Faulty trough boards. Unplug both and plug them back in. If that doesn’t work, replace them, they are very inexpensive.

Marco: Includes clears: https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/803-5000-80
PinballLife: https://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=3663

First post for me!

I have a similar problem where my ball drains and won't register until the machine searches for it(or I hit the flippers, which doesn't make sense to me). On inspection the switches seem to be working fine in registering the ball in the trough.

Also, there is sometimes a large time delay in the machine pushing a new ball into the launch lane. Probably a seperate issue but it is very annoying!

Any help is super appreciated! Thanks!

Most ball related issues on this era of games are due to the opto boards in the trough.

See quote below (2nd post of this thread). It is extremely likely this is the cause of both of your stated issues.

After much experience with a wide array of ball recognition related issues on several Stern titles, I wouldn't waste a minute of my time looking at anything before reseating and, if necessary, replacing the trough opto boards. So many different symptoms when they go bad, and most of the time they seem to test as good since the problem is intermittent.

Thanks for the responses guys! Can I get some help with what the opto boards are? Is it one of these? Thanks again!

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It’s the small green board in your first picture with the three screws. Replace them.

Thanks Pintechev! Will order them tonight

So, I haven't gotten the opto boards in yet, but after thinking about it I thought it must've been the switch that detects the last ball in the trough that is the problem(not sure on lingo).

I bent up the switch lever and now it works like a charm .

It looked like the rest of the switch lever arms had been bent up previously.

Thanks again for all the help guys! I know I will have many more problems in the future.

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I had this exact problem. Check to see if the ball is resting just above the switch in the trough. Mine were magnetized and replacing them fixed the issue. You can see the balls position through the slit in the trough. I put a small screwdriver through and found that the last ball had about an 1/8” of travel left and then registered the switch.

—Kevin

Didn’t see you fixed it in that last post. Glad to hear! It’s a great game!

I'm surprised the balls can get magnetized. The machine has started looking for a ball occasionally again, but nothing like before. Maybe I need to buy another set too....

So my pinball machine is being incredibly annoying. The switch that detects the 4th ball and the one that detects the 1st ball in the sword don't work most of the time. I have replaced them but still to no avail. I also changed the little boards on either side of the trough. Any pointers?

I'm curious if the diodes across the switches can cause problems if they're faulty?

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So, a little update. I'm realizing now that several "glitches" in my game are probably all connected. The switch in the trough, sword lock and one of the top lanes work less than %50 of the time. Changing switches doesn't help. I just realized how the wiring matrix works and now understand they are all using the same wire.

Now, my problem is that I can't find any fault in the wire! Any tips on hunting down the problem?

Thanks in advance!

Also, I reset my machine and can't find where to adjust volume. I swear it is gone forever. Anybody know where it is in the menus? Too loud to play with the kids sleeping.

The volume is not in a menu, just press the red and green buttons.

Look for the row or column that contains your faulty switches. Then carefully check all the switches in that row or column. Do any other switches trigger when one is activated? Check for a broken diode lug, that is the most common. Also check that nothing is touching any of the lugs for the switches and diodes. Check for any wires that are loose or have come off.

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I'M SO HAPPY MY GHOST IS DEAD!! Finally found my silly loose connection. My months of adjusting switches and trying to "fix" things is over. It was a connection on my bumper that was loose and messed everything else up.

I got my 3rd highest score after testing out the machine. The game works better with 4 balls and bumpers working properly

Thanks LOTR_breath and everyone else for your help!

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