Precision Pinball Products CNC Flipper System - A Review

For all the advancements in our hobby the last few years – node-based systems, internet connectivity, and lavish LCD screens and assets – the core feature which connects us to the silverball has remained essentially unchanged in decades. Flipper systems are essentially the same as those engineered in the 80s. These systems have proven robust, but still represent a compromise from manufacturers that are inclined to minimize cost as a key element of production. Good enough, right? Afterall, is there anything in flipper systems you might improve upon? Might there be a different balance of cost/performance/adjustability that could appeal to pinball enthusiasts? The lack of innovation in our hobby for improving flippers is a bit surprising. Into this void, a new option has finally appeared. Founded by a seasoned Aerospace engineer and pinhead - John Simone - Precision Pinball Products provides a system of CNC machined parts to replace the plastic molded flippers and bushings that have been standard on our machines for decades.

What improvements does PPPs new flipper system provide? There are several. Most importantly, this system is considerably more precise. As the name suggests, the PPP system provides parts with much tighter tolerances than traditional systems. This pays off in repeatability. I purchased a complete PPP system for my Godzilla Premium – a set of 3 flipper bats, shafts, and matching machined aluminum bushings. The headline from this effort is the noticeable improvement in repeatability. On installation, its immediately apparent how much tighter the tolerances are with the PPP system. Try this: grab a stock flipper at the base and see how much wiggle you can achieve. It’s immediately noticeable. Try this again with the PPP flippers and bushings. There’s no noticeable movement, none.

I had no idea how much shot-to-shot variation was present in stock flipper systems. I was shocked at how much my timing improved with the PPP flippers and bushings. I’m far from a great pinball player. I’m not going to win a pinball tourney anytime soon. I have to spend many hours on a table to tune my timing and dial in my shots. After I installed the PPP system, nearly immediately I was repeating shots in multiples I had never achieved on the stock system.

I hadn’t thought about it, but you get a bit of in-the-moment-timing when trying to loop shots. The loose tolerances in stock flippers works against this. The millisecond level of timing needed to repeat tight shots isn’t helped by sloppy flippers. Sure, the great players are good enough that this isn’t a huge issue. Not me. I have a bit of variance in timing myself. Apparently, the PPP system removes enough variation in the timing due to physical hardware, that the timing variance was now dominated by my own abilities.

And wow, what a difference! I could loop the ramps on Godzilla almost endlessly now. The flipper feel is different, too. More “direct” if that makes any sense? And better. I found it very satisfying. The PPP system flipper bats are slightly heavier (by about 40%) and considerably stiffer than the plastic units and this meant less deflection of the system when catching balls, killing ball speed, traps, and other flipper skills. It also meant more available inertia for things like speed kills. In sum, this flipper system was a pretty significant improvement in feel, precision, and operability compared to the stock Stern setup. On precision and feel alone, this upgrade was completely worth the investment.

There’s other advantages to this system as well. PPP offers interchangeable parts which provides customizations advantages (with slightly longer and shorter bats available). I chose the standard lengths, but I can see circumstances where custom lengths might be appealing (such as setting up games for kids, etc.) Another advantage is the ability to precisely adjust flipper position from above the table. The PPP design is quite clever. The flipper shaft has a conical section which is surface-treated to ensure stable and precise contact with the matching pocket in the flipper bat. A single hexhead screw secures the shaft and flipper bat together. PPP provides a tool to separate these components when needed. This really is an improvement over the pinch-bolt designs used for decades. The nature of a pinch bolt means a slight movement of the shaft in relation to the plunger rod on tightening. With the PPP system, you install the shaft one final time, and you’re done. All final adjustments can be done above the table, in very precise increments if desired. And of course, the aesthetics of this system are quite different. I found the CNC machined parts very attractive.

Now, an upgrade to such an essential system as flippers raises some other concerns. Namely, installation, longevity, and long-term maintenance. Installation was straightforward. PPP provides a wonderful set of printed full-color instructions. I appreciate printed instructions, frankly. I can make notes, and keep them right at the machine without having to consult my phone or laptop. Easy to read with generous photographs, installation was simple. I’d repeat something PPP emphasizes in the instructions: tightening the pinch bolt is a bit delicate. This needs to be tight, and on Stern mechs, the EOS pawl will move as you tighten the bolt. If the EOS pawl rotates too-much, it will touch the bushing bolts and interfere with the full-range of plunger movement. You want to hold the EOS/spring pawl as illustrated in the instructions, don’t overlook that step!

A couple of observations about the install: I used a very light coat of grease on the flipper shafts as recommended. This is now a precision metal-on-metal system, and as such, a lubricant will help longevity. Don’t overdo it here. Generally, grease + pinball is a big no-no, at least outside of certain sealed gear-trains. A light amount on the shaft is all that’s needed due to the very close tolerances which serves to keep the lubricant contained. This system was so efficient on install, that I got a slight increase in flipper-release rebound. This was easily mitigated by using a stronger flipper return spring. I play tested my Godzilla for a few hours to see if flipper fade would be an issue with this system (heavier flipper bats + stronger return springs). I never saw fade, once. I very slightly increased the flipper coil settings (from 230 to 240) to compensate for the springs/increased mass. The coils remained only slightly warm to the touch after a few hours of intense play. It’s way-too-soon to speak to long-term reliability, but I can’t think of any reason this system would be any less reliable than stock bats and bushings. It’s possible that improving the mechanics of the system would result in less wear and tear as the shafts and bushings are no longer interacting in ways that might impart wear.

In sum, this system is a great new offering for the pinball community. With the meteoric rise of pinball as a home-based hobby, we’ve seen 5-figure prices and thousands of dollars spent on mods by many. Given the improvements that the PPP system offers, the price of the precision flippers is shockingly low given the materials and manufacturing methods used . For about the price of a 3D printed mod for your machine, you can upgrade your flippers to an ultraprecise setup. This is truly a new and welcome innovation in our hobby. I’ve since ordered kits for the rest of the games in my collection. Highly recommended.

ethics disclosure: I'm an independent hobbiest with no affliation with Precision Pinball Products. This review is entirely my own with no consideration or compensation from anyone. I bought this kit at full retail price from the PPP Pinside shop.

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I'm an independent hobbiest with no affliation with Precision Pinball Products. This review is entirely my own with no consideration or compensation from anyone. I bought this kit at full retail price from the PPP Pinside shop, link below. FYI.

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/shops/1341-precision-pinball-prod

The PPP system is fully compatible with current flipper mechs. The flipper bats can be used with current bushings or vice versa. Nothing about this system is "non standard". As for maintence, there's basically none. Certainly this sysem requires no more maintainence than current flipper mechs, which require regular service for coil stops and sleeves.

