Mine is not. Is there another way to test upper flipper in test mode? Still learning about test mode.

Kyle5574. So which side of my diode? Is the “band” the black thing in the middle or something else? Again, thanks for helping me understand this.

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Got it hooked back up but no flipper action. With it wired in, I’m getting 37v to each lug, continuity between all 3 lugs, and continuity on leaf switches. Its not soldered in. Was gonna wait until I get this issue resolved.

The coil is new. Could it be bad? I’m still thinking I’m not doing something right.

Thanks for the help.

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zacaj, just so I understand, how would adding this extra wire help? I’ve seen this flipper working before I rebuilt it. I rebuilt it and replaced coil because it kept blowing fuse.

One more question. The right flipper button is attached to two switches that are stacked. Could the switch controlling the upper flipper have, coincidentally, gone bad since I rebuilt upper flipper? Is adding this wire a “workaround” to this switch issue?

Apologies if my attempts to make sense of this situation are confusing the issue. I would like to learn from this flipper rebuild before I attempt rebuild of lower flippers which are working okay now but I expect may go out soon.

Thanks again.

Regarding different continuity readings. When I was getting continuity on only 2 lugs, the coil was not wired in. I got continuity on all 3 lugs after wiring it up. Assume that’s why I got 2 different results.

Not sure about differences in voltage. I got a slightly higher reading when I was only getting voltage on the one “incoming power lug” but not on other 2. When I was getting the lower reading on all 3 lugs, none of them were soldered. Not sure if that matters. Could be MM operator on my part.

I had the whole rebuilt flipper soldered in when I first noticed the issue (guessing this is a rookie mistake). I am a self- proclaimed novice with soldering. Had to desolder to start diagnosing CURRENT issue.

Now I’m operating under the premise that the only stupid question is the one that you fail to ask. Is it critical to get ALL the solder off each lug? Feel free to look at last pic of my new coil.

Will let you know how wire test goes this evening.

Appreciate your efforts!

Connected the two wires you suggested but still no action on upper flipper. I used solid wire. Pic attached.

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It was difficult to measure with my MM but I seem to have continuity on both switches attached to right flipper button. Included pic of these switches on right flipper button.

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There seems to be something else going wrong. Now I’m getting less than 1 volt from incoming power cable (purple/black/white wire). I’m clamping red lead to purple/black/white wire and black to ground bar under play field. I was getting 30+ volts yesterday.

Apologies if I’m having operator issues with MM. sending pic of reading.

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Tried using another new coil.
Each lug showed between 50 and 60v.
Continuity between all 3 lugs
Continuity between wires from switch.
Flipper never moved.
New wrinkle; fuse is blowing almost immediately.
Had trouble with fuse prior to rebuilding flipper. Could usually pay about 6 games before it would blow. Was hoping new switch and coil may resolve this.

Including pic of latest coil wired in.

Appreciate any direction provided toward getting this resolved. Thanks

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Regarding timing of fuse blowing. I checked immediately after powering up machine. Still okay. While in test mode, went to first test that lets me activate right flipper. I’m assuming both upper and lower flippers should work at this point. Click right flipper a couple of times. Check fuse again and it’s blown. Lower right flipper continues to work since it’s on different fuse.

All other fuses have continuity. Is there any reason to change ALL FUSES as a precaution. Apologies if I’m displaying my lack of electrical engineering knowledge. Speaking of which, thanks for for pointing out my AC/DC mistake on my MM.

1. Rewired to match pic of coil before I ever touched it. See pic
2. Put in new fuse. Checked continuity
3. Powered up pin.
4. Tested fuse. Still good.
5. Waited 5 minutes.
6. Tested fuse again. Still good
7. Put pin in test mode and went to self-test step that lets me use flippers.
8. Pressed right flipper once. No action on upper flipper. Just lower flipper.
9. Tested fuse again. Fuse blown.

Appreciate any advice on what action to take next. Again, thanks for your patience.

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Thanks. I have a hard copy of the manual with the schematics. I just don’t have the expertise to understand it.

Zacaj, resistance between two outer lugs is .3

Benhurr, using speaker setting on MM between striped wire and ground bar with power off on machine, I got no beep.

Thanks.

zacaj,

with machine off. Resistance between the two lugs on the banded side of the diode is .2. What's the purpose of this particular test? I'm trying to understand the process of diagnosing these types of issues.

Benhurr,

No beep between the two striped wires. NOTE: My plan is to get things working right before I do any soldering. What is the purpose of testing the continuity between the each striped wire and ground and striped wire to striped wire? I'm trying to follow the logic of this process. Thanks

Zacaj,

Thanks for explanation. Here’s my understanding (or misunderstanding) of my likely issue.
1. Power going to fuse should be reduced by the resistance in the coil and the diode.
2. In my case, there is a short because either my coil is bad or my diode is bad which blowing my fuse.
3. I would have to remove my diode and test the diode and coil separately to determine which of these components are causing my problem.
4. I may have already blown my diode if I wired the striped wires to my coil to the wrong lugs.

Questions
1. Is my description of the situation correct?
2. How hard is it to replace a diode? Do you solder it in?

Thanks for helping me understand this stuff.

Zacaj, so can the capacitor figure into the capacitor on the switch be part of my issue? Or is this unrelated?

Put in new coil. Wired it in. Flipper not working but fuse not blowing. Getting odd readings. Not sure if I’m using MM correctly.

With it wired in. I’m gettin .7 ohms between lug 2 and 3. 1.1 without wires. Readings between other lugs is around 200. The fact that I’m not changing settings on MM and getting one reasonable reading makes me think I’m doing it right.

I’ve included the pic of the reading I’m getting from the incoming power. Do I have MM set right?

I’m not getting the immediate blown fuse but there is still something preventing flipper from working.

Appreciate any assistance. Thanks

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Thanks. Voltage was 76 once I set MM to voltage. Red lead power going into flipper. Black lead to ground bar. That’s more what I expected.

So I’m getting a reasonable ohms reading between lug 2 and 3. 0.7. Why would it be reading 200 between the other lugs? Do I have a bad coil? It’s brand new.

Thanks

Removed eos wires. 3.7 ohms between lug 2 and 3. Assuming I’m measuring it right. Getting continuity.

Getting 200 ohms between other lugs. No continuity.

Does this suggest flipper is good? If so, what is likely the cause of flipper not working?

Thanks

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