TECH: Shrek End of Ball Not Registering
RD Reynolds
tests. Any ideas?
(Sorry if this posted twice)
RD Reynolds
working perfectly. Any ideas?
Lloyd Olson
the playfield.
Also be sure nothing on the top of the coin door is hitting the trough
switches on the bottoms. LTG :)
"RD Reynolds" <rdrey...@comcast.net> wrote in message
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RD Reynolds
is clear. Stupid question: the game does 'know' that the end of ball
is when trough switch 4 (the final one) is triggered, right? There's
nothing else that would signal it?
Thanks for all the help!
phishrace
Yes. Did you check the trough jam switch? Might also want to check the
shooter lane switch and scoop switch to make sure they aren't stuck
closed.
-phish
solid187
I had issues with my Shrek when I owned it. Sometimes it wouldn't
recognize the end of a ball, and sometimes the counter on certain
modes wouldn't go down (ie Bridge to Feona would stay at 30 seconds
for a long, long, time during play). Sold it back before I could
troubleshoot.
RD Reynolds
I know the shooter lane switch works. I will check the trough jam
switch...is that the opto in there?
RD
Lloyd Olson
I think you are missing something with the trough roll over switches though.
Probably a flaky one working in test but failing in game play. LTG :)
"RD Reynolds" <rdrey...@comcast.net> wrote in message
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Tracelifter
Wiggle and reseat ribbons and connectors on the boards and related
connectors under the PF.
My game was doing this and an intermittent pop as well.
Don't know which one(s) for sure, I just went over all of them.
This fixed all the issues.
--
Tracelifter
This USENET post sent from http://rgparchive.com
RD Reynolds
have any ideas on that?
phishrace
> Should also note I have seen the counter 'glitch' as well...anyone
> have any ideas on that?
That's not good. Had it happen on my FGY and never did figure out what
caused it. After trying lots of different things including a hard
reset, moving it to a different outlet 'fixed' the problem. Both
outlets tested fine. The reason I moved it was because originally the
game was on carpet and occasionally you'd get a static shock when
touching the game. Is your game on carpet by any chance?
One thing I didn't do that might be worth a try is to unplug the game,
then remove the battery from the CPU board. Double hard reset. The
slow clock seems to indicate the problem is at least related to the
CPU board.
-phish
RD Reynolds
it around easier. Regardless, I think I will try the power down,
battery removal and replacement, and see what happens.
One weird thing I wasn't even going to mention because it's so absurd
and I cannot even fathom how this would have anything to do with
anything...last night, I was testing the switches on the trough. I
closed everything up, and locked the coin door. However, I left the
key in the coindoor lock (locked, but there in case I had to unlock it
and test). I played like 20 games, never had any issues at all with
the end of ball not registering. I mean, not one. I was like, "Good,
whatever I did in there solved it!" Then I saw the keys. I removed
them. I played another couple of games, and the problem with not
registering the end of ball came back. I put the keys back in, did
literally NOTHING else, and played another 10 games or so with no
issue. Baffling, and of course, it's our favorite type of issue:
intermittent!
Like I said, I don't see how it would even be remotely possible that
could have anything to do with it, but since you mentioned the carpet
thing, I thought I would throw that out there.
phishrace
> Yes, it's on carpet, but it's on 'furniture sliders' so I could move
> it around easier. Regardless, I think I will try the power down,
> battery removal and replacement, and see what happens.
The sliders won't prevent ESD (static discharge). They might even make
it worse. Even if you're not getting zapped, the game may be getting
some spikes. Be sure to check the outlet to confirm it's seeing a
ground. Outlet testers are cheap at home depot. Generally speaking,
the newer the electronics, the more susceptible to ESD damage it is.
> One weird thing I wasn't even going to mention because it's so absurd
> and I cannot even fathom how this would have anything to do with
> anything...last night, I was testing the switches on the trough. I
> closed everything up, and locked the coin door. However, I left the
> key in the coindoor lock (locked, but there in case I had to unlock it
> and test). I played like 20 games, never had any issues at all with
> the end of ball not registering. I mean, not one. I was like, "Good,
> whatever I did in there solved it!" Then I saw the keys. I removed
> them. I played another couple of games, and the problem with not
> registering the end of ball came back. I put the keys back in, did
> literally NOTHING else, and played another 10 games or so with no
> issue. Baffling, and of course, it's our favorite type of issue:
> intermittent!
I chased the problem for a couple weeks and it seems like it would
come and go too. Stern wasn't a big help. They offered suggestions,
but none worked. It's been a while, so I wouldn't hesitate to ask them
again.
