The Ball Lock diverter? Is it open even without starting a game?

snaroff

The diverter on the top left side. Yes open when starting a game.

Amen There! But it can be forgivable if it occurs only once and there is learning involved( making so it wont happen again) The board failures are also a forgivable issue if the problem is located and rectified in a timely fashion. Whether these boards will be available for sale in ten years is an entirely different matter! Which might make us hug our original W/B games!

On the Diverter issue, from the manual:

1. Confirm it is actually "stuck" open. Can you manually open/close the diverter?

2. The err is cleared when the machine counts (4) consecutive shots to the correct side of the diverter

With the glass off, try manually rolling the ball over & under the switches/optos in the diverter ramp chain, at least (4) times:

(62) - C Ramp Enter
(65) - R Ramp Exit
(17) - R Return - probably not a factor
(36) - L Popper Opto
(78) - C Trough

If the err does not clear, test the individual switches noted above to see if any report an error.

On my machine, I had a "Diverter Stuck Closed" message. The tests noted above DID NOT clear the error for me.

My solution:

1. I reflowed the solder joints on the diverter coil - they looked a little funky

2. I removed connector J120, checked each pin was seated properly, then re-seated the connector itself.

Result - Error cleared and did not return.

I had a "Check Switch 36 Left Popper" back on 12/13 that was fixed doing a "Factory Reset" (under "Utilities").

If someone isn't skilled at reflowing solder joints or doesn't have the tools handy, might be worth trying a "Factory Reset" first.

snaroff

Thank you very much. Yes I can manually open and close it.
I'll try the 4 shots and see if that clears the error. I couldn't see anything wrong so hopefully this works. Kind of like error messages happen on certain games when you don't hit a switch in many plays.

Don't mind me...just a bit jaded.

If the diverter is working, a switch past it isn't. So the game thinks the diverter is stuck open.

Check switch, also check if it goes up and down in slot in the playfield smoothly, not dragging on one side.

LTG : )

Don’t be jaded. It’s just pinball.

My launch issue is almost 100% solved. I would say super skill shot goes around 99 out of 100 times. I bent ramp and centered plunger and tightened right screw all the way down and left the left screw a little high on the ramp which gives it more of a left to right tilt. If you are trying to fix, see my post from yesterday on this thread with pictures. Hoby1 also added double sided tape which I did not do. Also pushing on left popper under playfield solved the left popper issue of taking multiple times for ball to come out. Someone posted video of that yesterday.

Yep, 4 shots (glass off) cleared the error message. Thks for that.
I do see that fix in the manual now.

Does anyone else have what appears to be a switch installed backwards on the right loop? Looks like it will interfere with the right slide if you try to install the correct direction. Noticed it by hearing the odd knock when shooting right loop.

20180108_161755 (resized).jpg

20180108_161202 (resized).jpg

That’s how mine looks.

If It Aint Broke Don’t Fix It!

CGC sent a replacement chip for my topper. Even came with the tool to pull it out. I thought it’d take 30 secs but that sucker is in there tight. The chip so flush with the socket it’s hard to know what is chip and which is the socket which I’m afraid to pull too hard on. Why isn’t anything easy?

Work it one side at a time. Just rock it to get a small crack between the socket and the chip. Once you’re there, you should be able to pull it up and out.

Let us know if it gets you going!

Ok the reason: my right loop switch has been getting slightly more bent every few hundred games. The ball now gets diverted to the left (slightly) causing it to " jiggle" and then knock off the bumper jet guard rather than follow the smooth (right rail)trajectory up to the bumper jets or the loop. This is causing increasing failed shots on the right loop. This right loop shot is failing more than my super skill shot now...

Got it out....that was the easy part. Now trying to get the 40 pin connector lined up. Ugh. Think I slightly bent first leg top and bottomon. &@#$. I suck at this. I’m done for the night.

I’m pretty good at this and I bent a pin replacing a PIC. It happens. It’s soft metal, bend it back and be done. No worries!

Tried again, bent it worse. I’m so pissed. If they sent me version 2 chip barely 10 days after build date prob was a known problem already and should of been in there. I’ll have a friend try when ever he get the chance to come over. h
Hopefully I didn’t f$# it up beyond repair.

OK maybe it is broke lets fix it!

I very much doubt you did. Here is how I install EPROMS:

- I get one row of pins barely into the sockets; I mean just barely enough to ensure that all 20 pins are going to line up into one of the socket rows.

- The other row of pins is never lined up when you do this, they’re always beyond the socket holes. I gently with my finger give them inward pressure to get them back into the sockets. Once they are all gently lined up, I start to push on the chip gently from side to side to get them all into the socket. It takes a minute, but once you do all is good.

