• Fish Tales - eject hole, not enough strength to kick out all the time

    From Grojohn@johncarniello@gmail.com to rec.games.pinball on Wednesday, January 27, 2021 05:14:18
    From Newsgroup: rec.games.pinball

    Hi All,

    Ok, so I was working on a Fish Tales for a friend. The eject hole on the top right , when the ball lands in it , its very weak. It may take a kick or two to get it out and its very weak.

    But, in diagonstics, when I test that eject hole, it works great, Its super strong. I have the test repeating that solenoid, and I will even throw the ball in there and it kicks it out strong!

    Question: What is my problem?

    John
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  • From Lloyd Olson@originallloydthegreat@gmail.com to rec.games.pinball on Wednesday, January 27, 2021 08:56:14
    From Newsgroup: rec.games.pinball

    On Wednesday, January 27, 2021 at 7:14:27 AM UTC-6, Grojohn wrote:
    Hi All,

    Ok, so I was working on a Fish Tales for a friend. The eject hole on the top right , when the ball lands in it , its very weak. It may take a kick or two to get it out and its very weak.

    But, in diagonstics, when I test that eject hole, it works great, Its super strong. I have the test repeating that solenoid, and I will even throw the ball in there and it kicks it out strong!

    Question: What is my problem?

    John
    In test nothing else is going so it gets more power. Does it move freely ? Might need a good cleaning and new coil sleeve, check plunger for a mushroomed bottom or sharp edge, dragging in the coil sleeve. The part that kicks the ball does it hit the center of the ball or a glancing blow ?
    LTG : )
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  • From Grojohn@johncarniello@gmail.com to rec.games.pinball on Wednesday, January 27, 2021 12:26:20
    From Newsgroup: rec.games.pinball

    On Wednesday, January 27, 2021 at 10:56:21 AM UTC-6, originalll...@gmail.com wrote:
    On Wednesday, January 27, 2021 at 7:14:27 AM UTC-6, Grojohn wrote:
    Hi All,

    Ok, so I was working on a Fish Tales for a friend. The eject hole on the top right , when the ball lands in it , its very weak. It may take a kick or two to get it out and its very weak.

    But, in diagonstics, when I test that eject hole, it works great, Its super strong. I have the test repeating that solenoid, and I will even throw the ball in there and it kicks it out strong!

    Question: What is my problem?

    John
    In test nothing else is going so it gets more power. Does it move freely ? Might need a good cleaning and new coil sleeve, check plunger for a mushroomed bottom or sharp edge, dragging in the coil sleeve. The part that kicks the ball does it hit the center of the ball or a glancing blow ?

    LTG : )
    --- Synchronet 3.18a-Linux NewsLink 1.113
  • From Grojohn@johncarniello@gmail.com to rec.games.pinball on Wednesday, January 27, 2021 12:28:28
    From Newsgroup: rec.games.pinball

    On Wednesday, January 27, 2021 at 2:26:27 PM UTC-6, Grojohn wrote:
    On Wednesday, January 27, 2021 at 10:56:21 AM UTC-6, originalll...@gmail.com wrote:
    On Wednesday, January 27, 2021 at 7:14:27 AM UTC-6, Grojohn wrote:
    Hi All,

    Ok, so I was working on a Fish Tales for a friend. The eject hole on the top right , when the ball lands in it , its very weak. It may take a kick or two to get it out and its very weak.

    But, in diagonstics, when I test that eject hole, it works great, Its super strong. I have the test repeating that solenoid, and I will even throw the ball in there and it kicks it out strong!

    Question: What is my problem?

    John
    In test nothing else is going so it gets more power. Does it move freely ? Might need a good cleaning and new coil sleeve, check plunger for a mushroomed bottom or sharp edge, dragging in the coil sleeve. The part that kicks the ball does it hit the center of the ball or a glancing blow ?

    LTG : )
    Moves great, parts are fine. Solenoid test kicks that muther out fine. Its just when the game is played, its like a shorter burst of energy for some reason.
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  • From Gabriel Koen@gabriel.koen@gmail.com to rec.games.pinball on Wednesday, January 27, 2021 14:09:44
    From Newsgroup: rec.games.pinball

    I had a similar problem with the shooter lane upkick on my TAF recently, and I did a couple things:
    - I found a couple of leaf switches were stuck closed, I adjusted them and the upkick worked better, but still not perfect. (Seems weird and could have been completely unrelated.)
    - Even though it seemed to be freely moving, I took it out and cleaned it anyway. I didn't think this was the issue because, like you, it would seem to work fine during tests. However after a thorough cleaning and degreasing, it started working perfectly, so can't argue with results.
    Hope that helps some.
    Gabriel
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  • From Grojohn@johncarniello@gmail.com to rec.games.pinball on Wednesday, January 27, 2021 18:37:17
    From Newsgroup: rec.games.pinball

    On Wednesday, January 27, 2021 at 4:09:49 PM UTC-6, gabrie...@gmail.com wrote:
    I had a similar problem with the shooter lane upkick on my TAF recently, and I did a couple things:
    - I found a couple of leaf switches were stuck closed, I adjusted them and the upkick worked better, but still not perfect. (Seems weird and could have been completely unrelated.)
    - Even though it seemed to be freely moving, I took it out and cleaned it anyway. I didn't think this was the issue because, like you, it would seem to work fine during tests. However after a thorough cleaning and degreasing, it started working perfectly, so can't argue with results.

