Jurassic Park ramp question

elfyhead

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picked up a JP over the weekend (my first pin, yay! :)), and there are lots of little problems (pop bumpers, left flipper, T-rex chomps ball but won't swallow it, trough switches, speaker, and more...), but i think i can fix them.

however, there is one major playfield problem that i'm a bit baffled on, so seek help here. the ramp was broken around the entry on the left side, and a really kludgy fix was made. i've attached pics. i see that i can buy a replacement ramp at marco or bayarea, but i'll also need the metal support bit on that side - does anybody sell those? and, what are they actually called? and, is there an agreed-upon "best" (or at least "good") way to plug the holes that will need to be filled from the extra posts that were added around the ramp entry?

actually, one other minor question. on my playfield there is a post just below and to the right of the left-most pop bumper, which looks like it was added. but, the picture at http://remote.kiwi.gen.nz/JP2/jpPlayfield.jpg shows it on that machine as well. but as a counter-example, in Stangbat's playfield replacement thread, his playfield doesn't have that post. is that a post that was commonly added to JP to address some problem?

thanks in advance.
 

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I'm not sure about the protective metal piece for the left side of the ramp. You may have to make one or have one made if you can't find it anywhere.

The hole that was made for the post in the ramp should be covered by the new ramp, unless I'm looking at the pictures incorrectly.

I think my JP has the post you are talking about by the left pop bumper. The manual doesn't show it, but the playfield was drilled for it and I'm pretty sure it was added after the manual's drawings were made. (I can't see the picture you lined to, it gives a permission error.)

dsc6445large.jpg
 
Something just doesn't look right with those two posts on the left of the ramp. One seems too high and the other too low. I know one is an extra "fix", but looking at the photo I pulled off ipdm something just seems off.

There is a populated JP ramp on Mr. Pinball classifieds, but it cost more that just a stripped down regular plastic one. That metal you are missing on the left of the ramp is just a ramp protector. Might be hard to find one. You might just want to borrow one make a template and have it made. Could try Cliffy too.

To fill the hole I would say wood putty, touch up with acrylic paint and put a small piece of mylar over it. Others probably have better ideas on that than me.

Good luck with everything.
 

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Something just doesn't look right with those two posts on the left of the ramp. One seems too high and the other too low. I know one is an extra "fix", but looking at the photo I pulled off ipdm something just seems off.

That was my initial thought but I kind of dismissed it because of the upper post. But you are right, they must have drilled another hole in front. I'd fill it with an epoxy wood filler, paint, and then clearcoat.
 
The JP that I have has that post on the playfield by the left pop-bumper as well. It looks to be a mod they did after the manual was finished to keep the ball from being trapped in there.

The metal pieces on the ramp serve at least two purposes, one is to protect the ramp from the balls, and the other is for a support for the jurassic park gate that sits over the ramp. You can make another metal piece out of some scrap aluminum, or you can get small sheets of aluminum at the local hardware store or big box home center. Those metal pieces are rivited onto the ramp, as you can see in the pictures. A used ramp should have them installed, but it looks like the new ones do not.
 

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thanks all for the help. so i guess i'll leave that little post in. does it mean, though, that if i buy the rubber set from marco that has 33 pieces, it'll be short one (since that post rubber won't be one of the 33 listed in the manual)?

i'll have to think about what to do with the ramp. those two posts on the left of the ramp entry are definitely kludges - there is a hole where the post is supposed to be, about halfway between the two that are there. sigh...

i also have a flipper question. the left flipper stopped working last night. when i press the flipper button, the flipper moves about 1/4", and i can hear the buzz of the coil trying to move it, but it won't move all the way. is that indicative of a bad coil?

EDIT: oh, and on the flipper, the coil shaft moves freely - it's not a bad sleeve or shaft. wiring all seems good. i couldn't find a diagnostic for the flipper coil - the coil diagnostic doesn't seem to activate the flippers?
 
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thanks all for the help. so i guess i'll leave that little post in. does it mean, though, that if i buy the rubber set from marco that has 33 pieces, it'll be short one (since that post rubber won't be one of the 33 listed in the manual)?

i'll have to think about what to do with the ramp. those two posts on the left of the ramp entry are definitely kludges - there is a hole where the post is supposed to be, about halfway between the two that are there. sigh...

i also have a flipper question. the left flipper stopped working last night. when i press the flipper button, the flipper moves about 1/4", and i can hear the buzz of the coil trying to move it, but it won't move all the way. is that indicative of a bad coil?

