A 3 year old okay...but a grown man???

shardian

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I like having my in-laws in the gameroom. They don't have a clue what they are doing, but they have fun anyways. Mom-in-law plays pacman, and step dad -in-law plays pinball.

I always pick on him because he hits both flippers , regardless of where the ball is.
"Hey Danny, theres a reason there are TWO buttons you know."
"Oh sorry, I thought my 2 year old daughter was playing..."
And so on and so on. Occasionally I can break him of it, but he always reverts on a new game.

So tonight I showed him Jurassic Park and Freddy. He played JP for a minute, then my daughter took over (for the record, my 3 year old uses the flippers individually...she just gets distracted by all the flashy stuff and the DMD)

I'm playing with her on JP, when I notice an INSANE uzi style shotgunning sound behind me. I look over, and he's pounding both buttons absolutely as fast as he can. "DUDE! Take a rest on those buttons before you melt a coil or blow a fuse." Then he says " Wow! I've never seen 4 balls on a pinball before. I didn't know what to do with them." Then he says that the left flipper is sticking. I just figured he had loosened up the flipper set screws with that fierce pounding.

I come over after he left and the flipper is dead. I just got back from inspecting. The fuse was blown...because the EOS switch was melted together!!! Literally, the plastic standoff that separates the contacts was melted to a pulp that bound the switch together from all the crazy arcing.

That will teach me for going with the 'economy' rebuild kit that doesn't include the EOS switches.

So anyways... anyone else have any friends/family of that plays pinball like a toddler?
 
My 6 year old niece put up 2.3 million on Rollergames a few nights ago... She also uses independent flippers :)
 
I have noticed everyone that comes over has flipper frenzy. I have EM's so I am always afraid the house will burn down. Hahaha. My 7 year old is actually getting pretty good. Just make sure you always laugh when it drains and the person double flippered out and make a point of telling them they will get a complex and flip with more thought. LOL
 
my mom flips both flippers at the same time too. i pointed that out to her and she just laughed and laughed. i laughed too and it was tough for her to not to do it

she tried and tried to flip independently all the while laughing
she finally got it, after she had sore stomach

when we talked about it, there was something in her head that was keeping her from doing it at first she said
she wasnt sure what it was. she called it a blockage of some sort. kinda interesting

but she did it
 
my girlfriend hits both flippers at the same time. when i point it out, she can do one at a time but she always goes back to hitting both.

she had the kids that she nanny's over a few weeks back and the one literally beat the piss out of my f-14. i thought for sure all four flippers were going to quit.
 
Sometimes visiters play with both flippers, but it never cause me any damage..
worst thing is that the coil gets hot so the coil looses some power.

To have damage like that he must have used the flippers a lot (I assume your Data East flippers gave off quite a spark on the eos ?)

Aeneas
http://www.flippers.be
 
I come over after he left and the flipper is dead. I just got back from inspecting. The fuse was blown...because the EOS switch was melted together!!! Literally, the plastic standoff that separates the contacts was melted to a pulp that bound the switch together from all the crazy arcing.

That will teach me for going with the 'economy' rebuild kit that doesn't include the EOS switches.

Kudos for manning up and blaming the crappy rebuild instead of the playing style. It peeves me to no end when people bitch about folks going crazy on the flippers on their pins, "It's gonna break something!" or "It's gonna burn up a coil on my expensive machine!!!" etc. The truth is, if your pin works like it should, pounding the flippers all day long shouldn't cause a problem. I still can't believe people bitch about this when people play their pins. What do they think happened when the pins were on route??

Anyway, I know you bitched a little, but mostly it was just something to talk about. +1 for manning up instead of blaming the playing style for the fault...

Wade
 
Kudos for manning up and blaming the crappy rebuild instead of the playing style. It peeves me to no end when people bitch about folks going crazy on the flippers on their pins, "It's gonna break something!" or "It's gonna burn up a coil on my expensive machine!!!" etc. The truth is, if your pin works like it should, pounding the flippers all day long shouldn't cause a problem. I still can't believe people bitch about this when people play their pins. What do they think happened when the pins were on route??

Anyway, I know you bitched a little, but mostly it was just something to talk about. +1 for manning up instead of blaming the playing style for the fault...

