Greyhound Skill Crane Question.

hotrod797

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I just picked up a greyhound skill crane with what seems to be a simple issue, but before I start tearing into it too much I want to see if anyone has ever experienced something like it before...

Powers up fine, coins up fine, it has the two buttons rather than a joystick push forward and it moves forward, right and it moves right, but then that's it, the claw does not drop and it does not move home.
I tried to "help it a little" thinking the string may just be tangled, however the claw ended up coming off of the string, at that point I noticed the the string was still trying to wind, I pushed up on the stop plate, it stopped winding and returned home.

Question is why is the claw not dropping, why will the reel not reverse or whatever it is supposed to do, any idea's where to start?

Thanks a lot!!

PS: Is there any way to convert from the two buttons to a joystick??
 
I just picked up a greyhound skill crane with what seems to be a simple issue, but before I start tearing into it too much I want to see if anyone has ever experienced something like it before...

Powers up fine, coins up fine, it has the two buttons rather than a joystick push forward and it moves forward, right and it moves right, but then that's it, the claw does not drop and it does not move home.
I tried to "help it a little" thinking the string may just be tangled, however the claw ended up coming off of the string, at that point I noticed the the string was still trying to wind, I pushed up on the stop plate, it stopped winding and returned home.

Question is why is the claw not dropping, why will the reel not reverse or whatever it is supposed to do, any idea's where to start?

Thanks a lot!!

PS: Is there any way to convert from the two buttons to a joystick??

Sounds like to me the string is winded-up in reverse.

Undo the string completely.
Re-attach claw
With power off, hold the switch where the claw hits in the up postion DOWN and power up the machine.
The string "should" wind itself in the correct direction.

If anyone is interested, I do have this EXACT Grayhound crane in working condition for $ 150.00.

Dave
COIN-OPPART.com
 
Ok, so just to make sure I follow, with the claw all the way down and power off I hold the switch to trick the machine into thinking the claw is in the up position and power the machine on?
Wouldn't that just make the truck return home? Either way I will give it a shot when I get home tomorrow because I figured it was probably wound wrong or something...

Any ideas on converting to a joystick... and where I could find a joystick?
 
no..

power off, make sure the plate the claw hits while up is actually DOWN..

on powerup, the crane will obiously think the claw is down, it will then rewind the spool and voila your strong should then be wound in the proper direction..


i replaced my joy with one from happ.. lemme see if i can find it...
 
What version of Greyhound crane do you have ?
Does it have 2 two digit displays ?
If it's an older version I may have some info for ya.

What they are saying about the claw string... is if you fully extend the string all the way out (with claw attached) the first thing it should do when you power it up is wind the claw back up, which will wind the string in the proper direction. Then the carriage should go to the home (starting) position.
The switch on the plate that the claw hits when it goes up is what tells the claw to stop winding.
So if you extend the string and turn it on and the claw does NOT wind up, then the switch or wiring for that plate switch could be bad and or not recognizing that the claw is already down. (could be other things too, but start with the simple)

But your initial description tells me that maybe a relay is not activating telling the claw to drop.
If you play a game and even though the claw doesn't drop if you were to leave it set and not touch it, does it then eventually just return to the home position ? (timer)

As for the joystick.... some are easily converted to joystick from buttons, but we need to clarify exactly which model and boardset you have since you say yours only has 2 buttons total right now.
Mine uses a topfire joystick like - http://www.happcontrols.com/joysticks/50800010.htm
(forward, back, left, right, topfire button to drop)
 
Oh, now that I look at mine again it does have the compact version like cadillacman's.
My tetris machine has the full size topfires, duh.
 
Yeah, it has two, two digit displays credits and timer, not sure if it returns home after time out or not, I just picked it up last night and have not had time to mess with it much, I will check it out in more detail tomorrow after I get the claw reattached.... Guess I'm stronger than I thought lol.

Here is a pic.


What version of Greyhound crane do you have ?
Does it have 2 two digit displays ?
If it's an older version I may have some info for ya.

What they are saying about the claw string... is if you fully extend the string all the way out (with claw attached) the first thing it should do when you power it up is wind the claw back up, which will wind the string in the proper direction. Then the carriage should go to the home (starting) position.
The switch on the plate that the claw hits when it goes up is what tells the claw to stop winding.
So if you extend the string and turn it on and the claw does NOT wind up, then the switch or wiring for that plate switch could be bad and or not recognizing that the claw is already down. (could be other things too, but start with the simple)

But your initial description tells me that maybe a relay is not activating telling the claw to drop.
If you play a game and even though the claw doesn't drop if you were to leave it set and not touch it, does it then eventually just return to the home position ? (timer)

As for the joystick.... some are easily converted to joystick from buttons, but we need to clarify exactly which model and boardset you have since you say yours only has 2 buttons total right now.
Mine uses a topfire joystick like - http://www.happcontrols.com/joysticks/50800010.htm
(forward, back, left, right, topfire button to drop)
 

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That one looks quite familiar...

It should flash a series of numbers on the two displays when you first turn it on.
This will be the date code. So it would show something like 19 on one and 88 on the other.
I believe after that it'll flash a revision code as well. (or vice versa, revision first then date, it's been a while since I looked)
What's yours show ?
After the code flashes the carriage should return to the home position if it's out of place.

And if you can grab a pic of the pcb set (guts) that would help too.
Just in case it's all been replace with a Smart board or something like that.
 
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Will grab all that tomorrow and post back!

That one looks quite familiar...

It should flash a series of numbers on the two displays when you first turn it on.
This will be the date code. So it would show something like 19 on one and 88 on the other.
I believe after that it'll flash a revision code as well. (or vice versa, revision first then date, it's been a while since I looked)
What's yours show ?
After the code flashes the carriage should return to the home position if it's out of place.

