thanks for the video, I have a tftc, and have a problem like this, but also I thing the ball release solenoid is letting 2 balls slip past it sometimes when only one should be let out of the trough, I'm not sure what to do with that..

Thanks for that info! I've had that problem intermittently on my JP as well.

Yep, nice vid.....pretty common problem

Thanks a lot. Now i only need a german shop with this switch ...or at least EU.

Is it possible that there is a wrong part no. for this switch in the manual?
In the manual i got the port no. for this switch is 180-5119-00 like the other 6 switches bevor this one. Definitely wrong! 180-5118-00 like you said in your video is right.

Just saying.

Cool video..thanks for taking time out but you don't need to change the switch you just need to bend the arm out a bit so the ball can activate the switch where ever it sits in the trough. I fixed 2 switches on my LAH, I also have RBION and it had the same issue...all 3 cases I bent the arm a little so it will get activated.

Awesome video, man! Glad all is well with your JP again!

Great explanation on the video. I would have inadvertently over-explained and made it out to be way more complicated. You were pretty straight and to the point - well done!

Nice helpful video. You gotta love Marco prices. $10 for a switch? I looked and PBL does NOT have this switch, but if they did, it would probably be about $4.50.

If the arm is in good condition, I believe you should just be able to move it to a new switch for much cheaper:
http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=1578

I finally got a new switch but it did not fix the issue. :/

Maybe I have to bent the new one a lil...

I am having the same results as well. The only difference for me however is that I replaced ALL the trough switches and diodes and I replaced the eject solenoid switch as noted in the video (I forgot to replace the diode on this switch but will later; I'm very doubtful that's the issue but just in case). Two out of the three chaos modes I started ended up with a ball waiting on the eject solenoid just like before.

Go into switch test mode and make sure all your switches are being tripped properly as the ball makes it ways from the STDM drain to the outlane to the trough. Everything has to trigger for it to behave properly. Used to drive me crazy.

I did some testing by throwing the ball sdtm and I noticed sometimes it would skip the first switch. I've since adjusted every trough switch so that their roller is as high as possible hence increasing the sensitivity. I was a little confused by your order of operations though. Do you mean when the ball goes sdtm but rebounds up an outline then back down the drain? Since my latest adjustments I cheated two chaos modes with instant drains (as a test) and two real chaos modes and everything worked well!

What I meant was once it goes SDTM, it goes into what I may have incorrectly referred to as the outlane trough (where on some games, there is a switch which kicks the ball from left to right back into the ball trough), and a solenoid kicks the balls back "into line" as the game gives you your bonus and you patiently wait for the next ball to begin. I didn't mean the actual outlanes that run parallel with the inlanes near the flippers. Sorry for that confusion .

Sounds like your game is working though ??

Well, of course it worked golden for 5+ chaos modes and triballs and last night I again had to wait for a ball to get kicked into the shooter lane during a chaos mode. This issue is really a PITA. I'm going to replace the last diode I forgot that's on the actual switch for the vuk on the trough though I have my doubts that will help.

Check to see if the switch at the very end needs to be adjusted at all. That seems very strange for it to be acting up on you if you replaced all the switches. I'm betting the one at the end just barely needs to be adjusted. It sounds like you're right on the cusp of it working 100%.

I believe you're right as last week I spent a good 10 minutes bending the metal arm on the VUK switch so that it's very sensitive to closures. I got it to the point that in its resting state it's slightly pre-loaded so the slightest touch will activate it. Haven't had to wait for a ball since. I should note that oddly enough the new switch has more tension than the old switch. I saved the old switch just in case as I think all I really needed to do was adjust the metal armature. Thanks to all!

I am now having issues with my ball trough on gnr. I adjust the arms of the six switches along with the switch close to the ball launch. This fixes the issue for the short term, but inivedably the issues come back. Order all new switches? I don't mind putting money into it and getting it fixed. Gnr might be my favorite game and I need her running on all cylinders. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Go into switch test mode, and roll a ball through the ball trough. ANY switches that are not tripping properly, swap them out. Trust me, you'll be much happier .

I double checked and if you ordered all new parts from pinballlife.com (6 rollover switches (180-5119-02) + 1 trough switch (180-5118-00) + 10 1N4004 Diodes it'll be about $35 shipped. I would shotgun the whole trough and the beat down 22 year old switches and be done with it forever. Note that you will still may need to adjust the metal armature on the VUK switch like I did but it's been 100% solid since.

Spent all morning screwing around with this GD ball trough. It's driving me mad. Brand new switches and diodes don't do anything for my machine. Sure seems to me that I have to bend the arm of the switch just right otherwise it doesn't work.

After putting in new switches and diodes, I fired it up and it spit out three balls. Clearly the arms need to be bent up otherwise they just slide down to the eject spot. So, I bend em up and then it can't sense the ball has drained. I'm ready to call a tech and spend whatever it takes to get this fixed because it's driving me bananas.