Regarding wear and lubrication, this system has been properly designed. The shafts are s/steel and the bushings aluminum. There will be no galling on the shafts, and the load is very low on this system and well distributed over the length of the bushing. It's operating in the portion of the Stribeck curve where 10^8 or higher cycles should be easily expected for these materials. I wouldn't expect any wear or additional dust generation. There's already many metal/metal interactions in our machines, most giving rise to substantial wear (see: coil stops). This system isn't one of them. It was done right, and the performance shows it.

Finally, the tiny amount of lubrication added might not even be necessary (the developer is testing his parts lubrication-free with success), and the tolerance is so tight on here (on the order of 0.001") that the lubricant is operating in the hydrodynamic regime and fully contained (which also contributes to the stellar Stribeck performance). It's unlikely it's going anywhere for the duration of the part use.

I am independent and have no affliation with PPP. I'm also an engineer with 40 years of experience, including tribology, aging, and corrosion. The information in this review is coming from my body of experience in these areas. I've written several books on these and related topics. I stand by my independent review that this system is very well designed and offers considerable improvements to our hobby.

Yes, it is. Rotational interaction under full-film lubrication conditions produces considerably (by many orders of magnitude) less wear than impact interactions such as coil stops. This is all basic tribology.

The strain rates for plungers hitting coil stops are in the range of 10^4 to 10^5 (1/s) way higher than any wear on a rotating flipper bat by orders of magnitude. At these strain rates, you're creating stress approaching the elastic limits for steel (Young's modulus ~ 200 GPa). This is why coil stops eventually mushroom in a pinball.

My point being that the metal/metal interaction in the reviewed flipper bats won't produce particles from wear. Which was raised as a concern by you as a concern (see below). In my judgement, this is a non issue. There will not be significant wear or dust generation from this system.

No. The system works great on stock coils. It's more efficient and has less energy loss due to slop. In my case, I installed stiffer return springs and I raised my flipper power by 10 points (from 230 to 240) to compensate.

Perhaps some other readers can help me understand the negativity here? I don't get it. I post my own thoughts, contribute my knowledge in an area relevant to our hobby, and I'm challenged and called a "shill"? Do people not understand that this type of behavior both inhibits innovation and makes others less likely to speak up and contribute, both as innovators and users? I put a lot of time into this review, and wanted to provide my objective evaluation of something new in our hobby, something that I felt offered a substantial improvement in an area long lacking in innovation. No, I wasn't paid. I (perhaps foolishly) thought I was contributing to our community.

I feel this system is a genuine innovation. Not one comment on the superior performance. The proof was in the play. I literally started looping shots on my GZ I had never done before. I'm not alone. On the Twitch stream, below, Joel got similar results. He started backhanding ramps he could never have done before.

I would love to see similar innovation in our hobby. When all you can do is level criticism, and mostly uninformed criticism that most engineers could tell you was a nonissue, you're only serving to inhibit advances. Sorry to rant. I've tried to remain factual and state the basis for reasoning behind my judgements.

I did reach out to John as part of my installation. Specifically, I wanted to ask him about the flipper rebound I was getting and if he had any suggestions to mitigate this. We discussed possible solutions, and that's how I arrived at the stronger return springs. I even made a slow-motion video that I shared with John showing the issue. It was in this discussion that I learned of his testing and further details about his system. And of course, I placed a second order with him for the rest of my games. He's a great guy, give him a call. He's happy to answer questions or provide further details.

And yes, I'm new here on Pinside. Not to pinball. I've been in the hobby since the late 70s, and have owned/restored games since the early 90s. I was very active on rgp. My personal situation changed pretty drastically in the 2010s, and I had to give up pinball ownership for a few years. I've recently gotten back in the hobby, including finally having a space to keep a small collection of tables.

You need an electrolyte and limited surface area for this to be a concern. Stainless steel fasteners are bone-stock-standard for use with CNC aluminum parts. They’re everywhere and have been used in this application for decades. There are thousands of examples of use of stainless steel shafts in CNC aluminum parts. Everywhere. For decades. I have RC helicopters with dozens of stainless/aluminum parts in close contact and high precision use. This is a non-issue.

Upgrading the rest of my games. ~10 hours with this system on my GZ, no issues at all. Great performance, no evidence of slipping, flipper deformation, or anything else. To my eye, these are extremely well engineered. Shaft is one-piece stainless steel. The conical section is part of the one-piece machined shaft, no welding, its machined from the same billet, then centerless ground. Tolerance is unreal. Every shaft measured the same on my precision micrometer (accurate to 0.001"). John says the tolerance is exactly that, 1 mil. Note measurement, below. This is precisely 0.250 inches, to 3 places. This is not a cheap part to make, BTW. Very well done.

The flipper/shaft connection is well done. It engages the flipper bat very solidly. So solidly, you have to use a special tool to get them to disengage. It's stayed anvil-solid and tight in my 10 hours or so of play.
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An update on a couple of items. I'm busy installing this on the rest of my games. Finished JP this afternoon. Significantly, I did NOT need to install stiffer springs to damp the flipper-release bounce on this game. It appears the orientiation of the flipper mech with respect to gravity is an important variable here. If the plunger falls "downhill" on release (like GZ), it increases the amount of rebound due to the added mass coming back into the rubber stop. The PPP system benefits from a stiffer spring here. When the plunger goes uphill (or sideways) on release, the opposite occurs. In this case, I didn't require a stiff spring. The stock return springs were sufficient to keep rebound under control. Hence, the need for stiffer return springs will vary game-to-game. So far, my GZ needed them, while my JP did not.

I note on GZ, that the flipper plungers nearly perfectly point upward into the coils (with respect to gravity), a nearly worst-case from a rebound perspective. On JP, they activate to the side, much more favorable from an energy standpoint on release.

Another note. With the stock return springs retained, I found I had to reduce the coil strength slightly to get similar performance. I lowered my JP mechs from roughly 230 to 220 or so. This appears to arise from the added efficiency of the PPP system. You don't need as much coil punch to get the same end result, when other variables are the same (such as spring strength). FYI.
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Installed on the JJP Hobbit. Note that you use a different bushing for JJP/Williams flipper mechs. PPP has both available; be sure to spec JJP. Works beautiful here. No flipper bounce at all. None. Stock springs work great.

BTW, Hobbit is a seriously underrated game. Fantastic layout, code, and assets. As close to an RPG as we have in pinball. Really, really fun game.

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JJP flippers are quite different from Stern. They're much closer - basically the same - as the flippers on the 90s WPC95 games. Yes, they're softer and have a more subtle feel. I actually prefer the WPC95 flipper feel; I always found the Stern setups a bit too snappy. I've gotten used to Stern now, of course.

