(Topic ID: 76441)

Replacing flipper button opto switches with arcade microswitch buttons?

By Fleskebacon

10 years ago


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#1 10 years ago

As the topic says, will this be a good idea? I'm not sure if they would feel right on a pinball machine, but I have a bunch of these lying around from arcade machines, so they would be a cheap fix. The buttons are crisp and fast and would never need adjusting.

The switches are rated for 250V, so that shouldn't be a problem.

The games in question are JD and DH.

My main concern is the dual flipper setup, because they are actually two separate switches. It would probably mess up the switch matrix if I just connect them together at one switch? Any ideas here?

#2 10 years ago

You'd need two of them to work right.

They are dedicated switches so don't worry about messing up a switch matrix.

It would work with one or two.

LTG : )

#3 10 years ago

Don't do it. No reason to. You can get replacement parts. $70 if you need both sides:

JD Left side:

http://www.greatlakesmodular.com/products/pinball/jd_rfb.html

All others:

http://www.greatlakesmodular.com/products/pinball/wpc_ufb.html

Don't hack the games up to save a few bucks.

#4 10 years ago

Jalpert: I see your point, but to be honest I was also a bit curious if the microswitch buttons could play better... And thanks for the links, it was actually the left hand JD assembly which got me onto the idea, as I couldn't find it anywhere.

#5 10 years ago

On the pinball Ninja site http://www.pinballninja.com/ there is a repair that replaces the opto type switch
Repair #741Williams wpc Indiana Jones shows how to replace Fliptronic with a regular stand up, mechanical target switch
I will not copy and paste from the site out of respect for the ninja and all of his great work and advice but donate to pinball ninja (which is an awesome site and well worth the $20) and take a look at the repair article.

njg

#6 10 years ago

I've gotten machines in the past with regular switches hacked into where the opto boards should be. They do not play better.

Quoted from Fleskebacon:

but to be honest I was also a bit curious if the microswitch buttons could play better...

#7 10 years ago

I would think they would play worse. I think flipper skills like tap passes might be impossible because of the mechanical nature of the microswitch.

#8 10 years ago

Thanks for the advise, will go for the kit from Great Lakes.

#9 10 years ago

I just converted an IJ back from the hacked leaf switches. Gameplay is substantially better with the GLM kit. the path of adventure also works a lot better with the GLM kit. My only knock on the GLM kit (and I havent read for a fix yet) is that the right flipper is activated when the game launches a ball (because the GLM kit is magnet based and the coil from the shooter is activtating the GLM magnet field). this isn't too much of an issue unless you are cradling multiball and a ball is fed from the lane (gives a slight nudge to the flipper).

#10 10 years ago
Quoted from Fleskebacon:

Jalpert: I see your point, but to be honest I was also a bit curious if the microswitch buttons could play better... And thanks for the links, it was actually the left hand JD assembly which got me onto the idea, as I couldn't find it anywhere.

I would at least use leaf switches. Micro switches trigger at the end of the button press where leafs can trigger at the start. Believe it or not, the difference in timing was slightly noticeable when building a virtual pinball so would be noticeable on a real machine as well.

#11 10 years ago

This can usually be fixed with fine adjustments to the magnets. Not always easy to find the sweet spot, but I've always been able to.

Quoted from ralphwiggum:

My only knock on the GLM kit (and I havent read for a fix yet) is that the right flipper is activated when the game launches a ball (because the GLM kit is magnet based and the coil from the shooter is activtating the GLM magnet field).

3 months later
#12 9 years ago
Quoted from ralphwiggum:

I just converted an IJ back from the hacked leaf switches. Gameplay is substantially better with the GLM kit. the path of adventure also works a lot better with the GLM kit. My only knock on the GLM kit (and I havent read for a fix yet) is that the right flipper is activated when the game launches a ball (because the GLM kit is magnet based and the coil from the shooter is activtating the GLM magnet field). this isn't too much of an issue unless you are cradling multiball and a ball is fed from the lane (gives a slight nudge to the flipper).

Got info from GLM on this, as I had the same problem with the left ball shooter. Flip the magnet, problem solved!

#13 9 years ago

I would stay away from arcade micro switches for the reason that Markmon states above. Reaction time slows.

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