Wade

I did a good rebuild, thank you very much! I just didn't replace the EOS switches because they were fine. That specific flipper was a frankenstein nightmare. I originally though it just needed a sleeve, because it was sticking a bit. That didn't help, so I ordered the rebuild kit. Standard rebuild kit: $20 and some change. That is everything but the EOS switch, and the pivot that the plunger attaches to. To add those parts bloats the cost to $65!

When I took that flipper apart, it had a Williams plunger, and a mounting bracket from who knows what. The bracket was broken in half, and had been welded back together at some point...badly. The welds were busted. I did the rebuild, and added some spacers and additional screws to the busted base to secure it properly. Good as new.
The EOS was arcing though, which I noticed the game before Danny played. I could see it through the claw save hole. Due to the arcing, I have to assume the arc suppressing cap is bad, so I'll replace the whole EOS unit.

I guess my point is this: under normal operation in a home environment, that EOS would have been good to go for years. Even with a 3 year old it would have lasted. Elizabeth has played it a few times and been fine, even when she goes nuts on it. I myself put it through its courses when I saw the arcing. Man...that button slapping was epic though. The only thing I can think of to compare it to would be watching a record setting performance on Track n Field.

But hey, now that my industrial strength playtesters have had their way, I can replace that part and it will be bulletproof for many fun-filled years.
Any time you want to borrow their debugging skills, let me know Wade! :D
 
Crazy story. Told the wife about it and she knew that is bad because I explained how the coils work before. She even watched pinball 101 with me when it got it :) She rarely plays though, unless we out and find a machine. She can rock separate, but when she gets stressed they both go at once. It is cute to watch.
 
I did a good rebuild, thank you very much! I just didn't replace the EOS switches because they were fine. That specific flipper was a frankenstein nightmare. I originally though it just needed a sleeve, because it was sticking a bit. That didn't help, so I ordered the rebuild kit. Standard rebuild kit: $20 and some change. That is everything but the EOS switch, and the pivot that the plunger attaches to. To add those parts bloats the cost to $65!

When I took that flipper apart, it had a Williams plunger, and a mounting bracket from who knows what. The bracket was broken in half, and had been welded back together at some point...badly. The welds were busted. I did the rebuild, and added some spacers and additional screws to the busted base to secure it properly. Good as new.
The EOS was arcing though, which I noticed the game before Danny played. I could see it through the claw save hole. Due to the arcing, I have to assume the arc suppressing cap is bad, so I'll replace the whole EOS unit.

I guess my point is this: under normal operation in a home environment, that EOS would have been good to go for years. Even with a 3 year old it would have lasted. Elizabeth has played it a few times and been fine, even when she goes nuts on it. I myself put it through its courses when I saw the arcing. Man...that button slapping was epic though. The only thing I can think of to compare it to would be watching a record setting performance on Track n Field.

But hey, now that my industrial strength playtesters have had their way, I can replace that part and it will be bulletproof for many fun-filled years.
Any time you want to borrow their debugging skills, let me know Wade! :D

This is the primary reason why I replace all flipper parts regardless if they look good on any pin that I have. Case in point, bought a Stern Spiderman recently, the left EOS switch looked fine and the right one was broken. I breached my rule and didn't replace both EOS switches, I only replaced the one that was broken since the other one "looked" OK. Guess what happened? It broke off!! DOH! That's with just me playing.

It is an expense but totally worth replacing all components at the same time. It gives you a baseline.
 
This is the primary reason why I replace all flipper parts regardless if they look good on any pin that I have. Case in point, bought a Stern Spiderman recently, the left EOS switch looked fine and the right one was broken. I breached my rule and didn't replace both EOS switches, I only replaced the one that was broken since the other one "looked" OK. Guess what happened? It broke off!! DOH! That's with just me playing.

It is an expense but totally worth replacing all components at the same time. It gives you a baseline.

What's up with DE and Stern EOS switches breaking anyways? My Jurassic Park had both with busted blades.
 
My wife was playing both flippers for a while. I just let it go for a little bit, then told her if she would use them independly that her game would get better. She is getting better, but from time to time she still hits both at the same time.
 
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