The reason the transistor keeps failing is the high voltage spike when the coil is de-energized. The proper fix is a snubber diode across coil. Littelfuse makes suppressor diodes with various voltage ratings. It is a zener diode that clamps the voltage spike so it does not damage the transistor.
I have a buckrogers pinball and my flipper freaks out. Have you ever seen that before. On the back side the contracts spark that makes it go crazy. I wonder if it is the switch or the coil.
I assume by freaks out you mean the flipper flips up, but doesn't stay up. So if you push and hold the button, it flips up and down rapidly. The flipper coils on this era of machine have two windings, a higher power to flip the flipper and a lower power to hold the flipper up. There is a switch called the End of Stroke switch which disconnects the power to the higher power when the flipper gets to the top of it's range. My guess is something is wrong with your low power connection. Sometimes the wire comes off the coil, sometimes the coil is faulty (the wire in the winding breaks). Rarely, it's the power from the board. Sometimes the End of Stoke switch can be at fault but I usually find the low power is disconnected. It might also be at the flipper button. If that switch is faulty it might not be making a good connection. Check the coil and make sure all wires are connected. Compare the End of Stroke switch with the other flipper and see if it opens about the same time. Check the leaf switch on the flipper button.
I have an Eight Ball Deluxe and the left flipper button controls two flippers, the upper flipper operators is fine however the lower flipper is out of control and in a fast motion. Any help would be great.
It could be a few things. If you push the flipper button and the flipper doesn't hold up but instead chatters, you probably lost your low voltage hold winding in the flipper coil. This could be just a disconnected wire from the coil or the thin wire going from the solder lug has broken. Worst case, it could be a fault within the winding - which is harder to repair. Check the coil and see if a wire is disconnected. You can also check continuity with a volt meter and see if the center lug and the two side lugs are connected. If it is the wire to the lug, resolder. If it's a thin wire going from the lug to the coil, you can sometimes unwind the wire from the coil one turn, strip the varnish off the thin wire, and resolder to the lug. If it's broken inside the coil, you'll need a new one.
My right flipper on shadow gets stuck sometimes after playing for a while. After it sits idle for a while it stops sticking up when playing. Have another where both flippers get weaker and weaker the longer I play as well. Noticeably weaker. Any suggestions?
I would take the flipper apart and check all parts. Check the plunger, coil stop, coil sleeve, end of stroke switch, everything. Also, when it gets stuck, check to see if the coil is getting really hot - like too hot to touch. It's fairly inexpensive to replace all the flipper bits that wear out. Lots of places sell flipper rebuild kits for the various models of machines. If anything looks worn out or beat up, I'd do that. This will usually resolve lots of little issues and give flippers a little pep again. Lots of flippers are still running on parts that are 40+ years old.
There are two things that can commonly cause this. Most flipper coils have two sections - one powerful movement for the flip (higher power) and one to hold the flipper up (lower power). When you push the flipper button the action of the flipper moving disconnects something call the end of stroke switch. This switch disconnects the high power from the coil leaving only the low power to hold it up. If you lift up the playfield and move the flipper you can see this happening. Knowing that, the two things that usually cause this is a end of stroke switch that is not in the proper position or maladjusted. If you google "adjust pinball end of stroke switch" you'll find lots of information on how to dial this in. It isn't hard. The other thing that usually causes this is the coil isn't getting it's low power. It flips up but there is nothing to hold it up, so it falls back down, gets high power again and flips up again. Check the flipper coil and make sure all three wires are connected. If one is off, just solder it back on. Easy. If all wires are attached, it could be a break with the wire in the coil. They are pretty thin wires and they do break from time to time. Sometimes you can fix them, sometimes it's easier to replace the whole coil. There are some games like Data East and Sega that have solid state flipper control. These are completely different and the coils only have two lugs. The different power is provided by the flipper control board. They also have an end of stroke switch but the use is different - which I won't go into detail on. But if this switch is not adjusted right you can see fluttering flippers.
@@Pinballorama its a data east Tales from the crypt, i checked the Eos and cant see anything wrong with the windings or solder. Maby i shoud just get a new coil ? . Original coil is a 090-5032 but only new coil i have at home is FL 15411 from a williams game
It is probably not the coil as it's firing. My next guess would be at the flipper board. It's in the cabinet usually on the left wall about 1/3 of the way back. Small board about 8x8 inches. First thing I'd do is disconnect the connections and reseat them.
@@Pinballorama yeah i think its one of the transistors on the flipperboard. Tested another coil today and allso tested the L/R relay. Gonna measure the transistors tomorrow
The reason the transistor keeps failing is the high voltage spike when the coil is de-energized. The proper fix is a snubber diode across coil. Littelfuse makes suppressor diodes with various voltage ratings. It is a zener diode that clamps the voltage spike so it does not damage the transistor.
