Alamo Heights, TX
Quoted from DanDaMan:Just got my 1st pinball this week - thought I'd start a new thread for this specific repair I'm attempting.
So the game has 3 bumpers - I was finding that the left one was sticking in the down position. Did a little research and found that the left and right share the same relay - the relay basically has a 4 blade connectors (not sure what these are called) - I assume the two on the left are for the left bumper and the two on the right for right. The middle bumper has its own relay.
Anyway being it was sticking I removed it and took a closer look. I noticed the space between the blades was very tiny so I bent them a little to ensure they do not touch but made sure when the relay was energized that the blades were touching. I also played with the relay plastic tab thing a few dozen times and did find that the relay seemed better/smoother and returned to the 'home' position much better. I was happy thinking I fixed it, so I plugged it in and tried it. Unfortunately I made it worse - basically on the 1st activation of either the left or right bumper, the relay sticks in the energized position - with a screw driver (plastic handle) I was able to move it to the 'home' position but it did take some force (it really wanted to stay stuck in the energized position). I unplugged and fiddled with it now another half dozen times but doing the same thing every time.
Anyone able to give me some advice? What did I do to make it worse? Are each of the 4 blade terminals supposed to be open when the relay is not energized? BTW - when it was sticking it was making a buzzing noise so I made sure to turn off the power within seconds - I think it would blow a fuse if I left it - is that right?
Thanks
Hi, folks are here to help. However, the first thing you did to make it worse was start moving things around without having an understanding of how the relays work, or looking at a schematic. Some switches are normally open and some are normally closed, and others are make-break and do both. You need to understand what each switch does and the only way to do that is to read a schematic. Did the game come with one? This shouldn’t be a difficult problem to fix, but you have to do it correctly.
