Judge Dredd
Bally, 1993Well it was working fine yesterday!!
Check out the video. The game plays great until the drops need resetting and then it goes haywire. If the drops try to reset at the start of the next ball the ball shoots out of the launch area too. The two coils in question are on the same thin pink and green wire. Could this be a wire short?
I did dismantle the whole drop assembly and put it back in. Maybe something went wrong there? But it was working fine yesterday. Ideas?
I think I figured it out. The drop return coil does not have enough strength to pull them back up every time. Is there a stronger coil I can put in there? I have the drop assembly out now trying to figure out how to make it easier to push up but still have the downward power needed to be sharp.
Quoted from Stack15:Is there a stronger coil I can put in there? I
If it worked before, that coil is strong enough, unless it is defective. Should be replaced with same # coil.
It worked for a day now it has problems about 90% of the time. I bought 10 of the 10-364 springs but they aren't strong enough at the loosest setting so I have to short cut them and apparently the coil isn't strong enough to push those up.
Or maybe I just put the assembely back together wrong.
1:30 AM and it is still not fixed. I have pulled the drop target assembly four times. The problem is in there. New targets, new springs, new washers, new target catch thingy. The G target has the highest failure rate followed by the U target. The others catch the up position almost every time.
I am beginning to think the issue is a lack of screws holding the assembly in the playfield. There are only four when it shoul be eight. That's about the only thing that isn't new. I held the assembly straight up and down and did the targets. Then with the targets face down and again with them gave up. A little bit of gravity makes a difference in how they catch.
The other odd thing is the G and U targets like to go up a little sideways. This upsets me.
I don't know why it took 12 hours for a six second video to upload. But here is the first version of the problem. Now they reset but the U takes two tried and the G usually doesn't make it.
My Rollergames was doing something similar on its 3 bank drop target. Have you replaced the coil sleeve and plunger? Not 100% sure that will fix your issue but it did the trick for my game.
Quoted from nosro:So if you push the reset mechanism with your fingers, the drop targets reset properly?
Yes. I am home now. Going to look at it again here in a minute. I bought eight more screws (same size) at the hardware store. I think that will help line it up properly.
I cleaned everything, adjusted some stuff, put it back and the drops work kind of okay now. The game is playable.
The new problem is that drops two and four - the U and G - both get off track some (heavy on the spring side) and don't sit at the top correctly as they are blocked by the thing with the screw in it. I did widdle away some of those thingies but I guess not enough.
So how does one keep their drops moving strictly up/down? My U and G want to go a little to the left as you look at them (aka their right or towards where your left hand flipper is). It may go six resets with one of the U and/or G targets not setting properly. Then both will work great for about ten rests... then they go back to being lazy.
My best idea is to pull the drops again, remove those two screws and completely sand the bar flat in those areas. What do you think?
I feel like something is missing in this troubleshooting process. Is it correct that the drops were working, you replaced the springs, then cut them, and now you have the problem? I would stop making changes to things and instead focus on the possibility that you do not have the correct springs on the game (since they are cut, this sounds pretty certain). If you are still having the problem with another coil triggering , maybe check the diode - but I would solve one problem at a time.
After replacing with the correct springs, I'd take detail pictures if the drops are still not aligning properly and see if someone can offer a thought.
Quoted from Stack15:It worked for a day now it has problems about 90% of the time. I bought 10 of the 10-364 springs but they aren't strong enough at the loosest setting so I have to short cut them and apparently the coil isn't strong enough to push those up.
Or maybe I just put the assembely back together wrong.
10-364 is most commonly a flipper extension spring.
10-362 is most commonly a target retractor spring.
That may explain why you had to cut the spring, even though I see that the manual states to use a 10-364. As btw75 mentioned, this may not be your only problem.
I had something similar with mine for the longest time. For mine, the E would never quite reset. I spent ages looking at it and felt really silly about it because I can usually diagnose and fix problems like that in five minutes.
For mine, it ended up being that the bracket holding the coil was bent ever so slightly. By doing that, the coil would fire but the targets wouldn't fully reset to the top, stopping just short. They would drop again, and the game would try to reset them - it sounds like this is exactly what you have going on now.
At the same time, the springs definitely sound screwed up. I'd leave it for a bit, get the new springs in, replace the springs and then if it still isn't working, try bending the thing that holds the coil ever so slightly in and out and see if it changes it at all. After probably 6 hours of me messing with that, I figured I'd try bending it... haven't had a problem in 3+ years now.
Thanks man! I tried readjusting the springs some and they are getting better but still not perfect. I have about 21 hours in the drop target assembly. Every new game I get there is usually ONE thing that takes 20 hours.
Hey one time it was a roll over switch. So at least now I have moved up to assemblies. Haha
Heh, don't worry - once you learn it once, you tend to learn it for all of the times in the future too. After spending so much time on my JD drops, I haven't had a machine with drops that I haven't figured out almost immediately. 
Quoted from nosro:10-364 is most commonly a flipper extension spring.
10-362 is most commonly a target retractor spring.
That may explain why you had to cut the spring, even though I see that the manual states to use a 10-364. As btw75 mentioned, this may not be your only problem.
10-364 is listed everywhere as a target retractor spring as well... looking at pictures as well as the parts list, I'd say 10-364 is the correct spring to use.
Even the later production parts catalog lists 10-364 as being the correct spring: http://www.planetarypinball.com/reference/partsmanuals/BLY_Parts_Grey_16-9562-A/index.html#/414/zoomed
This post on RGP might be useful: http://rgparchive-removed.com/rgpforum/showpost.php?p=698244&postcount=7
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Macon, GA