Check your Williams Flippers

[rustalan]

I don't know if this has been covered here but,
Whats different with  with these two pics Forget the Lightning bolt as these were on Euro exports. The W is upside down on the cheap Indian knock off now flooding the market as being the real thing. Also the bracing inside the flipper is almost non existent causing flippers to destroy themselves.

[rustalan]

Sorry 2nd pic didnt come up so...

[Strangeways]

The top flippers with the lightning bolt are slightly smaller in length, and were installed after the designers found the games "too easy" - thus increasing the chances of a ball going SDTM (straight down the middle).

Two games that had these flippers installed from factory are Dr Who and Fishtales. There might be more ?

The second set are standard Bally Williams. They usually have the "W" logo.

[Extra Ball]

there have been quite a few new lightening bolt flippers breaking. Keep your originals!

[rustalan]

As I said in the first post ignore the lightning bolt. I am using that pic for the W only.  If your W is upside down It is more then likely the cheap knock offs from India. It will have almost no bracing underneath. I have seen a pair of each in real life and the original Williams have full bracing on them and the others that were made in India  after the License was sold off have almost none and the W was embossed upside down.

[pinsanity]

As I said in the first post ignore the lightning bolt. I am using that pic for the W only.  If your W is upside down It is more then likely the cheap knock offs from India. It will have almost no bracing underneath. I have seen a pair of each in real life and the original Williams have full bracing on them and the others that were made in India  after the License was sold off have almost none and the W was embossed upside down.

You are absolutely correct regarding the upside down W version. They have been in circulation for a few years and I remember the first "rights holder" from Australia was accepting returns/refunds on them. I would say these are from that production run (so at least a few years old)

There were reports that not only was the bracing not sufficient to hold the bat in place, but also that the plastic used for the bat itself was of a lower grade and was cracking with a strong enough ball impact (even with the rubber "shock absorber").

Now that the license has changed hands I am not sure what your chances are regarding refunds. Perhaps it will be up to the discretion of the individual retailer?

[rustalan]

I actually Know where there is a supply of bats from the last run from the original manufacturer before the license was sold off here in Australia

[ktm450]

I started a thread a couple of years back with some good photos of the extra bracing in the correct W bats and where the weak points are in the "motorola" M bats

http://aussiepinball.com/index.php?topic=6684.0

[Retropin]

As I said in the first post ignore the lightning bolt. I am using that pic for the W only.  If your W is upside down It is more then likely the cheap knock offs from India. It will have almost no bracing underneath. I have seen a pair of each in real life and the original Williams have full bracing on them and the others that were made in India  after the License was sold off have almost none and the W was embossed upside down.

You are absolutely correct regarding the upside down W. They have been in circulation for a few years and I remember the first "rights holder" from Australia was accepting returns/refunds on them. I would say these are from that production run (so at least a few years old)

There were reports that not only was the bracing not being sufficient to hold the bat in place, but also that the plastic used for the bat itself was of a lower grade and was cracking with a strong enough ball impact (even with the rubber "shock absorber").

Now that the license has changed hands I am not sure what your chances are regarding refunds. Perhaps it will be up to the discretion of the individual retailer?

And thats what happens when rights are in the wrong hands..... couldnt give a toss about quality, they should never have passed inspection and then sold on

[Pintoxicated]

Just as a matter of interest (Nino) BSD also had the shorter lightning bolt flippers.

[greenechidna]

I actually Know where there is a supply of bats from the last run from the original manufacturer before the license was sold off here in Australia

I could do with a few pairs...p/m me if they are available

[robm]

Another point of interest...i just got a Junkyard (from Europe) and it has white lighting bolt flippers that are the same length as standard

[pinball god]

Thanks for the heads up. I bought some for my funhouse and don't know if they are the ridgey didge or not. Interested to have a look tonight. thanks

Damn I can't see underneath the flippers but the W is definitely upside down and I bought these in oz from ex wms thinking I'd get the real deal. Bugger. And my fh plays so quick I reckon these will break not too far down the track. My t2 flippers broke at the brace points but that was after 20 years of play.

Bugger again I have them on my TZ from same supplier that makes six in total 

[ktm450]

Thanks for the heads up. I bought some for my funhouse and don't know if they are the ridgey didge or not. Interested to have a look tonight. thanks

Damn I can't see underneath the flippers but the W is definitely upside down and I bought these in oz from ex wms thinking I'd get the real deal. Bugger. And my fh plays so quick I reckon these will break not too far down the track. My t2 flippers broke at the brace points but that was after 20 years of play.

Bugger again I have them on my TZ from same supplier that makes six in total  

Almost all the upside down ones break like this:







The right way up "W" ones on the right have much thicker webbing:

[pinball god]

Thanks mate look forward to breaking a few  . The big pain about the bracing breaking is that it makes the flipper bend a lot and so becomes somewhat weaker and of course you start looking a eos spacings etc and don't think about looking at the actual flipper bat