• Re: Tech: Williams Indiana Jones balls in play issue

    From bjorn.wesen@bjorn.wesen@gmail.com to rec.games.pinball on Tuesday, May 12, 2020 14:43:07
    From Newsgroup: rec.games.pinball

    Den söndag 27 november 2011 kl. 02:06:25 UTC+1 skrev Rodney M:
    Just wanted to give an update on this as I've finally figured out what the problem is. The big issue was that the idol release plastic would very randomly get stuck in the down position as it was catching on the plastic piece above it. When it was stuck down and the idol would have more than 1 ball in it and it would turn, one of the locked balls would fall out when it was not supposed to. Just the slightest vibration (like activate the flippers, etc) would usually cause it to become unstuck and go back in the up position. That extra ball on the play field would confuse the game and cause the problems I was experiencing.

    I fixed the idol release so it could no longer get stuck and it's working great.
    Hi, I have the exact same problem on my IJ, the idol release plastic gets stuck in the down-position. It does that super-often though, like 50% of the times. However as far as I can tell it's not the plastic part that gets stuck underneath the plastic trough, it's the actual solenoid core piston that somehow gets stuck inside the solenoid bore. It only happens when the solenoid itself pulls the piston down - it doesn't happen if I manually push it down into the soleniod. Really weird.
    Gonna disassemble the piston and solenoid to see if there is something wrong with either part.
    Just thought I'd write it here in case someone else has the same problem :) --- Synchronet 3.17c-Win32 NewsLink 1.112
  • From Dave@david.rambaldi@gmail.com to rec.games.pinball on Sunday, December 27, 2020 12:48:13
    From Newsgroup: rec.games.pinball

    On Wednesday, May 13, 2020 at 7:43:13 AM UTC+10, bjorn...@gmail.com wrote:
    Den söndag 27 november 2011 kl. 02:06:25 UTC+1 skrev Rodney M:
    Just wanted to give an update on this as I've finally figured out what the problem is. The big issue was that the idol release plastic would very randomly get stuck in the down position as it was catching on the plastic piece above it. When it was stuck down and the idol would have more than 1 ball in it and it would turn, one of the locked balls would fall out when it was not supposed to. Just the slightest vibration (like activate the flippers, etc) would usually cause it to become unstuck and go back in the up position. That extra ball on the play field would confuse the game and cause the problems I was experiencing.

    I fixed the idol release so it could no longer get stuck and it's working great.
    Hi, I have the exact same problem on my IJ, the idol release plastic gets stuck in the down-position. It does that super-often though, like 50% of the times. However as far as I can tell it's not the plastic part that gets stuck underneath the plastic trough, it's the actual solenoid core piston that somehow gets stuck inside the solenoid bore. It only happens when the solenoid itself pulls the piston down - it doesn't happen if I manually push it down into the soleniod. Really weird.

    Gonna disassemble the piston and solenoid to see if there is something wrong with either part.

    Just thought I'd write it here in case someone else has the same problem :)
    Coming in late on this thread. Just curious if you ended up fixing this problem? I have a very intermittent problem similar to this so just curious how you went. My problem is so intermittent that it isn't really an issue at the moment as it only gets stuck in the down position very, very rarely. And weirdly, mainly when testing the idol rather than during game play. Maybe its the vibration during game play that is enough to keep it working?? I suspect like yours it's not the plastic part that gets stuck underneath the plastic trough, it's the actual solenoid core piston that somehow gets stuck inside the solenoid bore so just wondering how you went and what your fix ended up being? Apart from this idol works beatifically, and even more so since replacing both the motor and gear assembly with a brand new one a few months ago. Was good to also pull the entire idol mechanism out of the game so I could give it a good clean - including giving the optos a good clean - before reassembly.
    Cheers, David.
    --- Synchronet 3.18a-Linux NewsLink 1.113
  • From Bjorn Wesen@bjorn.wesen@gmail.com to rec.games.pinball on Sunday, December 27, 2020 16:46:32
    From Newsgroup: rec.games.pinball

    söndag 27 december 2020 kl. 21:48:19 UTC+1 skrev Dave:
    On Wednesday, May 13, 2020 at 7:43:13 AM UTC+10, bjorn...@gmail.com wrote:
    Hi, I have the exact same problem on my IJ, the idol release plastic gets stuck in the down-position. It does that super-often though, like 50% of the times. However as far as I can tell it's not the plastic part that gets stuck underneath the plastic trough, it's the actual solenoid core piston that somehow gets stuck inside the solenoid bore. It only happens when the solenoid itself pulls the piston down - it doesn't happen if I manually push it down into the soleniod. Really weird.

    Gonna disassemble the piston and solenoid to see if there is something wrong with either part.

    Just thought I'd write it here in case someone else has the same problem :)
    Coming in late on this thread. Just curious if you ended up fixing this problem? I have a very intermittent problem similar to this so just curious how you went. My problem is so intermittent that it isn't really an issue at the moment as it only gets stuck in the down position very, very rarely. And weirdly, mainly when testing the idol rather than during game play. Maybe its the vibration during game play that is enough to keep it working?? I suspect like yours it's not the plastic part that gets stuck underneath the plastic trough, it's the actual solenoid core piston that somehow gets stuck inside the solenoid bore so just wondering how you went and what your fix ended up being? Apart from this idol works beatifically, and even more so since replacing both the motor and gear assembly with a brand new one a few months ago. Was good to also pull the entire idol mechanism out of the game so I could give it a good clean - including giving the optos a good clean - before reassembly.
    It was the metal piston that had gotten worn at one point where it normally rests through the bracket hole, so it could actually get stuck on the hole edge. I think I greased it and also slightly increased the hole size, so it couldn't get stuck anymore. Of course replacing it could have been an option as well..
    I disassembled the bracket with the solenoid and piston and the attached plastic, so I could "feel" at which position it had the tendency to get stuck first before I could fix the problem.
    --- Synchronet 3.18a-Linux NewsLink 1.113