I just replaced all of my ramps on white water.holy cow does the game looks so much better now The gameplay is back to normal with one exception if I hit the ball with the upper flipper it sometimes launches it as high as hitting the sign with the two colored bulbs right there. 9 times out of 10 it works perfectly and the flipper has no slop to it, the upper playfield was installed and tightened down and the rubber looks fine on the flipper bat. I have had the game for a few years and never had this happen but cannot figure out what would cause it.
I was thinking maybe the upper playfield was at a weird angle but it is all tightened down snug.
I thought maybe someone may have had the same issue and might be able to steer me in the right direction. Thank you!

thank you guys. Just to answer....I didnt touch the coil, the ball is going airborne right off the flipper bat, not after hitting the ramp entrance, and the flipper rubber is exactly where it was. I am going to try raising it, like suggested, just seems odd that none of these variables were changed, and in several years, I never had an airball up there.

i will have to check that out.....I havent acthally checked the travel of the bat in slow mo I suppose it could have come loose while I had the mini playfield lifted. I sure hope that's not it, as I wouldnt want to take all that stuff apart again
actually, I will look when I get home....not sure what is accessible from underneath thru the access hole in there.....

No, didnt touch the flipper mech. I only unbolted and lifted the upper playfield a few inches to detach the whirlpool ramp.

I wont be home till about 12:30 tonight but I will. here is a pic on my phone of the whole playfield when I was done. Not sure what you are looking for. And thanks for caring

IMG_20130507_114445_649.jpg

Odd.....I just took off the glass, checked the flipper(which is level with playfield thru all of it's travel) and put the glass back on. I have played 10 games and the ball hasn't gone airborne once. I have no idea how it worked itself out, but I thank you guys for your help just the same....might be back if it re occurs

IMG_20130509_103346_892.jpg IMG_20130509_103353_686.jpg

thank you, I would have never thought of that! I will check it out.

Just thought I would post an update for anyone in the same boat.... This turns out to have been one of those coincidental things. It started happening again, and I was unable to consistently hit either top shot. I was assumimg that since I just replaced the ramps, it was something I had done.
I ordered a new upper flipper assembly and while changing it out, it was painfully obvious that the coil was binding something aweful. Swapped everything and game plays great again Just one of those things that was going to happen regardless of my ramp job!

HOLY COW....
every time I think I have this..... well, the first 5 or so games went fine. Decided that I wanted to play a bunch and the ramp started getting harder and harder to make, with the ball almost making it, then rolling back down.
I checked underneath and the coil seemed unusually warm....brand new coil.
So.....recap:
I have had the game for about 5 years with no known flipper issue. I replaced the ramps and installed a colordmd last week and noticed airballs followed by weakness in upper flipper. I replaced the whole assembly with new, inspected the bat and it seems fine. I spaced the flipper properly relative to the playfield.I see no wires shorting anywhere under the upper playfield. I cleaned the opto flipper switches with a q tip hoping by some miracle that was causing a problem.
Is there a board component to check that may cause this issue? any other suggestions?
Thanks for sticking with me here!

Thanks. It is a whole assembly put together by Terry, so everything is brand new. Figured he has to be waaay better at it than me
just noticed with playfield up....if I hold down the flipper button, the upper coil seems to make a staticcy pulsing sound. never heard it before, but sounds like it is coming from the coil.

Sometimes ya get lucky! Finally...I was checking and reseating ribbon cables, after I had a flashback to a problem years ago on a roadshow and Lloyd imparted the advice, and found a pretty severe kink in one leading to the fliptronic board. well, I unkinked it and now the thing is like greased lightening. Had one of my best games ever and coil stays cool now. I guess there was a crappy feed. Ordering new ribbon cables right now. Man, what a relief!!

hmmm. all I did was reseat the cables. Then, when I repositioned that kink, the humming stopped upon holding the flipper button, and the flipper began acting normally. I will be replacing the ribbon cables and at this point I am not embarrassed aboit posting a follow up

Guess what? you were right! This is driving me nuts! The flipper was working great. Today.....weak as hell and coil heats up quick. maybe an intermittant issue? what the heck could cause this? I have checked and rechecked. I switched the flipper button opto boards to see of the problem followed.....nope.
I re-checked the spacing between flipper and playfield....not too tight not too sloppy. No cracks in flipper bat.... I don't get it! It "feels" strong, and when the flipper button is held, it stays activated firmly.
I tried games with other games off, dehumidifier off, other stuff on......no idea what else to check and it makes the game unplayable

desperation bump

Yeah, I saw that too.....smooth motion all the way, I can't see any hangup there. Thanks for the input just the same.

it is a conical spring, installed bt pinball life.

Thank you, guys. It was something on the fliptronics board. I feel a little guilty because I was impatient and replaced the whole board rather than learn and fix the problem, but game is 100% and man does it feel great to hit those ramps now