Back in the lates 80s/90s, the Williams flippers were far-and-away the best. The Data East, Gottlieb, and yes, Stern were all pretty crude in comparision. I just got used to those and still like them. A feature in the JJP titles, IMHO.

Iron Maiden. As with the other games, a substantial improvement. I can hit the left ramp through the bumpers much more easily on this system than I could on the stock flippers. The orb is way easier as well from either flipper. No flipper rebound, stock springs. John is making a batch of shorty flippers, and I've got one (in red) on order for this table.
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You didn't order the bushings? It's the combination of shaft and bushing which gives the no-slop performance. I would only say that my review is perfectly clear that it requires all components in order to enjoy the full benefit of the precision of this system.

You can't evaluate the lack of slop in this system without the bushings. I gently suggest you purchase the proper, complete parts and reassess. The system is most certainly low slop and high tolerance (eg, precise). Take a look at the link I posted earlier. Joel demonstrates this lack of slop between a stock and PPP system.

The bushings are not included in the kit. Those do have to be ordered separately.

Perhaps the following is a bit more quantitative. Runout/slop measurements on PPP vs. the stock Stern parts. By my measurement, the runout on the Stern parts is ~14 mils at the shaft end. The PPP system measures ~2.5 mils at the same position.

FYI.

Respectfully - I mean that - respectfully, this is just wrong. Precision - tight tolerances giving less mechanical slop - is the result of the fitment between differing parts. In this case, 2 parts: the flipper shaft and bushing it rides in. The dimension and geometry of both of those parts with respect to each other will determine the slop. Full stop. The bushing is critical to this. My videos measuring the slop of each system (above) demonstrate this both visually and in quantitative measure.

The thermal expansion coefficient of aluminum is roughly 50% greater than stainless steel. Hence, in this system, as it heats, it will get slightly looser.

I've done some extended play testing on my Godzilla with this setup. While I didn't measure coil temperatures, I did feel them. After 90 minutes of constant play, the coils were slightly warm. Considerably less hot than what I remember before the upgrade.

Also note, I only needed a stiffer return spring in Godzilla. The reason is discussed, above (orientation of the flipper mech is worst-case in GZ for rebound). All my other games did not require a stiffer spring; they're all stock. In all these games (except GZ with the stiffer spring), I had to slightly lower the coil power to achieve the same flipper response. That suggests these are more efficient at energy transfer, and as such, less likely to overheat.

The heating performance could be further tested. I'll see if I can round up some thermocouples and instrument one of my games for comparison to stock setups.

No. This has little to do with the thermal conduction through the system. A more efficient mechanical system will require less electrical energy for the same amount of movement. It has to do with the efficiency of the coils ability to turn magnetic energy into mechanical movement. Any mechanical losses will add to this.

Ultimately, it's an energy balance here. The system will equilibrate at the temperature that balances energy input and output. Some amount of energy (heat) is lost into the coils. This heats them up. They lose this energy (via heat transfer) via radiation, convection, and conduction. The temperature equilibrates to balance between these (like any system at equilibrium). Typically, thermal systems can take a while to reach this equilibrium (months, in the case of the JWST; an hour or two for a flipper coil; it all depends on the thermal mass versus input/output rates).

There's some second-order effects here, so its a bit more complex (for example, resistance generally increases with temperature, compounding the coil heating). None-the-less, more efficient mechanicals will drive the temperature down. By how much would require a bit more detailed calculation and evaluation. I haven't done that.

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Considerable energy is lost due to resonance in systems with low tolerance. In essence, things bang around instead of smoothly rotating (or deform, in the case of the plastic bat, above). All this wastes energy. This is best illustrated in the games (all but GZ) where I didn’t need stiffer flipper return springs. On all these tables, I had to lower the coil 10-15 points to achieve the same performance. That’s a better apples-to-apples comparison. That reduction in coil impulse time (in ms, I think?) is the reduced energy needed. This is ~5% more efficient, going by coil settings, but that’s just an educated guess.

Beautful HS2 retheme. Very nice.

IMHO, the "too consistent" argument is 100% valid. That's a decision everyone needs to have for themselves. This system is noticeably more consistent than stock. I was accurate when I said I started looping shots on the PPP flippers that I couldn't consistently do before. Others (Joel) have reported the same thing. In his case, backhand shots opened up that weren't consistently available on the OEM setup.

As my review states, I'm not a great player. Is this system too consistent? From my standpoint, that's a feature I'm happy with. But, I don't play tournament pinball; I pretty much enjoy tinkering, restoring and playing games in my own home. I also have a soft spot for well-engineered stuff. One reason I've enjoyed Radio Control as a hobby, too, along with watchmaking, shifter kart racing, and a few others. Some of the stuff in those Shifter Karts are a marvel to behold. So well made. I also love a well-engineered model kit. The pic, below, is the lovely Pocher 1/4 scale Ducati. Incredible kit, so fun to build. YMMV.
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TL;DR version:
Load matters on a coil. More load, higher power and temperatures. 'cause, physics.
How do I know? Inductive reasoning.

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detailed and boring version:

What you need to add to this discussion is back EMF generated in the windings due to the mechanical load. If there's greater mechanical resistance to plunger movement, it will generate additional current in the coil via back EMF. So it's not quite accurate to say "the coil was driven the same". Actually, the coil sees higher currents (drive + back EMF) when there's greater resistance in the plunger. The load is said to "induce" a current in the coil (and this effect is also the principle for the common component known as the inductor).

Stated another way, there's no free lunch. Electric motors and coils obey the laws of conservation of energy just like everything else. The power to drive a motor (or a coil) is not just a function of motor speed. It depends on the resistance of the load.*

More load = more work (force x distance) = more power input from the windings. Given that power (the product of voltage x current) into the coils must increase, so too will the heat generation as defined by coil resistance. It just so happens the way nature balances the energy in coils and motors under varying loads is via back EMF. It must be this way, as shown in Maxwell's laws for EM.

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*to cite the dreaded automotive example, this is why an electric car going a constant speed on a flat stretch of road uses less power than the same car at the same speed going uphill. The difference here (at the same motor speed) is the load. Higher load = more power = more current = higher motor (and battery) temperatures.

I hadn't seen the first half of that stream. Joel basically says the same thing I have in my review. He emphasizes the consistency. Nice to see an independent review of these; Joel is at least as enthusiastic about the PPP system as I am.

"I love it. It's brought new life into this game."
"I feel they're more precise. They give me more options now."
"This system brings more enjoyability to the game play. I felt it immediately. I hit a shot consistently I hadn't been able to previously".

