Skateball Drop Targets (TECH)

tomdotcom

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Hey guys I'm having an issue with my Bally Skateball Drop targets. Whenever the drops reset during gameplay or at the start of a new ball the far left drop target gets raised to high. It happens a good 90 percent of the time. It gets stuck up and usually won't come down, even when the drops reset on a new ball.

I took a good look inside at the springs and connecting plates/rods. Everything "looks" ok.

Need some advice as what I should be doing to fix this? Someone must have run into this problem before? The only way to make it go back down is to twist the drop target a bit from the top so it drops back down into the normal raised position.

See here for pics of what I'm talking about:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomdotcom88/sets/72157622865105411/
 
I wonder if maybe the coil stop could be worn down? Maybe it's pushing the targets to high cause of that. And that one target just happens to jam because of it...

If that's not it, I guess I'll have to take it apart, clean it, replace the spring, and check for alignment..

the joys of pinball...
 
Thx Burt, think I'm going to pull the drop assembly off. Clean everything, and look for something that is jamming, worn, dirty, etc. Maybe the spring is weak as well.

I'll report back, was REALLY hoping not to have to pull the whole damn thing apart ahah..the game is fun and all, but I'm not looking to restore it back to mint. I just want it to work and play good.

It would be a great learning experience anyhow...
 
All the spring does is pull the target down when the ball hits it.There should be a little "ledge" kinda thing on the target itself that it sits on when up.Maybe that is broken allowing it to go up too high?
 
Ok I pulled it all apart and swapped a target and took a REALLY good look at everything, here's my findings below:

There are slots in the back of the drop target assembly. The metal
plates that attach to the bottom of the drop targets ride in these
slots. What happens is that when the coil kicks all the drop targets
up, they go up higher then they need to (same as all the machine drop
targets) and that metal plate ends up shifting a bit to the side and
comes out of the slot and jams off center. So that's why the target
won't come down. That metal plate has ridden out of the slot and is
jammed. If you reach underneath and just shift that plate over, it
falls right into place.

Maybe those plates are just worn down a hair too much?

The targets seemed fine at a quick glance when I pulled them out? You
guys think that if just replace those 3 targets then that metal plate
won't shift anymore?

A guy on RGP mentioned that the targets may be flexing, causing that metal plate to shift..
 
I think I figured out the offending piece. It's the bottom metal
assembly with the slots in it. It seems like the metal plates that
attach to the drop targets are not hitting the slots right.They are
supposed to hit against the bottom of the slot which causes the drop
targets to top out at that point. But they don't quite hit the slots
right, because the slots are worn they end up clearing the slots
altogether.

The slots seem a bit worn so the drop targets end up going higher
then they should, causing the metal plate to jam in the back slot.

I tested the other drop assemblies in the machine and when you push
the drops all the way up the metal plate that attaches to the drop
hits the bottom of the slot on the bottom assembly and that stops the
metal plate attached to the drop assembly.

I also took apart the coil and the coil stop and coil plunger seem
fine. I pushed the rod all the way in and compared it to the other
drop assemblies and it looks like it goes up the exact same amount.

So either those slots are a bit worn. Or the coil stop or coil plunger
are worn so the coil pushes the targets to high.

When you push up the drop targets, ALL of the metal attaching rods go
up to far. That is a BIG clue. So sometimes other targets are getting
stuck as well. Not just one...

I took some more pics here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomdotcom88/sets/72157622995642512/
 
I'm not sure if Skate Ball will have the same drop target assembly as Mr. & Mrs. Pacman but the assembly I'm looking at has a metal rod perpendicular to the targets that dictates how far the targets can travel when reset. I suspect you're missing this part or it's not doing it's job. If that part were missing on the one I'm looking at it would cause a problem like what you're describing.

All of the stuff you posted pictures of looks fine. There is no wear in the metal slots. I don't suggest you try to make any major modification to the assembly you've got. Something is either missing or out of adjustment.
 
Going to try and REALLY scrutinize the other drop banks and try and spot what the difference is.

That's the best plan. Problems like this can be frustrating. Like I said I suspect you're either missing a part or something is out of adjustment. I really doubt you'll need to make any major modifications to the assembly.
 
I swapped out the coil plunger and coil stop from a working bank and that didn't help. Same problem. So I can rule out that at least.

The targets and the link plates that attach to the bottom of the drop targets definately go up to high or something isn't aligned right. The link plates go up to high and come out of the slots at the back, causing the target to jam...
 
OK I seem to have gotten it fixed for now. I just didn't tighten the bottom plate on as hard. I was thinking if maybe I put a bit weaker coil on that assembly that it wouldn't happen anymore. Right now that coil is kicking up the targets harder then it really needs to, I think if I replaced it with a weaker coil it wouldn't cause the jamming anymore?

I played a good 30 games or so after I put that bottom plate back on and so far so good, but I think the a bit weaker coil may fix the problem for good...
 
Ya I really don't want to go down that road. I think the main drop assembly frame is just a bit warped or bent. It's really hard to tell though because it's only off by a couple millimeters or so.
 
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