few questions on my new pin...

pudluther

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ok, i found the manual here, but i can't seem to find the answer to a couple of questions:


http://files.flipperspill.no/Support/Pinball/Manuals/Flight-2000_Stern_Manual.pdf



1) how many balls are supposed to be in this machine? it came with 4, but i was thinking it was only 3. anybody know for sure? or know where i can find the answer in the manual?

2) how many plays (balls) are standard? i believe it has the option for 3 or 5 and is currently set to 5 balls per play. anybody know how i can tell what the default is?



another question that i have, not related to the above, is how do i know if the thing is "set up" correctly? like, is it level enough or whatever? i've never owned a pin, so i don't know if this is common or not, but every once in a while the ball gets stuck up near the top of the playfield (and sometimes right at the edge of the ball return slot at the bottom) and i have to gently nudge the machine to get the ball to become "unstuck." is this normal? i put a level on the thing and from left to right on the machine it's level. obviously, it slopes towards the player from front to back...

other than replacing a few lights, it seems that the only gameplay issue is that every once in a while a switch or something gets stuck (not sure if that's the correct terminology). IOW, it appears as though the game believes that i'm still scoring points when i'm not....the ball could be ready to launch or held by the flipper, but every once in a while it will keep adding scores and playing the sound effects for the scoring. how do i tell what is getting stuck? and then what do i do about it?


i'm sure these are n00bish questions and i apologize in advance for that. ;)
 
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1) how many balls are supposed to be in this machine? it came with 4, but i was thinking it was only 3. anybody know for sure? or know where i can find the answer in the manual?

2) how many plays (balls) are standard? i believe it has the option for 3 or 5 and is currently set to 5 balls per play. anybody know how i can tell what the default is?



another question that i have, not related to the above, is how do i know if the thing is "set up" correctly? like, is it level enough or whatever? i've never owned a pin, so i don't know if this is common or not, but every once in a while the ball gets stuck up near the top of the playfield (and sometimes right at the edge of the ball return slot at the bottom) and i have to gently nudge the machine to get the ball to become "unstuck." is this normal? i put a level on the thing and from left to right on the machine it's level. obviously, it slopes towards the player from front to back...

other than replacing a few lights, it seems that the only gameplay issue is that every once in a while a switch or something gets stuck (not sure if that's the correct terminology). IOW, it appears as though the game believes that i'm still scoring points when i'm not....the ball could be ready to launch or held by the flipper, but every once in a while it will keep adding scores and playing the sound effects for the scoring. how do i tell what is getting stuck? and then what do i do about it?


i'm sure these are n00bish questions and i apologize in advance for that. ;)

#1 - have you looked inside the coin door or on the underside of the playfield for a sticker that might give a clue? I really don't know, and a quick look through that manual didn't give me any ideas.

#2 - this varies considerably by operator. Someone may be able to tell you how the factory shipped it, but really it's your call (and I have no idea whether Stern shipped these things with consistent settings). I've got an old Gottlieb Striker set for 5 ball play, and I think the games may go on a little too long sometimes (other times it seems fine). I'd probably set for 3 ball and see how I liked it.

You'll want to go through the dip switch settings in the manual and decide how you want them set. You'll probably need to ask more individual questions, and that's OK. I'd leave them alone for a while and see how you like it.

I don't know if there's a level standard for this game (it doesn't have a bubble level in the playfield somewhere does it?). Make sure the playfield is level side to side, and then set it front to back so that the ball rolls down easily. The higher you set the back of the machine, the quicker it's going to play. You're going to get balls stuck now and then, so don't worry too much about that unless it happens all the time. If it does happen all the time, look for bad/missing rings or plastics that might be letting the ball get somewhere it shouldn't.

Stuck switch: There should be a test mode for this game (the manual will say) and you'll want to test each switch. Get the glass off, put it into test mode and go through each and every one to make sure it's OK.

Good luck!
 
#1 - have you looked inside the coin door or on the underside of the playfield for a sticker that might give a clue? I really don't know, and a quick look through that manual didn't give me any ideas.