> Like I said, I don't see how it would even be remotely possible that
> could have anything to do with it, but since you mentioned the carpet
> thing, I thought I would throw that out there.
If nothing else works, take it off the carpet.
-phish
RD Reynolds
Thanks, I will go over all of them again. I am hoping it is just a
loose connector or as Lloyd suggested, a bad rollover on the trough.
Tracelifter
The key thing is weird, maybe bend the tab that holds the interlock back
a taste but you would think the display would show it if that was the
problem.
Check the coin door connectors and all wires as well and connections
to the interlock switch.
Eric
RD Reynolds
switches are all working properly, both in the test and in the game,
and that the keys have nothing to do with it. What is happening is
that the ball is going halfway up the trough to the shooter lane and
intermittently getting stuck. It appears the ball, if it does not go
all the way up, will sometimes fall back down and rest on the ball
below it. However, it's not so far up or down as to signal the trough
jam.
I actually went so far as to weigh different balls and found ones that
were a couple grams heavier...and they tend to go ahead and fall into
place. Obviously, that isn't an ideal or perfect solution, as they
still tend to get hung up.
So it's not the coil, the switches, or anything electronic - it
appears to be the trough itself. There doesn't appear to be anything
stopping it, like a stray piece of metal - it just appears to be
perhaps misaligned. Can the trough somehow be adjusted? I didn't
take the trough off yet, as I was curious as it if anyone else has
ever run into anything like this...
Tracelifter
Is the game level from side to side?
Lloyd Olson
sleeve is good. Right coil in there. There is a grommet at the bottom where
the plunger rests, be sure it is there and not worn. If the plunger rides
too low in the coil it won't get a full whack to send the ball up.
And don't rule out weak coil ( rare ) or poor wire connections from the coil
wires to other coils through connectors back to the board in the head.
If you try it in coil test, isn't an accurate test because nothing else is
going on and it has more power.
AND be sure more isn't going on. Like the ball comes up and hits the side of
the shooter lane and goes back down and then things hang up. This can happen
so fast you might not see it. LTG :)
"RD Reynolds" <rdrey...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:52fe13dd-95ea-4986...@y24g2000yqb.googlegroups.com...
RD Reynolds
RD Reynolds
Tracelifter
The switch may be close enough to register most of the time but not
always.
If the balls are in the proper place try adjusting the switch up a
little either by loosening the two 1/4" screws or bending the actuator
arm up a taste.
It could also be a intermittant flaky switch that needs to be
replaced.
RD Reynolds
What I THINK is happening is that when a ball is going into the launch
position, it can go up slightly, and thus get stuck on the ball below
it. I checked on my POTC, and that never happens; the ball will always
- always - fall back down into the trough. On the Shrek, it gets
caught above the trough, sitting on top of what would be ball two.
You need to look VERY closely at these pictures, but here is how I
think everything should be in the trough:
http://wrestlecrap.com/shrekstuckball/good.jpg
However, what happens on the Shrek sometimes I think is this:
http://wrestlecrap.com/shrekstuckball/bad.jpg
When that happens, the switches in the trough don't register properly,
because the balls are slightly off, waiting to go to the next
position. If that's the case, my theory is then the game would not be
able to know when the end of ball is registered, or when to fire off
balls for multiball.
So the question then is...how do you adjust to keep this from
happening? I played with it a bit, but saw no changes whatsoever. It
would sometimes get stuck.
Help?
RD
RDReynolds
A follow up on this as I now have it working.
I basically replaced the entire trough mech with the one from my POTC.
I am not sure if there was an issue with a microswitch or the opto, but
the replacement fixed everything on the Shrek - and my POTC is working
perfectly as well. Very weird!
The big kicker is that the issues with the countdowns on the machine
being slow are gone as well. It's like playing a completely different
machine, and it's freakin' awesome.
Thanks to everyone for their help on this. I will post again later if
I can see any weirdness on the POTC now that things have been moved
over...
--
RDReynolds
joobie
Just posting an update on this thread as it helped me to isolate the
exact same problem with my Shrek - the problem is with the trough opto
board(s).
I swapped my Nascar trough opto boards with my Shrek trough opto boards.
The Shrek now works perfectly as this solves all problems which
include:
- center post staying up WAY too long
- mode timers (especially Bridge to Fiona) not counting down properly or
at all
- during multiball, doesn't feed balls at a normal rate
- during multiball, you lose all balls and then it inexplicably just
sends out more
The strange thing is that my Nascar still works fine even with the "bad"
boards...I can't explain that.
--
joobie
Lloyd Olson
Eventually it will return.
Then remove the old solder and put on new on the optos and the pins the
connector plugs onto.
LTG :)
"joobie" <jswbody...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
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