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Data East Batman - Getting there, now slight flipper problem :)

  • Thread starter Thread starter rugratsrus
  • Start date Start date
R

rugratsrus

Hoping there will be some patient and helpful people to assist a newbie :)

Recently purchased a Data East Batman table and whilst I do have a few bits to do (rubbers and bulbs) there is one thing bothering me. When you press start it puts a ball in the firing area and then a couple of seconds later a 2nd ball appears meaning that you have to fire 2 balls at once!

As soon as one ball is lost another ball appears to launch even though you still have one of the original two still in play.

Any ideas anyone? :)

Thanks in advance, Mark
 
Sounds like it will be one of the two answers above. Does it say how many balls should be installed under the lock bar? If not take one out and see what happens (worse case scenario it will come up with the "pinball missing" message.

Do you know how to get into switch test mode? If so enter it and then check to see if the switches in the trough (+ maybe the shooter lane) are responding.

Fingers crossed it will be an easy fix. If not always worth letting people know where you're based in case someone an pop round and talk you through it.

Good luck
 
What john said. Take a ball out. See if it'll start a game without it. If if does then too many balls.
 
Hi all,

Thanks for your help so far!
OK so there are 3 balls in the machine and it does say insert 3 balls under the lock bar, if I grab one of the 2 balls when it puts them up to launch then it plays fine through the whole game but afterwards when you press start it says ball missing...

I've been doing a few tests tonight in diagnostic mode and have a few problems!
Coils not firing:
Left bumper
Centre bumper
Left sling
Right sling

Also the bar motor is not working and can't hear the relay clicking.

The right speaker is just humming too, no audio.

The right hand lights on the back box are not illuminated.

I've checked all of the solenoid coils that aren't working and they are all about the same ~ 6Ohms which compares fine with ones that are working.

I'm just north of Preston (Lancs) if anyone is around who knows Data East machines and want's to give me a 2nd opinion.

I'm no dummy where electronics is concerned (a little rusty maybe - I did an Electrical and Electronic engineering degree starting in the year the Batman pinball was made!)

Thanks again for the time you've given so far.
 
rugratsrus said:
I've been doing a few tests tonight in diagnostic mode and have a few problems!
Coils not firing:
Left bumper
Centre bumper
Left sling
Right sling

Also the bar motor is not working and can't hear the relay clicking.
Click to expand...

Check the manual and see if they're on the same circuit... you've probably got a blown fuse that feeds them.

Regarding the two balls, put the game in test mode and check the trough switches. Or just look under the playfield at the trough switches for a wire off. If no wire off then use a meter and activate each switch in turn to show continunity if the switches are ok then check continunity from switches to the backbox. I would also check the switch in the shooter lane. Switch numbers are 11, 12, 13 and 14.

Good luck!
 
Thanks again to all who have contributed.
I've had a good day on the machine, managed to spend a couple of hours on it after work.

The double ball issue was a bad joint on the left ball trough switch, that's sorted now.

The issue with the coils not firing was due to a broken 40V red wire on the right bumper, this wire fed all of the other coils as well as the relay for the museum motor so all of that is working now.

I've disconnected the centre bumper as one of the metal pillars is broken, the thread is snapped off underneath so that will need to be carefully dismantled, looks like quite a big job to get it out from under the ramp!
 
How are you enjoying your Batman? We have had ours for a few years now and we absolutely love it! Definitely a keeper.....
 
pastiche said:
How are you enjoying your Batman? We have had ours for a few years now and we absolutely love it! Definitely a keeper.....
Click to expand...
Hi Pastiche,
I wouldn't say that I can enjoy the table yet, most of the rubbers are perished and I'm waiting for a set to be delivered before my weekend project replacing those! I also have a bumper rod assembly on order so that I can fix the pop bumber that is broken (and most likely the cause for the broken wire as the solenoid has been free to move - lots of wire bending = broken wire!)

I'll update when I've got it a little more finished. The playfield could do with a little resto work, I have a new set of stickers but some of the paint needs a little touching up too...

Thanks, Mark
 
Good luck with the restoration work, it will be worth it. Ours has been very reliable since we have had it so we hope yours will be the same.
Keep us informed of how you get on....

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1407346499.483173.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1407346499.483173.jpg
 
You are right Biglan. The pins are in my office so we use the skirt to hide the toolboxes etc. My partner expects the Batmobile to shoot out from behind it! :-)
 
Evening all,

Spent quite a few hours today fixing 2 broken pop bumpers, about 30 bulbs and rubber rings! I'm now down to only a few small problems :)

The most annoying is that the left flipper occasionally sticks up, now when I move the flipper manually I can feel a little bit of magnetic attraction at the top, do the big solenoid rods become magnetised over time and what's the best way of demagnetising if it does?!
Also I noticed today that one of my flipper plastics is broken on the tip so haven't tried to replace the rubbers on this yet in case it totally falls apart, are DE flippers still available or are others compatible?
 
Hi mate.
I would suggest, dismantling the flipper mech. Taking out the coil sleeve and giving it a reet good clean, then do the same with the plunger and link. Check for mushrooming on the end of it. If it is mushroomed, you can either buy a new one or file it down. They aren't expensive.
Yes I'm sure you can get new DE flipper bats from most suppliers.
 
rugratsrus said:
when I move the flipper manually I can feel a little bit of magnetic attraction at the top, do the big solenoid rods become magnetised over time and what's the best way of demagnetising if it does?!
Click to expand...

Yes they can become magnetised. Replacing the end stop and rod (as you put it) will normally stop the effect.
 
Update:
I dismantled the left flipper solenoid and after comparing it to the right one realised that someone had put the sleeve in the wrong way around so that the lip was on the wrong end, there was a small amount of mushrooming on the end of the solenoid core so smoothed that off. Did the same on both sides, reassembled and now have 2 very powerful flippers that no longer stick :)

Thanks for all the suggestions, this is a great and resourceful forum!
 
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