eightball deluxe flipper issue

Mizzou

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Ran into a slight issue with the bottom left flipper on eightball deluxe. The fipper will go into overdrive and keep doing a rapid flip when pressed. I looked under the hood and you can see the motor going nuts down there when the button is pressed. Any ideas? I'm totally new to pinball so please forgive me if this is an obvious fix.
 
you probalby mean the solenoid, not motor? take your finger and pull the leafs so they are closed more and see if that stops the machine gun effect. that left side takes some finesse and you'll see the extra leafs are used to engage power to the upper flipper too. being new to pinball, the left side of EBD isn't the best side to start on.

toy with the right to understand the mechanics of how it works, then go back to the left and start looking for alignment and dirty contact issues
 
It could be a break in the hold winding of the coil. Usually this means you have to replace the coil.

Coils are electromagnets made up of copper wire wrapped a bunch of times around a core (i.e. the 'windings'). On your EBD, the flipper coils have both a high power winding and a low power winding. When you press the flipper button, the high power winding fires and the flipper actuates. When the flipper mechanism actuates, it opens the end of stroke switch (EOS) and causes the high power winding to shut off. The low power (or 'hold' winding) stays on and keeps the flipper up. If the hold winding is broken, the flipper won't stay up but will start to fall down and the EOS will close. Since you still have your finger on the button, the high power winding reenergize and the EOS will be opened. The result is a machine gunning of the flipper.

Hope this helps.

--Luke
 
If the coil is rat-tat-tatting, then you have a wire broken inside the coil. Replace the coil with a brand new one.
 
If the coil is rat-tat-tatting, then you have a wire broken inside the coil. Replace the coil with a brand new one.

It's also possible that the small wire has broken off at the coil lug and you can unwind one wrap and re-solder it. I've seen that happen and fixed it that way lots of times. When the coil is rapid firing that's almost always the cause, in my experience.
 
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ok, got the issue with the bottom flipper worked out..just needed to clean the leafs a little bit. Unfortunately in the process it seems that the TOP left flipper has decided to stop working now lol. In the process of fixing the bottom filpper I heard something fall from the machine into the bottom of the cabinet, looked all around and didnt see anything. When I examine the top flipper it will go up maybe a milimeter or two when I press the button so it's almost like the solenoid isnt getting any juice? I looked over the wires and they all seem to be in tact, so not quite sure where to go next...any ideas? ...I'm guessing whatever fell is the culprit but I can't seem to find anything and there doesnt seem to be anything missing from the top flipper area..
 
Sounds like the end of stroke switch is not engaging properly, coupled with a possible bad coil, the high voltage is not getting there, just the "hold" voltage, look at your flipper button switches too. I always replace the EOS switches on the flipper coils and the flipper buttons for good measure if they are at all tired, strong flippers make or brake a good game..
 
Had this same issue with my left flipper on my Stern Cheetah. There is a leaf on the bottom flipper that sends power to the upper flipper. If it worked before likely means it was accidently pushed out of adjustment. Not having EBD (as much as I would like) You may have to do some investigation and follow the wire back from the top flipper (or schematics). Good luck you should learn lots and get it fixed.

ok, got the issue with the bottom flipper worked out..just needed to clean the leafs a little bit. Unfortunately in the process it seems that the TOP left flipper has decided to stop working now lol. In the process of fixing the bottom filpper I heard something fall from the machine into the bottom of the cabinet, looked all around and didnt see anything. When I examine the top flipper it will go up maybe a milimeter or two when I press the button so it's almost like the solenoid isnt getting any juice? I looked over the wires and they all seem to be in tact, so not quite sure where to go next...any ideas? ...I'm guessing whatever fell is the culprit but I can't seem to find anything and there doesnt seem to be anything missing from the top flipper area..
 
oh here is another twist on t-shooting pinballs.
cold solder joints. always good to measure across the wire to the contact incase the solder joint was poorly done. quite common considering people don't often have great solder skills that work on these games, and it's an awkward angle when trying to solder upside down.

so it's an outside chance the connection between the lower stuff up to the higher flipper got compromised in the adjustments.
 
Think I've figured out what the issue is. I finally noticed that one of the bottom leafs is missing a small white plastic nub (sorry, I dont know the correct term). I found where it fell off into the bottom of the cabinet and tried to put it back in. Unfortunately it looks like there should be a little piece that fits into a whole in the leaf, but it has been worn off. If I try to just stick it in there it must not be aligning correctly because the top flipper will work but I get the machine gun affect from the bottom solenoid again. I guess I just need to find some place to buy a new white plastic nub (again sorry for not knowing the right term here) ...Note the pics below


EDIT: I know these pics are horriable but its the best I could do at the time
 

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does anyone know the technical term for this plastic piece? Trying to find some for sale on line but kinda hard when you dont know the name of the part your looking for.
 
now is when you get to learn about places like marcos specialties and steve young's pinball resource site. you'll find lots of that leaf switch stuff along with the names of the style of switch and pieces.

when i had to redo that same switch mechanism it involved building a new switch from the parts. just take pictures as you disassemble stuff so you can remember precisely how it goes back.
 
good deal. well it doesn't really matter how hard it is to install because owning a pinball means you are going to have to do it regardless. :)

i'm not in front of my EBD machine but i know i ran into some leaf length variations depending on which site i bought from. so if that is one of those stacked setups, be sure to by all similar switches in the stack incase you need to replace all of them to get the correct lengths. plus a few extra switches gives you the spare parts incase you need to build a new stack for proper spacing etc.
 
good deal. well it doesn't really matter how hard it is to install because owning a pinball means you are going to have to do it regardless. :)

i'm not in front of my EBD machine but i know i ran into some leaf length variations depending on which site i bought from. so if that is one of those stacked setups, be sure to by all similar switches in the stack incase you need to replace all of them to get the correct lengths. plus a few extra switches gives you the spare parts incase you need to build a new stack for proper spacing etc.


So true, I thought that exact same thing right after I sent reply lol.

It said that it works with EBD but they are fairly in-expensive so I may order a couple of sets just to be sure and have extra parts if/when I fould up... I'm curious if I can just take the white tip off one of them though, since thats all that is missing...guess we'll see

Thanks!
 
that white spacer is pressed onto the end of stroke switch and takes a lot of abuse while playing the game. You are going to have better results replacing the entire switch as a assembly than trying to just replace the spacer ....also your switch contacts ( the points that make electrical contact to energize the coil) are probably in need of replacement anyhow.
Also, there are two different switches on the bottom flipper, one for the bottom coil and one to send power to the upper flipper. You would be wise to replace all the end of stroke switches since you need to fix your original issue anyway. I, personally would buy a rebuild kit for each flipper assembly, they consist of the switches, coil stop, coil sleeve and possibly the plunger and link assembly. This would give you execellent working flippers for many years of play.
 
ok, got the parts ( an EOS) no I just need to figure out how to replace it..Any good step by step instructions out there? I even thought ahead and got a spare in case I screwed up..
 
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