BOP increase flipper travel?

[beerorkid]

TL, DR: can others make it up the left launch ramp with the left flipper on BOP? How would you get additional travel on a flipper.

Over the weekend I rebuilt the flippers on both of my pins and it was quite fun. It seemed pinbot was still stock and the bushings crumbled around the screws when I removed them. Both machines are playing so well now. The difference was more than I expected.

I finally figured something out after reading The Pinball Ninja Blog My Bride of Pinbot had roll pins jammed in the playfield under the flippers in not symmetric places. One is closer to the base of the flipper, the other closer to the tip. I had no clue why they were there and just figured it was something that the previous owners had done along with other insane hacks I have found on the machine. Now I know they are used to set the flipper angle. Unfortunately I did not figure that out till after I had done the rebuilds. Oh well. Pinbot has them too.

My favorite flipper on BOP is the left flipper. When I cradle or the ball is rolling down I can get it to go up the left launch ramp easy by flipping right when the ball is at the base of the flipper. It is more difficult to get up the left launch ramp from the right flipper because it takes skill While working on the left flipper I was setting the flipper angle by lining it up with the metal wire under the flipper. I was thinking that is how you set the angle. After doing that I lost the ability to hit the left launch ramp with the left flipper. I messed with the angle a bunch of times and saw that if I had it tilted up just a bit I could make the shot again. I have not pulled the glass yet, but from looking where the roll pin is I might be off around 1/8 of an inch. It is amazing how just a degree can make a huge difference.

I am working on making myself a more responsible pin owner. Remember when I asked about disabling the tilt a while back. You guys schooled me good. I now have tilts enabled and I have also been practicing my pinball skills. Picked up pinball 101 and have been increasing my skill level every day. This got me thinking about the left flipper angle might be sorta cheating. Maybe you are not supposed to be able to make it up the left launch ramp with the left flipper. Any other BOP owners able to hit the left ramp with the left flipper?

So on with my question. While reading a post about a Ninja repair on a STNG, Ninja mentions this:

Someone installed the wrong flipper plungers/pawls, so Ninja modified the flippers for additional travel (like the game should have.) This really made the game play a lot better (that side flipper ramp shot was now achievable.)

Got me thinking about my left flipper and maybe the shot was not working because the travel is restricted. I am not sure if I used the correct plungers on each game because I did not have my bags labeled and I might of mixed them up. I thought about that while I was working on the 2nd machine. Will search to see if the plungers are the same.

I am guessing increasing the travel would be done by taking some material off of the plunger. Just thought I would ask you folk about this. It seems confusing to me. Not something I really want to do actually.

 

[jar155]

You can hit it with the left flipper, but you shouldn't be able to from a cradle position. If you really wanted to, I guess you could mod your flippers to either use a stronger coil on the left side, or you could file down your plunger to give the flipper more travel, but I think the game is best when the shot is primarily a right flipper shot.

 

[beerorkid]

soooo close. You can see the left one is not inline though.

I looked at the plungers that came out of both machines and they appear to be the same. I am not going to file the plungers down or change out coils. Going to get that flipper where it is supposed to be and work on my right flipper ramp shot skills.

 

[Talon2000]

I can make the left ramp, just not from a cradle position. The ball has to be roughly 1/2" down the flipper, and it's difficult to do. Normally I wind up going up the heartbeat ramp, or into the jet bumpers.

Question for you though, does your right flipper seem higher up than the left? Mine are aligned with the roll pins, but the right flipper seems to be higher, even though the flipper length is the same. Just wondering if they positioned them a little off center on purpose.

 

[beerorkid]

Went down and looked. The roll pins look really even on both sides to me on mine. I tried to get a good pic, and the above one was the best I could get.

My right flipper is in line with the lane and right on the toothpick in the roll pin. The left one currently set to cheater mode is raised up more and not inline with the lane.

I kinda wonder how much the flipper rubber can change the angle.

 

[ovfdfireman]

Your video makes me wanna go play!