yes, this was the method I was going to use, but I used a screw that was just slightly longer. SO FAR, I have not drilled through the playfield, thankfully.

backbox and cabinet is done. book case is back and finally hooked up, as is thing. sans both motors. once those go on, things outer housing will go on next and the top should be done minus the extra top lights and switches.

the flippers need hooking up again, and tomorrow I Will tackle the Swamp and the outhole switches and the bottom should be considered done.
all switches redone are confirmed working and wired properly. no shorts. no open or closed where they are not supposed to be (minus three jet switches, which I think are just improperly places near the plunger).

hoping to get the bottom finally in order by next week. getting closer.

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It wasn't super much longer, not even half an inch...but, point taken. I had, I Think 3/4 and 3/8th screws around and used the slightly bigger one. also made sure to judge it against the playfield to make sure it didn't poke through.. but, last time for that.

looking up other wire colors for the flippers, I don't see anyone with the colors I have.

most people seem to have a black wire in the middle.
https://imgproxy.pinside.com/9EFHMbyCa882_rRLUA17Yxf9SX14Sn5khWmvWt415M8/rs:fit:2048:2048/q:85/fn:Pinside_forum_7901392_3674668/aHR0cHM6Ly9vLnBpbnNpZGUuY29tL2UvNDIvNDQvZTQyNDRjZWE1NTkzNzI2MzNhMzY5NGY4ZTg2OTRhMGRiNjIzYjBkNS5qcGc

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I bought one or two toothpick boxes a few days ago and most seemed too small for the hole. and the smallest dowel lowes had was too big:/... went looking for the sticks I used last time when I had a hole to fill, and couldn't find the damn things :/. I never throw anything out and had a whole bag of 'em still left.....wherever I got those from where the perfect size. still have the wood glue, just couldn't find the darn sticks.

to my mind, I would have thought it wouldn't be stable. too many cracks in between the tiny toothpicks and such. but, now that I know that's not the case, saved away for future knowledge.

the book case is forever done. have not tested it yet..but at least it's finally hooked up.

preparing the last of the switches for final hook up. also got rid of the last of the shrink tubes not liked by the group, so that's gone .
switches should be done today. that just leaves the THING Motor, the THING metal housing.....and wiring the top switches and lights. and bottom should be done, minus flippers..

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wow, that is going to take some getting used to. turned it on to test the outhole switch, and the book case works as soon as the game turns on. so, that one is out of the way. noisy thing.

had to move about 3 lights to make sure they didn't hit the book case.. must have missed that one.

OK, switches are more or less done.

Figured out what was wrong with the jet bumpers. wired those center right wrong. had the green on the top lug and the diode in the middle.
Taking that off now and fixing that.

other than that issue, ALL switches work perfectly now... minus the swamp and the Thing Eject lane for some reason. when not connected to the switch, the wires register perfectly when touched together. when connected to the switch, nothing.

not sure if that was because of the wrong jet bumper wiring. but I guess I'll find out with that soon enough.

maybe spoke too soon on the jet bumpers. upper left says it's closed all the time. only changes when I press it. swamps do not want to work when connected and eject lane do not want to work when connected. everything else is fine and operational.

Think i'm done for the day. no idea it was 4 pm already.
where doing so good, and now seems issues are popping up after things test ok :/.

Jet Bumpers, working, but upper left seems closed.
Grave G- R- A- works.
Thing Eject Hole works
Right Slingshot works
Ball Shooter Lane and (51/27) above works.
Cousin It works.
Chair works, but causes short in Grave G, did not do that before.
Center Trough switches and outhole work.

Not working. 76/78/75
Thing Eject Lane.
all 4 swamp connections.

Again, tested every switch individually before hooking up. something happened after I got done with the sling shots, which where working perfectly.

is it possible it's another U20 issue? we didn't move the game when it was on, only off. game was always off when soldering. tested each switch after soldering and still worked fine up until about the sling shots.

last thing for the day. disconnected the sling shots.

now the eject lane works, but it sets off one of the jets.
one of the swamps works (sw 74) but only one, and it sets off one of the jets.
the troughs are now not working :/....

so, not sure what's wrong this time around.

I don't see how. I wound up testing it before it got put back on.
And now the Thing Eject Lane triggers the right flipper solenoid :/.

something, somewhere is phooey. although just not sure what.

78 is also reading as 'upper left loop'

the only thing that went wrong during the setup that happened today was I noticed two trough switch diodes where backward. and I had the machine on while testing them, wondering why it wasn't working. that wouldn't fry a chip somewhere, would it?

