Ball trough malfunction

wrongdon

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Hey folks,
I have a ball trough that's driving me batty.It is on a lights camera action pin by gottlieb.It doesn't always kick the 3rd ball into the lineup successfully,it will kick it up there,but sometimes it goes up and hits the number 2 ball in line so hard it bounces back down before the wire stop can prevent it.The microswitch in the lineup is happy as it saw the ball,so the game releases one for play.But meanwhile the one that didn't make it into the lineup just sits in the drain.I would think it would try again,but it doesn't.When the ball in play drains it also sits in the drain,the game doesn't realize i'm dead and just sits there.I have waited 5 minutes for ball search to kick in,but nothing.So i pull the glass and flick them into the lineup.
Things i have done prior to seeking help.I checked switches in switch test and both function properly,both solenoids fire consistently in solenoid test.I felt maybe it was a intermittent problem maybe caused by the ground lines,so i did the ground mod to tie all the ground lines together as described at pinrepair.The game was not perfectly level so i thought maybe that,it's level now lol.Ok so i'm running out of ideas,so i think the drain switch is not working consistently so i swapped it out with a leaf type switch(temporary,correct one on order)but even being the wrong switch it serves the purpose well,but the game performs the same..
So what is it i could be overlooking?
 
I was having a problem on my Fish tales where the ball was kicking over from the outhole hitting the balls in the trough and bouncing back to the outhole again. Is that was is happening?

On my games there is a one way gate inside the trough that stops this from happening. Does yours have this gate? Not sure if Gottliebs use the same style or not.

I just made one out of a big paperclip. This is what it looks like on my Fishtales and alot of other machines, I'm not very familiar with Gottliebs though...

http://www.marcospecialties.com/product.asp?ic=12-6542
 
Maybe yours has a V shaped gate in there? Maybe it's damaged?? I'm just doing some reading about it on RGP....

You could try and play it with the apron off to see what "exactly" is happening?

That's what I did on my Fish Tales, I didn't originally even know there was supposed to be a oneway gate in the trough...
 
Get a manual or parts list and see if you have all the parts there and wireforms. If you dont and you can locate whats missing pinball resource will probably have what you need. Could just be out of adjustment as well on the kick out trough switch.
 
I was having a problem on my Fish tales where the ball was kicking over from the outhole hitting the balls in the trough and bouncing back to the outhole again. Is that was is happening?

On my games there is a one way gate inside the trough that stops this from happening. Does yours have this gate? Not sure if Gottliebs use the same style or not.


http://www.marcospecialties.com/product.asp?ic=12-6542

Pretty much this is what is happening,there is a wireform gate to prevent the ball from going back down,but it is like it bounces back so fast after hitting the other balls it sneaks right back past that gate before it drops down to stop it.It works correctly sometimes,it is hit and miss.
What is stumping me is that it doesn't try to kick it up there again.
 
It can cause a problem even if it does kick it up there again because the game will think you died again, it was causing all sorts of problems on mine..

Maybe your gate is just damaged or something? That's where I'd start, I made mine from a paperclip and it was really simple...
 
Have you checked to see if it's the right coil in there? Maybe try one with a higher turn count, which will drop the power down a bit.

I'd also check the voltage going into the coil, make sure you're not dealing with an over-voltage situation.

-Hans
 
Thanks for all the help so far.The gate wire form thing seems like it should work fine,it flips up and allows the ball to pass and given the time it would drop down and prevent the ball from returning.I will need to wait until my manual arrives on this one i think,make sure all parts are present and correct and check voltages.
I did play a few games with the apron off to watch,and it happens so fast i can't see any specific problem.The other 2 balls are in the trough and all the way forward,the third flys up and stays or bounces back down haha.There isn't much room in the trough when all 3 balls are present,so i wonder if the balls are larger than they should be.
When i finally get this beat i'll be sure to post the cure here.
 
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