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AFM owners help - stroke of luck kickout location

David_Vi

David_Vi

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5Years
Joined
Sep 3, 2019
Messages
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Location
Sudbury
My AFM is in lovely condition but one thing has been bugging me.

The stroke of luck kickout hits the left ball guide and sometimes the bottom of the left sling.
I have watched a variety of videos of AFM being used in comps or general gameplay and notice a lot kick it to the mid of the left flipper which makes for great live catches.

I've tried what seems like everything to adjust mine. I've replaced the coil spring and sleeve. Put a stretched out spring to offer more resistance in an attempt to make the kickout weaker.
Added a starpost rubber to the plunger to give It less travel to again make it weaker.
Put the coil bracket at an angle to try make it weaker.
Bent the vuk to try angle and stop the ball getting so much air.


Some worked but still weren't very consistent and felt a bit 'hacky'.

Noticed this wear in the vuk.
20220531_140305.jpg

At first I thought it couldn't cause any issues but someone on Pinside said it could make it inconsistent, the ball does roll slightly into the worn area as the plunger rises.

Sooo after all my hacky attempts and replacing all the parts (spring, sleeve etc) it left the mech. Bit the bullet and bought a new mech.

It's definitely different to my previous one, the curve is tighter and of course it's not worn.

Popped it in and it behaves just like previous one 🤦‍♂️

So at this point I wonder is this how it's meant to be? Can anyone with an AFM confirm?

Any suggestions?

I know I should just play the games and stop obsessing, but I think this is the reason a lot of people say my games are nice to play, I obsess over little things (ball guides,feeds,leaf switches etc) and adjusting them till the game behaves as intended.

Just doesn't always get to the point where I'm at a loss🤣
 
i had to cut out a couple of the screw holes on the underside plate of the VUK mount and turn the whole vuk to the right position. resecured using some washers and screws.

Hits the mid upper half of the left flipper every time now.

Mine was similar to yours before i did this and kept hitting the left sling. Completely changes how the game plays so dont think your obsessing.

Apparently there are repro VUK mounts floating around that dont line up exactly the same as the original so maybe you have one of those.
(ie the screw holes in the plate are not lined up quite right which means the whole mount is turned slightly to the left)
 
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I had considered side cutting the holes allowing a bit of movement but hadn't got to that as I thought a new vuk would be right.

I might use the original vuk as an experiment first before I end up damaging a new one.

I assume you only need the smallest change in angle so I shouldn't have to cut the holes out too much.
 
i tried using what wiggle room there is in the existing holes, ie pushing the vuk firmly whilst tightening the screws but it wasnt enough for mine so had to cut to allow it to twist more.

is the "original" an original? could also be a repro?
 
paulg100 said:
i tried using what wiggle room there is in the existing holes, ie pushing the vuk firmly whilst tightening the screws but it wasnt enough for mine so had to cut to allow it to twist more.


With four different mount holes it's going to be tricky to know what way to cut on each, Id rather do a side cut in the correct direction than enlarge the holes. Saying that, I suppose enlarging will add a couple mm and that might be enough.


is the "original" an original? could also be a repro?
Click to expand...
There's little to no wiggle room on either. Don't know if the original is an actual original, the welds on both are different so could be different repros?




Moonraker said:
Plungers mushroom, did you replace the plunger or just everything else...?

pinparts.co.uk

A-17767 Williams/Bally bell armature or plunger assembly.

pinparts.co.uk
Click to expand...

Forgot to mention I replaced that also. 🤦‍♂️
 
In which case it sounds like an alignment problem and the ball might be hitting or brushing something when being ejected from the scoop. Might be worth filming close up to see if that is happening.
 
Moonraker said:
In which case it sounds like an alignment problem and the ball might be hitting or brushing something when being ejected from the scoop. Might be worth filming close up to see if that is happening.
Click to expand...
I did a few slow mo videos last week and it seems like ball exits the vuk straight, aligned with the top of the scoop. So it must be the angle of the vuk.
I've tried side drilling the holes a bit and it improved with the 25-1000 coil, I put the original (as per manual) 26-1200 in and it's back to the ball guide.

So needs to be turned more to cope with the stronger original coil
 
Pick Holder said:
AFM original or AFM remake?
If it is a remake you can turn solenoid power down/up
Click to expand...
Original

Nearly there with the realigning. It's so far turned that it needed new holes in the underside of the pf🤔

It doesn't look off centre or wonky on the top of the pf, so its not that drastic.

Just perfecting it now
 
Pick Holder said:
Have you bent the kickout on the top of the playfield?
Click to expand...
Tried that with the previous one, a lot. Again assumed the new one would be ready to go. Which it may be just not have holes in the correct alignment.

So far so good with the new holes though!
 
If you want to make a kick out weaker then step down to a weaker coil. ( a larger number of turns )
 
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