Problem solved! Thank you!

Quick question. I am considering a AFMRse, I saw an LE on location and it was a mess. I fully understand the concept of play field dimples, but this thing had a high amount of play and should have "evened out" long ago. it didn't, it was a severe orange peel type texture. It looked like garbage.

Anyone else experiencing this? Was this an issue that was later fixed?

I appreciate any input. Thanks.

I have an LE here in commercial use since the beginning and no issues like you saw.

LTG : )

This is normal.
Take another look at it after 25000 plays...

It was on location in a popular barcade. Could have 25,000 plays on it already.

So game has been working fine, but went to play this morning and balls will not eject into the shooter lane when a game is started. I checked and re-seated all of the connections. Still nothing.

Any ideas before I put in a ticket to CGC?

Thanks.

Dennis

Wire fall off the eject coil?

Doesn’t appear to have. I also reseated it. It’s weird everything seems to be working. Maybe one of the cons went bad?

Check for voltage at the coil.

Check for a wire or loose connector.

Follow the harness and gently go through it.

Sometimes a pin in a connector gets pushed out, so reseat and inspect as you go.

Check connectors on the driver board.

So I took another look at it. Everything looks like it's connected up going back to the main PCB. I did not check the voltage yet, but I ran the solenoid test and a few are actually not working. I did notice a green wire that was unplugged laying in the bottom of the cab. Anyone have any idea on where that wire might go? Hoping that is my issue.

Sounds like a ground wire. Could you post a picture please.

If all else fails. Check and see which fuse blew.

LTG : )

Back box. Driver board. Lower right corner. Fuses F102, F103, F104. Check if the LEDs next to them are on. Please do this with the power on and coin door closed or high power interlock switch pulled out.

LTG : )

Looks like one is out.

E8FA012C-D184-4D40-91DE-5002714D14A0 (resized).jpeg

Does the green wire go anywhere?

Definitely a ground wire. My game doesn't have it. You could always open a ticket on the website https://www.chicago-gaming.com/ under Support - Help Desk and see if they know.

And it doesn't have anything to do with your problem.

LTG : )

Guessing that fuse has something to do with it?

Also thanks for helping me out Lloyd and pinballreno.

F103 20mm 4 amp slow blow ( or time delay ). 250 Volt

LTG : )

Thanks again Lloyd.

None of your 50V High Power Solenoids are working. That is what that fuse covers.

LTG : )

My pleasure.

LTG : )

Does voltage matter? Want to order some fuses online and make sure I get the right ones.

Yes
Get fuses exactly the same as the game requires.

Yes. I edited my post. It's 250 volt.

LTG : )

Thanks again guys. Pulled the manual to confirm voltages and should have a few by tomorrow. Going to reach out to CGC about the wire. Need to get my serial number to put in a ticket.

Been looking at these reading threads. This is what I was talking
About, not even getting into clear coat issues

7C5A9334-07F3-4354-8005-5C9BA311F392 (resized).jpeg

So I heard back from CGC on the ground wire issue with my cab. I'll post the response and pictures they sent me in case anyone else has the issue.

There are two places where you may attach the loose green wire that you found in the bottom of the cabinet. I have attached photos of both of them. One is on the lower left of the Playfield PCB (with the playfield raised), just right of the blue Ethernet connector, the other is on the lower right of the Playfield PCB, just above connector J12.

Ground_Lug_lower_right (resized).jpg

thumbnail (resized).jpg

I would attach it to the place in the first picture.

I think mine is there.

Thanks I’ll give that a shot.

Got the fuse swapped out and the ground wire reconnected. Back in business. Thanks again guys.

I received my new SE almost 3 weeks ago and it hasn't worked since I got it. The DMD would be blank with a little blue pixel on the top right. I was able to get it to work a couple of times. I called CGC and they told me to try a few things with the plugs, but it still didn't work. I noticed a rattle inside the metal box on the backside of the dmd. When I took it apart, I noticed one of the boards wasn't screwed in and laying across the other board probably shorting out. CGC agreed it was probably the problem and now sending me a new dmd. I ask for them to rush deliver and they said they couldn't. It finally shipped out 5 days (weekend included) after they said they would ship it out. I'm pretty disappointed. My machine is on location and out of service for basically 3 weeks. I feel like I lost a good chunk change and excitement for a new machine. It also arrived super dusty and the trough plunger grommet was melted to the plunger. So it probably took some heat in the back of a shipping truck.