- Joel

What direct question did you want answered? I hope you're not referring to me? None of my replies have been "googled". I teach this stuff, often. Not that it matters, but an Engineering Ph.D. (from Berkeley '91) + 35 years experience. My day job is slightly more complex engineered systems.

Nope. Not the reason. It's energy loss. Energy goes somewhere. Either into a desired state (moving the ball) or undesired (flex, slop, resonance, etc.). Less slop = more efficient = less energy for a given amount of ball movement.

This is correct. And if the desired end result is a certain velocity of ball movement, then less energy is required in the coil for a system with tighter tolerance and less slop. QED.

Sure. Now, the amounts here are small in relation to the total, but still an effect. I'll answer these 1 by 1.

If that flipper is flexing, then yes. It takes some energy to flex the flipper. This will be pretty small, and second order, but yes. Slightly more. I could give you the relevant equations for elastic energy storage in solids, if you feel you need these.

Flexing doesn't reduce load. It increases it. It takes energy to flex a material, just as it takes energy to compress a spring.

It's the opposite of what you state. Lack of flex means LESS energy is wasted in compressing flipper material. More efficient = less energy for a given amount of ball movement.

GZ is not the system to be talking about here, as I put stronger flipper return springs in that one game (only; no other games needed them). The only reason I bumped power on GZ was to compensate for the stronger return springs. And to be fair, I don't have quantified data from GZ. Only my play testing that showed mildly warm coils to the touch after about 2 hours of play. Note, in all my other games I reduced flipper power to get the same ball power/movement pre-upgrade. These games didn't require stronger flipper return springs (to damp flipper release bounce).

No. As a system, the PPP is more efficient. Less slop. Less resonance. It's slightly heavier (not much, about 7 grams). Heavier does require more power and presents a higher load. My testing (need to lower coil power all other variables held constant) suggests that the gains in efficiency from a more precise mechanical design outweighs any extra power needed due to slightly higher mass.

Happy to have the dialogue. I looked for a high-speed video of a flipper bat hitting a ball. I couldn't find any. High speed video (thousands frames/s) is a fascinating way to watch dynamic material interactions. The degree of flex and movement in stuff that you think is pretty solid is actually amazing.

As a few examples, look at the super-slo-motion videos here. For the arrow, the oscillation amplitude is over 60 degrees! The golf ball video is pretty impressive, too. Did you know the ball deforms this much? The amount of movement is astounding in high-impulse-load applications with elastic materials. If anyone reading this has a good (5000+ fps) camera, I'd love to see a flipper/ball interaction video.

edit: see below, there is video.

edit: There is some Youtube slo-mo video of flippers. Check this out, at 10:18 or so. Look at all the movement, flexing, and oscilation. This is at 2000 fps. Higher frame rates would show the oscillation in better detail, but you'll get the picture. Your flippers are moving around a lot, especially the slop in the shaft/bushing.

Note how the flipper shaft moves in relation to the bushing at moment the ball contacts the flipper. Several of those impacts show the shaft moving in relation to the bushing over the entire amount of the slop in this system. That's the relative lack-of-precision you have on the OEM system. And this is why the PPP system - with about 6x less slop - feels so much more precise. It's right there in the slo-mo video. This is pretty much definitive evidence of what I (and Joel, and a few others) having been saying about precise flippers for the last several days.

I get it. You're skeptical of these flippers, you're capable of evaluating them without actually trying them, and on that basis, can readily conclude these have no added value for you, and probably no value for anyone else, either. Let's bash anyone that differs with that opinion, too, while we're at it. Cool. By all means, don't purchase these. I'm glad my review can help you reach that decision. My review has served its purpose and saved you both time and money! You're welcome.

As for this question, it's a good one. Warning: the answer requires a modicum of engineering knowledge and common sense. You've been warned.

Great question. You'd think that from the same position, even sloppy flippers would shoot the same shot? Well, that term "same position" is the crux. Flipper mechs have an surprisingly large number of something called "degrees-of-freedom". These are independent variables that effect the structural dynamics of the system. And here's the thing: the ultimate motion of the bat when you activate the coil depends on each one of those variables. Hence, when you say "same position" you have to account for all those variables. If they all aren't the same, then the system is going to respond differently. Just eyeballing the flipper mechs, it looks like there's at least 15 degrees of freedom there. The reasons the same "trapped" shot on a sloppy flipper mech won't shoot exactly the same each time is all those other things are slightly different shot-to-shot.

You know what? NO. I'm not going to spoon-feed basic engineering principles ad infinitum here. Any engineer or competant mechanic reading this thread knows exactly what I'm talking about. If you can't bother doing a modicum of research on your own, especially when I give you the applicability and terminology, then you're just outta luck this time. Most of what I'm explaining here is really basic stuff, folks. It isn't controversial. It something you learn in your first year or two in an engineering (or good vocational machinists) program. Maybe you should consider that as a new career option? The jobs are plentiful and the pay is great.

Sorry. I know this is a rant. Maybe after over 100 replies, the majority of which question everything I say, ignore every reasonable explanation, pictures, video, and data I post, and continue to remain comically ignorant of basic principles, I'm at the point of exhausting my patience.

You can start by watching Joel's Twitch stream. Links posted earlier in this thread. You'll learn quite a bit as he uses these in real time and explains the improvements he sees.

I want to apologize to everyone for losing my patience. That's not the person I want to be. I'll strive to do better.

Me too! I'm actually very, very surprised no one else has provided their detailed comments. Other than Joel (Twitch streams), there's been almost no discussion from actual owners (either way, negative or positive). Those reviews will come, fairly quickly I would think.

The pic below is a flipper linkage. Plunger, plastic tab, and pinch bolt.* There's slop in all of it. Any moving object has 6 degrees of freedom in free space: 3 for translation and 3 for rotation (X,Y,Z, roll, pitch, yaw).** Some of these are constrained when hooked to other parts. If there's slop between those parts, each element can retain a limited range of motion in all 6 degrees, though some of them will be small, some very small. So, that part alone has 6 for the plunger, 6 more for the plastic tab, and 6 further with the pinch bolt linkage.

Now, a few of these are fairly well constrained, but not zero given the low tolerance in the connections. Add 6 more for the flipper shaft and bat. So, just adding those up, you've got 24 degrees. Finally, the coil stop is yet another component that needs to be considered. There's flex in the bracket and coil mount ( a coil will move slightly back and forther with respect to the coil stop. So you need to add another 6 degrees for the coil stop. I'm now up to ~30. There's other, complicating effects that I'm not considering. I haven't counted the coil sleeve as a separate element. That could be an error on my part. You assume rigid, homogenous and unchanging material properties in each element, for example. Non-rigid (flexing) parts can really complicate this and can add many more degrees of freedom. I assume constant material properities. Strength, density, elastic modulus. Those can vary, too, and add additional degrees (as components swell with temperature, for example). But, you get the idea....

