flipper stuck up

[skywalker]

hey guys,
having this issue on my JN, L side flipper stuck up, turn power off, flipper drops,
at the coil, checked & reflowed the solder for the wires & diodes, leaf spring contact & spring look ok, anything else i could do before i call in a service guy,

thanks in advance

[Strangeways]

Does the flipper energize as soon as you start a game ?

This could be the flipper switch / opto board. The plastic spacer may have lost its tension.

[skywalker]

yep flipper goes back up when turn on,

pity, having a few pinheads over fri night 

[Strangeways]

Lift the playfield and place a business card in the flipper opto switch - or something similar. Close the front door, and with the playfield still up, switch the game on and start a game. Does it still flip the flipper ? Then remove the card - the flipper may energize.

You can also swap the flipper optos - left with right.

The plastic flipper opto interrupters loose their tension over time. You can bend them towards the hall switch to "open" the circuit.

[skywalker]

Cool, will sus it out tonight 

[Homepin]

nothing worse than a 'stuck up flipper' - tell it to wake up to itself........

[skywalker]

 

[beaky]

If the flipper is going up as soon as you turn it on ( before pressing the start button) then it is one of 2 things
A faulty transistor or IC on the fliptronics board or
A bad connection on the ribbon cable
Try removing and reseating the ribbon cable that goes from the CPU to the fliptronics board ( top left ribbon cable) on the CPU and the fliptronics board
If this doesn't fix the problem then it is a fault on the fliptronics board.

If it only goes up after pressing the start button then do what strange ways has suggested
I assume the machine is a Johnny Mnemonic.

 
 

[skywalker]

no probs, been up late getting all the minor bugs sorted on all my pins, 

[skywalker]

I assume the machine is a Johnny Mnemonic.
 
 

yer Beaky JM     

Ha ha,   

[4_amusement_only]

Sounds like a TIP32 has blown on that Fliptronics board

[beaky]

Sounds like a TIP32 has blown on that Fliptronics board

9 times out of 10 this is what causes it but I have had this happen before on a HS2 but it was caused by a bad ribbon cable connection.
All the other times have been faulty transistors and/ or a faulty I.C on the fliptronics board

[dendoc]

Hope its all fixed. My TSPP starting to get an erection problem too, have to try all this out.

Ironic that your Avatar is a WOZ - still hoping?

[beaky]

Hope its all fixed. My TSPP starting to get an erection problem too, have to try all this out.

Ironic that your Avatar is a WOZ - still hoping?

different set up john
is it getting stuck and then dropping when the ball hits it or is it standing at attention as soon as the machine is turned on?

if it is getting stuck and then dropping it may just be that there is not enough gap between the flipper bush and the flipper.
try pulling up and pushing down on the flipper ( you want to pull up on the flipper so the shaft that goes through the playfield moves, i don't want you to mimic the movement of the flipper when you press the button when doing this) there should be some movement


there should be enough of a gap between the pawl and the bush to fit a tool that looks like this.


I have found quite a few sterns made after 2002 to have absolutely no gap at all from factory
 
if there is enough movement then mimic the flipper up and down movement,
if it is not moving freely then the flipper plunger may be mushroomed at the end and catching on the sleeve (yellow circle on the right in the photo below)
this photo is of a wpc flipper but the plungers mushroom the same way


if it is going straight up as soon as you turn on the machine then you have a blown mosfet on the driver board

[beaky]

tried to change my post but ran out of time  
i typed all of the below and i couldn't post it so i had to type it all again  

what i meant to say is the way the flippers are controlled is different
 wms uses a separate flipper board to control the flippers and the sterns uses the driver board to control the flippers.

wms has 2 windings, one is a power winding which brings the flipper up and the one is the hold winding which holds the flipper up. (they use a transistor for each winding)

stern uses a single flipper coil winding, once the flipper is up the flipper coil is turned off and on very quickly (pulsed) to hold it up. (they use one mosfet for one winding)
this is why even new sterns have some flipper hum when you hold the flipper button in.