I would suggest bending the switch down a touch so it doesn’t protrude as much. As long as the rolling ball actuated the switch, all is good. Just a gentile bend is all you need.

Thanks. I’m going to try again tomorrow. I may take the whole board out and lay flat so I can see better. Should of did that in the first place.

Yes that was what i was thinking. Just wanted to be sure that everyone else has the switch installed backwards as well before i start bending. I suspect once i am able to dial down my flippers it will be less of an issue...problem only seems to occur when i have a shot travelling at warp speed.

Thanks

AMFr LE #650 here. I have/had the shooter lane / super skill issue that seems to be going around, though I found that it seemed to get better the more I played. Now that I know it's a "thing", I'll open a ticket to let CGC know.

More severe is the problem with balls flying off the right wireform. Happens regularly, like at least once a game.

But two issues I haven't seen mentioned - wondering if others have noticed them:

1) the topper motor is LOUD. Sounds like someone running a Mixmaster or something. Doesn't sound broken, necessarily, but it's definitely the loudest thing in the game, and it detracts from the effect when you can barely hear the Martian yelling over it.

2) I get a fair number of balls doing weird stuff at the loop gates: Bouncing back all the way through the loop that was just shot, somehow wiggling through when the gate is supposed to be closed, etc. Gates seem to work fine, in terms of going up and down. Probably the flipper strength is part of the issue.

Gotta say, though - overall, what a spectacular game. I was worried about overpaying for someone to hang a bunch of garish rainbow LED's on a tired old game... But that's not what came out of the box at all. For the amount of bling it's got, it's really well integrated. All the bells & whistles just make a great game better. I'm like the most tasteful (and happiest) lowrider owner on my block. Totally worth it.

The topper is loud; you can turn his intensity down in the CGC menu of settings, but, yeah, he's loud

Open a ticket with CGC on that motor noise. The air balls should be rectified once you are allowed to dial down your flipper power some (waiting on software upgrade)

Shouldn't be so loud that it drowns out the alien speech, sounds like a problem there.

Doesn't that depend on how loud your audio volume is

I have mine at 8 and if there are no other games playing, you absolutely hear the mechanical noise.

I have him on strong and I just here the motion noise not the motor.

Is it a simple firmware update or do they have to send out replacement PICs? Here's the original message CGC sent out: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/cgc-pinball-production-update/page/27#post-4148616

I was under the impression it was PICs.

I am glad you brought this up. I have never played with the topper strength til now. I have discovered that my topper strength will NOT adjust at all. It appears that it is strong all the time on off light or strong. I even rebooted the game after changing the adjustment. Have any of you guys changed your topper settings? How did that work out for ya?

Ok, tried again and took the board out and laid it on the table and did it! Much easier for me and now my topper is working like it should.

That's correct.

Woot!

OK I got it to adjust. I had to reboot the machine again

Anybody have problems with that bar and latch inside the coin door? Mine has been very shaky since day one but I was more worried about getting my topper working. Put some electrical tape on the back of the glass to get rid of the rattle (it worked) but now I can’t get that latch to work. All the jiggling and rocking in the world and that latch won’t catch. None of my pins have done this before. Not quite sure what to adjust.

There are 2 screws (facing up and the only two screws on the latch bar) on top of the latch once you have the lock bar removed. To tighten the lock bar, you need to screw the screws down and this will tighten the lock bar on your machine. To loosen the lock bar you need to screw the screws up. Take all the electrical tape off before you start so you get the lock bar adjusted correctly. Make sure that the glass is all the way up before you start making adjustments. Sometimes the glass slides down and you cannot get the lock bar on properly. Our machine came like that and I though that was normal and you had to adjust the lock bar yourself.

There is plenty more help on this site so you may get some more opinions that suit you better!

Good luck!

Yeah I discovered that yesterday and yes I turned mine down to light as well!

Thanks very much for starting and constantly updating this thread.

I've been having this as well, it seems hit or miss as to whether my lock bar will fully lock in place with the bar on. I can see that a little of my green paint as chipped off on the lockdown bar hooks as well.

Here is an excerpt from the AFM manual page 1-49:

Check Left Gate - Stuck Closed.
The game has detected that the Left Gate is stuck closed. Check the Left Gate coil in Coil Test, and check the spring attached to the Left Gate behind the back panel. Verify that the Left Gate is not sticking or making contact with anything when moved manually. Then use T.16 (Loop/Gate Test) to verify proper operation of the Left Gate. When the Loop/Gate Test detects one (1) successful attempt at rolling a ball around the right loop, the test will clear this error.

snaroff