Laser War Flipper Rebuild

[TheStandardNate]

Hope you guys aren't sick of me asking questions yet about flippers. I started my Laser War rebuild and the parts don't seem to add up. The kit I got is the same kit all parts sites sell for Laser War, but the flippers on mine were more like the ones on my Williams machines. There is a little red plastic tip that looks like it is meant to brush the EOS, but the Flipper bat post doesn't actually fit in the rebuild parts, I have to force it in. Should I force it? Am I working with the wrong parts? I have looked all over the Googles and can find nothing about maybe Laser War being a different kit.

[Opto]

Can you post a picture? It's possible someone put different base plates on there, but I don't know why they would.

[eric]

I seem to remember having trouble getting the shafts of flipper bats into DE pawls. Make sure the screw on the pawl is good and loose. Yes, the red plastic is the EOS actuator.

[eric]

[TheStandardNate]

pics coming soon. I have been on conference calls for a few hours.

[TheStandardNate]

Posted them on my Facebook. Imgur.com was down and they were too large of files for the CFF site. https://www.facebook.com/nathan.stellhorn

[revtest]

Ya those look like Williams conversions to me buddy. Where did you order your parts from they may let you trade them for a Williams kit just need to figure out what style Williams kit you need I guess. You around tomorrow I will be in your area around 11am I can have a look if you want.

[eric]

Those look like the original DE baseplates with WMS everything else. The DE plunger/pawl assembly will not work with a WMS EOS, so you'll have to replace everything (which you should be doing anyway if you're rebuilding the flipper).

Here's a picture from IPDB you can use as a guide:

[TheStandardNate]

Thanks Eric and Jake.

Wish I would have pulled up this site earlier in the day. I have been swamped. I will tear into the EOS later and post back.

[TheStandardNate]

What are these 2 parts for? Not the squid erasers my kids friend gave me.



Also, I am still getting a very weak flip. How is my EOS spacing looking? I am at a little under 1/8 of an inch.

[Opto]

Nate - if the EOS is a "normally closed" switch, it needs to stay closed until the very end of the stroke. So when you're holding the flipper button down and the bat is up, there should be an 1/8" gap between the two contacts. From a glance it looks like if you pushed the plunger into the coil the EOS would engage way too early, cutting the high power and engaging the much lower "hold" power, resulting in ultra meager flips. Also, the EOS is the one closest to the coil. I'm pretty sure the one on the "outside" of the stack is the lane change switch.

The extra spring is there in case you wanted to convert the return spring to the later WPC style shown below. It's a slightly better return spring than the big one that fits over the plunger, but requires that you drill a hole in the bracket that is holding the EOS -



The round thing is a spring washer that fits between the coil and the bracket that holds the coil in place. You only really need this if you can wiggle the coil back and forth when you've attached the coil stop.

[eric]

It looks like the braket the EOS is mounted to is installed backwards. Look how close the switch is to the body of coil in Nate's photo versus the IPDB photo. Someone may have flopped the switch bracket when they converted the flipper over to Williams parts. If this is the case the EOS is going to open way too early resulting in a very weak flip.

[TheStandardNate]

Interesting. I will see if that helps. I meant to say my friends kid not my kids friend. No offspring here. I will keep working on it and get back to you guys.

[eric]

Yeah, flop that that bracket around and you should see a big improvement.

[TheStandardNate]

I flipped the bracket, shit still didn't line up right, I took out 2 of the spacer little pieces of wood(is that bad?), then I positioned the EOS on one side of the bracket and the other switch on the other, added some small nuts to hold the EOS on tighter. That left flipper is ragingly powerful. After I do the right one during a break this afternoon Laser War is gonna be way more fun. I also just got my Caranuba car wax in the mail and plan on starting to shop Laser War tonight. This thing will be flying. Thanks guys!

[TheStandardNate]

Flipper 2 was a beast to get a screw driver on in some spots, all went exactly as flipper 1. This machine is flying. Thank you all for your help. Do you want final pics of the way it was set up?

[Opto]

Glad to hear you got it going. Yeah, those early Data Easts had crazy strong flippers. Probably why the ramps on Time Machine, Laser War, Robocop etc are often wasted.

[eric]

I've never heard of having to sandwich the switch bracket like that, though I suppose if everything is working and the switch is gapped correctly then you should be fine. Nice work!

[Joey9Fingers]

I'm sure this is the wrong thread for this question...but it's the right game! What do you guys think about lazer war in general? Someone called the arcade today wanting to know if I was interested in buying it, I'm gonna go look at it this week. What's a fair price, and what's the "Joey just stole another pin price!" price?

[TheStandardNate]

I wouldn't pay more than 600, that's if it is perfect. Mine was my first machine and I got hosed at 850$. Lesson learned. I think Pinside says 250-800.