Chicago Coin Solved Olympics (Chicago Coin, 1975) Flippers Buttons Do Not Work

[bikeryder]

Hi all, I am a newbie to this forum and pinball owner. I grew up in the 60's playing EM pinball machines and recently purchased my first pin, Chicago Coin Olympics. I really like this pin. It is in decent condition for its age. I have had this pin for only three weeks. Up until Thursday evening everything worked flawlessly. As I was playing my Olympics pin, the flipper button just stopped functioning. I cycled through a few additional games, everything still worked flawlessly as normal other than the flipper buttons not triggering the flippers. I have both the pins owners manual and wiring diagram, but could not find anything which directed me to where to look for the problem. My goal is to elevate myself above being totally illiterate in understanding the inner workings of EM pins. Can anyone provide me a little guidance on where to begin this trouble shooting process. Thanks to all in advance... Cheers, Eddie

 

[pinballdaveh]

most em flipper problems are a wire came off the flipper coil or the EOS switch next to the coil. or the flipper coil is bad. manually operate the coil plunger and check if the EOS switch opens and closes correctly. cleaning the EOS switch contacts and the flipper button contacts with a points file sometimes helps.

 

[Coil_Smoke]

Both Flippers ?

If both flippers quit at the same time there must be a break in the flipper circuit shared by both flippers. Is there a flipper fuse? Wiggle those wires with the power on and button pressed. Look for a broken wire, bad connection or like DaveH says something may have come loose. C_S

 

[bikeryder]

Many thanks pinballdaveh and Coil_Smoke ... Yes, both flippers. Upon lifting the playfield I saw a row of fuses in the bottom of the lower cabinet which I will now check out, and yes, both flippers stopped working at exactly the same time, which was right after ball one dropped out of play, beginning with ball two both flippers were DEAD. Upon close inspection with playfield up, looking at underside of playfield I discovered a loose wire on the left flipper coil. There are 3 wire connectors on each flipper coil (left and right). On both the left and right flipper coils the extreme left and center wire connector have wires running to contact switches (these wires are firmly soldered to their coil connectors). On the left flipper coil, the extreme right wire connector has 3 wires, one of which is a jumper wire to the right wire connector of the right flipper coil (this jumper wire is intact). The following I believe is my problem... Of the other 2 wires soldered to the extreme right wire connector on the left flipper coil, one wire has broken away from its solder joint and is NOT making contact. Time to invest in some solder and a soldering iron. I can't thank you both enough. Cheers! Eddie

 

[faralos]

careful when using soldering guns as they get real hot
better to invest in a soldering station which has a variable temperature setting
to solder what you are talking about though yeah you could use a gun
but for board work or other delicate work a station is the way to go

 

[bikeryder]

SOLDERING STATION

Thank you faralos... This I did not know. Any suggestions on a good reliable well made brand and model soldering station? Again, thanks to all who have replied to my inquiry, I am truly enjoying being an (EM) pin owner, it is bringing back many childhood memories.

Cheers, Eddie

 

[Coil_Smoke]

In The Begining....

A regular 30-40 watt soldering iron is suitable for most pinball repairs. Circuit boards and in particular soldering integrated circuits is where that adjustable heat and a extra-narrow tip helps. Get thin gauge rosin core solder too. The thin stuff will come in handy if you do more delicate jobs in the future. I am still using the same large roll of thin solder I bought at Baynesville Electronics in 1971! I remember thinking it would last a long time...
This web site has great tips on what to and important not to do's with your machine...C_S
http://www.pinrepair.com/

http://www.pinrepair.com/em/index.htm

 

[bikeryder]

Thin Solder

Many thanks Coil_Smoke... I consider myself fortunate to have been introduced to this pinball forum. I am hoping to have everything required to repair that disconnected wire on the flipper coil in the next week.

BTW, I just picked up a Gottlieb "300" 4 player Bowling pin. It is plug and play, and needs a wee bit of a general cleaning. The only thing I would like to replace is the pitted coin door, but I have not seen any online. Are these hard to come by? Would it be better to simply removed my coin door assembly and send it out for cleaning and re-chrome?

Cheers, Eddie

 

[pinballdaveh]

i have already seen new coin doors on the pinball resource website for $98.00

 

[bikeryder]

Flippers Now Working

Many thanks to all. Flippers now working perfectly. The moment that disconnected wire to the flipper coil was re-attached flippers came back to life...

Cheers, Eddie