The ball in the cellar up-kicker hole is kicked up the clear tube but falls back, or the up-kicker coil gets hot or burns.

Haunted House up-kicker too weak to reach the main playfield

Cause: Most often the tungsten contacts on the relay that fires the up-kicker are pitted and add resistance; a mis-adjusted contact can also hold the coil on. The ball also lands on the top of the coil sleeve, which cracks or mushrooms and drags on the plunger. An off-centre plunger or tube makes the ball rattle in the tube.

Checks

• Inspect the relay switch contacts for pitting and correct gap.
• Pull the plunger and look at the top lip of the coil sleeve.
• Check the plunger strikes the centre of the ball and the tube sits squarely over the hole (see the alignment entry).
• Confirm the coil is A-4893.

Fix

• Fit a new double-flanged nylon coil sleeve and, if needed, an A-4893 coil.
• Align plunger and tube.
• If it is still unreliable, replace the relay switching with a pop bumper driver board (see the conversion procedure).

Systems

• Gottlieb System 80

Games

• Haunted House

Related tips

• Correct up-kicker coil for Black Hole and Haunted House
• Driving the Haunted House up-kicker from a pop bumper driver board
• Up-kicker fires by itself when the flippers are pressed
• Gottlieb coil wrappers are colour coded
• Haunted House trap door won't open
• Black Hole up-kicker on a pop bumper driver board
• Aligning the Haunted House up-kicker plunger and ball tube
• Haunted House playfield-mounted transistors Q1 to Q3

Source: Repairing & Upgrading Gottlieb System 80 Pinballs from 1980 to 1989, Part Two, Clay Harrell (pinrepair.com)