Now, to be clear, some of these are very small ranges indeed, but not zero. If you want to mechanically describe the motion of this system, you need to know the position in space and rate of acceleration and rotation of each of those elements. Over 30 of them. My figure of 15 was a judgement that maybe half of these are so small as to be insignificant (for example, its probably ok to treat the pinch bolt, shaft, and bat as a single element). This is why I said "just eyeballing it". A proper analysis of which of these elements dominates the motion (often called a sensitivity analysis) could be done with an appropriate FEA (finite element analysis) code. This is done all the time in industry; we do it with the world's fastest computers where I work that take months (and sometimes a year or two) to complete for a single system.

Finally, just an off hand comment. This discussion explains why I'm such a lousy golfer. The golf swing has literally hundreds of degrees of freedom associated with it. Despite 50+ years of training, I've been unable to control the vast majority of those. I will never have glory on the PGA tour as a result. This is true for basically all athletic endeavors. Getting all those motions to be consistent is non-trivial. Peace.
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*it's probably more correct to treat this as 4 elements instead of 3. The bolt attaching the pinch bolt to the plastic tab is very sloppy in many of these. Hence, that bolt is yet another element. None-the-less, I think you get the idea here....

**you sometimes see X,Y, and Z referred to by the alternate terms surge, sway, and heave.

You’ll have wear between these parts, certainly. The question is how much? It’s well designed from a load standpoint. Lot’s of surface area for the side-loads. There’s piles of engineering studies of metal wear in bushings; I obliquely referred to some of this early in my discussions here.* Considering this tribology, I think these will wear nicely for fairly long lifetimes. As part of my ordering 2nd and 3rd rounds of parts from John, I had a discussion with him about testing. He’s doing a lot on his end. Wear testing. Load testing. He’s even planning failure testing by looking at the peak torque his joint will tolerate before breaking. That’s really impressive for a one-man show selling boutique parts to a small community like us. I want to encourage that, its a service to our hobby way above-and-beyond what many offer.

I knew the moment I said “lubricant” that the pinball skeptics would come roaring out of the dugout. It’s been mantra in our hobby to the point of religion to NEVER, EVER USE OIL OR GREASE IN A PINBALL. That advice is still generally applicable, because the things that a novice might be tempted to lubricate were designed to NOT need lubrication. This system is different. It WAS properly designed to use a tiny bit of lubrication to help long-term performance and reduce wear. By proper design, I mean tight-tolerance, small gaps (less than 0.001”), and low loads over extended surface area. The lubricant you use in that gap shouldn’t be coming out at any significant rate, and neither should contaminants be getting into that gap, either.

All that said, the real test will be in having a number of these parts on real machines for extended periods. This is a new system, and yes, there’s some uncertainty associated with long-term performance. I’m truly comfortable with that element. I can always swap back in standard plastic bushings after all, though you’d lose most of the precision benefits in that case. This isn’t the only metal/metal moving contacts in a pinball. There’s lots of this in coil stops, switch contacts, and occasionally the use of bushings on some rotating mechs.

In sum, I think every effort has been made in this design to mitigate concerns about wear. I was comfortable enough to swap out all the flippers in my games to the PPP system. Its a lovely system. I spent several hours on AIQ yesterday, and it was shear joy to play that game with such consistent flipper performance.

——-

* early in this thread (post #8) I referred to the “Stribeck” curve. This well-established curve in tribology shows the amount of wear in bushings as a function of load, lubricant viscosity, and speed. It’s highly non-linear. Properly designed, you want to operate in the low-wear areas of this curve. John’s design does this.
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Thanks, very much. I'm old enough to do things like this the old-fashioned way, from learned experience and training. I didn't use google for anything in this thread. It's all based on decades of engineering in a complex field. That may seem super-amazing, but its not. Pretty much everything I've talked about is basic engineering that most of the engineers I know could repeat from memory. At least the ones trained in the pre-internet era, when you read actual books and had hard classes that used obscure concepts like "math".

I've wondered about the ubiquitious "black-dust" in well-used games for a long time. I've been very tempted to get a sample of this into one of our XPS or Auger spectrometers to do an elemental analysis and see what this stuff actually is. I, too, have assumed it's metal oxides from wear, but I'd love to have more data on that. The reason I haven't done that is it would be an abuse of my employers resources. I need to think of a legitimate reason to analyze that dust. Maybe I could argue that I'm excluding wear-based aging mechanisms in the stuff we build, and use this as a case study... Hmmm.....

I’m going to give you the 30 second lesson that’s the core of design. Applies almost anywhere. Ready?

There’s 3 main objectives in engineering design: high performance, reliable, and cheap.

Simple enough, right? So, here’s the job of the designer: pick two.

Unfortunately, you can’t have all three. Once 2 of these goals are specified, the third variable is fixed.

OEM flippers chose reliable and cheap. Hence, they forgo high performance. PPP flippers are reliable and high performance. Hence, they cost more.

If you can somehow overcome this basic rule, first patent your design then get rich selling it to everyone. We have a name for these unicorns. We call them “the better mousetrap”. Here endith the lesson.

It's nice to see a few other independent reviews trickling in. I note that all other reviewers are finding improvements in consistency and feel.

There's another piece of news that may be of interest to those considering the PPP system. As a result of my posts here the last week or two, the developer (John) reached out and asked my opinion on a few changes he's considering for his design to further improve long-term reliability. First, I was humbled to have a chance to help in this regard. It's actually really awesome to combine my professional expertise with a hobby I so much enjoy! And, what a pleasure to have the designer reach out and want feedback from his customers. Second, while my thought was the changes weren't needed, they certainly added an extra degree of engineering that should put many skeptics at ease.

The first version of the PPP design was really well-done. There's some engineering details not fully discussed on his product page that I had a chance to do a deep-dive with John in our discussions. The attention to detail and development that John has put into this system is extensive. Honestly, our hobby is fortunate to have someone devote so much effort to a system that really does bring an improvement in play. The second version of his system makes a few changes to further improve serviceability, installation, and long-term reliability.

I'm excited to have John reveal details for all this shortly. In the meantime, to all those folks that already purchased systems, John told me he’ll be reaching out next week with a nice offer to upgrade your system.

This exists. The Phantom Flip on MB is exactly this, and quite inconsistent. I’d be most interested to have this system (with bushing) installed on that table precisely for this reason.

And do note, the statement of “less slop” isn’t something I just pulled out of a hat. I measured it, carefully. The difference in wobble at the end shafts is 6x greater on OEM Stern mechs. Videos posted way earlier in this thread if you want source data.

