Game Of Thrones (Pro)
Stern, 2015I've adjusted the weights on this Cointaker Spike shaker motor to a 180 degree offset, and cranked all the bolts down tight (including the long screw between the sides of the bracket) but the motor is really rattly. What are some ways I can make it not rattle so much? Could I put some kind of foam or cushion between it and the bottom of the cabinet before screwing it down? Or is the rattle coming from the motor itself, and I'm just stuck with it?
I sent them a message, but I expect they won't be able to do anything. Their product seems to work exactly as advertised. The Red Tremor is for people who want 60% more rad in their shake. I can't handle this level of intensity.
I don't know if this is applicable, but the shaker motor in my WOZ was making a loud knocking noise reminiscent of the time I spun a bearing in my '70 Camaro. It only made the noise when the motor got up to a high enough RPM. And it was definitely coming from the shaker motor, not elsewhere. It took me a long time to find a fix. I tried a few different things and surprisingly, what fixed it was when I added a rubber gasket between the motor and the mounting bracket. It's so nice to get the shake effect without the noise! There was already a rubber gasket there from the factory, but it wasn't thick enough to do the job, even with the long screw nice and tight...
Quoted from UvulaBob:I sent them a message, but I expect they won't be able to do anything. Their product seems to work exactly as advertised. The Red Tremor is for people who want 60% more rad in their shake. I can't handle this level of intensity.
» YouTube video
» YouTube video
I had a noise like that on a stern shaker and i tried many things.... i ended up tightening that bar in top and that fixed it and i also added a gasket between the mounting bracket and cabinet and its been great evert since
Sounds like a mechanical interference.
When I adjusted the counterweights on my Cointaker shaker, I inadvertently tightened one side down too close to the motor causing a bit of mechanical interference - the weights were just touching the housing when they spun at full speed. There are no stops on that axis to prevent this condition. I backed the counterweights away sightly - problem solved.
Quoted from UvulaBob:Already checked that. I also tried cranking on that tightening screw up top. If only it were that easy.
I'd try putting some rubber between the motor and bracket as shown in my earlier post. If that doesn't do the trick, the motor itself must be bad (bad bearing or something). One thing I found, when I adjusted the weights on my motor to 180 degree offset, is that the motor reached a high RPM and the noise got worse. Also, with 180 degree offset, the minimal shaking affect was too minimal (too balanced).
The effect was just where it needed to be, I think. The noise, however, persists no matter what position the weights are in. I think this thing is just too powerful for its job. I mean, does anyone really need a 5 horsepower garbage disposal in their home sink?
Quoted from UvulaBob:The effect was just where it needed to be, I think. The noise, however, persists no matter what position the weights are in. I think this thing is just too powerful for its job. I mean, does anyone really need a 5 horsepower garbage disposal in their home sink?
I use the red Tremor in most my pins and perfer it over the stern one.
Quoted from markp99:I toned my way down by off setting the counterweights. 0 deg offset = max shake, 180 deg offset = ~zero shake. I think I wound up at 135 deg. Perfect for me. No rattles. I do love the effect.
I'm glad yours is working.
Many of us have installed a potentiometer to drop the aggressiveness of the shake. I thought my windows were going to shatter on the other side of the house the first time it went off. I guess that's why the call it a red Tremor. 
Anyway, it works perfectly now that I have it dialed down.
Let me see if I can dig up the thread for you that has a link to the part and installation instructions.
Edit -> Found it.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/how-to-tame-cointakers-shaker-motor#post-3060928
That thread has people who blew their Node boards with that device. That may or may not be related to the capacitor that used to be soldered onto certain aftermarket motors. I'm not willing to take that chance.
It sounds like nobody has a workable solution for calming this thing down. I'll just order a different motor, and write this off as a loss.
Bob,
Are you hearing the rattle with weights offset 180deg? Essentially no shake?
Maybe you can find a nice balance backing off from 180deg in small steps - until you find good shake w/minimal noise. If you're gonna write it off, might be worth a try.
Mark
It's possible that I'm a terrible communicator.
I'm not concerned about the shaking. It's more or less fine at 180 degrees. In fact, it doesn't need any more shake than it has right now. The problem is the noise it makes. Watch the videos I posted, and you'll see. The noise is clearly coming from the mech itself, and attaching it to the cabinet is only amplifying it.
This thing says it spins at 4000 RPM. That's 66 times per second, which seems ridiculous to me. If I didn't know better, I'd say that CoinTaker sourced the wrong motors and are trying to make up for it by marketing them as EXTREME PINBALL SHAKING ACTION. No thanks.
I've already ordered a replacement motor, so there's no reason for me to mess with this anymore. I'll sell it to anyone who wants it for 50 bucks and shipping.
Quoted from UvulaBob:That thread has people who blew their Node boards with that device. That may or may not be related to the capacitor that used to be soldered onto certain aftermarket motors. I'm not willing to take that chance.It sounds like nobody has a workable solution for calming this thing down. I'll just order a different motor, and write this off as a loss.
Installing a potentiometer is your only option. If you aren't willing to go that route, the only option is to buy a Stern shaker.
Quoted from UvulaBob:It's possible that I'm a terrible communicator.
I'm not concerned about the shaking. It's more or less fine at 180 degrees. In fact, it doesn't need any more shake than it has right now. The problem is the noise it makes. Watch the videos I posted, and you'll see. The noise is clearly coming from the mech itself, and attaching it to the cabinet is only amplifying it.
This thing says it spins at 4000 RPM. That's 66 times per second, which seems ridiculous to me. If I didn't know better, I'd say that CoinTaker sourced the wrong motors and are trying to make up for it by marketing them as EXTREME PINBALL SHAKING ACTION. No thanks.
I've already ordered a replacement motor, so there's no reason for me to mess with this anymore. I'll sell it to anyone who wants it for 50 bucks and shipping.
There is something wrong with yours .... i have a few of them and none make that noise. Contact Melissa and she will make it right.
That's surprising. I would argue that your motors are the ones that don't perform as designed. This video from CoinTaker themselves shows how loud and vibratory this thing is. It sounds like a lawn mower.
I tried getting in contact with them through their website, but have yet to hear anything back from them. It doesn't matter, though, since as I've said in the very post you quoted, I've already ordered a replacement. It'll be here today. Unless Melissa is willing to provide a full refund, I doubt there's anything she's going to be able to do for me.
As an epilogue, the shaker motor from Pinball Life is just what I was looking for. The shake is much less jarring, and it's not nearly as loud.
If you fancy having a chainsword motor in your pinball machine, go with CoinTaker. The rest of us can be happy with Pinball Life's.
Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.
Great to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!
This page was printed from https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/cointaker-spike-shaker-motor-rattle and we tried optimising it for printing. Some page elements may have been deliberately hidden.
Scan the QR code on the left to jump to the URL this document was printed from.
Revere, MA