#2 - this varies considerably by operator. Someone may be able to tell you how the factory shipped it, but really it's your call (and I have no idea whether Stern shipped these things with consistent settings). I've got an old Gottlieb Striker set for 5 ball play, and I think the games may go on a little too long sometimes (other times it seems fine). I'd probably set for 3 ball and see how I liked it.

You'll want to go through the dip switch settings in the manual and decide how you want them set. You'll probably need to ask more individual questions, and that's OK. I'd leave them alone for a while and see how you like it.

I don't know if there's a level standard for this game (it doesn't have a bubble level in the playfield somewhere does it?). Make sure the playfield is level side to side, and then set it front to back so that the ball rolls down easily. The higher you set the back of the machine, the quicker it's going to play. You're going to get balls stuck now and then, so don't worry too much about that unless it happens all the time. If it does happen all the time, look for bad/missing rings or plastics that might be letting the ball get somewhere it shouldn't.

Stuck switch: There should be a test mode for this game (the manual will say) and you'll want to test each switch. Get the glass off, put it into test mode and go through each and every one to make sure it's OK.

Good luck!




thanks a ton, bud!!!

i'm sure i'll post more questions, but i plan to get into it on sunday and i'll definitely follow your suggestions. one other question though: are stuck switches easy to fix? what all is involved?
 
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Yeah, it's pretty easy,contacts could just be too close, clean up by swiping through with a credit card, I had to wrap a bit of paper towel around a credit card to get some crap off of one, dunno if that's recommend or not though due to the paper towel bitties it may leave behind.
 
thanks, fellas...



another issue has now come up....to my knowledge, it has happened 3 times now:

- the game suddenly and partially "powers down" (i guess that's what you'd call it). just a minute ago, i was playing it and during gameplay, the scoreboard display went blank, all the playfield lights around the targets went out, and only the lights surrounding the playfield & the lights behind the back glass stayed on. the flippers went dead as well.


thoughts?
 
thanks, fellas...



another issue has now come up....to my knowledge, it has happened 3 times now:

- the game suddenly and partially "powers down" (i guess that's what you'd call it). just a minute ago, i was playing it and during gameplay, the scoreboard display went blank, all the playfield lights around the targets went out, and only the lights surrounding the playfield & the lights behind the back glass stayed on. the flippers went dead as well.


thoughts?

How Long does it do this? 5-10 seconds, or do you have to turn the game off and on?

The playfield lights and backglass light are on a General Illumination or GI curcuit which is a seperate winding on the main power transformer. Those lights are 6VAC and will be on unless the main power fuse blows or the GI fuse blows. The only thing that they indicate is that your game is plugged in. Everything else runs off of the DC power supply in the cabinet. I would read the guide at Pinrepair.com that I linked earlier to see if there is a "common" problem that causes this.

Keep us posted.

Mike
 
How Long does it do this? 5-10 seconds, or do you have to turn the game off and on?

The playfield lights and backglass light are on a General Illumination or GI curcuit which is a seperate winding on the main power transformer. Those lights are 6VAC and will be on unless the main power fuse blows or the GI fuse blows. The only thing that they indicate is that your game is plugged in. Everything else runs off of the DC power supply in the cabinet. I would read the guide at Pinrepair.com that I linked earlier to see if there is a "common" problem that causes this.

Keep us posted.

Mike




thanks again, mike.


to answer your question: it appears to me that i have to turn the game off to get things "back to normal." when it has done this, i've waited a few minutes and the game did not correct itself, so i unplugged it and plugged it back in.....as soon as i do that, it's back to normal (or at least it has been SO FAR), but if i leave it alone it stays kinda messed up.
 
again, fellas....i appreciate all the suggestions. i'm pretty much worthless when it comes to diagnosing (and usually FIXING) a problem, so i REALLY appreciate any and all suggestions you guys may have.


thanks a ton....and keep the suggestions rolling! :)





(i probably won't have a chance to get into it until (possibly) saturday or (more likely) sunday......have a buddy of mine coming down some time this weekend that's a lot more tech-savvy than i am. but we can both test out any possible solutions you guys might have)
 
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Normally, when you pull off the lockdown bar, you'll see a label underneath on the cab that says how many balls to install.

IPDB mentions a 3-ball multiball.

But it's easy to figure out. Lift up the playfield and count how many switches are in the ball trough (not counting the outhole switch)....
 
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