Adjusting Rollover Switches

[DRD]

is there a dark art to this ?

I have found that on my fast looping games (shadow, hs2) that occasionally the ball strikes the actuator and stalls. Perhaps when you get a second or third loop on the fly so the ball is really travelling. It is as though the microswitch cannot move quickly enough so the wire poking through the playfield binds against the wooden slot and obstructs the ball.

The problem may be that the switch has a soft incline in one direction, but a much steeper one in the other......



Stern switches have a gentle semi circular design, so I think they are better in fast looping scenarios .....






On my shadow I ended up making a stern type profile out of one of Phil's bend to suit microswitches and this did seem to help....





I messed about for ages trying to fix this on my shadow, and got the reject down to less than 1 shot in 20. Then I lost the will to live

My hs2 is now doing the same thing. The switches work in the test mode. Balls can crawl over them, and they trigger correctly. I have not overtightened them (which does make them harder to operate). But when travelling at pace - I am getting ball rejects just like on my shadow

I have tried new switches, rotating other switches in the outlane / inlane into the high speed loops

Are occasional ball rejects like this just a fact of life ?

Thanks

 

[stoptap]

It's a fine balancing act between switch angle and bending the wire. I used to think that having the switch angled upwards would help but it actually works best if the switch is actually angled downwards. This essentially sets the switch up so it triggers with the least amount of movement. It is hard to explain but you will know when you have it right.

 

[kevlar]

I have also replaced quite a few with long straight actuators, bending them the same as the Stern half circles, they work much better.

 

[DRD]

What sort of reject ratio do you think is pragmatic then pls guys ?

Is it a 1 in 10 ?
1 in 20 ?
1 in 100 ?

I do not want to waste my time trying to make the game do something it was never designed to do

Thanks.

 

[stoptap]

I wouldn't accept a single rejection. It is only a switch and as long as the ball isn't bouncing it should be able to register every time.

 

[cooldan]

Remember there are several ways to adjust these - you can bend the wire at the first or the second corner, move the actuator to the other hinge point, change the position of the bracket holding the switch (two screws not one) and, crucially, use a fine jewellery Philips screwdriver on the black case of the switch itself, to move the pivot point by a mm or so. This single mm at the hub can move the end of the actuator by a cm, and change the angle.

Also make sure the wire doesn't touch the wood of the playfield on either use of the slot, as the friction will make it stick. This my be your problem.

Biggest problem I have with these is when a playfield protector is fitted, as the extra mm of elevation cocks up the intended range of movement in the switch itself, meaning not hangups but non-registered switches.