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hGuys,

I need your help and advice. I recently purchase a re-pop Mills War Eagle...I know most people give them a thumbs down but I needed a project and it was local.

Machine had been sitting for several years. Went through and cleaned things up and got it working. Plays and pays but I sometimes (6 out of 10) get a weak reel kick. The reels are nice and free so that is not the issue....when the kick is proper they spin nicely.

Soooo....I have some theories on what could be the cause.....I need your opinions on if they are possibly or likely to be the cause or not and if they are suggestions on corrective actions.

One note before we start....I seem to recall that when I attach photos here they get displayed in last in first displayed order. I will try and get them to display to match my numbering scheme here but if I mess that up the photos may be in a different sequence than the numbering of my questions.

1) Here is a photo of the stud that the kicker assembly mounts on (blue arrow). This had some wobble to it. This strikes me as a likely cause of the random effectiveness of the kick....agreed? I was able to tighten it up by rotating it. But I am concerned that it may work loose again as I am sure it gets some strong forces on it. if it comes loose again what can I do to permanently tighten it up?

2) Here is a picture of the kicker assembly. There was some drag between the plate pointed to by the blue arrow and it adjoining plate. Again I could see where this could be contributing to the weak kicks. Do I put grease or oil on this plate to rectify?

3) Here is a picture if the part of the kicker assembly that actually engages the reel disks to kick them. The blue arrow points to a little bit of a gap that allows a small amount of wobble. This seems to me that it cannot be tight as it has to rotate. Am I correct in this assumption or is this something else that needs to be tightened up?

4) Here is a photo of what I think is supposed to be a roller on the main arm that imparts the motion to the kicker assembly (yellow circle). On my machine this does not move.....should it? If so suggestions on how to free it up?

5) Here is a photo of the finger on the kicker assembly that rides on the roller referenced in #4. This looks suspiciously like it has been bent to me. Should this finger be straight? If so I would speculate that somebody mounted the assembly improperly on the stud and had to bend this finger to get it to ride on the roller. The way it was mounted before I removed it the finger would not have been riding on the roller without the bend.

My apologies for the volume of questions. Thanks in advance for your help and responses. I very much appreciate you sharing your expertise.

Your problems are why I tell all of my customers not to buy reproduction machines - the mechanisms don't work well and often don't fit into the case properly. I also have to say that it can be hard to diagnose some problems unless you put an original mechanism next to the reproduction mechanism, and see how they both should work.

But I'll try to help:
(1) Yes, I don't think that kicker assembly stud should have wobble in it. You could try some JB Weld to secure it, or if that doesn't work, get it welded so it has no wobble.
(2), No, I don't think there should be any drag in the kicker assembly plates. Try to see what's causing the drag (maybe some excess metal that you need to get rid of), or at least try oil to get it to move more easily. I wouldn't use grease in this instance.
(3) I don't think that wobble, unless it's severe and the kicker doesn't engage the reels, is a big problem.
(4) That roller not moving isn't probably a big deal, but I would free it up, starting with WD-40 or 3-in-1 oil, Liquid Wrench penetrant or better yet, Kroil penetrant (let it sit overnight), then try to move it with a pair of pliers, without scoring the roller too much.
(5) As long as it moves freely on the roller, I don't think this would be a problem.

Thanks for your reply and the helpful info.

I totally understand about the repops.....the quality is definitely not there. I do have an original working Mills Black Cherry and that has been handy as a reference point.

1) I was able to tighten up the stud by rotating it. We shall see if it holds. I had wondered about JB Weld and will try that if it loosens up again.

2) Totally agree about the plate drag. I did lube between the plates and this, along with fix (hopefully permanent) in #1 did resolve the weak reel kick issue.

3) Agreed...has to have some space in there or it is going to bind. Appreciate the confirmation.

4) I will address the roller and get it freed up.

5) While it bugs me that that finger is not straight, if it was straightened completely it would miss the roller so I left it alone.

I very much appreciate your help.