I recently rebuilt the 5 bank drop target assembly on a Data East Simpsons. I cleaned up everything and installed new drop targets. After doing this the coil can no longer reset all the drop targets. The only way it can reset them is if only 2-3 drop targets are down. If all 5 are down it doesn't even get them half way up.

I was going to replace the coil in the machine, which is currently a 090-5022-00. I looked in the manual and it shows a 090-5008-00 coil being used. The 5008 coil is quite a bit bigger in size than the 5022. Does anyone know which is the correct coil to use? I would think the manual would have the correct one but I've seen one other picture of a Simpsons 5 bank target assembly and it was using a 5022 coil.

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.

The resistance on the coil was 3.1ohms, which is what the new one I got is. I couldn't get the coil sleeve out of the coil so I replaced the coil. Unfortunately that didn't help as it's doing the same thing.

I'm thinking this might be the problem as the unit worked fine before I took it all apart, cleaned it and installed new drop targets. I see that one of the screws has a washer but it's on the head side of the screw. I thought this is how it was when I took the unit apart but I could be wrong. I just looked thru my parts and I don't have any extra screws that size. I'll have to get some and see if that does the trick. Thanks for the suggestion!

Yeah, I cleaned up the whole assembly, the rods, plunger, etc really good. The whole assembly moves up and down just fine by hand.

Yes, all 5 work fine.

I had another issue I had to fix on this machine tonight. The laser kick coil had a wire disconnected and I found out why quickly. The TIP36c that drives it was shorted and the diode on the coil was bad as well. The ohms on the coil were good but I replaced the whole coil as the coil sleeve was seized up in it, from being locked on I'm sure. I also replaced the TIP36c which was shorted and the TIP122/2N4401, tho both of those tested fine. Now that is working again.

Another odd thing was in adjustments mode I couldn't change any settings with the start button tho the start button worked fine to start a game. Pulled the microswitch and found out why. Someone had soldered the wire to the wrong side of the diode. Changed that and it was working again.

There is no wear on my drop target assembly. Everything looks good and has fluid motion. The drop targets are flush with the playfield. When then drop targets are down, the bar that lifts them is flush with them as well with no wiggle room.

It just seems like the coil isn't getting enough power to lift all 5. If there are only 2 of any of the drop targets down, it lifts them no problem. Sometimes it can lift three but for the most part, with 3 or more down it can't do it. I installed a brand new coil as well.

I'm just not sure what else to try at this point. Suggestions?

I pulled out the power supply and discovered that CN2 had a burnt pin. I also checked the caps with my ESR meter and all but one had low ESR (C2 was open). I'll have to order up a connector for CN2 and some new caps. I was getting alot of feedback out of the speakers when the CPU lamps turn on and off. Looks like it could be due to these bad caps.

I don't think this is going to help with the 5 bank drop target but it all needs to be done regardless.

No. I'm testing the drop target assembly in the coil test mode. Also, if all 5 are down when the pin is powered up, it will try 4-5 times to lift them up (they hardly move) and then it stops trying.

Totally random. I've tried every combination of 2 targets and it works fine. Add any third target to the mix and it can't push them up.

I'll give that a go once I get the parts for the power supply and get that put back in the machine. Thanks.

Ok, so I got the power supply all fixed up. I tried putting 1 washer at each end per your picture. This caused the drop targets to be sticking up over the playfield. Even with the washers, the coil could still not lift all five targets. The most it can lift is two.

I even tried replacing the plunger/link and that didn't change anything either. At this point I'm at a loss. It's like the coil is just not strong enough to lift it. It's a brand new coil, new coil sleeve, new plunger/link, new drop targets, cleaned up assembly, no excessive wear, etc. Not sure what else to try at this point.

Any ideas?

I got busy with other projects and I finally got a chance to dig back into this problem tonight and I managed to fix it. In coil test, I noticed that three of the flasher lights would trigger whenever I fired the 5 bank drop target coil, which I thought was odd. All three of these flashers and 5 bank drop target coil share the same red power cable. So, I looked at the red cables for those flashers and they were fine. So then I checked the red cable for the other coils that daisy chain on that line as well. Sure enough, one of the two red wires going to a pop bumper had a wire that was just barely hanging on. When I tugged on the wire, it broke right off. Bingo!

So I resoldered the wire and sure enough, that fixed it. Kinda mad at myself I didn't figure this out sooner. I had visually inspected all the red wires previously but it wasn't until I actually tugged on each one was I able to find the culprit.

Time to play some Simpsons...

"Lock the ball man! Shoot it!"

Glad it helped fix your problem!

Glad it helped. Nice work!