When to rebuild flippers...

GameyMcGame

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Its a dirty secret...I've never done it...

How do you 'know' when a flipper needs to be rebuilt? I know some of you will say "I do it on every pin" which is cool...But I'm wondering, how can you actually tell that it needs it? Are there physical signs of wear etc? And how hard is it? Thanks

Also, where do you guys usually but them from?
 
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Seems like a total waste of money to get a full rebuild kit IMO. If the spring is good, the linkage pieces are not worn out, coil stops are not worn, switch is not destroyed, and sleeves are not cracked, you can usually just disassemble, clean, adjust, and reinstall.

If anything I would just replace the coil sleeves, flipper bushings, any diodes/caps, and maybe the flippers themselves. Flipper bushings and flippers are not even in most rebuild kits either.
 
for the coil strength. engage the flipper then push on the flipper. does it start doing the machine gun effect, or is it strong?
 
I would say a rebuild every 5-10k games.
If you don't think they've been done in a while, do it.

The odds of you playing 10,000 games on a pin at home.... zero to none.
 
i've never been officially trained but when i have flipper issues i've studied the mechanical stuff and just replaced what was the culprit after a lot of starring and moving stuff back and forth.

i know they say not to lubricate but i've found graphite powder on that metal shaft does wonders for flippers not sticking on dual flipper setups.

something must be working because i haven't had to work on flippers on our 2 machines in months and months.
 
I have one flipper that does the machine gun deal...I've adjusted the switch and that seems to deal with it...

Check the coil lugs for broken wires, poor solder joints. The tiny wires coming off the coil to the lugs can be hard to detect problems with.

LTG :)
 
Its a dirty secret...I've never done it...

How do you 'know' when a flipper needs to be rebuilt? I know some of you will say "I do it on every pin" which is cool...But I'm wondering, how can you actually tell that it needs it? Are there physical signs of wear etc? And how hard is it? Thanks

Also, where do you guys usually but them from?

Visually if the linkage where the pawl attaches, if things are very loose, or holes worn oval or bigger.

Take the coil stop off, if the plunger is mushroomed or has a sharp edge around it.

If coil sleeve is cracked or worn.

You now know when to rebuild.

LTG :)
 
Visually if the linkage where the pawl attaches, if things are very loose, or holes worn oval or bigger.

Take the coil stop off, if the plunger is mushroomed or has a sharp edge around it.

If coil sleeve is cracked or worn.

You now know when to rebuild.

LTG :)

great info. Thanks!
 
End of stroke switches should be looked at for wear as well.


great point there, IMO.


i've only rebuilt flippers on one pin i've owned: jurassic park. and it's only because the flippers were absolute shyte when i got the thing.

i'm not sure if i did the right thing (in other words: maybe could have gotten away with less of an invasive/complete repair), but i'm a complete newb when it comes to pin repairs in general. i can only tell you that it made a ton of difference in the gameplay.
 
Flipper rebuild kits average about $21. I feel it is an easy price to pay to make sure the main devices I use to play the pin are in their best working order.

EDIT: I misused average.
 
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Every pinball machine I buy, complete flipper rebuild kits, new bats, new buttons, new rubbers, and new coils as well if the old ones are crunchy/burned/hacked.

The flippers are 90% of the interface to the game (the rest being nudging).

Imperative (for me) that the flippers are minty fresh and strong.

RussM
 
I completely rebuilt Space Shuttle and Pinbot when I got them. I'm probably leaning towards the opinion that unless they just play great when you get them, a rebuild when purchasing a new pin is almost a given.

STTNG is the only game I've picked up thus far that I'm actually considering NOT doing a full rebuild on. New coil sleeves, rubbers and bats probably, but it plays just fine and all of the ramp shots are attainable, if not *slightly* harder then I feel they should be. :)
 
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