Getaway Weak Flippers

[Hammerhead]

I've been trying to troubleshoot this for quite some time and I'm stumped. The right flippers are very weak to the point of not working at all and will not hold. Flipper switches are leaf style, not opto style (similar to TAF).

With the right flipper leaf switch in my hand (removed from the cabinet but still wired to the game), I touch the first two leafs together and the bottom flipper fires no problem and you can hold the flipper no problem. I touch the second two leafs together and the upper flipper fires no problem and you can hold the flipper no problem.

If I touch all three leafs together at the same time, neither flipper hardly fires and they won't hold. What's more, when I do this the DMD is scrambled briefly until I release the leafs.

I've swapped the Fliptronic II board with another working game with no change.

Anyone have any new ideas?

 

[Menace]

I would say your flipper coils and EOS switches could be mis-wired.

D

 

[Hammerhead]

How do you miswire the coils? Wouldn't you blow a transistor or something?

 

[Menace]

Not always. I would sit down with the schematics and verify all of the wiring on both of those flippers, between all of the EOS switch etc.

D

 

[Hammerhead]

Can anyone help me decipher the schematics:
- would "breakaway switch" be the EOS?
- how do you know which lead of the EOS goes to ground (J906-6)?
- Which tab on the coil is for "power" and "holding" respectively?

 

[Menace]

The coil tabs for each wire can be anything, it all comes down to the orientation of the diodes on the coil.


Lower flipper
Based on the schematic, the blue/yellow wire should go to the coil lug with BOTH coil windings on it and the diode should have the banded end connected to it as well.

Then the blue/violet wire should be connected to the other lug of the coil with the single THICKER coil winding attached. This lug should also have the non-banded end of the diode that is connected to the blue/yellow wire, as well as the banded end of the second diode.

The last lug of the coil should have the orange/green wire attached to the lug with the single THIN hold winding, as well as the non-banded end of the diode that is attached to the blue/violet lug.

The upper flipper should be the same to start, with the blue/yellow wire. Then the black/yellow for the THICKER winding lug, and the Orange/violet for the THINNER winding lug, and all of the diodes on it should match the lower coil setup.

The breakaway switches are indeed the EOS switches. Normally open, and connected one black/green and one orange wire for the lower and one black/violet and orange for the upper.

I have seen more times than I can count people replacing flipper coils and connecting all of the wires incorrectly, even though they attached all the wires to the same lugs as the old coils. It doesn't matter what lugs the wires are attached to, but how the wires are attached in relation to the diode polarity!

D

 

[Hammerhead]

What about the EOS switch? Is that in fact the "breakaway switch"? Which lead on the EOS switch goes to ground?

 

[Menace]

What about the EOS switch? Is that in fact the "breakaway switch"? Which lead on the EOS switch goes to ground?

Yes, EOS switches are the breakaway switches. None of these are connected to ground directly based on that schematic, but connected back to the fliptronics PCB.

D

 

[Hammerhead]

Based on the schematics, J906-6 (orange wire) is grounded.

 

[Menace]

Based on the schematics, J906-6 (orange wire) is grounded.

You would be correct. Make sure that orange wire is connected to j906-6.

D

 

[Hammerhead]

Okay, what about the EOS switch - does it matter which lead goes to J906-6?

 

[Menace]

Okay, what about the EOS switch - does it matter which lead goes to J906-6?

You mean does it matter what tab on the physical EOS switch you have the orange and black/colour wire connected to? No, there is no polarity. Just make sure the switch is open and only closes when the flipper crank gets to the very end of the rotation. If it closes early, the flip will be weak.

Is there another switch stacked on the EOS to enable the upper flipper or is it a double leaf on the cabinet switch?

D

 

[Hammerhead]

Double leaf on the cabinet

 

[Menace]

Double leaf on the cabinet

Ok, that's good. Keep us posted on your progress.

D

 

[Hammerhead]

Well that's unfortunate. I thought you were on to something but all three flippers and diodes are wired correctly.