Twilight Zone (Day 2)
This heading is kind of misleading. Approximately 10 hours has been spent on the game since the playfield had been totally stripped. After the game received a thorough cleaning, all plastics were cleaned. Also, the main ramp was disassembled and polished with NOVUS 2. Before putting the playfield back together, I put the game in switch test and tested all playfield switches both upper and lower. The mini-playfield was disassembled, cleaned, waxed and rubbered. I removed the bottom fibre board protector and replaced all of the light bulbs underneath. You do not want to have to remove the mini-playfield twice so get it all the first time. I also tightened both flipper magnets. I checked the right flipper magnet since it had a problem and could not find anything wrong other than it was a bit loose. The clock was taken apart, inspected and cleaned. All new bulbs were installed in the general illumination sockets and I began the process of putting the playfield back together. One of the t-nuts had broken below the left kicker. I installed a new t-nut and all went without any surprises. As you can tell from the two photos below, the game turned out beautifully!
With the playfield back together, I play the game to look for anything that went wrong. This game played fine. I tested all ramp opto switches and the gumball machine and clock. The adjustment to the right flipper magnet on the mini-playfield did the trick. I turned the game off after a couple of balls. Let's rebuild those flippers.
This is one of the easiest ways to ensure that the customer gets a game functioning as it should. The parts are fairly inexpensive and I rebuilt all four in less than 45 minutes. It was obvious upon inspection that these had either never been done or had not been done in a long time. The picture below shows the lower flippers.
Look at the amount of carbon and general grime on the plungers and links. Weak and loose flippers are caused by general wear to the link and coil stop. The end of stroke switches looked fine but the rest of the components are in need of service. The coil stops can also magnetize causing a slow flipper return. It is hard to tell from the photo below but these are very worn. The striking end of the plunger is hogged in as well as the striker on the coil stop. Ineffficient use of power results in insufficient power. You know what I mean!
The rebuild process consists of removing the flipper plunger and link. The coil stop must be removed first. Once all is free, I remove the plunger and link from the flipper pawl. Remove the bushing from the old link and reverse the order for installation with new parts. Here are the new pieces needed to give our flippers more pep.
I also replaced the flipper coil sleeves with new ones. I fired up the game and we have great flipper power. All that is left is a check of the light bulbs and we are ready to move on the final chapter.
Tomorrow, we will attack the cabinet cosmetics and wrap up our game. The client is waiting!