General

1 Flippers

---

How does a flipper work?

Flippers have two coil windings, one is a high powered, low resistance winding, used for the power stroke (initial "flip"). The other is used to keep the flipper held up, when you are holding the flipper to trap a ball. There needs to be a mechanism to switch from the high powered side to the low powered side. The high powered side of the coil is almost a dead short, and anything other than a momentary activation would cause the fuse to blow.

High Voltage flipper operation

The original flipper operation was completely high voltage, requiring tungsten point contacts at the flipper switches and at the normally closed end of stroke switches. These switches need to be filed periodically and gapped correctly for proper operation. A maladjusted end of stroke switch can burn out a coil or a fuse as well as damage the plastic bobbin the coil is wrapped around, making for sluggish operation. Tarnished and burnt contacts at any point in the system can cause a weak flipper power stroke, making for diminished game play. Additionally, there are contacts on a machine's flipper relay that may need to be cleaned to provide the maximum power to the flippers. Connectors and header pins can also play a factor in a flipper's power; heavily tarnished connections will degrade performance.

When you press a flipper button, you are actually grounding the flipper circuit, not providing the power. The power is already present at the coil's input lug. The power flows from the power supply to the flipper coil in the most direct path possible. The input lug has the solenoid power present, one wire going to one blade of the end of stroke switch, and one end of the hold winding. One end of the high powered coil's winding is attached to the other blade of the end of stroke switch.

The flipper button has one contact attached to the terminus of both flipper coil windings; the other contact is attached to ground via the flipper relay. When the flipper relay is pulled in a ground path exists for the flipper, when it is deactivated (in game over/tilt modes) there is no ground path for the flippers. When you push the flipper button, the power travels through the end of stroke switch, the high powered coil, through the flipper cabinet switch and the relay to ground, pulling the flipper in with great force.

A small arm on the pivot point of the flipper presses against the end of stroke switch outer blade, moving it away from the inner blade. This cuts the high power to the stroke side of the coil. Because the hold coil still is getting power via the input lug, the flipper will stay in an up position as long as you hold the button in. The hold coil has much greater resistance and so does not blow the fuse or create a short circuit.

Solid State Flipper operation

Solid state flippers do not refer to flippers in any solid state machine; rather, they refer to a design in later machines (post 1989) to eliminate the traditional high powered tungsten contacted type of flipper, which was subject to degradation over time. Less maintenance is required for solid state flippers.

There are a few different designs to eliminate the high power switches used with flippers. One circuit monitors the time the flipper is held in; anything over 50-100 milliseconds continuous activation switches the power to the low side of the coil from the upper side electronically. Some designs of this nature also have a low powered normally open end of stroke switch, so that the flipper feels more like a traditional flipper. The time function of the solid state circuit only comes into play if the end of stroke switch is never detected, switching the power to the hold coil. Williams Fliptronics(tm) flippers operate in this fashion.

Another design monitors the end of stroke switch/time and pulses the power supply to the flipper to reduce the voltage during the hold cycle. This allows a cheaper coil to be used as there is only one winding on the coil. Examples of this type of PVM flipper are late model Stern games. Sometimes the pulsing of the voltage causes the flipper to buzz slightly.

2 Lamp Chart

Lamp	Voltage (V)	Current(A)	Candle Power	Life (hours)	Base	Typical Use
44	6.3	0.25	0.9	3,000	Miniature Bayonet (BA9)	Common GI bulb
47	6.3	0.15	0.5	3,000	Miniature Bayonet (BA9)	A low-power version of the #44; reduced heat and candle power
55	7.0	.41	2.00	500	Miniature Bayonet (BA9)	Used on some EM games, high current, heat and candle power compared to #44 and #47
67	13.5	.59	4.0	5,000	S.C. Bayonet (BA15s)	F-14 Tomcat Flash Lamps
73	14.0	.80	.30	15,000	Wedge (T 1-3/4)	A low-power alternative for the 86 used in Twilight Zone's clock mechanism
86	6.3	.20	.40	15,000	Wedge (T 1-3/4)	Small lamp used in Creature from the Black Lagoon ramps and Twilight Zone's clock mechanism
89	13.0	.58	6.00	750	S.C. Bayonet (BA15s)	Flash Lamps on many Sys11/DE/WPC
194	14.0	.27	2.00	1,500	Wedge	Whitewater Topper Lamps
199	12.8	2.25	32.00	1500	S.C. Bayonet (BA15s)	HS2 Getaway Topper Lamp, CFTBL Hologram Lamp
251	28.0	.23	3.00	2,000	S.C. Bayonet (BA15s)	Pin-Bot and Cyclone Flash Lamps
313	28	0.17	3.5	500	Miniature Bayonet (BA9)	Used for lower playfield illumination on Black Hole and Haunted House
447	6.3	0.15	0.5	3,000	Wedge	A low-power version of the 555; reduced heat and candle power
455	6.5	0.5	N/A	500	Miniature Bayonet (BA9)	Blinker
545	6.5	0.31	N/A	500	Wedge	Blinker - used in Twilight Zone, Dirty Harry, No Good Gofers
555	6.3	0.25	0.9	3,000	Wedge	Common GI bulb
906	13.0	.69	6.00	1000	T-5 Wedge	Flash Lamp
1683	28.0	1.02	32.00	500	S.C. Bayonet (BA15s)	High Speed Topper Lamp

Notes:

1. A "blinker" is a lamp with an internal thermal switch (a bi-metallic strip) that interrupts power to the lamp causing it to blink on and off; the cycle is usually a few seconds. These are often used behind the title on EM games. A "flash lamp" is a lamp that is purposely over-driven for a brief instant (milliseconds) to produce an extremely bright flash of light. These are used to draw attention to game features such as bonuses.
2. 47 lamp is often used as a replacement for 44 lamps where heat is a concern for backglass or plastics.
3. 447 lamp serves the same purpose replacement for 555 lamps.

---

4 Tuning a Game for Best Performance

---

Leveling the Game

One of the most important things you can do to tune a game is make sure the playfield is level side to side. Some games contain a bubble level on the apron to check side to side leveling. Do to differing floor conditions, any time a game is moved, the level should be checked. Use an inclinometer or small torpedo level to check the side to side level. Check the level on the playfield itself, NOT on the playfield glass. The playfield may not sit level in the cabinet, or may be warped. Check the the level at several points on the upper and lower playfield. Adjust using the leg levelers. After your done, make sure you tighten the locknuts on the levelers.

Adjusting the Game Pitch

The pitch of the game drastically affects game play. A steeper game plays faster. Too steep can tax the flippers ability to make ramp shots. Too shallow, slows the game down. Too shallow also can allow the ball to be redirected more by playfield irregularities, such as warped inserts. Again, do to differing floor conditions, any time a game is moved, the pitch should be checked. The proper pitch of a given game may be indicated in the manual. In the case of games which include a bubble level for pitch, the manufacturers recommendations may be marked on the level. In the case where a recommended pitch is not indicated, the generally accepted "Rule of Thumb" is 3 1/2 degrees for EM games and 6 1/2 to 7 degrees for Solid State Games. Use an inclinometer, again on the playfield itself NOT the playfield glass, to measure pitch. Adjust using the leg levelers. After your done leveling, make sure you tighten the locknuts on the levelers.

Some players will adjust the pitch outside of "Factory" settings, to suit their taste or playing style. After playing a game for a while on the "Standard" settings, you may wish to experiment with different pitches.