Help with Blackwater Flipper Coil

[PeteB]

Hi!

I recently acquired a Bally Blackwater 100, got it cheap as it was not working at all. Over the last few weeks I've been restoring it and got almost everything to 100% but there's one thing which has caused constant headaches and that is the top right flipper.

The flipper is currently disabled by leaving the switches wide open. When I first tried getting it to work by closing the switches again, the coil fires and flips the flipper but immediately blows a 1A fuse under the play field near the front. I don't have a manual or schematic but it looks like the wiring to the coil has been tampered with at some point as one of the switch tabs has no wire coming from it (there are no lose wires anywhere, so one has been soldered back on wrong).

I'm hoping someone here with more experience than me might be able to spot the problem. I've uploaded some high res photos here: https://picasaweb.google.com/115838186553439844388/BallyBlackwater100?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCLylh8SntbfdYQ&feat=directlink

...and yes, I know all the coil plungers are covered in oil. They will be getting stripped as soon as I fix this flipper.

[mgb]

I'm not an expert at pinball repair, I usually kinda tinker around and sometimes make the repair and sometimes not.
But one thing I would possibly suspect is the end of stroke switch. A flipper is activated at a higher voltage for the initial hit and then the end of stroke breaks that voltage and switches to a lower voltage for simply holding the flipper. Maybe the problem is there.
Otherwise of course it could be the coil is shot.
Have you though about rebuilding the flippers.
Flipper rebuild kits from the pinball resource or Bay Area amusements come with everything needed.
Hopefully you can score a manual.
Have you checked ipdb.com

[PeteB]

Yeah I've checked the switches, the high voltage one opens and the low voltage closes which is correct. I've also checked the coils resistance with a multimeter and it checks out fine.

I'll be rebuilding the flippers as soon as I find out why the coil keeps blowing the 1A fuse.

Haven't found a scanned manual anywhere online unfortunately.

[smartbomb2084]

Looking at your pics....Shouldn't the EOS switch closest to the flipper crank be Normally Closed at rest?

Aren't the lower flipper EOS switches CLOSED at rest?

Where are all you KNOWLEDGEABLE 'I know everything' type posters when a guy needs help?

Don't let a warty run-in with a Toad keep you away...

[ed12]

eos  end of stroke switch is normally colsed and is opened by a lever on the flipper
the fact it blew the 1a playfeild fuse make's me think either the coil is reversed or is just plain bad. also i would in this case as a matter of thought rebuild the complete assy.

ed

[PeteB]

Thanks for the replies guys!

The switch has been deliberately bent open by me to deactivate the flipper while I was working on the rest of the game.

Anyway, I managed to find some pictures from somebody else who owns the same game and apart from having an extra unnecessary switch (which I've now removed) the problem seemed to be the coil itself was shorting out.

I've ordered a new coil and stripped the rest of the assembly down for cleaning and re-soldering. Will post back here when the new coil arrives to let you know if it's working or not.