The Who's Tommy Pinball Wizard
Data East, 1994I'm working on a Data East Tommy with a flipper problem and I would appreciate some advice. After activating the flippers and releasing the switch, the upper left flipper will stay active. Sometimes tapping the flipper button will eventually cause it to release, but not always.
The flipper switch itself is adjusted properly, and there's no EOS switch on the upper flipper. The lower left flipper behaves normally.
What are your ideas on this?
Quoted from LTG:Next time it sticks up quick turn the game off. If it drops you have an electrical issue. If not then you have a mechanical issue.
Getting that far will let you know where to go next.
LTG : )
It's definitely electrical, but I did check the coil sleeve just in case and it's clean and everything moves freely. Turning it off will drop the flipper, and I can push on it and feel the coil pushing back.
Quoted from LTG:Check the leaf blade switch that fires it.
Does it open ? Anything like metal shavings or flux shorting across the fiberboard spacers between the leafs ?
LTG : )
The flipper switch appears to move normally. I'll put checking for shavings etc. on my list, but since it never fires until I push the button, that seems unlikely. I'm reasonably comfortable saying it's a problem on the flipper board, but my understanding of this system is pretty weak. It looks as though there are some LEDs to check on the flipper board and that's on my list too.
The machine isn't mine so I can't check anything until the next time I go look at it. My Tommy is a major project, so I volunteered to do a little work on this one so that I can have a working game to compare my project to as I go.
I have had a lot of DEs and Segas and on at least three different ones, the problem was flaky diodes on the flipper coils. Symptoms are exactly as you describe.
Quoted from ralphwiggum:I have had a lot of DEs and Segas and on at least three different ones, the problem was flaky diodes on the flipper coils. Symptoms are exactly as you describe.
There's one more thing to put on my list.
Quoted from rancegt:but since it never fires until I push the button, that seems unlikely.
Your description sounds to me exactly like the problem is at the leaf blade switch.
Easy to check. Remove one wire, then hook it up using a jumper wire with an alligator clip at both ends.
Fire the flipper, when it sticks up remove the alligator clip. Then if it drops you know you have a short at the leaf blade switch. If not tackle the board like you think.
LTG : )
Quoted from LTG:Your description sounds to me exactly like the problem is at the leaf blade switch.
Easy to check. Remove one wire, then hook it up using a jumper wire with an alligator clip at both ends.
Fire the flipper, when it sticks up remove the alligator clip. Then if it drops you know you have a short at the leaf blade switch. If not tackle the board like you think.
LTG : )
I'll try that too. This problem would be a lot easier to troubleshoot on an EM, although it's also likely the coil would have melted by this point if this were an EM.
Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.
Great to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!
This page was printed from https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/tech-data-east-flipper-stays-active and we tried optimising it for printing. Some page elements may have been deliberately hidden.
Scan the QR code on the left to jump to the URL this document was printed from.
Rio Rancho, NM