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Possessed AFM

Dave Playman

Registered
Joined
Jul 31, 2019
Messages
442
Location
Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
Alias
Retro Dave
Hi
Hoping someone can please shed some light on the strange goings on with my Bally AFM. Has been rock solid for 6 months. But in recent weeks the following gremlins have appeared

Problem #1

The right flipper is operating on its own intermittently. Not at full ‘snap’ power as normal, but goes up and down by itself during gameplay intermittently; almost as is it’s getting low power for a split second. Game plays ok, but if the flipper is having a mad moment, it can be annoying when trying to catch/cradle the ball.
This is only happening during gameplay.

Problem #2

The coil that fires the ball up and out of the stroke of luck hole randomly fires during attract mode. Again, this is intermittent. Sometimes it happens once or twice. Last night I caught it doing it half a dozen times in a row then stopped.
It doesn’t fire randomly during gameplay.

I have noticed that both these issues occur after a good hour of the machine being on and played. Could be a coincidence of course, but thought I should mention it.

What I’ve checked so far:
Cleaned both flipper opto boards. I noted one opto is cracked at the base on the right opto board, however in switch test, all 4 opto’s on both boards register.

Ive swapped the opto boards over to see if the problem followed to the left flipper. However, I did this, as soon as I pressed start, the right flipper fired and locked on without me pressing the flipper button! I immediately turned the game off and swapped the opto boards back over. Turned back on and game working again, but gremlins still there.

Any advice on where you think I need to look would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you 😊
 
I’ve had strange flipper problems caused by dodgy ribbon cable/s.
But as above check for battery damage first.
Thanks for that. Interesting you should mention ribbon cables. I actually had an issue a few weeks ago with jail bars on the DMD. Re-seated ribbon cables and it’s gone away. Maybe one or more of the ribbon cables are on their way out...
 
I bought a set from Phil PH and they fitted really tight compared to what came out and sorted my weird problems. They only have a limited lifespan with taking on and off.
 
D4B11F2C-73ED-4C49-A5B2-D9A212D4F896.jpegWell...🔎 after closer inspection of the left flipper opto board, I can see a few cold solder joints! Might explain the flipper issue. Will reflow this tomorrow and see what happens🤞🏼
 
For the stroke of luck issues check the opto switches in the mech for cold solder joints and give the emitter and receiver a good clean too. If there is an issue there during attract mode the game will think its seeing a ball in that scoop and try to fire it out.
 
For the stroke of luck issues check the opto switches in the mech for cold solder joints and give the emitter and receiver a good clean too. If there is an issue there during attract mode the game will think its seeing a ball in that scoop and try to fire it out.
Thanks for the heads up. Yes, that would certainly explain the behaviour. Will give that a check over tomorrow, along with the reflow on the flipper opto board, and update the thread accordingly 😊👍🏼
 
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