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help me try to fix something for my boss and not look like a tw@

cooldan

cooldan

i like pizza
10 Years
Joined
Jul 21, 2011
Messages
7,102
Location
Ealing, London
so i'm going to NL again tomorrow for work, and my boss has invited me over to dinner at his place on Tuesday night. i've been before, he's a nice bloke and has two tweenage sons, and last time we drank beer and played on his Shadow.

trouble is, this time he mentioned can i bring a few tools with me and show him how to diagnose and fix a couple of problems on it. yaaaaaaaaarrrrgggghhhhh! i'm hopeless at anything like that. i already told him i can only try my best and he said that's fine, but of course (being my boss) i want to impress him by doing the fix.

so my question is - please can you clever lot explain to me in simple terms what to do and how to try to fix these two issues he told me about- 1) sometimes 2 balls in the launcher lane; and 2) ball doesn't get kicked up to the battlefield.

gif dramatic chipmunk.gif gif dramatic chipmunk.gif gif dramatic chipmunk.gif gif dramatic chipmunk.gif

all i can think of for starters is this: check correct number of balls to start; put in switch mode (i never got what the difference is between 'switch edges' and 'switch something else') - and see if i can work out if the balls are triggering the sensors (?microswitch ?opto) in the trough and in the shooter lane and in the battlefield VUK, or not; see if i can make that coil fire in test menu; look for a wire off the coil that fires the ball up to the battlefield; look for anything else obvious, like a snapped bit of the VUK coil mech, or the plunger is catching in the sleeve; look for popped fuses; take some spare new balls in case magnetised balls was causing the double launch.

i'm sure i'm missing loads. what if it's something on the board, like a transistor? what do i do in what order?
and what tools do i take?
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help please fellas.
 
check the solenoid is firing for the VUK - remember it might not fire if the door is open. If it fires then does the switch register when a ball is there?

the double ball thing is probably either due to the wrong number of balls or a switch in the trough. Check to see if they are working in switch test by rolling the balls down one at a time. With the trough empty give it a little bang to see if any switch on or off due to vibration. Are the balls magnatised? Check by putting them on the lock down bar and moving one, do any of the others go with it?

Basically though Dan you're ****ed as you know as muchh as I do about mending the machines:eek:
 
Tell him about the forums and how they're to Pinheads what Google is to IT support.

Then he gets someone else to diagose his issues and you still get the credit for putting him onto them in the first place :)
 
no way dude, you think i want my boss coming on here and seeing what i get up to?
/shudders

johnwhitfield said:
does the switch register when a ball is there?
Click to expand...
do i check the dedicated switch, or do i use the 'switch edges' or 'switch lighton' or whatever it's called? cmon imagine i'm a numpty. tricky i know.

johnwhitfield said:
.......switch in the trough. Check to see if they are working in switch test by rolling the balls down one at a time. With the trough empty give it a little bang to see if any switch on or off due to vibration.
Click to expand...
again, i do this in which test function? and what mode am i in when i shake the game about? at what point do i kick the tyres and inhale through my teeth while shaking my head?

what tools do i take? multimeter? green, grey, yellow sockets? some fuses? a spare diode? a gas powered solder iron (or would that be taken off me at the boarding gate?) any new switches? sleeves? come one fellas, give me the real Noddy tour, i so want to be able to fix this, it's really bugging me.
 
The shadow trough uses optos maybe they just need cleaning if your lucky. The VUK prob could just be the micro switch is dead or needs adjusting could both be quick fixes
 
reseat the twp connectors on the trough,and also clean the optos in the trough.As said check vuk switch,I would go in switch test and,with a ball,roll it into the hole and see it consistently registers.May as well check the wiring on switch too
 
I guess you don't own a soldering iron? Dry joints a common problem on them WPC trough opto boards.

Look through your phone camera at the optos with the machine on, the receivers should shine bright on the screen if they're working. Even if you can''t fix it, it's a neat trick :thumbs:
 
Cheers all. I do own a soldering iron but decided against bringing it as those hand luggage inspectors can be pests. As it was they already had a discussion about my socket drivers, and those aren't even pointy.

I like the phone camera trick, sadly that doesn't work for iPhones though as they have some kind of camera lens filter thingy.

Keep those tips coming though chaps, as my appraisal is on weds morning and I'm guessing that if I can fix his pin, it will go better. Live video link to the fix has been established
 
You'd be better off saying where abouts in NL and asking if anyone knows of any repair chappies living near by... :D
 
Right. It's the popper assembly - two things are wrong with it

tapatalk.imageshack.com_v2_14_11_18_634f3fed43c3287a8e6f746584e481b1.jpg

First the plunger had fallen out and was in the cab along with both springs and the popper cup. Easy to put back, but what exactly stops it falling out again?

Second, the end of the plunger is supposed to have a tip that goes through the cup to hit the ball. This one is broken off, I found that as well

So can I replace that with a piece of metal or a matchstick? And what holds the plunger on the mechanism?
 
The two problems are of course linked. The plunger is attached to the cup and this stops it falling out.

This sawn off nail should do the trick -,I just need to superglue the nail shaft into the hole in the plunger

tapatalk.imageshack.com_v2_14_11_18_402abb4bcd88d20c8b358e810c2c81c1.jpg

The nail head will support the plunger weight.
 
Not sure if joking. The cup screws onto the plunger. The whole thing moves up and down as one. The bracket below the cup stops it all falling out.
Re read. Fail me
 
cooldan said:
The two problems are of course linked. The plunger is attached to the cup and this stops it falling out.

This sawn off nail should do the trick -,I just need to superglue the nail shaft into the hole in the plunger

tapatalk.imageshack.com_v2_14_11_18_402abb4bcd88d20c8b358e810c2c81c1.jpg

The nail head will support the plunger weight.
Click to expand...

Screw it in Dan, the nail will fail. Use a flat headed phillips screw, it should sit in the hole, put a ball in the cup and you'll understand how high the screw can sit as a maximum
 
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