Flipper rebuild step 7: renew the pawl's heat shrink

Steps

• The pawl tab that works the EOS switch is sleeved in heat shrink. Once it wears through, metal contact frays the EOS blade, which can hang on the pawl and leave the flipper stuck up.
• On pre-Fliptronics games the sleeve also insulates the pawl from the high voltage EOS switch; bare metal there causes odd behaviour.
• Cut off the old tubing with a razor blade.
• Slide on a 1/2 inch length of 1/4 inch heat shrink, shrink it with a heat gun or hair dryer and trim.

Systems

• WPC Alpha-Numeric
• WPC Dot Matrix
• WPC Fliptronics
• WPC DCS
• WPC-Security (WPC-S)
• WPC-95

Related tips

• Flipper rebuild steps 14-15: tighten pawl and set the EOS
• Flipper rebuild step 2-4: pawl off, check bracket and rubber stop
• Flipper rebuild step 13: set flipper travel to 2 3/8 inch
• Flipper rebuild step 1: remove and check the coil stop
• Flipper rebuild step 5: replace the nylon playfield bushings
• Flipper rebuild steps 10-12: end play and alignment
• Why flippers get weak and how rebuilding helps
• Coil sleeves and flipper rebuild spares

Source: Repairing Williams/Bally WPC Pinball Games from 1990 to 1999, Part Three, Clay Harrell (pinrepair.com)