I just had a good experience and thought I would share. I was having problems launching the ball on TFTC. The tongue on the door handle did not have much spring. When I lifted the playfield and watched I could see the sluggish movement of the center cylinder that turns to hit the switch. I was hoping I didn't have to take apart too much and risk cracking the white metal pieces that are probably unobtanium.
In the pictures below you can see I removed the handle part by removing just 3 screws. When apart I saw it was fairly clean but definitely sluggish. I cleaned with Isopropyl Alcohol and that was it. If I was going to lubricate I would use powdered graphite since this is an actual door mechanism.
Anyway - Picture 1 you can see the spring is reachable from the top. A compression spring over a pin in the hole. I pulled it with tweezers and out came most of a spring I could tell was not terminated right. Down in the hole I pulled a few snapped off windings.
In picture 2 you can see the snapped off piece. So where did I get the new springs? Rather than spend a few bucks on one spring I have on my shelf a Harbor Freight assortment of about 200 springs for probably $3 to $5.
Using the tweezers it slid down over the pin and stayed in secure. Bolted the handle back on the game and tested in witch test a few dozen times with perfect triggering and a nice feel.
Reno, NV
