First major repair

Before I tried to replace the upper playfield general illumination terminals (the subject of a later post), I decided to try a simple solder repair on a broken flipper. Earthshaker has three flippers: the standard left and right, plus an upper left flipper. It was the upper left which had broken. I thought it might be a bad switch, but while examining it, I noticed a wire had come loose. I took a few photos before I started to make sure I could at least get everything back the way it had been.




I wanted to solder the flipper in place, as removing it would be even more difficult. I wasn't sure where the connection needed to be, but there was a suspicious clean break behind the coil. I placed the wire onto the lead, and used the continuity tester. On the other (working) flipper coils, all three of the leads tested open in any combination. On the broken flipper, the center lead was closed. When I placed the wire where I suspected it needed to go, the continuity tester buzzed. So that seemed to be the right connection. Unfortunately this was just behind the coil.

I did manage to flow enough solder onto the wire to attach it to the lead. I'm not sure how long this will hold, since this connection takes a lot of vibration. But it works, and this gave me the confidence to try my next repair: replacing some PCB terminals.