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Bally Drop Targets not scoring/resetting mid-game (Flash Gordon)

  • Thread starter Thread starter Deleted member 5505
  • Start date Start date
D

Deleted member 5505

It's been a while since I've had to read the schematics so might take me a bit of time for me to get my head around it from there.
So will post here first in case it's an obvious Bally thing.

This occurred while the game was on, it was working fine for a few games, played other games for a bit and came back, then noticed the following.

The two banks of x3 drop targets on the left hand side of the game are not scoring and not resetting mid-game, BUT do reset at end of each ball fine.
As they reset here I'm assuming it's not a power issue, also the 3 inline on the right hand side and the top individual drop target are all still working fine.

Thanks in advance.


Edit: Just to clarify, I have manually tried the switches under the playfield and haven't just been poking them down from above.
 
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Not an expert, but I would say it sounds like at least one of the switches is not getting registered in MPU, the code is probably setup to just do a reset of the drop targets on game start/end of ball regardless of them being down or not, pretty sure Ive seen that type of behaviour before at game start.

If the game doesnt see all switches closed during play it wont reset the bank as it will think one is still up.
 
Fantazia2 said:
Not an expert, but I would say it sounds like at least one of the switches is not getting registered in MPU, the code is probably setup to just do a reset of the drop targets on game start/end of ball regardless of them being down or not, pretty sure Ive seen that type of behaviour before at game start.

If the game doesnt see all switches closed during play it wont reset the bank as it will think one is still u
Click to expand...
Both banks of targets that are affected work independently mid-game, I'm not sure if the above could apply unless it's a strange coincidence.
 
Fantazia2 said:
They are all on the same column in the switch matrix, along with the top target above the 3 bank on the upper playfield.
Click to expand...
Ok, thanks. The top target switch was still registering manually.

In the meantime I ran the solenoid test and lower 3 fires on 05 and upper 3 fire on 06, and they've started working in game again.... wtf
 
Did you say above you'd tried them all manually and they showed up in a switch test?

I think its the same MPU as Elektra and have found the switch test is a bit of a pain as it will only show the lowest closed switch, pretty sure it doesnt cycle through the closed switches, which is a pain with Elektra due to the ball in the lower playfield being low in the list.
 
Fantazia2 said:
Do the contacts just need a clean on the leafs? Or maybe just needed fractionally adjusting and manually triggering was enough to do that.
Click to expand...
I'm afraid to faff too much now they're working again, they probably do need a clean tbf too.
 
Crewey said:
I'm afraid to faff too much now they're working again, they probably do need a clean tbf too.
Click to expand...

I know the feeling, the 2 lower playfield star rollovers and a main playfield target on my elektra weren't registering, attempted to fix and now one of the side targets is stuck on, the playfield props also missing so given up until I get chance to make a replacement one.
 
I'd set it running, check the drops individually to see if any register scores. No need to mess about with switch test.

Then check the other switches in the column to see if they register. If some work, some don't, that will lead you towards a probable failure in continuity between the last one that works and the one that doesn't. If this is the case it is probably a broken wire or bad soldered joint on the first dead switch.

If none work, it is probably a bad connector and/ or a bad pin with a cold joint. Just removing and reseating the connector might get it working again, temporarily.

Games this age are ripe for connector problems. I usually remove the board, clean the pins with very fine wet and dry and then ipa. Reflow solder. Then rebuild all the connectors with crimps.

These games usually give trouble with bad connectors so wiggling might by time but if the game is a keeper, do the above
 
DRD said:
I'd set it running, check the drops individually to see if any register scores. No need to mess about with switch test.

Then check the other switches in the column to see if they register. If some work, some don't, that will lead you towards a probable failure in continuity between the last one that works and the one that doesn't. If this is the case it is probably a broken wire or bad soldered joint on the first dead switch.

If none work, it is probably a bad connector and/ or a bad pin with a cold joint. Just removing and reseating the connector might get it working again, temporarily.

Games this age are ripe for connector problems. I usually remove the board, clean the pins with very fine wet and dry and then ipa. Reflow solder. Then rebuild all the connectors with crimps.

These games usually give trouble with bad connectors so wiggling might by time but if the game is a keeper, do the above
Click to expand...

Thanks, it automagically started working again.

I had done as above testing individual switches, none were registering in either of the left hand Drop banks.
It was with both banks going at the same time, and them resetting at ball drain that made me think it would be something board wise that'd I'd need schematics for.
 
reseat the switch header connector on the mpu board. theyre on right hand side of board

to successfully use the inbuilt switch test. remove ball from outhole and reset all drops to the up position. drop them one by one and reset each time
 
100% the switches.
In the switch test you'll have to ensure the bonus collect drop target is up or it'll show that as the currently closed switch in test.
The switch test will show the lowest number switch that's closer so you need to eliminate any that are closed normally like that drop target.

What I do on the Flash Gordon we've currently got is start a game, fire the ball till the drop resets then go into test. You'll probably find those switches aren't working.
 
it's easy to catch the spring type thing(sure someone knows there real name) that makes the contacts on the rear of the drop target touch if your not careful when you lift the playfield,and you may need to readjust them
 
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