Hey there Pinside!

I've recently cleaned up my Black Rose, stuck a couple LEDs in to test them out and replaced a broken switch to name a few fixes, but one problem I have yet to fix.

The cannon in the middle of the playfield will only fire on certain angles. It can make the center shot, the ramps and both loops, but shooting at any of the standup targets usually results in the ball not being released. The sound effect plays and the DMD displays "Shot Missed" but the ball remains in the cannon. It is released once the machine does it's ball check, allowing the game to still be playable, yet annoying if a shot to the targets is made.

I'm wondering what causes this and what a possible fix would be? It's probably to do with the solenoid down there, but the fact that it only fires on that angle during the ball check is fairly odd. I don't know much about the cannon setup or solenoids in general, so I thought I'd ask here.

Thoughts and opinions?

Thanks

Thanks guys.

It's back to school tomorrow, so I'll need to check it out afterwards.

Cheers

I can't seem to find any broken wires that should be attached.

I did notice that the solenoid has three contacts, though only the top two had attached wires. The third has solder on it suggesting something has been there at one point, but I don't think it could've been a third wire as following the wires leads to a four-pronged plug at the top left of the playfield near the flippers, two prongs for the two solenoid wires and two flasher wires.

I'm a little stumped on this one!

Thanks rotordave for the clarification.

This is probably my issue. I need to dig around the shed sometime to find my voltage meter and give your little test a go!
I'll report back on the issue once I've done the test.

If one of the wires turns out to be broken, this would be a fairly easy fix? I assume connecting a wire from the solenoid into the connector would be fairly easy?

In regards to your comment zaza, I reckon you're right. The solenoid has an odd sticker wrapped around it. It seems to do the job just fine though!

Thanks for the detailed info pinster68!

I had a look after school tonight with an ohm meter and I found it fairly difficult to get a steady reading from the meter as they were all over the place. I think I'll just replace both wires, that way I can be sure that the solenoid will work!

I do really enjoy doing these small repairs, one by one! Makes most of the underside of a playfield easier to understand!

Thanks, Tom

Yeah, I worked out I was using the wrong function on the meter! When I did give each wire a test using the ohm function, everything showed up fine, I even removed the heat-shrink and couldn't feel any issues within each wire. I was a little stumped after that.

Also had a check of the switch underneath the cannon that detects the ball while it sits, awaiting to be fired. Switch was fine, I even moved it up higher slightly and checked the wires here too, same problem persists.

Any other ideas?

Thanks for the ongoing support, I'm going to be glad once this issue is sorted and I can sell the damn thing!

Nah, don't fret anyone!

I've sorted it all out! Turns out BOTH wires to the switch under the cannon where broken. I went for another look tonight and upon moving the switch wires from the hook keeping them in place, the plastic coating broke on both and revealed no wire inside. Gave the wires a strip, re solder and heat-shrink and the cannon can now make all angles! There's still a bit of fixing up and arrangement of the wires to do under the playfield both for the solenoid and the switch wires, but boy am I glad to have this fixed!

Thanks for all the help and support guys!

Tom