Arcade Collecting > Pinball
JD pinball drop targets on the fritz
jspicher:
--- Quote from: pinballjim on July 28, 2010, 09:58:43 am ---What I don't understand is that you adjusted 3 screws and the problem temporarily went away... why aren't you looking at those three screws again?
:dizzy:
--- End quote ---
Oh trust me l have, l've adjusted them one thread at a time and tested between each adjustment to get this damn thing to work properly. I've spent countless hours fooling around with this thing before breaking down and buying new parts to rebuild the DT bank. As mentioned in my previous post; if l were a soldering guy, had the equipment & know-how before l'd ordered the new parts l would have gave it a shot. But 1.) the parts were ordered before your suggestion, and 2.) l don't even know what l'm looking for regarding the cracked solder joint.
Thanks for your help,
jspicher:
Hi Jim, Yep l've made sure the actual targets have plenty of clearance in front, back and on the sides and they're able to drop/raise freely within the slot provided on the playfield without being impeded in anyway by the playfield itself. This was one of the earliest assumptions l'd made regarding what could be causing the problem.
I know l've mentioned in an earlier post regarding this, but when they are jumping up and down like that if l press the opto board slightly back, or pull it forward the targets stop jumping, but as soon as l let go they begin jumping again. There really isn't anyway to secure the opto board in a single position it's just held on with a couple clips. I've even tried securing it in tight with rubber bands just for testing purposes.
studmuff:
--- Quote from: jspicher on July 28, 2010, 09:49:38 am ---Howdy Q*bert >> That's assuming that the problem is a cracked solder joint. The stock board l've got in the machine is prone to failure. For starters l'm not much of a soldering guy, as a matter'o fact l don't even own a solder gun anymore. Secondly I've already ordered the new part (getting delivered today) and at this point l'd rather re-build the drop target bank. The springs are in a near comical condition, the clips holding the current board in place are shoty at best and the board itself (l think) has failed due to bad optos, cracked solder or whatever.
--- End quote ---
If you are going to own a pinball machine, you better become a solder guy real fast. Cracked solder joints, wires desolder, replacing coils, switches, doides, resistors etc etc etc.
As QBert said - if the prolem was a cracked solder joint, which it might be, tou can easily fix the problem by flowing some knew solder. It would have saved you paying for a new board. The other problem is you may install the board and have the same problem. As Pinballjim just posted if it's not the board could be a problem with the coil hitting the targets up, the screws you adjusted, it could be the mechanism just dirty and needs to be cleaned. The later has happened to me with drop targets. Let us know if you get it working by replacing the board.
jspicher:
Hi studmuff,
Thanks for your response and help throughout the thread.
--- Quote ---If you are going to own a pinball machine, you better become a solder guy real fast. Cracked solder joints, wires desolder, replacing coils, switches, doides, resistors etc etc etc.
--- End quote ---
Noted... l'll look into getting the gear.
--- Quote ---As QBert said - if the prolem was a cracked solder joint, which it might be, tou can easily fix the problem by flowing some knew solder. It would have saved you paying for a new board.
--- End quote ---
Maybe the case, l just don't know what l'm looking for. Here are two photos of both side of the old board that l removed tonight:
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/5323/20100728204009.jpg
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/7497/20100728204021.jpg
Do you see cracked solder joints? If so where, what do they look like?
--- Quote ---The other problem is you may install the board and have the same problem. As Pinballjim just posted if it's not the board could be a problem with the coil hitting the targets up, the screws you adjusted, it could be the mechanism just dirty and needs to be cleaned. The later has happened to me with drop targets. Let us know if you get it working by replacing the board.
--- End quote ---
Oh trust me, l've spent many many hours doing tests and trying to fix this w/out spending any money. I've taken the DT bank apart and cleaned it with q-tips and alcohol (so it's not dirt in the optos etc). I've adjusted the reset arm screws just about every possible combination. No joke l tested tested each thread to see if there was a sweet spot. I'm a cheap guy at heart, and l did everything l felt comfortable doing myself, including ordering parts and rebuilding the DT Bank.
jspicher:
Just an update, l've finished rebuilding the DT Bank this evening and everything is working perfectly now.
I've posted photos of the old board, not sure what cracked solder joints look like (or if the naked eye can even see them), so please let me know!
Also thanks again to everyone who's pitched in and gave their suggestions and ideas on what the problem may have been, now l'm back to enjoying my new pinball machine! I'm already eyeballing another one; there's a guy here locally selling a Congo machine in fantastic condition.
Thanks again buds!
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