(Topic ID: 277268)
Elgin, IL
This is a Ball Count Unit but it's basically the same resetting stepper:
https://www.funwithpinball.com/exhibits/small-boards#BallCountUnit
/Mark
What is this piece though? Trying to figure out it’s purpose. Have the spring unhooked so it’s not functioning & game seems to be working ok. It’s almost as if
It’s an arm or lever that prevents the player unit from Advancing to the next
Player
I think it has something to do with the latching of the ratchet arms away from the gear after the reset coil is pulsed.
There is a pair of arms that controls how the stepper gear moves. I'm not sure what they're called so I'll call them the Advance arm and the Reset arm as labeled below:
Williams stepper reset arm (resized).jpg
Normally as the stepper advances the Reset arm rests behind the vertical face of a tooth on the copper colored gear to prevent the gear from rotating counter clockwise (in this photo). The Advance arm gets pulled to the left by the advance solenoid where it engages the next tooth and then it gets pulled the right by the springs. As the Advance arm moves to the right it rotates the stepper gear enough that the Reset arm rides up over the next tooth and drops in behind its vertical face.
During reset the Reset arm is lifted off the gear entirely. As it rises it also lifts the Advance arm off the gear too so the gear can free wheel back to its reset position due to the tension in the torsion spring wrapped around the axle.
When the Reset arm is lifted off the gear a third arm (part number IA-3832 - no idea what its called) slides to the right and under the end of the Reset arm as shown in the red box. The Reset arm is held off the gear and also holds the Advance arm off the gear so the gear rests in its reset position. The first time the Advance arm gets pulled to the left to advance the gear one step it pushes the IA-3832 to the left too which allows the Reset arm to drop back onto the gear and engage with a tooth.
The stepper can work with the IA-3832 arm disabled (by removing the spring) but it should always work with the spring in place if the stepper is clean and adjusted properly. I think the IA-3832 is part of what distinguishes a resetting stepper from a stepper that subtracts one step at a time, like a replay or credit unit.
/Mark
Quoted from MarkG:There is a pair of arms that controls how the stepper gear moves. I'm not sure what they're called so I'll call them the Advance arm and the Reset arm as labeled below:
[quoted image]
Normally as the stepper advances the Reset arm rests behind the vertical face of a tooth on the copper colored gear to prevent the gear from rotating counter clockwise (in this photo). The Advance arm gets pulled to the left by the advance solenoid where it engages the next tooth and then it gets pulled the right by the springs. As the Advance arm moves to the right it rotates the stepper gear enough that the Reset arm rides up over the next tooth and drops in behind its vertical face.
During reset the Reset arm is lifted off the gear entirely. As it rises it also lifts the Advance arm off the gear too so the gear can free wheel back to its reset position due to the tension in the torsion spring wrapped around the axle.
When the Reset arm is lifted off the gear a third arm (part number IA-3832 - no idea what its called) slides to the right and under the end of the Reset arm as shown in the red box. The Reset arm is held off the gear and also holds the Advance arm off the gear so the gear rests in its reset position. The first time the Advance arm gets pulled to the left to advance the gear one step it pushes the IA-3832 to the left too which allows the Reset arm to drop back onto the gear and engage with a tooth.
The stepper can work with the IA-3832 arm disabled (by removing the spring) but it should always work with the spring in place if the stepper is clean and adjusted properly. I think the IA-3832 is part of what distinguishes a resetting stepper from a stepper that subtracts one step at a time, like a replay or credit unit.
/Mark
ahhh I gotcha! exactly the kinda info and help I was lookin for! thanks for the time to clarify that, helped out a ton! sounds like I could clean and adjust the unit a bit. rather have it all hooked up and working properly before selling the game!
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