Hello- first post, I was wondering what I'm overlooking- I have cleaned all my score reels- but the problem I'm having is the transition from 9 to 0.....When I manually move the reel all is well until I get to the 9 position.....any help would be appreciated.
I want to make sure I'm understanding you here.
So you're saying that the 1000s reel is turning over OK up until you have 9000 scored on the game? And then when it attempts to go from 9000 to 10000, the 1000s reel is hanging up?
If the reel is turning fine until you get to 9000 and attempting to go back to 0, you have a switch adjustment issue. Decagons are notorious for hanging up at this point. It's caused by the 9 position switch putting too much pressure on the follower which causes drag on the wheel. If it's working perfectly on other numbers, it's not a power issue.
I think El Dorado was made after they switched to the final version of the decagon-it no longer has the wireform that moves the switches. Still, I'd suspect the 9 position switch. It needs to be adjusted so that it just makes when the reel gets to 9.
Thanks- the more I thought about it- I was thinking that it's a switch adjustment- in the last 6 months- I've made some major advancements in knowledge- I've been pretty lucky these past 7 years with my 3 em machines- meaning I've had only minor issues.....but last year- my 7th annual New Years vintage pinball tournament was a disaster.....my score reel problem was sticking on 9 and energizing the 10,000 reel to give players way more points than they really had....I had to manually read every time time it scored 20-40 thousand extra points.....thanks for the help.....ill try and correct the problem tonight.
If it's hanging on 9 trying to roll back over to 0, it's almost assuredly the 9 position switch is placing too much tension on the follower and that drags the reel. It's very common on decagons. Just adjust the switch so that at 9, it's just making. When you activate the reel by hand and when it gets to 9 you see the switch making a major move, that's a lot of tension.
If it is energizing the 10000s reel then the 9 position switch on the 1000s, the switch on the 1000s relay that sends power to the 10000s coil are good. It's not a power issue.
They're touchy to adjust. Too much tension and it hangs. Not enough and it doesn't make and the 10000s won't click over.
Thanks for the information- it would seem that I created another problem- I put all new springs on the thousands score reel- it's not moving as well as it did before on all the numbers, I'm thinking I might have put it back together wrong- now when the thousand is energized- it scores the 10,000 at the same time as the thousand- I must have put the wiper score contacts back together wrong- hope I'm using the right term?
Quoted from MH:Thanks for the information- it would seem that I created another problem- I put all new springs on the thousands score reel- it's not moving as well as it did before on all the numbers, I'm thinking I might have put it back together wrong- now when the thousand is energized- it scores the 10,000 at the same time as the thousand- I must have put the wiper score contacts back together wrong- hope I'm using the right term?
Scoring 10,000 at the same time as each 1,000 means that the carryover switch is staying closed on the 1,000 score reel where it should only close when the score reel gets to the 9 position.
Regarding the spring positions and switch positions you have at least one other reel with the circuit board on it to compare to. There is your best guide assuming that other reel is functioning properly.
Ultimately you may have to totally disassemble the score reel and clean out any gunk and then reassemble. This is not necessarily for the faint of heart but really is pretty straightforward if you take an organized approach.
Quoted from MikeO:Scoring 10,000 at the same time as each 1,000 means that the carryover switch is staying closed on the 1,000 score reel where it should only close when the score reel gets to the 9 position.
Regarding the spring positions and switch positions you have at least one other reel with the circuit board on it to compare to. There is your best guide assuming that other reel is functioning properly.
Ultimately you may have to totally disassemble the score reel and clean out any gunk and then reassemble. This is not necessarily for the faint of heart but really is pretty straightforward if you take an organized approach.
I would add to Mike's post that it's much easier to work on score reels if you take the lightboard out of the head and do the work on a bench. You can see a hell of a lot better that way. Much easier to do adjustments, and you won't drop parts that fall into the cab and disappear on you. It's not difficult to remove the board at all.
I concur that your nine position switch is closed all the time. It's not the springs.
Sometime I think half of the fun in all this, having a problem- then fixing it.....I backed the tension way off on the switches- dis assembled the reel and put it back together.....I was able to get the right position- for the score reel wiper contacts- I had it-flipped around......happy to say- all weeks score correctly- Thanks for all the help!
Quoted from patrickvc:I've got an issue where the top star rollover does not move the insert light. It clicks in the backbox but doesn't change it like the lower target does.
You should start your own separate thread on this issue. Unless the following suggestion solves it.
There is a small mini 10 position stepper on the bottom of the play field. This is an AS style relay. They are notorious for getting gummed up. It probably needs to be disassembled, cleaned , polished, lubricated and reassembled.
Search for AS relay rebuild or match relay rebuild on here and you will find more detailed instructions.
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