And if you can grab a pic of the pcb set (guts) that would help too.
Just in case it's all been replace with a Smart board or something like that.
 
Not to hijack, but I have the Jumbo version of this crane free to anyone who wants to come get it. It is a project that should work fine when put back together. I got it from a guy who had two. While trying to fix one, he pulled out each board from this one (which worked) and swapped them into the other to find the broken part. Turns out the only bad part was the power supply (normal arcade switcher which you can get from Bob Roberts for $25).

The Red laminate is starting to peel off, but it's all there (except for the power supply) and ready for someone to put back together. it will need a string for the claw, too.

This thing is 6-feet tall, 4-feet wide, and about 3-feet deep. it is the two-button version....
 
That one looks quite familiar...

It should flash a series of numbers on the two displays when you first turn it on.
This will be the date code. So it would show something like 19 on one and 88 on the other.
I believe after that it'll flash a revision code as well. (or vice versa, revision first then date, it's been a while since I looked)
What's yours show ?
After the code flashes the carriage should return to the home position if it's out of place.

And if you can grab a pic of the pcb set (guts) that would help too.
Just in case it's all been replace with a Smart board or something like that.

I think that's a Treasure Chest crane you are referring to ( The old version, not the newer ones that are currently out ).
 
I think that's a Treasure Chest crane you are referring to ( The old version, not the newer ones that are currently out ).

Yeah, that's why I'd like to determine if it has the newer or older boards in it. I'm more familiar with the old Grayhound boards, but don't want to spout off too much information that may be wrong. I know there was some changes down the line, just don't recall exactly when.
When I see the two button operation I always wonder which version it may be.
My Grayhound is actually a Candy Shop crane.

Grayhound along with ones like the Treasure Chest are still somewhat supported by United Textile Fabricators http://www.unitedtextile.net/
I say "somewhat" in reference to the older Grayhound stuff.
 
Alright, sorry it took me so long to reply back, I had a crazy night at work last night...

Here are my findings: I unwound the string which was probably 3 times too long, I trimmed it down some and reattached the claw, powered up and it rewound the claw ISSUE 1 once it wound up the motor did not hold the claw all the way up, it lets it drop down just enough to let the plate fall back down, but it's not really trying to pull it back up again...
So I used my hand to hold the plate up and it returned home, I them attempted to trick the crane by holding the plate up and playing a round I went forward and right all while holingthe plate up, the crane still didn't attempt to go down, it simply sat there for a second them=n returned home again.

I have taken everything apart and out of the game, everything appears to be in good shape all connections are good and whatnot, so I don't know what it could be.

board is greyhound crane CPU REV-2 and the date code is 09 87.

Attached are a few pictures, let me know what you think!!
 

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Well, looks like the old school Grayhound boards to me.

But we'll need to put it all back together before going any further. :)

Since the claw slips down a little after going up we need to check into why so that we know that up plate switch is staying activated. (otherwise you'll be fighting that during troubleshooting) Maybe an extra wind of the string by hand is needed.

So I used my hand to hold the plate up and it returned home, I them attempted to trick the crane by holding the plate up and playing a round I went forward and right all while holingthe plate up, the crane still didn't attempt to go down, it simply sat there for a second them=n returned home again.

Aside from the claw not dropping, that all sounds correct in the way it functioned and returned home after timing out.

Run that scenario again and listen or feel for one of the relays to click when the claw should drop. The "motor right" relay should click off and then the "claw drop" relay should click on. I'll look to see if I can find exactly which relay is for the drop here in a bit. (I think it's #2)
The relays are the black squares on the smaller pcb with less chip and such in your second picture.

You can also use the dipswitch method and go into the SELFTEST MODE to check carriage motions and such and feel for the relay clicks as it operates.

Dipswitch 8 activates the test mode.
But.....you need to use dipswitches 1-4 to activate each "individual"
test mode.

Turn OFF machine.
Turn ALL dipswitches OFF except number 8.
Turn machine ON
Now turn on dips 1-4 (one at a time only) to activate each individual
test mode.

1. Display test (cycles the two digits in each display)
2. Switch input test (each switch will display a digit if working
correctly)
3. Auto Bridge test (cycles the entire bridge side to side back and
forth and drops/raises claw))
4. Sound test (will play each attract tune and the WIN tune)

You do not have to turn the machine back off in between tests, just turn the test on or off as needed, but one at a time.
When done...... turn dipswitch 8 back to OFF and restart machine.

Double check the wiring bundle going to the carriage unit for any broken/frayed wires and such.
Been a while since I've messed with one, but I'm sure yours will be an easy fix once we find it since everything else seems to be in order.
 
I think the machine "thinks" the claw is falling, as soon as you let go of the right arrow the count down timer stops, but it doesn't even allow what seems like enough time for the claw to fall if it wanted to, it almost immediately returns home...
 
Just got it all back together, cleaned and reseated all the connectors, but it's still the same. I don't think relay 2 (drop relay) is working, so where do I go from here?

New relay board? If so where do I find one?
 
Have you tried re-seating all the ribbon cables and socketed chips on the circuit boards yet?
Especially the CPU board as the signals obviously come from it through the 40pin ribbon cable to the relay board.
Just something to try before digging too terribly deep.

If the relay itself is suspected bad we could tried swapping two around and then the "something else" will stop working but the claw will drop. (like swap the UP and the DOWN relays)
#2 is Down, #3 is Up

You could try swapping the two small socketed chips on the relay board also and see if something else quits but the claw drops, etc.
 
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