If you are talking about the kind of mech where the allen screw pushes directly on the flipper bat shaft, you might want to consider starting with a fresh bat. They get an imprint in the shaft and the allen screw will find that spot again when tightened. If that spot isn't exactly right, it can be frustrating. If you have a new bat with no "memory" mark on the shaft, I just tighten a little, then check, tighten a little more, check. Make the memory spot in the right spot that way.

This or I get the flipper bat Allen screws tighten enough that the flipper bat doesn't swing freely but can be adjusted to the position you want before tightening the rest of the way.

Thats what I have been doing up till now.....just wondered if there was anything else.
Sounds like I am on the right track.

Thanks
John

vid1900 i have noticed recently on my ST Pro that the left flipper (while strong and otherwise working perfectly) has some play when a ball hits it at full speed.

For example - I have the left flipper up (engaged) and the ball flys down the left orbit bounces on the flipper - the flipper 'gives' a bit if that makes sense - it moves towards the unengaged flipper position just a little - before returning to the fully engaged position immediately. This does not happen with right flipper.

Is there any way to remedy this? Not a huge issue by any means, but it would be good for it to feel solid like the right.

Sounds like it may be a sloppy bushing. The hole for the flipper shaft may have elongated, allowing more movement than when new?

Is it worth converting a Data East flipper from the early spring over plunger style to the external spring style?

I have a Laser War that just broke a plunger link. The coilstops are concave and the EOS switches are pitted, so I'm going to rebuild them both.

My biggest concern over converting them is how wide the switch stack is, I think they might get in the way of an external spring. It looks like it might be doable with the original pawls, but the new square versions (Example: http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=3524 ) move the EOS activator from a dedicated pin to being part of the screw that tightens the flipper. Moving the EOS switch activator will also mean moving the switch stack farther out. That will make it harder for an external spring to clear and might get in the way of the nearby lamp socket.

20170213_200259 (resized).jpg

Also, the rebuild kit comes with capacitors. If the originals did not use them, should they be added?

Any help that you can provide VID would be great.

I can't figure out what to do with my ST LE. My 3rd right flipper stays stuck up.
1. Replaced Coil Stop
2. Replaced sleeve
3. Replaced plunger
Turning game off the flipper stays stuck up.
I tried spacing and I've pushed it as far down as it can go to the play field and can still fit credit card underneath easily.
I went to this thread but nothing is working. https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/right-flipper-sticking-stern-acdc#post-1291857

.

yes it is smooth. sometimes it stay stuck like it on a weak magnet feel.

Thanks vid. My machine only has 900 plays on it so wondering if it's something I may be able to fix? Rather than replacing if possible...
If it is a case of replacing I may leave it for now - it doesn't affect gameplay and I've never rebuilt a flipper before - I can live with it if so

For the "UDATE OLD SOLID STATE FLIPPERS INTO FLIPTRONIC STYLE (p3)" conversion, how strong are the SFL 19/400 - 30/750 coils compared to the original SFL-20-300/30-800? Stellar Wars is a big playfield. With all the slop and wear they have now, some shots barely go anywhere, but when everything lines up right it gets back to the top really easy.

This and the Laser War war flippers I asked about before will be my first two flipper rebuilds.

Have you done any math/etc on this? I've been wondering how the extra windings, but over a longer length of coil, play out

Thanks, that works for me! I don't quite understand all the coil differences yet, but I'm sure I'll pick it up as I start getting into fixing flippers/pops/etc.

Hey vid thanks for this great topic and the fantastic instructions.

I'm about to embark on the restoration of a Firepower machine. Fortunately it is already in excellent shape (in my opinion) from a playfield, cabinet, backglass perspective. Is single owner HUO and was kept in my in-laws game room for 30+ years.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/the-firepower-club/page/24?hl=walamab#post-3608170

I'm working my way through your tutorials for bullet proofing System 6 in preparation for working on the boards.

My question today pertains to the flippers. They DEFINITELY need a rebuild. I'm looking at completely replacing the mechs as you suggest in this forum with the pinballlife.com parts you mentioned in a MUCH older post.

When I look on pinballlife.com's site, I can now select the SFL-19-400/30-750 coil but it is unclear to me how to specify the High voltage EOS switch. Is this something I just need to mention when I order? Will they know what I'm talking about? (because I don't feel like I know what I'm talking about .

Sorry for the long post and thanks again for your unbelievably helpful tutorials!

