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WOZ ball lock

R

robertlucas1970

I have a bit of a problem with the ball lock, if one or two balls are locked in at the end of a game it does not know they are still there when you come to start the next game.
It also does not release those balls, all other solenoids seem to fire when searching for balls, but the ball lock release does not lift and release the balls.
When I go into the test it knows the balls are there, they are green in the switch test, If i place 1 to 3 balls its knows they are there, I can also fire the solenoid in the test to lift the ball release which is what I do every time to start a new game.
So it knows the balls are there, the solenoid works as it does release them when you get multi ball and I can trigger it from in the test, so not sure what to look at next...............
Many Thanks
 
There is a menu option to choose whether to release the locked balls after the game finishes. Is that what you mean? If it is disabled it will not release them at the end or beginning of the game, but it knows they are there so releases them when required during the game.
 
Its set to release them, every so often it will not release them, I then go to start a new game and it starts searching for balls and will not find them.
If I go into the switch test it knows 2 balls are still there, If I go to the solenoid test I can then release them that way, so the optos work and the solenoid works, but for some reason every few games they are getting stuck there.
Many Thanks
 
Hmm, not sure then. The only time mine doesn't release them is if I press the start button before they have had time to release. If that happens it behaves like the setting to release them is disabled and carries on as normal.
 
OK I have found the problem, the ball lock will work fine in test mode, but load it with 3 balls and it cant lift, I have 69v on the solenoid and when I press the start button in the test that drops to 0v and you can feel the solenoid try to energise, but cant lift the release when its loaded with more than one ball.
I have looked in the menu and cant see a power setting for this solenoid, I will keep working on it :)
 
Had a similar issue on mine once. Like you I could hear it trying but it wouldn't lift. I had to manually lift it with my hand and it has been fine since.

The Ramp Lockup has a Diverter Hold Strength in the menu. Have you tried increasing this?
 
Robert the gap between the magnet and the part it pulls down is too big hence you can hear it try buy nothing happens bend it a bit closer should be fine that lock is a pain always hard to fine tune
 
I think I have sorted it, there is a metal tab under the solenoid, if you bend that up a bit the locking bar does not come down so much which then keeps it closer to the magnet, if it comes down too much that magnet just does not have the power to lift it, so I think the stop tab just gets a bit bent out of shape after time.
I will keep testing, but pretty sure this will sort it, thanks for all the help
 
I had the same issue on a customers woz. I don't remember the exact fix but it involved packing out the space between the physical stop and something else maybe with a flipper rubber to lessen the effect of the arm repeatedly hitting the stop and bending it away. If you allow the bracket to be beaten back repeatedly then it will become more and more fragile and weaker until it eventually breaks.
 
I thought I had it as it seemed ok for a while, if I close the stop gap anymore then the lock does not catch the balls as the arm is too high and the balls push it out the way and roll under, I think I will see if I can order a new bracket and then put a rubber washer on the metal stop tab.
Thanks for all the tips :)
 
This tab keeps bending down, so it will just weaker, anybody know if this is part of the coil assembly ?
Many Thanks



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Hey Robert. This happened a couple of times during my ownership of the WOZ but I couldn't find anything physically wrong so I thought it was software related.
 
Big Phil said:
Hey Robert. This happened a couple of times during my ownership of the WOZ but I couldn't find anything physically wrong so I thought it was software related.
Click to expand...

I have to replace the part with the metal stop tab on, as there is no part number for that I can only think its part of the solenoid, If you bend that tab up it works for a while, it only needs to be a tiny bit out of shape and then the magnet cant lift it as its too far down, but where that metal bracket bends 90 degrees that is the weak point and every time you bend it a little it just gets softer.
Just waiting to see if Phil can order me one
 
Just resurrecting this thread. I think this maybe the reason my coil burned out. It was too bigger gap to lift the mechanism so just stayed energised. I’m guessing when a lock opto switch is triggered by a ball moving, it knows it has released and shuts the coil off? If my coil is still serviceable, I’ll try and close this gap and hopefully that will work
 
Yeah sorted it thanks Chris. Coil still works ok after it started smoking. I’ve closed the gap and now it lets 2 balls out at once. I’ve tried tinkering with the release timings etc.. life’s too short. I’ve disabled it and put virtual locks on. Job done 😬.
 
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