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Excalibur fault

domlouis

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May 28, 2014
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A thread for our gottlieb experts.
So on my Excalibur I have a fault where the green targets, the left sling shot and the top pop bumper (only the central One) do not register any hits.
I initially thought it was associated with a wire that wasn't connected in one of the connectors. I fixed that full of hope. But that hasn't cured it.
Any suggestions on what could be wrong and where to look?
Thanks
Dom
 
Thanks chris @ronsplooter. My initial check revealed that they were not all on the same chain as the pop bumper was on a different one. So I was confused.
I have however fixed another connector fault and the pop bumper is back working. So I think the target bank and left slingshot are indeed on the same chain.
Have a look at the attached picture and see if you agree.
If that's the case, where do I look next?
I looked under the playfield and the wiring loom leaving the target bank is about the size of my thumb. Little chance to trace it to the board....
 

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As I see the picture, neither slingshot seems to be present. The "Rubber Switches" at the top of each column are duplicates of the rebound switches behind the target banks

Apologies if I'm pitching too low, but the machines' program works out if a switch has operated by detecting a circuit between a Column ('Return') and a Row ('Strobe'). In practice, each line, be it Column or Row, can be connected to up to 8 different switches, with the 16 different wire colours (number-coded by those 'labels') routed around the playfield, including those diode boards that Gottlieb preferred to use rather than have a diode on each switch. These complicate things further by introducing more wire colours for the connections to the actual switches

With the target bank, this game has their switches assigned down a column, so there may well be a problem with that line, but if any other switch on that column does work, the connection to the circuit board itself is okay
With one isolated switch not reading, if it's alone on either of its lines there may be a problem with that line at the board, but if not then the wiring should be traced back to the nearest points on its lines that are working
 
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There is no real slingshot on the Excalibur, just a lower rubber switch where the slingshot would normally be so I took the first entry on the first column to be that. The second entry on the column seems to be the rubber band behind the targets. So the way I read it the whole column is likely to be out. I will check tonight to see if the rubber switch behind the target registers anything.
And don't worry about making it too simple: I am no expert and need all the help I can get.
 
In that case, then yes, the left 'slingshot' is the switch shown at the top of the first column, #30, along with the backing rebound of the target bank
 
For completeness, i should add that the fault is now fixed. It was a dodgy connector back on the board. Fixed the connector and Excalibur is now back fully working. Yipee. Thank you for the advice.
 
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