Tech; Same volts on both sides of flipper switch! Was; Fli..

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Good morning to all!
Posted a question about flippers a couple days ago. The right side
flipper of our High Speed is weaker than the left one. So I thought it might
be weak voltage.
Ray Johnson replied with a very nice post about what to check. I did
notice that the same voltage is measured on both sides of the right side
flipper (cab) switch.
The left side only has voltage on one side. I am thinking it may be a
shorted cap that is mounted on the flipper switch so I have ordered several
replacements as there are 2 on the right side (extra switch for upper
flipper).
Any other thoughts???
I am thinking about making a jumper wire from the flipper volt board to
the flipper to see if that makes a difference, but I thought I would replace
the caps first! Although I don't think that's the problem!

MD

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

You must not be measuring correctly- this game has 2 flippers on the right
side, so you probably have a 3-leaf switch on the right, and a 2-leaf switch
on the left. So you may be checking for voltage at the wrong leaf on that
3-leaf switch. Yes- 2 will have voltage (1 leaf coming from each flipper)
and the 3rd will not (when flipper button is not being pressed).

The leaf without voltage is the one on the low side of the circuit leading
back to the MPU board (toward ground).

A shorted cap on the switch would be like the flipper button being pressed
(stuck) all the time, which would keep your flipper activated all the time.
So it's not the capacitor. These capacitors are basically just used for
spark suppression on these switches- to preserve the contact points on the
switches and extend switch life.

Yes- using a jumper, wire, test-lead to bypass the cabling, connectors, etc.
is always a good troubleshooting method. If your flipper starts working
right with the jumper wire installed, then yes- you've got a bad/weak
connection between power board and coil.

Such a connection can be present on the low side of the coil circuit, too-
not just the hot (power) side, so examine all points on the circuit.

Ray J.
--
Action Pinball & Amusement, LLC
Salt Lake City, Utah USA
Web: www.actionpinball.com

We're serious about pinball. Anything else is just for fun!



"M D" <mroberts40NOSPAM@houston.rr.com> wrote in message
news:WFbxe.67061$j51.25505@tornado.texas.rr.com...
> Good morning to all!
> Posted a question about flippers a couple days ago. The right side
> flipper of our High Speed is weaker than the left one. So I thought it
might
> be weak voltage.
> Ray Johnson replied with a very nice post about what to check. I did
> notice that the same voltage is measured on both sides of the right side
> flipper (cab) switch.
> The left side only has voltage on one side. I am thinking it may be a
> shorted cap that is mounted on the flipper switch so I have ordered
several
> replacements as there are 2 on the right side (extra switch for upper
> flipper).
> Any other thoughts???
> I am thinking about making a jumper wire from the flipper volt board
to
> the flipper to see if that makes a difference, but I thought I would
replace
> the caps first! Although I don't think that's the problem!
>
> MD
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

"M D" <mroberts40NOSPAM@houston.rr.com> wrote in
news:WFbxe.67061$j51.25505@tornado.texas.rr.com:

> Good morning to all!
> Posted a question about flippers a couple days ago. The right side
> flipper of our High Speed is weaker than the left one. So I thought it
> might be weak voltage.

Before mucking about with all that, did you check the actual contacts on
the _switches_? These are _high_ current switches, so they pit like
crazy.

With the game OFF (-->OFF<--), _gently_ pry apart the cabinet switches so
that you can take a look at them. Don't pry so hard as to actually bend
the switches, just move them so you can take a look. (You'll need a
mirror to examine the pad that faces the cabinet.) The surface of _both_
contacts should be silvery (tungsten, actually. ), NOT WHITE and
DEFINITELY NOT BLACK.

Secondly, repeat the process for the EOS switch, which is mounted to the
flipper assembly itself under the playfield. See Clay's system 11 guide
( http://www.marvin3m.com/fix.htm ) for more info on exactly _which_
switch you need to be looking at. (There is a high current one, and a
low current one. You want to inspect the high current one!)

If either of those switches is not silvery (tungsten-y?), then you have
_resistance_ in there from repeated arcing. That will absolutely cause
those flippers to be weak! Good news is that it's an easy fix; just need
to file down the contacts a bit back to the tungsten.