I have my LE unit out and can verify/shoot a pic tonight if no one else has you covered.

If you put a rod through there it would hit all the drop targets.

Here's a pic of mine.....nothing in that hole

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Be careful of an issue mine had after all new targets were put in. My targets will get off track and reset too high from time to time and also leave up too many targets during multiplayer games when trying to reset the bank to another player's current situation. Still don't know how to fix that.

It's a big bank, any reinforcement would certainly help.

What do you mean by this?

So the back of each drop target has like a curved tab that comes off the back that fits into the slot in the back of the housing. Sometimes the process of the targets resetting knocks that curved tab out of the back of the target bank housing. I just open the coin door and pop it back into the track. Takes two secs and I only have have to do it like once every ten games. But it is annoying.

Wow that's hard to picture what the problem is. I've never had that happen before.

Sounds like the reset bar is travelling to high, allowing that curved plate to jump out the top of the slot. Are the solenoid brackets tight on the coils and pressed toward the plunger? You have to press firmly to compress the spring washer.

Never tried this fix before. I will take a look next time I have a chance.

I know that someone had the same issue in another game, and his issue was fixed by not having the housing itself screwed into the bottom of the playfield as tight. That didn't work for me.

Where did you get your rod? Haha that sounds weird.

bitchin'. thanks so much! cant wait to put this issue to bed.

Sorry this will hold the rod in place I assume? Why not just cut the rod a tad long on either side and throw some plunger rod rubber tips on each end haha. Not sure if a shooter rod is a 1/4" though.

or better yet, little zip ties on either side of the housing walls. I would think that should hold her in there. I have to think of more MacGyver esque solutions as I don't have as many tools at my disposal. haha.

OR cut it even longer and drill small holes in it and use cotter pins.

Is the rod hollow? Could you tap it and use machine screws and washers?

Cotter pins it is

Actually mini-post rings would probably hold it for years...and it might have nyliner bushings on the ends...

HoKay Den,

thanks for the correction. I was rebuilding the multiplier unit last night and remembered seeing a nyliner in there...I think...

I never needed that rod on any of my EBD machines.

It definitely didn't come with one from the factory.

I would check the one that keeps popping out for damage and make sure the back plate isn't screwed-up or assembled incorrectly. When everything is assembled correctly the targets should not be able to come out of the slots.

Well I'm already at HD getting this rod made. How long should I make it and leave me enough to leave about an inch on either side?

Also, it is completely random which target gets off track when it happens and sometimes 2 or 3 targets will do it.

They never had a rod in that hole. The only variation in the drop target assemblies over the three production runs was the addition of a bolt-on plate with fingers to prevent the ball from getting stuck between the targets when they are in the down position and the addition of an extra connector to the switch matrix.

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If you have a 1981 version, they do not have the plate but by the third edition they all have it. It was a factory improvement based on complaints in the field. I really shouldn't tell you this but whenever I see one I snag it because it can be added to the earlier assemblies. It's a real nice enhancement and I even considered manufacturing them myself a while back but didn't think there would be that big of a demand since the ball only get's hung-up between the targets on rare occasions when the ball speed is just right. You'll find these on EBD models that have the extra switch connector. Seems like the two revisions coincided on the production line.

The addition of the connector to the switch array makes removing the drop target assembly a lot easier. With the earlier models, the switches are hard-wired to the main harness but the later models everything simply unplugs using a Molex connector. Some of the Limited Edition pins with serial numbers near the end of the run have these revisions and all of the Classic edition pins have these minor (but nice) improvements.

Other than that though, the drop target assemblies are identical for all three versions.

That 1/4" rod I made didn't fit in my housing (that's what she said). I will go back to HD and make another later. In the mean time, I will try the other fixed mentioned here. Also very interesting facts about the variances of the target assembly in the difference versions of the game.

"I would check to make sure you back plate is mounted on the outside of the bends on the upper plate...and on the INSIDE of the bend on the lower plate."