EDIT: oh, and on the flipper, the coil shaft moves freely - it's not a bad sleeve or shaft. wiring all seems good. i couldn't find a diagnostic for the flipper coil - the coil diagnostic doesn't seem to activate the flippers?

Last time I bought the rubber set from Marco, it had several wrong rubbers. I now buy my pinball rubbers at Pinball Life, and I order more than what is needed. When I take the machine apart, I catalog what is used and then buy those withextras to cover what I might forget.

Good Luck with the Ramp. Since it is such a big item on the playfield, I would get a new ramp and fabricate what parts I would need. And in the process, remove those posts and clean up the playfield around there. With those posts there, it will almost be impossible to hit the ramp from the left flipper, and difficult to hit it from the right one.

Speaking of flippers... There is no specific diagnostic for the flippers, but they are powered on when you are in the diagnostic coil test so you then use the flipper buttons to test them. The left (or right) flipper being weak is pretty common on this game. Data East/Sega/Stern has a service bulletin on this, it is number 54 and available on the Stern Website. For a quick fix, take a file to the EOS switch on that flipper, and clean it up. That should get the power back to that flipper. If that works, that means that you will need to rebuild the flippers and replace the EOS Switches, (Pinball Life has the cheapest best fitting rebuild kits on the market right now) but this will keep you playing until the parts arrive.
 
Last time I bought the rubber set from Marco, it had several wrong rubbers. I now buy my pinball rubbers at Pinball Life, and I order more than what is needed. When I take the machine apart, I catalog what is used and then buy those withextras to cover what I might forget.

sounds like good advice.

Speaking of flippers... There is no specific diagnostic for the flippers, but they are powered on when you are in the diagnostic coil test so you then use the flipper buttons to test them. The left (or right) flipper being weak is pretty common on this game. Data East/Sega/Stern has a service bulletin on this, it is number 54 and available on the Stern Website. For a quick fix, take a file to the EOS switch on that flipper, and clean it up. That should get the power back to that flipper. If that works, that means that you will need to rebuild the flippers and replace the EOS Switches, (Pinball Life has the cheapest best fitting rebuild kits on the market right now) but this will keep you playing until the parts arrive.

ahh, thanks, that worked on the flipper coil diagnostic. haven't taken a file to the EOS switch yet, but will shortly. but, oh my, have a look at the pic. somebody really hacked that switch. soldered together two of the leaves, and the back leaf is broken off. looks like i'll be ordering a replacement (http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=713&parent=0). should i replace the whole flipper assembly while i'm at it, or will just replacing that switch be enough?
 

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It sounds like you have two similar issues to swayze2, the flipper and T-Rex. His problem was the wiring in the T-Rex and the switch contacts for the flipper.
http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=171628

I think you can fabricate a part for the ramp and make it work okay. I also think you can patch the hole from the post and make it look pretty good. The artwork on JP is pretty busy, a small touch up won't stand out too much, and you'll be able to make it look nice.
 
It sounds like you have two similar issues to swayze2, the flipper and T-Rex. His problem was the wiring in the T-Rex and the switch contacts for the flipper.
http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=171628

I think you can fabricate a part for the ramp and make it work okay. I also think you can patch the hole from the post and make it look pretty good. The artwork on JP is pretty busy, a small touch up won't stand out too much, and you'll be able to make it look nice.

yeah, i had read the swayze2 thread - same problem on the flipper, it seems. i took a file to it and it's working now. thanks!

swayze2's other problem was a diverter one - fortunately that's one problem i don't have. one. ;O...

next problem is the pop bumpers, which are sad. coils are fine in the diagnostic - i suspect they need new skirts.

oh, and one other. sometimes when the machine is shaking (from the shaker motor, flippers, shaking the machine, whatever), the egg cracking gets activated. like when you hit the captured ball up to the spot target in the "egg lane". once it starts, it sort of cascades, because cracking the egg causes the shaker motor to activate (it seems, anyway), and pretty soon you end up in the super egg multiball mode (or whatever it's called). does this seem like a loose connection somewhere? i had a quick look at the connections on the spot target at the back of the egg lane, but they all seem secure...
 
oh, and one other. sometimes when the machine is shaking (from the shaker motor, flippers, shaking the machine, whatever), the egg cracking gets activated. like when you hit the captured ball up to the spot target in the "egg lane". once it starts, it sort of cascades, because cracking the egg causes the shaker motor to activate (it seems, anyway), and pretty soon you end up in the super egg multiball mode (or whatever it's called). does this seem like a loose connection somewhere? i had a quick look at the connections on the spot target at the back of the egg lane, but they all seem secure...

