Hi Vid,

I've purchased the parts to do the flippers on my friend's Gorgar machine. I ordered the "Full Flipper Assembly For Williams/Bally Machines From 02/1992 To 10/1998" (http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=172) from Pinball Life. I put these in my Firepower and the game is like night and day compared to the old flippers.

When I looked at the existing Gorgar flippers, I noticed that the white nylon bushing that guides the flipper shaft through the playfield is held in place with fin shank screws. If I pop out the screws, there will be empty holes on the top side of the playfield.

What do you normally do with them? I was thinking I might be able to put the nuts back on them, trim the excess with my Dremel and hopefully the new mounting plates have enough clearance to go over top of them.

Any suggestions?

Hey Vid,

I did a flipper rebuild a few months ago on my Firepower and I replaced everything with new mechs from Pinball Life. A few days ago I noticed a loud buzz/hum coming from the right flipper only. It happens intermittently and only when the flipper button is held in. I looked back through this thread and found someone else that experienced something similar and you told him to check the play in the coils and that everything was tight.

I've had a look at both flippers and both coils seem to have the same amount of play in them. Everything is tight and the EOS gaps are good (measured and set using a feeler gauge). The other thing is that the coil get pretty hot very quickly when you hold the button in.

I'm not sure what else I can check. Any suggestions? I can post pictures if necessary.

Thanks,

Dino Z.

What components should I be checking? Everything is brand new except the switch for lane switching. I can unsolder and resolder everything. When I put the game in diagnostic mode, lift the playfield and hit and hold the flipper button everything looks fine. I see a bit of an arc when the EOS switch opens but it is no different than what I'm seeing on the left flipper. Is it possible that I have a bad coil or that something is misaligned?

As I mentioned, it is intermittent. I can hit and hold the button a few times and everything is fine. Then I do it again and I get a buzz/hum. I release and try it again and it goes away. And this isn't a quiet buzz/hum, it is fairly audible and I can feel it when my hands are resting on the machine.

Anyone see anything obvious here that I'm missing? Should I be able to move the coil at all between the mounting brackets? I've tried resoldering with no luck.

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I will measure it again but it's set at 1/8" when fully open, as Vid instructed. I used my automotive feeler gauges to measure. I even used a micrometer to measure the stack of feeler gauges to make sure it was at 1/8". If anything it is a hair tighter than 1/8".

Both the left and right coils have the same amount of movement in them, snug as suggested. No issues at all with the left flipper.

Could a bad diode be the cause? I can unsolder and test it to make sure. Or perhaps a bad coil?

Okay, I'm still banging my head against the wall with this. I adjusted the EOS switch, I've swapped the coils from side to side, I've resoldered everything and I still have the same issue. I'm certain the wiring is correct. I've looked at pictures from other people's games.

Is there something I can measure to make sure the voltages are correct? Is it possible to have a bad EOS switch? Would the lane change switch have any effect? If it was a bad diode would I have not experienced something much worse than this?

Just to add to this, the coil gets very hot when holding the flipper button in. After doing some more research, when the EOS switch is open the hold (low voltage) coil should become energized. So if the coil is getting hot to the touch, does this mean that the voltage is too high or it's drawing too much current? What might be causing this?

I will do the swap and check if anything changes but would this be causing the coil to heat up if the EOS switch is working properly?

My BK didn't have any either. Nor did my Firepower. I replaced the entire flipper mech on both machines (only lowers on BK) with the setup from Pinball Life on Vid's recommendation. I think they have the rubber stopper in place.

The question is, does it make any difference to how the flipper works? I figure it will reduce vibration that would get sent back through all of the components which in turn reduces wear and tear.