Weak Spike 2 flippers out of the box

Collecting
1

Hi. I’ve got an Avengers Premium that’s got some pretty disappointing flippers and I haven’t found reliable info on how I can improve performance. I’ll note that I’ve heard all about the coils heating up on this game in particular and potentially installing coil fans - I understand the issue here and would be completely willing to go that route if my problems only manifested after long games. Not the case, sadly.

The biggest culprit is the lower left flipper, which struggles to hit the right orbit and captain marvel shots (again, from a just started game).

As far as I can tell, the mech’s movement is clean. There’s some up and down play on the flipper. Playfield is clean. Coil stop seems fine. Is it crazy to think I may have gotten a bad coil out of the box? Are there any other things I should be validating?

Thanks!

2

Does the power feel low from the left flipper or are those shots just needing to be tweaked?

Have you tried adjusting the flipper power in the menu?

I’d try a new coil stop first before a coil, which is unlikely to be the problem.

3

I have found that EOS switches that are not adjusted correctly provide a surprising amount of mechanical resistance.

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4

Almost positive you can’t adjust the flipper power on Avengers because it is already at it’s max value in settings.

Have you checked the end of stroke switch and made sure that is adjusted properly?

5

First make sure the coil sleeve is long enough and the plunger isn’t dragging on the metal bracket instead of smoothly moving in and out of the plastic sleeve. The sleeve should go past the metal bracket by a mm or so.

Then I’d be absolutely sure the EOS switch is making solid consistent contact as rest. Easiest way to test is to put an alligator clip on it to keep it closed.

Flip it a few times. Fixed? Then I would concentrate on adjusting the EOS to make sure it’s making consistent contact at rest.

6

This is great stuff, thanks everyone. Yeah flipper power is maxed.

I have not examined the EOS at all. I’ll give it a look tonight.

7

It’s subtle, but I would say it does feel slightly weaker than the right flipper. They’re both aligned exactly alike, with the center of the end of the flipper bat just slightly above the alignment holes.

8

Thanks folks, but the EOS adjustments and testing made no difference. I’ve ordered a whole new set of coil stops in case these are bad for some reason, but I’m not confident. The game just kinda shoots like a wet noodle. Maybe it’s all the flippers but I feel the left one more because of the difficulty of those shots. I can’t tell you how annoying it is to get to Soul Gem and have to shoot the capt marvel ramp (especially when flank attack was already used on the weak right orbit shot).

9

You know I just spent some time adjusting and I think I may have solved it. I thought the flippers had enough up and down play but I think I was wrong. I just added quite a bit more and it’s night and day. I played one game and hit 30 something marvel ramps. It was wonderful.

Thanks!

6 Likes
10

What exactly did you do?

11

Put more up and down play in the flipper. More distance between the crank and the bottom of the bushing.

Loosen the crank/pawl, slide it down the flipper shaft a tad, retighten. You’ve now increased the up/down play.

12

Wow, play testing must be nonexistent.

13

I’ve seen this a few times. My Metallica out of the box was like that. It’s ok to start and a couple games in as the grin toon heats the bushing up and expands slightly it gets worse.