Most likely the stand up target at the back of the "egg lane" is activating due to the shaking. The screws holding it together have probably loosened or the blades are too closely gapped. Drop it below the playfield and inspect it. It also isn't a bad idea to disassemble it and replace the piece of foam behind the target because the factory foam piece is usually disintegrated and missing. The foam helps cushion the target and helps prevent multiple closures. I use the 3/8" adhesive backed weatherstripping foam.

Or you can buy a new target, but that really isn't necessary as it can most likely be repaired pretty easily.
 
My EOS switches are bypassed as well. Do you guys think this will cause issues in the long run? My lower flippers seem to function just fine.

Thanks
 
My EOS switches are bypassed as well. Do you guys think this will cause issues in the long run? My lower flippers seem to function just fine.

Thanks

How are they bypassed? Are the connections just removed? I would want the EOS to work, especially for the lower left flipper. It can take hard hits from the Raptor Pit and you want it good and firm to trap balls ejected from The Bunker.

If they hard wired them closed, I'd fix it.
 
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The wires are disconnected, and I do not see them to reconnect them. So I assume this is bypassed, this will be a rainy day project when I get everything else working...
 
The wires are disconnected, and I do not see them to reconnect them. So I assume this is bypassed, this will be a rainy day project when I get everything else working...

If the connections are removed, no harm is done. You just won't get a high power pulse to keep the flipper up if it is hit by a pinball.
 
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My EOS switches are bypassed as well. Do you guys think this will cause issues in the long run? My lower flippers seem to function just fine.

Thanks

Data East used a different EOS theory on their flippers. The new "Solid State" flippers used an electrical timing circuit to pulse a high voltage to the flipper and then fall back to a lower hold voltage. The EOS switch in the Data East flipper circuit allows for a re-application of the high voltage when the flipper is moved far enough by a ball hit. This was not an issue on earlier machines than Jurassic Park, (which do not have EOS Switches) however with the Raptor Pit kick back on the Jurassic Park, the pinball flying back at the flippers would cause it to deflect too much since it only had the lower hold voltage. Data East then aded the EOS switch to allow the full flipper voltage to be re-applied for a short time to keep the flippers from deflecting too far.

Shorting out the EOS switch in a Jurassic Park will eliminate that pulse of high voltage to "hold" the flipper in the up position when the flipper is hit by a very fast moving pinball. You can verify this yourself by pushing down on the flipper when it is in the up position. If the EOS is working correctly, you wil feel a large push back, if the EOS is shorted out, then you will be able to push the flipper down with little effort.

Shorting out the EOS on the Jurassic Park will not cause any damage to the machine, it just eliminates a function of the flipper electronics.

There is a service bulletin that covers this, service bulletin #53, there is also a bulletin that has a modification to the flipper board (#54) that will keep the pulse voltage high to the flippers even if the EOS switch is broken. This was done so that the game could be played with bad or broken EOS switches.

Service buletins are located here: http://www.sternpinball.com/ServiceBulletins.shtml
Scroll to the bottom to find #53, and 54, and about 6 more that are relative to Jurassic Park.
 
Now that you post that, Geese, I realize I was thinking incorrectly since the EOS is normally closed. Oops, I had it backwards. Thanks. I edited my earlier post so that nobody would be getting the wrong information.
 
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Most likely the stand up target at the back of the "egg lane" is activating due to the shaking. The screws holding it together have probably loosened or the blades are too closely gapped. Drop it below the playfield and inspect it. It also isn't a bad idea to disassemble it and replace the piece of foam behind the target because the factory foam piece is usually disintegrated and missing. The foam helps cushion the target and helps prevent multiple closures. I use the 3/8" adhesive backed weatherstripping foam.

Or you can buy a new target, but that really isn't necessary as it can most likely be repaired pretty easily.

excellent - will try this tonight.
 
Most likely the stand up target at the back of the "egg lane" is activating due to the shaking. The screws holding it together have probably loosened or the blades are too closely gapped. Drop it below the playfield and inspect it. It also isn't a bad idea to disassemble it and replace the piece of foam behind the target because the factory foam piece is usually disintegrated and missing. The foam helps cushion the target and helps prevent multiple closures. I use the 3/8" adhesive backed weatherstripping foam.

Or you can buy a new target, but that really isn't necessary as it can most likely be repaired pretty easily.

you were right - the blades were too closely gapped. easy fix and now that part is working. pop bumpers next - that should be fun!

thanks much for all the help so far :)...
 
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