I actually should have done a follow up post as I ran into an issue with the new VUK switch. The main solution to the problem is that when the ball is resting above the VUK you must have the switch the ball rests on closed. I thought everything was great until the same problem occurred again with all new switches. I took a close look at the VUK switch and the tension on the new switch is too strong. I manually pushed the switch closed with the ball but when I let go the tension from the switch would actually push the ball back and go open again. I ended up replacing it with the original old switch and this particular issue is solved. A new issue arrived (or maybe it's just me) in that sometimes there's a two second delay before the VUK pops the ball into the shooter lane but it's sporadic enough to where I don't care much as the game works 100% otherwise.

I would go into diagnostics and go to the active switch test and verify that with all the balls in the trough that each switch is showing up in the test. What I would do next is move the ball closest to the VUK back so that all the balls come off the switches and let go. You should hear/see all six switches close from the test sound and what the DMD screen shows. Alternatively you can empty the trough and let a ball slide down and watch the DMD to see if each switch registers. If this is all clear then you can forget about the six rollovers as an issue.

Don't want to declare victory yet, but I went through the switches again and replaced some of the new switches that I wasn't happy with. Long story short, after about ten games, it seems to be working well.

If you're getting flaky readings on your trough switches, don't forget to check the trough itself. Over the years they can become worn, especially close to where the ball that kicks into the VUK area is, and create a divot causing the ball to rest there instead of the intended spot and then the balls do not rest on the switches properly. Sometimes a repair of the old trough may be possible, other times a new trough is needed.

The ball trough caused me to snap tonight. There are divots there which must be causing the balls to not sit properly. I will be taking the entire thing out and replacing evening including the trough. So maddening.

Where can I get a new trough? Link please.

I would use sandpaper to smooth the inside of the trough back down. That's what I did way back in 2012 or so.

Got a bad case of the dimples it appears.....

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Some serious divots going on there. The part number is 535-6621-00 but seems to be impossible to find unless you can find another Data East parts machine.

I'm going to try to smooth out the divots. See if that makes any difference. I'll report back since I'm guessing I'm not the only one having issues with this.

I used sandpaper to smooth the divots on both WWF and JP. Even small divots can cause problems on these DE games.

http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=4121

This wouldn't work?

That actually looks identical and it does say it can be used as a 6-ball. Looks like it also comes with all the switches and diodes presoldered. Nice find. They should really have this appear or at least cross referenced when searching "535-6621-00" in their search bar.

Sanded the divots like crazy and also cleaned the coil that allows one ball at a time to advance. Mine was quite sludged up from years of sitting.

Not declaring victory yet but it sure seemed to run perfectly for a few quick games.

If this doesn't work, I'll order the above referenced new trough.

Does it fixed the issue?

Thank you

Check your ball trough for dimples before replacing all the switches. For me, sanding the dimples out of the ball trough got me up and going. I highly encourage checking this first. Easy to do.

Picked up two of these switches last week. Both of them require more force to activate than the old switch. No matter how I adjust them, the ball doesn't keep the switch closed when it's waiting to be ejected to the shooter lane. Any recommendations?

Never mind....spent about an hour tonight messing with it and finally got it working. What a pain!

These switches do come in various force requirements. The ones from Radio Shack are too stiff. Make sure you order the original part number switch or it will never work.

One was from Marco and one was from Pinball Life. Thought for sure one would be the soft press type.

I had some serviceable switches laying around from arcade parts so I made my own and it works great. Just had to drill the hole a bit bigger for the “arm”.

Now if I could just get it to kick the ball out on the first try... always takes 2

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I am experiencing a ball trough issue and was hoping someone could give me some advice. The issue only seems to happen during 6 ball multi ball when in chaos mode or system failure. At the start of chaos or system failure, the game will begin to plunge and clear all the balls from the trough without any problems. The problem occurs when a few of the balls begin to drain. The balls will stay in the trough (usually position 1 , 2 and 3) but the coil is still firing like it is trying to plunge the balls back onto the playfield.
After all balls drain, the game starts up the next ball with no issue so . Has anyone experienced this or have any thoughts?
Thanks!

tjprice222 What was your solution? My new switch came from pinball life, but the ball isn’t heavy enough to activate it.

I clipped the end and added a space to engage the switch quicker. Still the pinball is not heavy enough to trigger and hold the micro switch from pinball life

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@tonycip did you fix your ball lock assembly?
I thought mine was the switch but it’s not.
Ball lock is also often letting two balls into launch area. Seems like the balls are barely stopped

180-5101-00 is the correct switch. NOS Cherry.
I was able to swap levers and it worked.

Pinball life has been notified their replacement switch 180-5118-00 is also too stiff. Correct lever. Wrong switch.

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If I recall correctly, I bent the hell out of it at multiple points to get the point further into the where the ball sits. It took a lot of trial and error but ended up working consistently.