The only edit to the original post was the addition of the following statement a few minutes after it was first posted, in response to the very first reply asking my affliation with the developer.

“ethics disclosure: I'm an independent hobbiest with no affliation with Precision Pinball Products. This review is entirely my own with no consideration or compensation from anyone. I bought this kit at full retail price from the PPP Pinside shop.”

The body of the post - including my identification as a customer - was never changed or modified (other than spelling/grammar corrections).

I updated this thread (post 185) with information that the developer reached out to me for thoughts on updates to his system. Given that occurred subsequent to my initial review, my ethics disclosure remains accurate in the timeline. As of today, I do have a relationship in the form of unpaid consultation with the developer.

Excellent point, very much. In the 5 games I’ve installed these, 3 were NIB Sterns I purchased and 2 were heavily used, routed games with ~20,000 plays. I should have mentioned I did full rebuilds on the flipper mechs, to include sleeves, coil stops, and linkages.

Only one initial response was made - 2 minutes after I posted the review - and my information was updated literally seconds after that. The proof of this is memorialized in post #3, in which I made the exact same statement.

Your term “responses” is inaccurate. It’s singular, “response”. The following sentence was always present: “I purchased a complete PPP system for my Godzilla Premium – a set of 3 flipper bats, shafts, and matching machined aluminum bushings.”. My status as an independent customer was both clear and clearly stated from the beginning. This did not prevent many, many posts claiming I’m a shill. It was only when the developer also made a post (#140) confirming my status as one of his very-first customers did that accusation recede. Peace.

Thank you. I’ve also supported your products (clear pop bumpers) with enthusiasm. No stress on my end, just a desire to promote my beloved hobby of pinball.

I'm a big trivia fan. I play as part of a regular team every week in a national game (Showdown/Buzztime/Tuesday nights). Here's the visual round. Identify the games and which parts the following pictures are taken from.

Here's a hint:

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To play devil's advocate, I'd gently challenge you to identify examples of rotating parts that get hit by the ball at high speed and hence, have high shock/side loads. I think that's even more representative of the dynamics similar to a flipper bat.

I can't think of any. I got nothing. After all, metal-on-metal moving parts are big no-no.

j/k, obviously. Hope you don't mind a bit of a joke here...

1 out of 2.

A huge hint: second one isn't Stern.

Kidding aside, the real reason I posted those pics is the obvious one. Examples of fast spinning parts that are hit hard and which have metal/metal shafts and bushings. And, given these games come from multiple manufacturers, clearly the designers of these games are perfectly ok with metal on metal rotating parts with substantial side load and shocks.

ding ding ding - we have a winner
Slash solo disk in GnR. That thing gets whacked, hard. Bare steel shaft in a metal bushing. As does the Dr. Strange Portal Disk in AIQ; the bushing carrier is the same part, actually. Used to allow up/down adjustment to level the disk.

Found something interesting, actually. It turns out, Williams used a metal flipper bushing as part of No Fear. This was the long-tube bushing to reach the upper PF in that game. Williams part number 04-10038. FYI.

edit: I shopped out a no Fear about 25 years ago. I don't remember this. I'm getting old...
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The other big modification in your photo is the flipper shaft. The diameter now allows that part to slip through the playfield. This improves flipper mech servicing, providing an option to remove the whole mech if the pinch bolt is stripped. The Stern use of hex heads is a weak point in the design. I’ve had to cut off several flipper bats when shopping games because of stripped pinch bolts. It’s a pain. No more with this design. We’ll done.

Now that John has released the new version of Precision Flip, I thought some might like a bit of behind-the-scenes details. John paid close attention to the responses here, and reached out to me for my thoughts. He had been considering the use of oilite bushings since the beginning, but felt the cost would be prohibitive. We talked about the pluses and minuses, the load path in the bushing, and some small details (Aluminum alloy, stress risers, dimensions). He took note of all of this, and reworked the design tirelessly the last week. When it became clear that a thin bushing could be accommodated without sacrificing strength, he started pricing out the new bushing. Ultimately, he felt the modest increase in cost justified this change. Outside his normal job, he worked this 24/7. The man is tireless! I have texts from him from 5am to midnight, literally.

He machined his first prototypes early this week, and has been testing them vigorously ever since. He devised some accelerated-testing methods which gave him enough confidence to start the first production batch. Watching all this has been fascinating. I can’t tell you how lucky we in the pin community are to have someone bring a truly great product to us as a microbusiness.

I’ve seen dozens of skeptics post about this system the last 10 days. I would hope some of you have the decency to recognize John’s efforts to listen and improve based on constructive feedback. The original design was 100% acceptable, frankly. The pinball community is conservative when it comes to change. Given this, the adoption of a proven design (oilite bushings) can only help with the initial concerns. It’s hard to find other examples of this in pinball or any other hobby where an innovator is this responsive and receptive to feedback. We should strongly encourage folks like John. Precision Flip is a wonderful system, and I’m proud to say I’ve been able to watch it come together from the front lines.

With all the testing I've been doing on my end, I found a little trick to position the EOS pawl. It's not so much a problem on the left-hand mechs, but the right-hand mechs rotate the EOS pawl into the bushing bolts. I found I can just tighten down the bolt, hard, then use a punch (or screwdriver) in the little "pocket" and tap the EOS pawl back into position. Here's a pic of where to put the punch (or screwdriver).
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I just got a single set from John this morning for testing. We have a big Pinball party at our place tonight, and I'll test all weekend. On first glance, there's no other compromise other than cost that I can see. Tolerances are the same, and the same low-play exists between bushing and shaft. I'll report back after we have the party tonight and some time on the games this weekend.

edit: see below. tolerance on the new bushings is considerably better.
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My prior post on the new bushings is mistaken. They are not the same tolerance. They're considerably better. Just measured the slop and runout. Slop of the v2 bushing is just a touch over 1 mil. Old system was 2.5 mils. Runout (concentricity) is zero. I see no runout on my dial indicator. Both measurements show below FYI. Note at the end as I rotate the flipper through 180 degrees. No deflection on the gauge. Precision indeed.

Nice suggestion. I think I'll give this a try on one of them. I have this set as a test bed for John. I'll probably leave the other dry (no lube) for testing purposes. For end use, just a drop or so like desribed above is a good idea.

IMHO, hex head bolts are the way to go here. You can get a socket or closed-end wrench around them, and torque them easily. They torque way better than socket heads, too. This is one area the old Williams mechs were better. IIRC, they used a 7/16” (or was it 3/8”) nut to pinch the flipper shaft. The issue with the Williams mechs was the other side of the pinch bolt. It had a flat, anti rotation portion. That would sometimes wear out and no longer prevent rotation. Then you had to cut off the flipper bat. Been there, done that…

Pinch bolts are often stripped. I've bought or traded for games that required the flippers to be cutout to remove the flipper mech. More than once. Sure, you may have a tool-kit full of options for allen keys. Many customers don't. The combination of cheap Stern bolts, novice customers, and cheap tools can lead to problems.

