ok, I have run quite a few tests trying to figure out what is going on with my idol ball lock issue, and I think I have narrowed it down to one opto receiver not working. I replaced the receiver with a new one, and its still not working. I traced the wire to see if there were any breaks, but didnt see anything. Everything else in machine is working, all switches and optos. The idol test originally ran fine, but at times the idol would freak out and and the balls wouldnt release correctly and would have to reboot, so I figured it had to be an opto problem in the motor. I have exhausted my abilities to try to trace this, and ideas?

Is that possible, never knew of such a thing! what should I even begin to look for in this case? I have no other switch problems anywhere else in the machine, and the idol switches are only active in the idol test, not the switch edge test.

Yes I replaced both and checked them on different locations, and they are both definitely working. I did happen to stumble onto something last night in the switch test, where some of the switches on the outlanes are activating several switches at once. I have a feeling this could be the issue perhaps?

Ok, I have been doing some testing on this. I have set my dmm to diode test and noticed a bunch of diodes beeping at me, so assuming they are no good. Could something touching or shorted cause the diodes to go bad?

Also, could one bad diode cause the others to show they are bad on the dmm diode test?

im not sure what that means. Here is what has been found so far. Everything seems to be associated with the top row of the matrix and the far left row. I am getting the lower right outlane switch activating 3 switches all at once, as well as the left outlane activating 2 switches. I having been pouring through the machine trying to figure it all out. When i tried to tackle this, I was just trying to figure out why I wasnt getting power to the opto receiver, as the transmitter is working.

ok, so whats the best way to tackle thism because it seems like a ton of funny stuff is happening here. Should I put the dmm away? (even though its pretty useless in my hands!)

also, to add on here, some of the switches, like in the upper playfield, will register at times in the switch edge test, but then stop registering. Would all of this be caused by a short?

ok, heres where I am at. The trough switches have stopped registering, all of them, so this leads me to believe the optic board may be going bad? I assume this would cause the optic receiver to not get any power and stop registering, but its the only one of all the motor optos that is not working, all other transmitters and receivers in the motor work correctly. As far as the switches, both switch 16 and 18 are both triggering switch 41, the left ramp enter optic. Prior to the troughs not working, switch 18, right outlane top, was triggering 3 switches, switch 81 trough 6 as well as switch 18 and 41.

Yea, I replaced some when I had a STTNG, so I know they can be flakey, but it seems like all of them went out at once, so not sure if thats the case or not. This one definitely has me puzzled.

Could the opto 5 opto board in the top left under the playfield be the cause of all the problems? I hate to buy a new one if it is still operating, because some of the optos attached still work, the ones in the motor except the one receiver, but the trough optos are all non functioning.

i started to and realized they were different, had different number of connectors.

Ok, swapped out the trough optics, those are working now perfectly. Heres where I am at. The game will boot up fine, go into idol test and works perfect, all switches working now throughout the game exactly as they should. Then during the game, when you get a multiball from the center drops and lock the balls, all is workng fine until you start locking balls again in the center scoop during multiball, then something goes awry. the idol gets off somehow. After this you can no longer play the game as the idol gets off, where the front gate to the idol will open, but the ball is not there, the idol legs are in between the gate opening, so no ball comes out. Then after this, i go into test mode and says check the idol motor/switches. When i do this, it comes up as all working perfectly. So, somewhere in between getting multiball and adding more balls to the idol lock, something is amiss. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know because I am going insane with this thing.

Finally got it all figured out! I replaced the optic board under the playfield at the top left, where the motor optos went into, and all is working perfectly now! Thanks all!