I have seen this. And being a Part that is a wear and tear item , I would imagine a large amount purchased.

Stern absolutely knows about this. A friend of mine bought a JP premium that was a show game from Marco. Stern employees were at the booth. Game was unboxed at the show and by day two the left coil stop was blown out. Mike V. from Stern replaced the coil stop since said friend told them he would not take the game until they did. It took all of 5 minutes.

One coil stop on a month old Elvira LE just shit the bed. Pin is not on location either. Same old situation. Good to hear PBL's replacements are holding up better for whatever reason.

Thanks
Blake

JP LE @400 lifetime plays.
Stern should paste the Serial number right to the front of the cab. Makes it easier for all the warranty requests.

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Maybe everyone should post their coilstops back to garry.

I would get a bunch together in a stocking first, then ship it. Could you imagine. So fitting.

Thanks
Blake

It would have more impact to send them to the members of the investment group who bought into Stern in 2008 (still Hagerty Peterson and Company?) that is nickel and diming the cost cutting to squeeze ever more profit as the prices keep going up (another $100 up on Jan 1 on Pros). If they got a steady stream of one or two busted coil stops all year long, they might get a clue. I don't think it would faze Gary at all.

No, but there are some employees that have a lot more pull than others...

Still, in the end, it's the guy(s) or groups of folks that pay the bills who get to decide where the money is spent... hint- it usually AIN'T on "better parts".

The initial excitement they would get from seeing the holiday stocking is what would really make the disappointment of seeing all those broken coil stops POP though.

Instead of coal.

Thanks
Blake

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love sent to me

Two broken coilstops,
four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree

5 playfield chips
4 ghosted inserts
3 bugged code
2 broken coil stops
And a middle finger on my warranty claim

Pay attention to this advice!

I just replaced the original coil stops on my Beatles Gold. Three of them had the compression washers installed by the factory on the coil stop side--and all three of those coil stops were fragged out, with tons of gold dust on the bottom of the cab where they had been eaten away. But for some reason, the right upper flipper had the wave washer placed on the opposite side of the coil--and that coil stop was perfectly fine.

So the theory is not the coil stops themselves that are bad but the compression washer installed on wrong side of coil causing them to fail?

I've heard some wacky theories before...

It doesn't make sense to me either, looked in Rush game manual and they're supposed to be installed on coil stop side according to Stern.

Coil stops are falling apart. Relocating a washer may alter something but they will fail. Cheap metal and poor workmanship.

Keep buying sterns. Don’t worry about it.

I've never replaced a thin flipper washer in my life; straight in the trash

There's no mystery trick, its just shitty quality.

This doesn't account for why the Pinball Life coil stops last forever once you replace the crappy Stern ones. If the springloaded washer was the problem, it would cause the PBL one to fail, too. It doesn't.

The Stern coil stops are just cheap/defective. End of story.

They are there to reduce vibration of the coil, when people remove them I end up having wires constantly break off the coil lugs.
No big deal at home, but they have a purpose, and I actually replace missing ones to keep games more reliable on location.
I don’t see how they could cause a coil stop to wear quicker though. Some stops are just made poorly and fail quickly.

Terry at Pinball Life uses real materials, that's why they are superb...

I always reinstall the washers too but I don't install them on the coil stop side - always on the other side. I don't think I've had a coil stop fail where I did this - though I've had a few fail when the washer is against the coil stop. I've seen the washers dig themselves between the coil stop and the metal bracket, which would then pry against the coil stop nub every time the flipper flipped...I'm not sure I understand it either but there seems to be something to it.