Ice Cold Beer: ball solenoid sometimes doesn't have enough kick

TheShanMan

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Ice Cold Beer: ball solenoid sometimes doesn't have enough kick

I've been working on my new ICB the last couple of nights and twice the game has gotten into a state where the solenoid won't fire the ball hard enough to get it over the hump. For some reason, perhaps coincidence, this has only happened the two times the ball has fallen from the bar. Once this happens, the game will go into it's hunt mode, moving the bars around and firing the solenoid. But the solenoid never shoots it hard enough at this point, and I have to turn the game off and use my finger to manually "fire" the solenoid. From that point on, the game plays fine and the solenoid has enough kick.

Has anyone run into something like this? Is it a sign that the solenoid isn't getting enough voltage? What might explain the fact that the solenoid will work fine over, and over, and over, and then once it fails to shoot it over the hump, will continue to fail over and over?

On the plus side, I got the rods cleaned and lubed last night. Had a scare momentarily when putting the rods back together and noticing that they didn't slide easily. I realized the outer rod was slightly bent. Immediately I wondered if I can't get it bent back adequately, what then??? But I was able to bend it back and now the rods are super smooth. :)
 
Check and see if the solenoid has a return spring. Sometimes you just need to tweak the spring tension a little. You can also pull the solenoid plunger out and clean it.
If you lubricate the plunger only use a dry graphite lubricant. Any grease or oil will be a very temporary fix since it will attract dust and dirt.
 
I don't recall there being a spring. Frankly, I can't think of why it would need one. But I will certainly check that tonight. It certainly doesn't seem gummed up in any way, but I will check to see if the plunger is dirty too. Thanks!
 
No spring, and I don't see one in the manual either. Unless someone has some other ideas I might just give it some more time and see if it 1) happens again, and 2) if I can determine any rhyme or reason to what causes it to get into and stay in that state.
 
I'm not an expert on this, I don't own a pinball machine and don't have much experience with solenoids.

If I remember electromagnets get less effecient when they're hot, which could explain why it will function after you've opened the machine up and popped it manually (you let the coil cool down).

I've also heard that when the coil's contacts get dirty the current can start to arc, which builds up carbon on the contacts, which makes them even less effcient. So clean them I guess. Can't hurt anyway.
 
Shan, this exact thing happens to my ICB intermittently, too. I cleaned the sleeve and plunger, no difference. I haven't tried Riptor's dry graphite tip.

Do you have the original coil in there? My coil doesn't have a reference number printed on the paper and I'm wondering if at some point someone installed a lower rated coil than required. I know that the coil should be an N26-1200.

To be honest, my plan was to just live with it until my next order with Steve Young or Marco, order and install an new coil/sleeve/plunger.
 
Well at least I'm not alone! ;) Maybe my explanation of when/why it seems to happen is just a coincidence then or the real reason is something entirely different. I'll keep watching it and see what happens and I'll consider replacing the solenoid too, unless I find the voltage isn't adequate (haven't checked that yet).
 
I have experienced weak coils on pins in the past. You should check the wiring, including all solder and crimp joints for any signs of wear and repair/replace as necessary. Any high resistance area will reduce the power getting to the coil and cause a reduction in performance.
 
Super necro bump but since it's my own thread and I finally found the solution, it's okay, right??? :)

The problem turned out to be that the solenoid was mounted with a lot of play, so a lot of energy was being lost in the solenoid as a whole kind of flopping around between the 2 brackets. The solenoid needs to be quite snug so that when it fires, the solenoid body won't move. That way, all the energy will go into the plunger, and in turn, the ball.

Prior to correcting this, it pretty much never worked. After, I tested about 8 times. 7 times it knocked the ball all the way up on the 1st try, and the other time it took 2 tries.

Hope this helps someone in the future!
 
There was a service tip also about adding a capacitor to help have enough current to the solenoid...
 

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