TECH: Xenon ball misfeed
Stuart Brown
as I repair my Xenon machine.
I am having a problem with more than one ball being loaded
into the shooter lane. I know there are three switches in
the ball loading ramp and I used the self test to make sure
all three switches are working. Sometimes just one ball
comes up, but then other times it tries to push a second
ball out, as if the machine did not think the first ball made
it out. Usually I have just shot the first ball when the game
pushes out a second ball. (Not multiball).
Also, I believe this game only has two balls. I wanted to
confirm that.
Any ideas?
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Ray Johnson
>
> Since you guys have been so helpful, I thought I would ask another question
> as I repair my Xenon machine.
>
> I am having a problem with more than one ball being loaded
> into the shooter lane. I know there are three switches in
> the ball loading ramp and I used the self test to make sure
> all three switches are working. Sometimes just one ball
> comes up, but then other times it tries to push a second
> ball out, as if the machine did not think the first ball made
> it out. Usually I have just shot the first ball when the game
> pushes out a second ball. (Not multiball).
I had the same problem with a Xenon I sold last year. Sometimes would
kick two balls out, sometimes would start multiball prematurely (kicking
locked ball out into play). Really messed up the game.
Took forever to find the problem, but it was a dying capacitor on the
rollover switch right at the exit from the Tube Shot ramp (left side of
playfield). There really is no need for a capacitor on this switch-
dunno why Bally put one there, but the game was picking up false switch
closures from this switch due to the bad cap, and thinking either a ball
was being locked, or a ball had come across the tube, and was either
kicking out another ball, or releasing the locked one as a result.
So remove the cap from this switch if there is one there.
Note that problem could be somewhere else in the game- ie: another
switch elsewhere on the playfield, but the above mentioned one is the
best place to start.
> Also, I believe this game only has two balls. I wanted to
> confirm that.
Correct. 2 balls, and 2-ball multiball.
Hope that helps!
--
Ray Johnson
Action Pinball & Amusement - Fully Restored Pinball Machines -
Salt Lake City, Utah - Sales, Parts, Service, Circuit Board Repair -
E-Mail: ray...@simsteel.com Finest quality, best service- guaranteed...
We're serious about pinball. Anything else is just for fun!
Mf101723
>rollover switch right at the exit from the Tube Shot ramp (left side of
>playfield). There really is no need for a capacitor on this switch-
probably put a cap there to assure switch registers if moving fast, otherwise
if it misses the closure there will just be two balls sitting in the capture
area forever until you get ticked off and tilt it of course (they didn't have
ball searching way back then)...M French
Iain Odlin
>I am having a problem with more than one ball being loaded
>into the shooter lane.
This is common and gets asked on here in about an eight month cycle.
Last time around, I posted this:
---
> Mine does this about one in four games... If it's happening to you
> fairly regularly, take off the metal cover over the ball trough and
> watch it as you play.
> On mine, it turns out that when it kicks one ball into the plunger
> lane, it is also firing the ball at the outhole up to the 'ready'
> position. If this ball doesn't get held there, for whatever reason,
> and falls back to activate the outhole switch, the poor game gets
> very confused. It thinks I just played a zero-score ball and is going
> to kindly give me my ball back. So it shoots that ball all the way out
> to the plunger lane.
> I have yet to figure out what isn't aligned properly in the trough...
---
Should give you a starting point. Good luck.
-Iain, od...@reed.edu
Ray Johnson
Exactly, but balls never move fast through this lane. So no need for
the cap, as long as the switch is clean and adjusted properly.