Tech. Multiball issue popeye.

Jdawg4422

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Hey guys i have a popeye machine that is having trouble with the bluto multiball.

Let me start by saying i have evrything working 100% in the menus and single test switches. I can go into the multiball test through the menus and everything works correctly.

Now my issue is i can hit the two jabs and lock the first ball and it will give another one to launch. Now i repeat the steps and lock ball two and it will never give me a third ball in the shooter lane. If i dont touch anything and let it find the ball it pops both the balls out of his mouth. I assume it should give me a third ball, then i have to jab twice and lock the third for multiball.

There are 6 pinballs in the machine and the trough registers all six balls everytime with no problems. I am a little stumped here. Only thing i can think of is maybe bad roms??? not telling it to send a third ball into the shooter lane???

Jason
 
First off, retest the ball trough. Do it by putting the game into switch test and add 1 ball at a time. Make sure that one ball does not trip 2 switches at the same time. If one ball does trip 2 switches, then you likely have some corrosion on the IDC connector going to the CPU. The IDC connectors for the CPU are .100 pitch and with a little bit of corrosion or a bad header pin repair, the pins easily jump
Secondly, retest the ball locks
 
I have tested the ball troughs multiple times and it always triggers one opto at a time. Wel the first one triggers the other five real quick when passing by, but where it rests it only triggers one. I did this last night added balls one by one and watched the closed optos turn open 1 by 1.

Also have tried the ball lock multiple times and it always works in test mode. only one switch registers at a time. And it recognizes the second ball going in in game mode and gives me the seen then says ball 2 locked. It just never spits out another one after.

Jason




First off, retest the ball trough. Do it by putting the game into switch test and add 1 ball at a time. Make sure that one ball does not trip 2 switches at the same time. If one ball does trip 2 switches, then you likely have some corrosion on the IDC connector going to the CPU. The IDC connectors for the CPU are .100 pitch and with a little bit of corrosion or a bad header pin repair, the pins easily jump
Secondly, retest the ball locks
 
I downloaded the manual and the ball locks are right next to the ball trough in the switch matrix. Check J207 and J209 (my money would be on J207-4,5)for corrosion on the IDC connector. Corrosion on a connector (generally green corrosion) causes switches to act oddly.

Next test I would do would be to load 2 balls in the locks and leave the rest in the ball trough and see which switches are active.

Just my 2 cents, it could be something else. But you stated all switches were working normally. I am just trying to rule out any jumping that might be occuring. Whenever you see 2 switches next to each other on a switch matrix table, it is the first thing I think might be happening.

See post #32 http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=223316&page=4 where Wazzey had a similiar issue.
 
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I have had to fix way too many problems with ball troughs that looked like they were working. One thing I have seen is when a ball gets hung In the trough do to a worn spot in the metal. you might want to make sure that is not happening. To summarize, the third or fourth ball does not roll down in the ball trough properly and gets hung up. The game thinks a ball is stuck and many times kicks out all locked balls as a way of attempting to free up a ball.
 
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this is a good possibility i was not thinking of!! Maybe when the ball is "resting" next to the other one and then the early ones fall in line the last may not because of a divot. This would explain all optos and switches working but the ball may not be moving into place from the 4th trough to the third one when the balls are allready in there and it shoots the second one out. then when it kicks my other two pinballs out those two may push the ball in the 4th trough over to the 3rd. Will check it out when i get home.

Jason


I have had to fix way too many problems with ball troughs that looked like they were working. One thing I have seen is when a ball gets hung In the trough do to a worn spot in the metal. you might want to make sure that is not happening. To summarize, the third or fourth ball does not roll down in the ball trough properly and gets hung up. The game thinks a ball is stuck and many times kicks out all locked balls as a way of attempting to free up a ball.
 
I'd check the switches in the Bluto trough before checking the switches in the main ball trough. If memory serves, there are 3 or 4 switches down there to detect when balls come through, and how many are there, and it can be a bit tricky getting them all adjusted correctly.

If you shopped the machine, it's VERY easy to get the wiring/switches mixed up on that trough as well; it took me three tries before I got it all back together correctly.

I'd guess that it's detecting the first ball you shoot into Bluto's mouth, but *not* detecting the second ball, so it's sitting there waiting until it goes into ball search. I had similar issues where it wasn't detecting the second ball in that trough when I was getting it all re-assembled, and (once I had the switches all back in their correct position), it was just a matter of making adjustments to the switch in that trough to ensure it was detecting the ball reliably.

Good luck!
 
This ended up being the problem. All switches were working and registering correctly. What was wrong was the person who owned it before me switched the wires on the second and third switch. After I unsoldered the wires and switched them everything is working perfectly.


Thanks for the help guys.


I'd check the switches in the Bluto trough before checking the switches in the main ball trough. If memory serves, there are 3 or 4 switches down there to detect when balls come through, and how many are there, and it can be a bit tricky getting them all adjusted correctly.

If you shopped the machine, it's VERY easy to get the wiring/switches mixed up on that trough as well; it took me three tries before I got it all back together correctly.

I'd guess that it's detecting the first ball you shoot into Bluto's mouth, but *not* detecting the second ball, so it's sitting there waiting until it goes into ball search. I had similar issues where it wasn't detecting the second ball in that trough when I was getting it all re-assembled, and (once I had the switches all back in their correct position), it was just a matter of making adjustments to the switch in that trough to ensure it was detecting the ball reliably.

Good luck!
 
Glad you got it resolved! Still amazes me someone (previous owner) would have not assembled it back correctly!
 
yeah he said his son tried to fix it a while back. He also had two wires crossed on the solenoids down there but i found that one early on, because the game would not work right at all with them reversed. Atleast it kinda worked with the switches mixed up.


Glad you got it resolved! Still amazes me someone (previous owner) would have not assembled it back correctly!
 
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