Air Hockey Scoring Issue

Peale

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Was looking at a US Amusements air hockey table, yesterday.

The scoring for one side wasn't working at all, and when I looked at it, it was because someone had disconnected the scoring switch.

Once reconnected, pretty much one shot on that switch would end the game. If you were very quick, you could trigger the switch, and perhaps score only five points, instead of nine, allowing the game to continue - at least, for that next shot.

So...board issue. Took it with me.

I'm going to assume some kind of stuck input? Perhaps, the MDP1403, which appears to handle the input? I mean, it handles both P1 and P2, but P1 works fine.

Thoughts? This is my first air hockey table circuit board repair. Schematics?
 
I'm not familiar with the table.

Is the black matting there, opposite of the sensor? If the matting is gone or damaged, you can get bounces.

Before you mess with it, swap the sensor inputs, and see if the problem moves. If the problem moves, you have a board issue. If the problem stays, you have a sensor issue.
 
I assume you're talking about an IR sensor?

This is older than that...these have what I'll call a Skee-Ball switch: a switch with a long wire actuator.
 
Swap the switches on each side and see if the problem stays or follows the switch.
 
Yes, I was talking about the IR sensor. However, ChannelManic's advice about moving the switch will work as well.

You're looking for a cheap fix. Messing with the boards isn't cheap. Go with the easy troubleshooting first, then move on if that doesn't pan out.
 
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