Great fix 👍 maybe transistor needs heatsink, Amazon sells mini heatsinks.
I wondered about that. I need to compare the temperatures of the 3 transistors on the board after a little bit of play.
Thank you for making videos like this, it’s very helpful and informative.
I have a buckrogers pinball and my flipper freaks out. Have you ever seen that before. On the back side the contracts spark that makes it go crazy. I wonder if it is the switch or the coil.
I assume by freaks out you mean the flipper flips up, but doesn't stay up. So if you push and hold the button, it flips up and down rapidly.
The flipper coils on this era of machine have two windings, a higher power to flip the flipper and a lower power to hold the flipper up. There is a switch called the End of Stroke switch which disconnects the power to the higher power when the flipper gets to the top of it's range.
My guess is something is wrong with your low power connection. Sometimes the wire comes off the coil, sometimes the coil is faulty (the wire in the winding breaks). Rarely, it's the power from the board.
Sometimes the End of Stoke switch can be at fault but I usually find the low power is disconnected.
It might also be at the flipper button. If that switch is faulty it might not be making a good connection.
Check the coil and make sure all wires are connected. Compare the End of Stroke switch with the other flipper and see if it opens about the same time. Check the leaf switch on the flipper button.
Very helpful! Hope to see you at Expo
Thanks!
I have an Eight Ball Deluxe and the left flipper button controls two flippers, the upper flipper operators is fine however the lower flipper is out of control and in a fast motion. Any help would be great.
It could be a few things. If you push the flipper button and the flipper doesn't hold up but instead chatters, you probably lost your low voltage hold winding in the flipper coil. This could be just a disconnected wire from the coil or the thin wire going from the solder lug has broken. Worst case, it could be a fault within the winding - which is harder to repair.
Check the coil and see if a wire is disconnected. You can also check continuity with a volt meter and see if the center lug and the two side lugs are connected.
If it is the wire to the lug, resolder. If it's a thin wire going from the lug to the coil, you can sometimes unwind the wire from the coil one turn, strip the varnish off the thin wire, and resolder to the lug. If it's broken inside the coil, you'll need a new one.
I have a data East The Simpsons machine. The left flipper moves very slow. Any suggestions?
With the power off, manually move each flipper. Do they feel the same or does one feel stiffer than the other?
My right flipper on shadow gets stuck sometimes after playing for a while. After it sits idle for a while it stops sticking up when playing. Have another where both flippers get weaker and weaker the longer I play as well. Noticeably weaker. Any suggestions?
I would take the flipper apart and check all parts. Check the plunger, coil stop, coil sleeve, end of stroke switch, everything. Also, when it gets stuck, check to see if the coil is getting really hot - like too hot to touch.
It's fairly inexpensive to replace all the flipper bits that wear out. Lots of places sell flipper rebuild kits for the various models of machines. If anything looks worn out or beat up, I'd do that. This will usually resolve lots of little issues and give flippers a little pep again. Lots of flippers are still running on parts that are 40+ years old.
Whats wrong when the flipper starts shaking as soon as you push the button ? Like you've hit it multiple times
There are two things that can commonly cause this. Most flipper coils have two sections - one powerful movement for the flip (higher power) and one to hold the flipper up (lower power). When you push the flipper button the action of the flipper moving disconnects something call the end of stroke switch. This switch disconnects the high power from the coil leaving only the low power to hold it up. If you lift up the playfield and move the flipper you can see this happening.
Knowing that, the two things that usually cause this is a end of stroke switch that is not in the proper position or maladjusted. If you google "adjust pinball end of stroke switch" you'll find lots of information on how to dial this in. It isn't hard.
The other thing that usually causes this is the coil isn't getting it's low power. It flips up but there is nothing to hold it up, so it falls back down, gets high power again and flips up again. Check the flipper coil and make sure all three wires are connected. If one is off, just solder it back on. Easy. If all wires are attached, it could be a break with the wire in the coil. They are pretty thin wires and they do break from time to time. Sometimes you can fix them, sometimes it's easier to replace the whole coil.
There are some games like Data East and Sega that have solid state flipper control. These are completely different and the coils only have two lugs. The different power is provided by the flipper control board. They also have an end of stroke switch but the use is different - which I won't go into detail on. But if this switch is not adjusted right you can see fluttering flippers.
@@Pinballorama its a data east Tales from the crypt, i checked the Eos and cant see anything wrong with the windings or solder. Maby i shoud just get a new coil ? . Original coil is a 090-5032 but only new coil i have at home is FL 15411 from a williams game
It is probably not the coil as it's firing. My next guess would be at the flipper board. It's in the cabinet usually on the left wall about 1/3 of the way back. Small board about 8x8 inches. First thing I'd do is disconnect the connections and reseat them.
@@Pinballorama yeah i think its one of the transistors on the flipperboard. Tested another coil today and allso tested the L/R relay. Gonna measure the transistors tomorrow