Currently we are trying to resolve a problem with a game, we brought in for a client, locking the flippers in either activated or inactivated position where they stick for a short time and then recover or stay frozen right up to until the game is powered off. This happens at random during game play and often enough to be really annoying - ever other game.

One time all the flippers died, then the ball rolled over the left drain lane and was returned (ball save) back to the shooter trough however the shooter trough solenoid would not activate either - flippers stayed dead.

Makes for difficult game play. Have swapped the IO board with a different one and the heavier ground wiring mod was done to that swapped in IO board. No difference. One time when the right flipper locked in the active position I tried unplugging the USB cable and the activated right flipper dropped immediately. Plugging the cable back in brought the flippers back to life after the card sorted out the handshaking.

Game is running Rev 1.2
Game has the 70V switching supply
Exchanged flipper IO board with another: both IO have the hefty ground wire add-on - same symptoms
Tried a new USB cable to the IO - same symptoms.
IO green LEDs stay lit/flickering during flipper lockup.
Kickers and pops still work when any or all flippers lock up.

No schematics or manual makes troubleshooting far more time consuming. Does anyone have a copy of the Heighway Alien bulletins seeing as the web site is now down? Anyone have wiring diagrams of the game?

I have some more thoughts to try - such as the next time it locks up try the button on the IO board, and monitor the 70V to make sure it is stable. Also do a switch test to see if the game is recognizing the switches correctly or not. Try another USB expander, try USB direct to CPU, and so on...

Suggestions appreciated.

Thanks!

John :-#)#
flippers.com

Running a direct USB cable to the computer, bypassing the USB hub has reduced the incidence of flipper lockup, but has not eliminated it. Still exploring...

Found the right side flipper cabinet button was binding rarely and this would lead to one of the symptoms of flipper stuck in the activated position. New button resolved that.

Now with that fix and the USB to the MPU flipper lockups are way, way down.

Hard to find messages on those threads - I haven't the time to be reading 400 posts where the topic(s) wander(s) all over the place - I have pinballs to fix!

John :-#)#

No, what I meant was the flipper cabinet button jammed (weird!) and kept the switch closed. Pressing it again would sometimes release it. Looks like a button design flaw, had to try a couple of that style to get one that didn't grab when pressed off-center.

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The game has the MPU that has 6 USB ports, looks similar to the photo.
I did some exploring of the IO boards with my microscope and found (so far) three solder whiskers one of which looks like it is shorting two pins or is so close that vibration can short. I will have to go over all the IO boards with my stereo microscope looking for more of these 1@#$!$#@ whiskers! These do not appear to be the tin whiskers that are plaguing lead-free technology, they look just like hairline solder bridges.

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FLIPPER FREEZE RESOLVED!

It appears that the solution, at least for this particular game, was to track down proper SHIELDED USB cables. Once those were installed all the flipper issues went away. It would appear that USB cables are not all the same, I had to go through four different suppliers to find the right quality of cable. In the end I went to Digi-key, but I am sure the shielded cables on Mouser or other high end electronics supplier would have worked - just be sure to specify SHIELDED and it won't hurt to have an RFI ferrite built in to the cable as well. You will need one cable that is 1.8M, 1 cable that is 1.5M and two cables that are 0.8M long. Secure the cables at several points with zip ties.

Needless to say this is silly to have as a problem.

The game would have been much better off to use twisted pair (ethernet) for data transmission like JJ games - it has a much higher noise rejection, and the connectors have a positive lock to them.

In the meantime secure your USB cables at the IO board end, do not leave them hanging as this will gradually cause issues to develop in the connection at the IO board and as the idea is to keep the game playing then a bit of preventative maintenance can go a long way!

I forgot to list the cables:

What I used (from Digi-Key - Canada) were:

WM5160-ND - Molex - USB A to Mini B 1.8M Black
WM14083-ND - Molex - USB A to Mini B 0.8M Black
WM14084-ND - Molex - USB A to Mini B 1.5M Black

I see no reason not to purchase similar cables from other suppliers such as Mouser or Element - just make SURE the cables are shielded and if they also have an RFI filter so much the better - the above did not.

John :-#)#

Hi Ken,

They use their own assemblies and coils. Although the linkage appears to be a clone of the DE/Stern plunger and link. for some reason I forgot to get a photo! Will get Alex to grab a bunch of under the playfield photos when he sets the game up today in our customers home.

I did do some tests on the whining noise from the left flippers - it is coming from the coils themselves! Simple to show, turn off the sound amp. It is a manifestation of the PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) used to drive all the coils in the game, but for some reason the left and right hand flippers use quite different frequencies - which leads to the noise. The game is off to our customer now so I can't do any more digging into this, but I did hook up my tiny 'scope to both flippers and got the following images - the first is the right side (no audible whine) and the second is the whiny left flipper. The third image (a repeat of the second) is an artifact of pinside image process, I can't delete it as the small toolbar does not show up in the post image building area. See screen shots at the end...

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Screen Shot 2018-11-17 at 10.29.45 AM (resized).png

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Hi Brian,

Thanks for the explanation, that makes sense!

John :-#)#