I went slowly. doing one switch at a time, and in sections. I test them before soldering and after soldering and before installing and after installing. everything worked perfectly with no shorts, malfunctions, or anything like that...until I got to the swamp and the outholes today.

there where no errors/shorts listed on the matrix board during T3 either except for the three jets. center left/right and lower. but, since those where wired exactly the same as the two with the ones on the top...I assumed that was because of how I placed it next to the plunger (maybe causing the two switch leafs to contact and close).

I wired the slingshots, worked perfectly. and stopped for the day. after that, something, somewhere went wrong.
I was so confident that everything was going to finish properly, that thought today would be it.

trust me when I say there is no guessing at this point. and when I Was not sure, I have a half dozen Hep Photos I can double check for reference, like with the sling shots.

and even though I KNOW I did my due diligence in double and tripple checking, I went back and disconnected every switch, except for 5. G-R-A, Train Wreck, and the Upper Right Jet. I also know that everyone was put on right, with the white wire facing away from the diode line and the green in the middle (except for the trough switches, which where fixed)...

Now, all the errors are gone...except a new one popping up. Thing Opto claiming is closed.
I thought Thing Opto was not used?

this is what the ones still connected look like. the A switch is not touching even though it looks like it was.. and just in case, I just trimmed away the excess blob. I also did a new sweep of wire trimmings and solder blobs...

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So, this is where we are. 10 switches hooked up and working. G-R-A- Train Wreck, Out Hole, Center, Top trough and lower trough. Chair, Cousin it.

Switches not hooked up, but working. Vault. Right Flipper Lane, Right Outlane. Swamp Millions. Ball Shooter Lane. Right Ramp, Upper Right Look, Thing Eject Lane.

switches Not working and not hooked up.
Thing Eject Lane. Left Outlane Left Flipper Lane 2/1, Right/Left Slingshot. Shooter Lane. All Jets.

The shorts from before are all gone now. activating one, only activates one. Opto error vanishes when unplugging the thing board cable.

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the aforementioned touching/jumping test. this is how I identified what was what when my color blind free guy was not around.

as is hooked up now, this is what is working in blue. I will disconnect everything except cousin it (pain in the ass to get too)..and start fresh once more.

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OK. right now, everything is disconnected minus G-R, the Chair Kickout, and Cousin it.

One other thing I noticed. hitting Chair Kickout does not cause the chair kickout to happen.
despite the solenoid working perfectly in the test menu. also, now lower jet reads as ticket opto for some reason :/
why am I thinking it might be a board/chip problem somewhere?

If I can just get these switches finished.... it's only a matter of hooking up the thing motor, and putting on his case. then, finishing the top side. 95% done once switches get sorted. and was so close to THAT before this gremlin popped up....sigh.

the only switches hooked up now are G/R/CousinIt/OutHole/Center Upper Trough/and Chair. all those register properly in T.1 when button is pushed and do not cause any more shorts..The diodes are re straightened on these, not bent anymore. and wire is going to proper lug with diode facing proper way.

the rest of the wires are currently hooked up like this, NOT touching themselves, OR anything metal. So, for example, when I cross the lower jet wires for a second in the T1 test to see if they work, it shows up as ticket opto now. and, as I recall, that one isn't even used.

I don't want to hook the other wires working back up, just in case they stop working again later :/. it would be nice to get everything back to the way it was before I Started, with all wires working with the jumper test and then go back to hooking it up switch by switch.

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Diagrams and all the information gets confusing to me. If it's easily laid out, I could understand it easier. following photos may not be accurate, but it's easier to figure out and piece together.

As for the question above:
Yes, it's just the ticket opto that lights up and nothing else. So far, every one I've 'jump tested' shows just the two wires crossed, and nothing else showing up. some just don't work when jumped, or have the wrong label. for instance, lower jet reads as ticket opto, and lower left loop reads as upper right loop.

As for the chair kickout:
the Switch works in T1. but does not activate the solenoid when it does. The Solenoids ALL still work when in T4 mode.

I was toying around with modding my switch .....but apart from the mod kids not being available, doubted I could do the small scale soldering properly.

As far as stern goes...most companies these days do not hire qualified professionals.. .for reasons I won't get into here, but you can take guesses....my guess is, if they are newer employees/recent college 'graduates', they are not suited for the job most likely..

everything was going flawlessly.. no errors, bugs, or shorts......got to the sling shots, and then...not. ugh. new it wouldn't go that smoothly.