One thing I've learned in dealing with the public. If something can be fouled up, however unlikely, somebody somewhere will find a way.

I wasn't clear, either. It's the allen-head of the stern bolts that gets rounded out. John's new design provides a very nice, additional option for dealing with that circumstance by allowing the whole flipper mech to be removed with the flipper shaft attached. It's a thoughful touch, and an example of the attention to detail that he's demonstrated in the whole system.

Your install looks great! The red really works on GZ.

Did you install the bushings as well? Be nice to keep track of this, and subsequent impressions. Thanks.

It's been a very busy pinball weekend. We had a big pinball party on Friday night, and I've been play testing all weekend.

In sum, Precision Flip has performed flawlessly on the 5 games I've installed it in. The flipper bats are all solid and no movement in the bat/shaft joint after many hours of play on all the tables. I saw no flipper fade after about 4-5 hours of solid play. I don't have any external fans, BTW. Nearly everyone on Friday commented on the repeatability of various shots.

Regarding the v2 bushings: in my experience, these may play even slightly better. Super-repeatability, perhaps even a touch more than the earlier bushings. No flipper fade at all even with a few hours of heavy use. And they actually sound a bit different, too. You can draw your own conclusions about why; I'm still impressed at how incredibly precise the shaft/bushing combination is [with ~1 mil of slop; see video posted earlier].

A few have asked about using bushings on upper flippers. On most of my games, I did not upgrade to upper flipper bushings. The exceptions to this were tables that have tight, looping shots that might benefit from improved repeatability. I did put bushings on the upper flippers of GZ and JP. In my opinion, those tables were improved in that way, but most of the benefit of the precision system will be on the main flippers.

This system is a real upgrade. The "too-precise" argument is real, and everyone will have to decide for themselves if an ultra-smooth, no-slop, ultra-repeatable flipper upgrade is something they're interested in. I agree with Joel on this. Pinball is more fun when you make the shots you're aiming for. Precision Flip does more toward that goal than any mod released for our hobby. I'll repeat what I said in the very first post of this thread: Precision Flip is a bargain as far as mods go for Pinball. Peace.
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As some folks may not have followed this whole thread, they may not be aware that the new version of the bushings contain an oilite bronze sleeve. These are permanently lubricated and require no grease. You may use a touch of light oil if you wish, but it's not necessary. These bushings should last the life of the machine. Pics below of the oilite bushings in my test game, FYI.

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John includes a very good set of instructions, complete with many color photos to help. Review those, and if you still have questions, ask here. Many of us are available for assistance.

Yes, the bushings are different between JJP and Stern. Make sure to spec the proper ones at the time of order.

What color rubber do you have on your Mando? The blue might look really good with clear, black, or blue rubber.* Otherwise (and I've seen all the colors in person), I'd recommend silver for Mando.

*I had dark blue rubber on my Mando. Looked great.
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Put a green set on my GZ. Looks great; this color is an ideal match to the Godzilla on the PF. Rubbers are Titan light blue silicone. FYI, for those debating color choices. Silver and red also look great on this title.
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Red on AIQ. Purple Titan Silicone. Silver also looks great on this title.

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As mentionned, you use the removal tool provided with the kit. Screw this down to the top of the flipper, then thread the center bolt down to pop it off. Same procedure is used to adjust the flipper. Tip: I've found you really only need to use one screw to hold this to the flipper, saves a bit of time.
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I can only speak for myself. I found a substantial difference in play. Literally. For example, I can now repeat the upper loop shot on GZ many times. Previously, I was lucky to do it maybe twice in a row. The Smart Missile on JP is now about a 50% proposition; previously, it was around 10% at best. The Captain Marvel ramp on AIQ is now very repeatable, with far, far fewer weak shots.

These improvements may have something to do with my status as a really lousy player. I'm old, my timing isn't great, and these flippers seem to have removed some elements of the randomness in the timing. If you're already a great shot and can time these things on stock flippers, you might not see as much gain? Maybe.

Finally, you do need the whole system to for these improvements: bats, shafts, and bushings. We've had at least one person in this thread fail to install the bushings, then state they didn't see much improvement. Just FYI.

The above-the-playfield adjustability of these flippers is a great feature. Of course, Ollie insists on helping everytime I remove the glass....

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Just got off the line with John. He's been working something pretty special the last few weeks that I've been helping to play test. He says "it's just about time to let the cat out of the bag." I'm not one for spoilers, so no more hints from me. You've been given enough already.

John should answer that. I know he's ready to roll out his latest innovation, and they compliment his current offerings very, very well. You won't go wrong either way. For any more info, I'll wait for John to provide details.

A bit of a closer view for those so interested.

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I've had a couple of versions of this design for the last 3 weeks and done some extensive play testing at John's request. In sum, they're basically a high-performance flipper bat. The key difference is low-weight. These do have a different feel than the regular flipper bats. They're snappier and more lively, if that makes sense? The difference is definitely noticeable. I suspect the free surface of these bats contributes a bit of elastic response to the ball hit as well, helping with the "snappy" feel these have. They've held up perfectly, no issues with strength, deformation, etc. They really are a nice alternative to the standard design. Depending on the layout and your style of play, you may prefer this design. It's so easy to change these out, you can try both styles and see which you like.

It's actually been eye-opening for me to see how much difference flipper bats make to the whole play experience. As noted throughout this review thread, Precision Flip does provide more control over shot making, at least for me. With this high-performance, hollow design (John's working title for these is "ghost flippers"), you now have the option for a different feel. I wouldn't say one is better than the other. It's more of a case that you should try the various options to see which you prefer. I think John is very wise to sell these as an add-on. You'll have to experience both types to appreciate the difference and decide.

In terms of aesthetics, the ghost flippers look amazing, even more-so in person. The inside is basically a mirror finish, and it reflects the PF art really, really well. A very different look than any other flipper I've seen. The quality of the CNC machining is outstanding. John takes great pride in these (and the whole system), and I've had another front-row seat to the whole development process. The details needed to pull this off are amazing, actually. I hope folks appreciate just how much work and care it takes to produce these. John did several iterations of this design, sometimes with small changes of only a few mils in various dimensions. Extensive play testing (which I got to help with!) was used to refine these throughout.

