But should I make new permanent pins ? I don't believe the flippers need that kind of back support during regular play.

As Shakespeare would say : To (rub)be(r), or not to (rub)be(r), that is the question.
Don't worry about it, Hamlet, use a straightedge !

My Nine Ball came with Gottlieb flippers, but I didn't get to try them before I changed the flipper assemblies. I also inadvertently bought Williams flippers and had to buy another set of classic Stern/Bally ones. So I've seen them all, but I'll just keep it as originally intended.

The header removal from all the boards is slowly but surely driving me mad. The last row resisted all my attempts, despite removing the plastic bits and reflowing the pins with "fresh" solder. I ended up pulling a few pins cold with pliers, only to discover it took the metal pad away with them (top side). How do I fix it ? Maybe the pads under the boards are enough (I know it won't) ?

Top side.jpg
Back side.jpg

It's a 30 watts iron with a flat head (I seem to have lost the pointy head). I'm not sure what you mean by desoldering tool. I use desoldering braid if that's what you mean. I didn't remove the excess solder yet on the pads on the second picture, but it's not an issue when the pins are removed. When they're still on, that's another story ...

The top side is the first picture (I cut short the pins to remove the plastic casing), and the holes 3 and 4 from the right definitely lost their metallic pads. What you see is a lighter shade of the green whatever-material the board is made of.

That's funny, I read everywhere people praising soldering braid as the second coming of Jesus, over the solder pump that send solder flying all over your body. Besides, some of those pins will not get their solder to melt, even when trying to put some new solder over it to bond.

Despite the trend I see on this site, I don't have the intention to buy another pinball in the short or medium term, and I don't have the room for it anyways. I could buy a (cheap) 40 watts iron if that is what it takes (tell me if it does), but I don't feel like investing yet some more money on a tool I would not use after that specific work.

I know I'm not making things easy for me, but I'm fed up with throwing the little money I have on this machine. All these little expenses add up and I have to slow it down. I was surprised by how much all those little connectors that I didn't plan to replace at first actually cost me.

I'll definitely get a desoldering pump. Will a 40 watts iron also help me with those hard to melt solder "volcanoes" around the pins, over my current 30 watts iron ?

What about my metallic pads issue ? Are the ones on the back of the board enough or should they be on both sides to avoid solder to overflow ? If so, is there a simple homemade fix or do I have to buy some specific replacement pads ?

Then I'm very tempted to remove the remaining pins the same way and not worry about ripping those topside pads. In fact I might do it with all the remaining 0.156" header pins I have to replace (the 0.1" ones are way easier to remove by the usual melting way).

I'll still wait for a second opinion though before doing the operation.

Nice try but I put too much work and money on it to sell it now. It is my favourite pinball machine and it's no coincidence that I bought that specific machine. I wouldn't have bothered (myself and my wife) for any other one. I know I'll have to go all the way no matter how tedious it is.

You gave me lots of useful advices since I started this restoration dothedoo, but boy do each one hurt my wallet, and some of my sanity !

Oh, so I should make new one and put them on permanently ? I installed brand new flipper assemblies, but they are classic stern reproduction (from Pinball Life), so they should require the same kind of support.

So, I didn't follow any of your recommendations guys. I didn't get a desoldering pump, and the braid did the job just fine. I also just bought a 40 watts iron, and those 10 additional watts were all that I was missing, and things went (rather) smoothly.

I finished those damned connectors, and at point I wondered if this was not a joke you make to newbies like me : "Yeah man, you have to redo ALL the connectors ! "

Anyways, it fixed the odd behaviour, but the machine still seems to have many issues, and not exactly what I reported in this (edited) post earlier. I'll report again after more thorough investigations.

Something blows the underplayfield fuse. When doing the test mode, the 14th solenoid doesn't fire, and the fuse blows after solenoid 17 fires.

The manual says the 14th is the drop target n°6, but it's solenoid fires correctly in 13th position.

It seems the loop drop target (firing in 17th position when in test mode, while the manual says 18th) will also blow the fuse when activating in game.

Both solenoid have correct resistance when tested.

While in game, and when the ball goes in the lock area and all targets are dropped in sequence, the target 6 will sometimes drop with its solenoid firing repeatedly, freezing the game but not blowing the fuse. The fuse will then blow when restarting the game. I don't know what to make of it.

Edit : See later post for an update.

Well, if I must ...

Naughty imp ...

While I wait for your suggestions, I have another puzzling issue with the flippers. When they're up (from a starting position aligned with the rails and the pins pressing against the rubbers), their rubbers are pressing hard against the edge of the rails, denting the rubbers and pushing back the flippers when the smaller coils take over at the end-of-stroke, making the flippers jerk between their two coils, which I assume is not good.

After checking various videos of this pinball, I can safely say my flippers can't rest at what would be their normal up resting position. What's wrong ?

An update on the fuse blowing issue :

During test mode, the knocker, which should be activated in 3rd position, is only fired after all the others and not in sequence with the others. That should explain the shift between the manual and what I witness.

The 14th solenoid which is not fired is actually the flipper-enable relay. It works when I hold the two flippers buttons during the sequence. So everything is fine up until the 17th coil is activated (the loop drop target), then the fuse blows. Target 6 coil works during testing, but there's the weird behaviour in-game I described earlier.

Loop target coil has the correct resistance and the corresponding driver transistor on the solenoid board reads OK. Should I cut one end of the coil diode to test it ? Something else ?

With the weekend coming, I probably won't be able to buy a new one before Monday. Is there anything else I should check or is the diode the most probable culprit for the fuse blowing ?

I'm also curious to hear your opinion on my flippers problem.

Left flipper in up position.jpg

Maybe it's a matter of fine tuning, but right now it doesn't work at all.