Something seems off with the main flipper angles

Robert Misner

New member
Oct 4, 2014
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I don't now how to verify this but it seems like the flippers on the Addams family when fully depressed are shallower then they should be.
I thought maybe the table was just tuned for harder rubber on flippers but i started comparing the angle with the other season 4 tables and it is much shallower.
I was watching some flipper tutorials and I noticed one was the Addams family as well and the angle seem much steeper in the video vs TPA table.

heres a screenshot comparing them all.
Is there a set angle the flippers should raise to when fully depressed? Or is it variable?

3NlBqc6.jpg
 

switch3flip

Member
Jan 30, 2013
944
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It's variable on different pins and Addams are supposed to be like that.
For instance, Attack from Mars are pretty shallow too. Some are more extreme in the other way, especially the gottlieb pins, check out Cue Ball Wizard, that has very steep flipper angles.
 
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invitro

New member
May 4, 2012
2,337
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The TAF flippers seem too shallow to me, too. But they do vary and I think I can recall playing TAF's with shallow flippers. Those Premiers around CBW definitely had the Insta-Catch super-steep flippers that were kind of jokes back then.
 

Robert Misner

New member
Oct 4, 2014
610
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ok i was just wondering..thought maybe there was a standard angle by manufacture they should be set at, or a spec in the service manual of the real table etc.
just struck me as quite different then the rest
Thx for the info!
 

Zaphod77

Active member
Feb 14, 2013
1,316
2
the amount they travel isset by the flipper mech itself.

the starting angle is adjustable, and traditionally for a williams/Bally, exactly parallel to the inlane channel, though on some games the flippers are droopier, like AFM and Theater of Magic. The bottom of the flippe is supposed to be aligned to the thin hole drilled in the whitewood, by sliding a thin nail/paperclip and letting the flipper rest against it.

Note that even when the flippers are supposed ot be droopy, many operators think it looks wrong, and will mid-align the flippers.

When Twilght Zone was released, the travel of the flippers on it was reduced, to make trapping harder. so if a twilight zone flipper mech is put into an earlier williams game, that will cause the shallow flippers. With williams pinball not around any more, it's harder to get the "right" flipper mech.

Premier pinball games are noted for their very high flip angles that, especially under high slope, let you trap a ball right after a ramp very easily, especially since they tend to set the ball BELOW the inlane switch, which only makes the problem problem worse. the famed Insta-Catch (tm) flippers. Oddly enough, that usually does NOT actually work on CBW, because that game actually drops the ball high up in the inlane, but it DEFINITELY works on Tee'd-Off in real life, as well as rescue 911, stargate, etc.
 

Opiumdragon

New member
Jul 7, 2015
2
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Yes

I thinks the flipper angles are off a bit. There are just too many balls that trickle off the edge that just shouldn't have the momentum to do that. If you look at this mansion tour https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--dDO66cdOM you see him constantly nudging to compensate this.

This real life PAPA table is set up to be very difficult and one can see by comparison that something is off on the Pinball Arcade table. The ball is just not stopped enough by the flippers in Pinball Arcade as it is in real life.

You can also see that the magnet is a tad too strong. In real life you can backhand the upper ramps from a cradle; in Pinball Arcade the balls die before even reaching the book case from a cradled flip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSw7fK6x1mw
 

switch3flip

Member
Jan 30, 2013
944
0
I thinks the flipper angles are off a bit. There are just too many balls that trickle off the edge that just shouldn't have the momentum to do that. If you look at this mansion tour https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--dDO66cdOM you see him constantly nudging to compensate this.

This real life PAPA table is set up to be very difficult and one can see by comparison that something is off on the Pinball Arcade table. The ball is just not stopped enough by the flippers in Pinball Arcade as it is in real life.

You can also see that the magnet is a tad too strong. In real life you can backhand the upper ramps from a cradle; in Pinball Arcade the balls die before even reaching the book case from a cradled flip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSw7fK6x1mw

In real life, on some Addams pins you can backhand upper ramp from cradle and on some you can't.
Ball rolls off flippers lots of times on a real Addams pin, with less momentum, I can guarantee you that without a doubt. What IS wrong in Pinball Arcade is how the ball has too much speed when coming from inlane to flipper after ramp shot, it should lose much of its speed. That is a problem on more tables, like Dracula. However, lots of things are incredibly easier in pinball arcade and you have techniques to stop the ball that don't work in real life as effective, AND most importantly, in real life all pins play differently and are set differently, there really is no exact definite. Heck, the same pin is a lttle different from day to day! You have to learn every individual pin. Not even in PAPA tournaments. The pro tips for a tournament is generally to ask players who played this pin "how does this particular Addams behave?" Questions like "will the ball stop on cradled right flipper after a bear kick ramp?" is a question to ask.
Flipper angle is just right on TPA.
 
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Opiumdragon

New member
Jul 7, 2015
2
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"What IS wrong in Pinball Arcade is how the ball has too much speed when coming from inlane to flipper after ramp shot, it should lose much of its speed"

YES. This is what I meant by "There are just too many balls that trickle off the edge that just shouldn't have the momentum to do that. If you look at this mansion tour https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--dDO66cdOM you see him constantly nudging to compensate this."

"in real life all pins play differently and are set differently, there really is no exact definite."
I agree. I've played three Adams Family machines, two of them 20 plus hours. The other one was long ago and is long gone. However, I've never seen the magnets so strong. I understand that on some pins you can backhand the ramp etc... what I'm saying is, with the magnets on you can't even get close to a ramp from a cradle stopped and I've never seen that.
 

EldarOfSuburbia

New member
Feb 8, 2014
4,032
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Yes, The Power is overpowered. Just hold the ball on the flipper for about 10 seconds and it will switch off. Unfortunately that stops the timer on Seance as well, so you have to hit a switch to get the timer going again, but if you've got the ball held on a flipper, you should be able to hit the Bear Kick ramp easily enough.
 

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