    Hope that helps some.

    Gabriel
    I did not clean, but I will try it.
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  • From Joseph 'Tony' Dziedzic@tony@dziedzic.us to rec.games.pinball on Wednesday, January 27, 2021 23:56:40
    From Newsgroup: rec.games.pinball

    On Wednesday, January 27, 2021 at 9:37:25 PM UTC-5, Grojohn wrote:
    On Wednesday, January 27, 2021 at 4:09:49 PM UTC-6, gabrie...@gmail.com wrote:
    I had a similar problem with the shooter lane upkick on my TAF recently, and I did a couple things:
    - I found a couple of leaf switches were stuck closed, I adjusted them and the upkick worked better, but still not perfect. (Seems weird and could have been completely unrelated.)
    - Even though it seemed to be freely moving, I took it out and cleaned it anyway. I didn't think this was the issue because, like you, it would seem to work fine during tests. However after a thorough cleaning and degreasing, it started working perfectly, so can't argue with results.

    Hope that helps some.

    Gabriel
    I did not clean, but I will try it.
    Long shot, but are you running the latest game software (L5)? Sometimes they tweak the "on" time of certain solenoids. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a change log provided with the latest ROM I found, so it's hard to know if this might be the issue.
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  • From John Robertson@spam@flippers.com to rec.games.pinball on Thursday, January 28, 2021 09:51:50
    From Newsgroup: rec.games.pinball

    On 2021/01/27 6:37 p.m., Grojohn wrote:
    On Wednesday, January 27, 2021 at 4:09:49 PM UTC-6, gabrie...@gmail.com wrote:
    I had a similar problem with the shooter lane upkick on my TAF recently, and I did a couple things:
    - I found a couple of leaf switches were stuck closed, I adjusted them and the upkick worked better, but still not perfect. (Seems weird and could have been completely unrelated.)
    - Even though it seemed to be freely moving, I took it out and cleaned it anyway. I didn't think this was the issue because, like you, it would seem to work fine during tests. However after a thorough cleaning and degreasing, it started working perfectly, so can't argue with results.

    Hope that helps some.

    Gabriel
    I did not clean, but I will try it.


    Don't just spray something (WD-40? Gah!!!!). Take the coil off and clean
    the plunger and sleeve with mild solvent - Varsol, etc.

    Chances are someone lubed it in the past and this has started to gum up.

    The metal pivot needs a drop or two of 20W non-detergent motor oil -
    3-in-one Blue motor oil (not the red can!), Zoom Spout Turbine oil (very
    handy applicator tube!) or sewing machine oil are best.

    John :-#)#

    --
    (Please post followups or tech inquiries to the USENET newsgroup)
    John's Jukes Ltd.
    MOVED to #7 - 3979 Marine Way, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5J 5E3
    (604)872-5757 (Pinballs, Jukes, Video Games)
    www.flippers.com
    "Old pinballers never die, they just flip out."
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  • From LexingtonVAPin@lhammer610@yahoo.com to rec.games.pinball on Tuesday, February 02, 2021 11:25:48
    From Newsgroup: rec.games.pinball

    On 1/28/21 12:51 PM, John Robertson wrote:
    On 2021/01/27 6:37 p.m., Grojohn wrote:
    On Wednesday, January 27, 2021 at 4:09:49 PM UTC-6,
    gabrie...@gmail.com wrote:
    I had a similar problem with the shooter lane upkick on my TAF
    recently, and I did a couple things:
    - I found a couple of leaf switches were stuck closed, I adjusted
    them and the upkick worked better, but still not perfect. (Seems
    weird and could have been completely unrelated.)
    - Even though it seemed to be freely moving, I took it out and
    cleaned it anyway. I didn't think this was the issue because, like
    you, it would seem to work fine during tests. However after a
    thorough cleaning and degreasing, it started working perfectly, so
    can't argue with results.

    Hope that helps some.

    Gabriel
    I did not clean,  but I will try it.


    Don't just spray something (WD-40? Gah!!!!). Take the coil off and clean
    the plunger and sleeve with mild solvent - Varsol, etc.

    Chances are someone lubed it in the past and this has started to gum up.

    The metal pivot needs a drop or two of 20W non-detergent motor oil - 3-in-one Blue motor oil (not the red can!), Zoom Spout Turbine oil (very handy applicator tube!) or sewing machine oil are best.

    John :-#)#


    I have run into this, too, on occasion. But usually, I find the kickout
    to be too strong, after I disassemble and clean the mech including the
    coil sleeve.

    We had a Funhouse in the museum where the ball would not kick out, but
    did during the solenoid test. It turned out that the plunger was the
    wrong length - which I found from the manual. The replacement sent by
    Marco was also wrong (too long, I think). We put in a shorter one from another pin (Stern Mustang, I think) and it has been fine ever since.

    --
    http://orcalcoast.com/
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