Checked this last night and it seems to be assembled correctly.

My unit off an original run (I think) doesn't have a round shaft, but it does have a flat black rail adjacent to those holes.

My 1980 is the same as dothedoo's pic. i.e. no rod.

Note that without the 'rod mod', the flat black rail is flipped such that the screw tabs point to the rear of the targets.

I looked at my LE unit and it has the rod installed.

interesting. I still need to try your fix chunn, but this rod seems to be the permanent fix. I will need to get something a tad smaller than 1/4" though.

Well after looking at pics of an unmolested Classic Edition, it does have the smaller diameter rod shown in the original post. But not the larger one. The original EBD does not have either. Other differences are the piece of metal used to attach the springs is flipped around to the opposite side (as backbox mentioned) and it has the additional bracket at the bottom to better adjust the drop target height. It looks like this is yet another factory mod that was used on at least the later Limited Edition pins and all of the Classic Edition.

Thanks for bringing this up. I will be adding this to my notes.

Alrighty then. I decided to refresh my own memory and pulled both styles of drop target assemblies from inventory. In the pic below are the two styles side by side. The one on the left is the original 1981 design and on the right is the later 1983 revised design. This is how they look when removed from the playfield.

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As you can see in this next pic, the older design on the left has a smaller Molex connector than the one on the right. That is because as mentioned earlier the later design simply unplugs from the main wiring harness while switches and main coils were hard wired on the older style. Only the smaller individual coils utilized a Molex connector. This made the older style more of a PITA to remove because you have to unscrew all of the switches while the later style can be removed as a complete assembly (as shown in the picture).

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The next picture shows the fingers I described that bolt to the front of the drop targets that prevent the ball from getting hung-up between the drop targets when they are down. This was an improvement made to the 2nd design. The original 1981 EBD does not have these.

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From the bottom you can see another improvement that was made in 1983 with the addition of a bracket that allows the drop target height in the down position to be adjusted to make them more flush with the playfield. This again was added to prevent hang-ups and to compensate for variations in the targets and the stamped housings. Nice feature.

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Last but not least is the original question of this thread. Was there ever a rod in the hole with the arrow in this picture from the original post?

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The answer is YES there was a rod in that hole! It is the small diameter rod in the hole next to it. You have the rod in the wrong hole. The hole you have it in in your pic is a threaded hole meant for the spring bracket on the earlier style that is not used with the later revision. The rod is supposed to float around loosely in the larger hole (see pic below).

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That's why the hole has the marks in the plating like it does. All you need to do is to remove the rod you already have and move it to the larger hole to return it to the factory setup. As you can see by the pink arrows, the spring bracket was flipped around from the original style. This places the springs outward a little more giving them more tension on the retaining shelf in the up position.

So just take your rod and remove it from the hole it is currently in and move it to the correct hole (yellow arrow) and you should be good to go. Although I rarely have any problems with the original design these minor tweaks were made to the 2nd design as the result of complaints in the field. I estimate only around 2,000 pins made probably have the 2nd design. Part of the Limited Edition run and all of the Classic Edition final run. The other 10,000 or so have the original setup. That's why if you see one of the later versions of these for sale on eBay or somewhere it is worth snatching up these more rare assemblies because you can convert your original style to the later design.

As mentioned by others too, you can flip the spring bracket around on an older style and add a rod on your own too if you like. I don't because I never really had to but it is something that can be done if you feel you need it. But if you have target popping out of the assembly I would first determine if you have it assembled correctly.

Well, like others have mentioned it was probably to restrict the movement of the targets and to prevent them from possibly resetting too high. I've never had the problem with the older style though.

Alright guys. I think from the pictures and comments above I see my issue. Doesn't my housing look like there areimage.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpg way bigger gaps for the arms that push up the targets than the pictures above?

I think this might be allowing the arms to get out of whack after repeated drops and resets because they have too much room to move around.

Is that plate on backward? Something looks wonky there...