Left flipper wont stay up?

phatchit

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All of a sudden my left flipper on my R&B wont stay up . I pulled the flipper board and checked the fuses with a dmm and they are all good . I also checked for loose solder joints and nothing.What could it be? any info is good info.Thanks
 
If the EOS switch was indeed not making contact, wouldn't that keep the flipper up with the the large coil windings energized and heat up the coil?


Had this same problem on a friend's Whitewater but it was intermittant so I didn't get a chance to figure it out.
 
Not the switch,checked it . It works fine but if you hold the button down the flipper wont stay up. If you push the button it will flip up and down its when you hold the button it wont stay up. You cant hold the ball.
 
Sounds like your low-power coil voltage is missing. Normally I would say that is fuse-related (did you pull it and check it? I've seen a fuse measure good in the clips and bad out), but you may have something else going on. Bad wire or diode on the coil maybe? Is the voltage there?
 
Rocky and Bullwinkle is a Data East solid state flipper system, running the single winding coil. There won't be a low-voltage winding to check on this one.

Looks like the EOS switch is critical to the operation of this system. Other ideas here: http://www.pinrepair.com/de/index2.htm#flip0 (There is a section for "Flipper Won't Stay Up" under "Flipper works, but"

According to PinRepair.com, also check the resistors on the flipper board. Look for broken resistor leads. Sometimes these are VERY difficult to spot, so have good lighting and physically flex/wiggle the resistor leads while looking for breaks/solder issues.
 
Rocky and Bullwinkle is a Data East solid state flipper system, running the single winding coil. There won't be a low-voltage winding to check on this one.

Ah, for some reason I misread R&B and was thinking Rod & Tod's Road Show...
 
Had a similar problem on a TFTC. You might just need to rebuild the flipper and make sure that you put in a new sleeve and plastic flipper bushing. Also make sure that there is vertical play in the flipper shaft when you tighten it down. Also check the EOS switch like others suggested or the flipper fuses holders.
 
ITs got to be the flipper board, the flippers were just rebuilt and have played fine until yesterday. I just dont get it I have to really look into to it again but i think i might have to get a new board.
 
This may help:

"there is a PC board in the bottom cabinet that controls
the flippers. it's bolted to the inside left side of the cabinet
usually. there are TWO transistors that control each flipper: a TIP36
for the high powered side, and a TIP102 (i believe) for the low
powered side. i had the same problem as above once; it was because
from lifting and lowering the playfield, somehow the TIP36 got
bent and broke a leg. replacing the TIP36 fixed the problem. "

http://groups.google.com/group/rec....gst&q=data+east+flipper+coil#2362608fc1f96c95

and:
There's actually a very nice write-up on the Theory of Operation for
these solid-state flippers in your game's schematics- one of the pages
right before or after the schematic for the solid state flipper board.
Very definitely worth reading.

In short, when you press a flipper button switch, the game sends high DC
current through the coil for an instant, then shuts it off and runs
about 9 volts AC current through to hold the flipper up. Really a neat
setup, and when you've gotten familliar with the circuitry, their not
too hard to repair or troubleshoot.

Check all your fuses first on the solid state flipper board. If ok,
check your main solenoid power fuse in the backbox (5 amp), and then any
secondary solenoid power fuses on the PPB board. The DC power for the
pull current on the flippers comes from standard coil supply voltage
which is up in the backbox- not on the SS flipper board. The 9VAC does
come from the SS flipper board, so each current has a different source-
this isn't real apparent unless you've backtracked your way through the
schematics.

Another thing to watch out for with DE solid-state flippers, is a
flipper coil staying energized (won't come back down after button is
released). This can be due to a bad (open) or broken diode on the
flipper coil.
 
Last edited:
there are TWO transistors that control each flipper: a TIP36
for the high powered side, and a TIP102 (i believe) for the low
powered side. i had the same problem as above once; it was because
from lifting and lowering the playfield, somehow the TIP36 got
bent and broke a leg. replacing the TIP36 fixed the problem.

On my R&B, I replaced a number of the TIP36 transistors just due to them being bad. I suspect my R&B may have been built with a slightly bad batch of TIP36's. Once replaced, they were fine from that point forward, but I definitely had a high initial failure rate.

That said, even if the TIP36 doesn't have broken leads, you might want to suspect it anyway. There are relatively easy tests to determine if the TIP36 is good.

From PinRepair.com:
TIP36c: Put the red lead of the DMM on the metal tab of the transistor. Put the black lead of the DMM on each of the two outside legs of the transistor one at a time. A reading of .4 to .6 volts should be seen. Put the black lead on the center transistor leg (collector) and the red lead on the metal tab, and a zero reading should be seen. Put the black lead of the DMM on the left/top (base) leg of the transistor. The red lead on the center transistor leg should show .4 to .6 volts. The red lead on the right/bottom leg should be .2 volts. Any other value, and the transistor is bad and will need to be replaced.

TIP102: Put the black lead of the DMM on the metal tab of the transistor. Put the red lead of the DMM on each of the two outside legs of the transistor one at a time. A reading of .4 to .6 volts should be seen. Put the red lead on the center transistor leg (collector), and a zero reading should be seen. Any other value, and the transistor is bad and will need to be replaced.
 
FIXED!!!!!!! I went to radio shack and bought a desoldering tool and took out the flipper board . I have already checked the resistors like everyone suggest. The readings were a little wierd so i desolderd the 36 and the lower heak sink (I think) sb2008. Its the one with the plastic shroud around it. Any way when i desolderd that one , one of the legs feel off. I cut a paper clip to length and solderd it to the leg and resolderd it to the board . I also resolderd the 36 in and BAM , plugged it in and now the flipper now stays up!! I appreciate all of your help and suggestions and I never would have been able to figure it out if you guys had not pointed me in the right direction. Thanks again and PEACE!!!
 
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