Isn't it just the normally closed EOS in the dropdown on http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=172 ?

Great! Thanks for the super fast response and clearing up my confusion.

Read through most of this great thread but still having a problem. I have a weak right flipper on my new Batman66. At first it was pretty intermittent but over the last few days it has gotten noticeably worse. One out of every 3 flips is a problem. It seems to have a lot of trouble rebounding balls on the tip of the flipper. I did install a playfield protector before the first game was played so I'm not sure if the problem existed before I removed the flippers. I checked the right flipper button EOS and the gap was noticeably wider than on the left (working) flipper. I adjusted it but no difference. I ran a crisp bill through both EOS switches and also checked for cold or broken solder joints. I didn't have a magnifying glass handy but the connections seemed solid. I used a gauge on the flipper bushing when reinstalling the bats. There is some slight vertical play in the flippers but no slop or drag. When continuously hitting the flipper button it appears to function normally. When flipper is up I tried pushing it down with moderate force and it doesn't move. Again the problem has gotten noticeably worse the last few days. Am I missing something? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

I left my meter at work and will check tomorrow. In the meantime please see video below. Again the right flipper button is giving me problems. Notice when I do a switch test on the right flipper. It says "right flipper eos" then when pushed it says "right flipper button". No problem. Now notice when I push the left flipper. It says "left flipper eos" then when pushed it keeps saying "right flipper eos" and NOT "left flipper button". Is this correct? My KISS does not test like this. Could it have something to do with the left flipper being used as a full orbit plunge option?

Hey Vid,
Working on a friend's Big Guns and noticed that the upper flippers seem very strong. Lots of air balls. Looking through the manual it says FL-11753 coils for the upper flippers but this one has FL-23-600s instead. Are these coils similar strength? Also are the 23-600s not series coils while the 11753s parallel? Not sure if I should change or just leave it.

That's what I thought. So what do I need to do to go from the series coils back to the proper parallel coils? Any rewiring needed? Resistors?

Great thanks.

Hey vid, is it a good idea to put resistors in when i change back over to the parallel coils on the big guns ? I notice that the lower flipper that have the parallel coils have no resistor. Not sure if they are need to extend the eos contact life on a big guns. Just wondering because all the rebuild kits for this game include resistors.

Sorry, brain dead! yes, i meant caps.

Vid, is there any reason not to put those caps on older games?

So i just did rebuilt the first big guns flipper assembly and changed back over from series coil to parallel . Wondering if there is any reason why i cant try it out before doing the
2nd flipper assembly which is still a series coil just to make sure its all good . Does all look ok ? 50 v power is on banded side of diode lug, single eos wire is on center lug, and other eos/ground is on non banded side. flipper 1 (resized).jpgflipper2 (resized).jpgflipper3 (resized).jpg

Also added a cap as i had it. Just soldered it to either side of the eos switch. No polarity correct ?

Hi vid. So I noticed at the weekend that I have quite a noticeable snowing of gold flakes under my left flipper in the cab. I think I read somewhere that it is the brass on the coil stop? This is the flipper that 'gives' a bit when engaged and hit at speed. What would you advise, will just a new coil stop sort it? Not sure how urgently I should change it. Thanks

Also another newbie question - but are 'coil stop' and 'end stop' the same part?

Correct,
One thing I would like to see on your setup there SUPERBEE is insulation on those cap legs like the factory did it. I use some small heat shrink if the factory red insulation is missing or no good.

I can't believe I didn't do that in the first place. Thanks for the heads up. Makes sense.

i just realized that the two upper flipper assemblies had a different wire going to the center lug on the eos switch. Just need to confirm if from there it goes on the inner or outer leaf of the eos switch ? For what i am talking about i will call the outer leaf the shorter one. Has the extra leaf to make it stronger..Hope you know what i mean ..

Thanks Vid, I don't think I worded that very well lol. No photos atm but let me try to explain better. I just need to confirm... the single eos wire that is connected to the center lug on the coil...does this wire connect to the longer leaf of the eos switch or the shorter one or does it matter? As of right now I have the 50v power (2 wires) connected to coil lug with the banded side of the diode. I have the ground and one of the eos wires connected to the coil lug with the non banded side if the diode. And I have a single eos wire connected to the center lug of the coil. I just now need to confirm which eos wire goes to which side of the actual eos switch. Does that make sense?

Perfect. Thank you sir!