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X-men ball getting stuck

Steve C

Steve C

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Joined
Jul 7, 2012
Messages
1,803
Location
The East Shire Of York
Bought this X-men off off ebay, HUO fully working, but balls are getting stuck,every game, at the gate behind Magneto. Can't really play a good game on it as got to keep taking glass off to free ball !! So can any current or previous X-men owners confirm whether this is a common fault or has the machine I have here been 'bodged' in some way?

There appears to be quite a long screw holding the gate on the l/h side and this protrudes underneath the bracket which possibly stops the flow of the ball??

x-men1.jpg x-men2.jpg
 
This used to happen on one of mine ( had a pro and an LE ). Think it was the gate mounting screw as you have pointed out, I played around with washers to raise the screw height I think.
 
kevlar said:
This used to happen on one of mine ( had a pro and an LE ). Think it was the gate mounting screw as you have pointed out, I played around with washers to raise the screw height I think.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info Kev.

Looks awkward to get to/remove screw. Is Magneto fastened on to the clear plastic plate/is it easy to remove?
 
I found it quite straght forward when I had to replace the broken gate on mine.
Never had a problem with mine. Only till I had to replace a broken wire gate, then once replaced all good again.
Maybe something has been put back incorrect causing your problem ?
 
It’s hard to see in photos but on mine (Replicas old one) it looks like the bracket on that side it bent up a fair bit...

E674F61B-4486-4E39-B8C4-B7A5B754DF6B.jpeg

The gate slopes from left to right on the side you’re getting balls stuck and it looks a fair bit thicker than yours.

35641FED-C4E6-4051-AB32-5FB9F27DC5C6.jpeg
 
Isn't there a clear plastic on top of it? I'm just recalling why it was hard to get at, I had to use a tiny ratchet with a socket to get to the screw/nut under the right ramp that was holding the plastic in place, I know it wasn't a 2 minute job.
 
replicas said:
I found it quite straght forward when I had to replace the broken gate on mine.
Never had a problem with mine. Only till I had to replace a broken wire gate, then once replaced all good again.
Maybe something has been put back incorrect causing your problem ?
Click to expand...

I reckon that incorrect length screw has been used as it sticks out too much underneath.

Anyway tonight is the night the screwdrivers are coming out so it may never work again :eek:

Will let you all know how I get on, whether I fix it or break it :D
 
Thanks to some technical advise from @replicas it didn't to long to take apart, couple of screwdrivers and a small adjustable, due to a post turning with the screw.

Unscrewed top r/h side ramp, so could get access to screws.

Yes @kevlar clear plastic cover just above the gate, which made me think that magneto might have to be removed as that appears to be on clear plastic as well. Anyway removed 2 screws that I could access on clear plastic cover, 1 screw a pita as post unscrewed at same time, and then cover swiveled round so could access gate without removing magneto. :)

Whether or not it is the correct screw, no idea, all I can say is that it protruded 4 if not 5mm underneath the gate bracket.

Unscrewed it totally and used Kev's idea of spacing it out with washers, luckily had some plastic spacers, and put 5 or maybe even 6 on as a temporary fix. (see pic below)

Screwed back in with spacers on and not protruding underneath but then gate wire was catching on side of spacers, as there seemed to be sideways movement of wire/was a bit too wide/long.

So thought take gate/wire assembly off and just trim the end so that it didn't snag on the side of the spacers. It was only then that I saw that it was not an original wire gate, not even round, a repair/bodge whatever you want to call it made from a piece of flat wire!! (see pic below)

Fully working HUO it is not :mad::mad::mad:

Anybody got a spare wire gate?? :)

x-men3.JPG

x-men4.JPG

x-men5.JPG
 
Thanks Andrew that could be an option if I can't find one or even an option if I can as will then make a few spares :)

Unfortunately what is on at the moment isn't a very good match/copy of what it should be like.

gate.jpg
 
I can give you a few lengths of welding rod so you can have a few goes at it.
If you still have it off the machine the next time you come round we can have a bash at replicating what is on the photo.
 
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