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Weak auto-launcher

Carl Spiby

Carl Spiby

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Joined
Feb 24, 2013
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Kendal, Cumbria
On FT, the auto-plunger isn't propelling the ball around the right orbit as it should, I took the coil off, cleaned up the plunger and sleeve and it moves nice and smoothly but its made no difference. The coil number that's installed is AE-23-800, is that the right one for the machine?

The rubber tip looks ok but I don't know wha it should look like, its also hitting the ball off-centre but there's no adjustment in the bracket to compensate for it.
 
Do you mean the "auto-plunger" when you've lost a ball and it automatically shoots another one out for you?
 
dude, do the fixes as needed, and make a list. i'll reimburse you any parts costs when i get it back, maybe 6 months from now? anything cosmetic or super expensive or weirdo mods please check first.
 
If it's hitting the ball off-centre then that would definitely cause a week plunge. I had the same problem with a game a couple of years back. I think I either loosened or tightened a couple of screws of the mech and that seemed to solve the problem. This was quite a while ago and my memory is hazy but I'm fairly sure that is what I did.

Edit. Just noticed this was about the FT. Never had this problem when I had it. Are you sure something hasn't just become loose or something?
 
cooldan said:
dude, do the fixes as needed, and make a list. i'll reimburse you any parts costs when i get it back, maybe 6 months from now? anything cosmetic or super expensive or weirdo mods please check first.
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Everything else is honky-dory, just this small issue.
 
Agree with Fintan, make sure plunger coil bracket is fixed rock solid, no movement at all or you will get weak and variable plunge strength. I had that on my HS2 when I first had it.
 
Fintan Stack said:
If it's hitting the ball off-centre then that would definitely cause a week plunge. I had the same problem with a game a couple of years back. I think I either loosened or tightened a couple of screws of the mech and that seemed to solve the problem. This was quite a while ago and my memory is hazy but I'm fairly sure that is what I did.
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yeah, it was on the SS i bought off you a couple of years back. it was fudged with a drawing pin in the wood on the outside bottom right, just enough to keep it working about ten games before it got pushed back in and the problem recurred! the autolauncher mech was all bent out of shape and welded nasty and stuff, i ended up buying a new part for it, but didn't get around to fixing it properly, as TV's Will Barber (@SOUTH COAST SLAM ) kept whining on at me that he wanted to buy it, so eventually i sold it to him. guess what happened to it? yeah that's right, TVWB flipped it within 2 weeks.


gif dramatic-sheep.gif
 
I had a similar problem on a stern ball kick mechanism out of the main shooter lane, caused by the manual plunger spring on the outside of the case, but I'm not sure if the Bally Williams mechanism is the same. On the Stern, if the spring gets distorted by compression, then the manual plunger interferes with the ball when the auto mechanism tries to kick it. You can test this by holding the plunger out while the auto kicker does it's stuff.
 
Open the coin door and leave open (should cut the coil voltage), take the balls out of the machine put the auto plunger in test mode place a ball inthe shooter lane and see how it sits. Close the coin door to fire the auto launcher and see what is happening with the lanch mechanism. As others have said it probably just needs tightening or adjusting....
 
Someone had used a wood screw in a hole for a machine screw so I guess the first thing to do is get the right fixings! It needs adjusting definately, as it sits to the right of the ball, it did look like it couldn't move any further left as the bracket is up against the side of the PF already.

I'll have another look at it when 'er indoors lets me.
 
Had another look tonight, confirmed to myself there's absolutely no adjustment, took a video to show the issue, also noticed a lot of play in the plunger which isnt going to help things.


The lone screw holding it to the playfield is 3mm across the thread (does that make it a M3?) And 12mm long below the head (is that the correct measurement?)

Any suggestions? During a game it varies from making the loop to barely making it to the top of the shooter lane.
 
To the right of centre
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So the plunger needs to move to the left slightly? Try putting some slim washers in between the main bracket and the rear L bracket as shims....you may need to use slighty longer screws with the star washers on. This should push the rear of the plunger and coil to the right and bring the end that strikes the ball to the left....if you see what i mean?
 
Carl Spiby said:
took a video to show the issue, also noticed a lot of play in the plunger
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that's way too much side to side movement, my guess would be that the shooter rod is no longer straight after being used to lift the game at some point. take it out and take a look. also post a video of the autoplunger mech
 
Carl Spiby said:
Had another look tonight, confirmed to myself there's absolutely no adjustment, took a video to show the issue, also noticed a lot of play in the plunger which isnt going to help things.


The lone screw holding it to the playfield is 3mm across the thread (does that make it a M3?) And 12mm long below the head (is that the correct measurement?)

Any suggestions? During a game it varies from making the loop to barely making it to the top of the shooter lane.
Click to expand...
You are forgeting one thing on the sizes of the machine screws.
You are talking in metric and the parts in a pinball machine are in Imperial sizes.
So no its not a M3 screw size.
Have you got a manual to refer to ?
 
If you have a manual then totaly strip down the auto shooter and cheack all parts to the picture in the manual , clean everything and check for wear before reassambley. Most important is the tip of the auto shooter plunger hits the ball in the centre.
 
The L bracket is a weldment, the screws are holding the coil retainer.
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I meant the coil retainer, just didn't explain it very well :) As Dan and Daz have said, the bullet proof way would be to strip it down and check it out but using some shims might sort it for the meantime.
 
The screws that secure the bracket to the PF are not in the manual so I don't know the part no. I realise that screws and bolts are imperial but I measured it with a ruler as I have no idea what size screw it is.

@cooldan there isn't a shooter rod, its a button to plunge the ball. I took the mech off, its all present and correct. Why would there be so much play? The part number for the 'coil tubing' is 03-7067-5, The bell armature appears to be straight.

I think if I can eliminate the sideways movement and find a screw to secure the Assembly at the back it would sort it out.
 
Having looked at the video you can see that the nylon plunger tip is worn and mushroomed. A new one is needed. Someone else on here had a similar issue a few months back and a new nylon tip sorted it.

You should be able to push on the bottom of the coil holding bracket to help tweak the plunger tip back to the centre of the ball (away from the left edge as you put it) when it's in the shooter lane (once you've added the missing screw at the bottom of the holding bracket).
 
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