I've heard some good comments from other people who bought nib, just my bad luck.

Did you get it direct or through a distributor?

I don't want to put their name out there, but a distributor. I think they might have had the machine sitting around their shop for awhile.

I think where the previous poster was going, was that when things go wrong it's not a bad idea to involve your distributor. Your distributor might have ideas, solutions or maybe a little extra pull when things don't go well.

Maybe, but I've always gone straight to the manufacturer. I feel they are more knowledgeable diagnosing problems and issues and distributers are just guessing. I haven't tried tho.

No, I was just saying that you might have been able to get the replacement part faster or the repair made quicker if you had gone through the distributor you bought it from, especially if it was a good one. Direct isn't always the best/fastest way to get pinball issues handled. That, plus, the distributor needs to be made aware of problems with the machines he's buying to resell.

AFMr is starting to turn into a real PITA... In terms of the ball flying off the right ramp, I have my flippers down to -4, it doesn't fly off the ramp at -5. However, at -5, the game plays bad, the flippers are too weak. From the video I see nothing that would cause the ball to go airborne. Here is the video, maybe one of you guys will see something I don't:

Then, the left popper stopped popping balls onto the wireworm. It was firing, but nothing. I found the bend fix, I spent some time bending the VUK and got it to work for a game or two then back to not firing. Long story short, after some messing around in the area, the optos on the VUK lost functionality. I did make sure they were connected to the board and re-seated the connection. I'm going to measure for 12V on the transceiver and look through a camera, and try and find a incadescent flashlight for the receiver, I just hope it's not a board issue. Optos this new shouldn't go bad.

Anyone have trouble with those optos? Anything I need to know before I get started down that path?

It appears the problem is the board. I unplugged the opto connector from he right popper, plugged the optos in from the left popper and it registered fine. Also, there appears to be no power at the transceiver.

The problem is with the wireform just above the green "AN" martian. It's almost exactly where the black wire is coming out of the plastic (on the opposite side). It's hard to tell from the angle (since it's being shot with the top wireform blocking it), but it appears the second wireform down on the left side is malformed or mis-welded and is launching the ball to the wall on the opposite side, where it goes high and never recovers. I have a super-slo-mo (5% the speed you recorded slow) where you can clearly see where it goes wrong. If you PM me your email, I'll send it to you.

Thanks!

I got the popper figured out too. What fixed it was swapping in new optos. I can't tell you why it worked, I proved it shouldn't work, but I was just annoyed enough and the mech was already out of the game so it was super easy to try it.

The game is working again.... Minus that right wireform.

My wire form does something similar to yours, except the ball goes straight to the out drain and it happens on both left and right wire forms.

Slo-mo recording is the best diagnostic for these issues.

Sounds like some people are lowering the flipper strength?

That only works so far. Dropping 1 or 2 ticks is normal, beyond that, you have another problem. You don't want the machine to play like crap just because you can't keep the ball on the wireforms with normal power.

Were some AFMr playfields known to have poor insert lettering on the large orange inserts? Or are they all like that? It's not easy to read when the insert is lit.

Rob

My ball is still flying off at -5. I’m not going to -6 or -7. I have great slo-mo video of where the problem is thanks to vireland but I don’t see any issues with the wireform. I’m not sure how to fix this.

I used to have a similar problem on my Williams Indiana Jones. Other IJ owners also had pinballs flying off the left wireform and hitting the biplane. The ultimate fix was to bend the wireform so that it cradles the ball better. Try pulling/lifting the outer wire higher up so the ball will not derail as easily. It takes a fair amount of finger strength, but you may find that only a small adjustment will cure the problem. Hope that this helps you and others.

I'd try raising your wire form a bit and put a washer or spacer under your wire form, above the sling shot.

This was one of the first things I tried.

I went down this road a little bit already, but was unable to affect it. Something has to change though, I think I'll try harder.

I added a washer under the wireform foot and warped it a bit, in 2 places, to give it some NASCAR style banking.

Works perfectly now.

Its amazing what 2 crescent wrenches and a rag can do.

All of my games have needed a tweak here and there to keep the ball on track.

Sometimes grinding off a little steel if there is a bump.

I'm not apposed to a little bending, I just know how hard these things are to bend. And, while I'm pretty sure I know where to bend, if I don't find the right spot, I'm probably going to ruin it so...