I'll be interested in what other people think when they get a chance to try these out. I can say with confidence that the whole Precision Flip ecosystem is filling out nicely (colors, flipper sizes, bat designs) with options for just about anyone. John has worked non-stop the last month (literally, he's spent 6-10 hours/day on top of his full time job) to bring these to our hobby. Thank you John, for all your dedication!

Here's a set I play tested on Iron Maiden. If you look closely, you'll see a slightly different design on the upper flipper. We did a ton of testing of these the last few weeks.

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This is really good! Halo Flip. I like it! I'll still remain neutral, but I'm more neutral about this one so far.

FlingBats

You forgot the "+"

It's gotten quite fun and useful, absolutely. The first week, not so much. I got called all sorts of names and was accused of being a shill, etc. I'm just glad that others are finding the same advantages I did. I was a lonely voice for a couple of weeks, until others started installing these.

You called it. And, to be clear, it's overall now been a 100% awesome experience for me. Thanks to my posting the early review, John reached out and asked my opinions for his upcoming ideas. Most significantly, we consulted on the oilite bearings that become v2 of the bushings, and he sent me a couple early versions of the Ghost Flippers to playtest. I've had lots of fun discussions and a grand time helping John in a bunch of little ways, something I've enjoyed immensely.

John is way too modest to mention any of this, but he has a long and well-known history in another hobby I enjoy: RC Helicopters. He's quite famous in that community as an early pioneer. Not only was he an AMA National Helicopter champion in the 1970s (when it was REALLY hard to build much less fly these things), he and his father formed a famous company selling RC Helis (Kavan). That's a story itself (a plane crashed into their factory, and John barely escaped with his life). During all this, he was THE RC Heli guy for Hollywood. He's did tons of models and flying for many blockbuster movies, including Blue Thunder and the Towering Inferno. Look it up. The guy is literally a Legend. I hope he doesn't mind me giving a bit of his background. He's way more than qualified to build the best pinball mod of the year.

As the subject of flipper rebound has come up a few times, I'd thought I'd add a bit of info as well as some solutions for anyone that might experience this.

First, it's pretty rare. I only saw this effect on GZ. All the other games I've installed Precision Flip into have not had excessive flipper rebound. IMHO, the orientation of the flipper mech matters, with games that have the mech in a vertical orientation with the plunger returning downhill being the most susceptible.

When this first arose, I did a bit of testing I shared with John. I took slo-motion video (200 fps) of the effect and various solutions. Here's one of those videos from my GZ. The 2 flippers here have different return springs. The flipper on the left has a shortened return spring making it stronger. The flipper on the right is the stock spring. You'll clearly see the difference, below.

That video was the original, all aluminum bushings with (roughly) 2 mils of slop. I found the new oilite bushings (with less than 1 mil of slop) also dramatically reduced this problem. So much so, I didn't need to use a stiffer spring on GZ.

So, in sum:

1) it's rare to have excessive flipper rebound. I only saw this on GZ using v1 bushings and stock springs.
2) it can be fixed by either using a stiffer spring (remove a few coils from stock) or just use the v2 bushings.

Hope that helps.

My reading of this post is that it's quite supportive of John's system. Zambonilli provides a point/counterpoint to the various discussions that have occured in this thread, concluding that John has been responsive and willing to modify based on constructive feedback. Just FYI.

I've been play testing a set for almost 3 weeks now, no issues at all. I've been moving the flippers around to various games (like the upper flipper in AIQ) that really takes a pounding. No bending or any other issues. They've proven quite durable. I know John as been doing a similar amount of playtesting. FYI.

Awesome name! Good fun, thanks for letting the community participate.

Flex in the bushing is a contributor to slop. Aluminum is considerably stiffer than the nylon OEM bushings.

Titan low-bounce rubber works well on these, and is slightly thinner, FYI.

Thanks for the detailed review. You might consider cross-posting this to the JJP owner’s thread.

On a related note, it’s nice to finally see some substantial independent reviews coming in. Thanks to everyone for taking the time to provide your thoughts. Keep ‘em coming!

I have a request for the community that has these installed. It concerns flipper fade, or rather, the lack of flipper fade with this system. I’d appreciate the thoughts of those that have these installed and have played a few longer sessions (under conditions that might give rise to flipper fade).

After about 6 weeks of use on my various games, I’ve not had flipper fade on any game. Note, I don’t have any aux cooling for the flipper coils on any of my games. If you’ve read my prior comments, you know I turned down the flipper power on these, something that nearly everyone else appears to do. As we discussed at length about a month ago, Precision Flip appears more efficient and hence, they’re more powerful than stock. I had speculated that this system might not suffer from as much fade, and with almost a month and half of testing, I’m still of that opinion.

Has anyone seen fade after installing these and adjusting the power to be stock equivalent? Conversely, have you not seen any fade where you did previously? This is a substantial benefit if it can be confirmed in use. Would be nice to gather some data from the community on this one aspect of performance. Thanks.

For comparisons, yes. For actual performance degradation, maybe not. The highly efficient power transmission with Precision Flip could (potentially) mean that even increased coil resistance doesn’t mean as much fade. We’ve not had much discussion of this here, one of the reasons for my request.

The ability to quickly change bats has attracted a bit of attention from tournament organizers. I know a couple have been in contact with John for this very reason. This isn’t new, many tournaments will change out to shorter bats for a tournament. John’s system makes this quick and easy. I also know John has supplied a few sets as prizes/gifts for some upcoming tourneys. FYI.

edit: changed context from "mid-tourney" to "for a tourney"

For example, here’s a tourney organizer that does change flipper bats:

Ah, yes. You may be right and I misunderstood. I do vaguely recall a discussion of changing to shorter bats in some tourney. I'll see if I can find it, but it could just be another senior-moment for me. Way too many of those lately.

Just to add to John's description, I've installed these in 6 games and haven't had any tight-fit of the bushings. The clearance has been pretty generous. If you do find this happening, it's likely due to a PF that has an undersized hole. I would not force a bushing into this from underneath, you'll risk chipping the clear coat. Get in touch with John, and he can provide some options for enlarging the hole safely.

Here's a few pictures of the normal fit of the bushing. Note the first pic is the old-style bushing with no oilite. All new bushings have bronze bushings, as seen in the 2nd pic.

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Does anyone know how the process for the TWIPY awards work? I can't find any evidence that This Week in Pinball has ever reviewed or discussed Precision Flip.

Add The Hobbit to the list.

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I've been nagging John to do another anodization (color) run on both the miniflippers and the Halographic Pros. It's not cheap, unfortunately. To help, perhaps we should list our 3 preferred colors for this. Here's mine:

Gold
Red
Black

Come on, John. You know you're going to cave and make this happen...

WOW! Those may be the best table yet for the Halographic Pros. Stunning.