Quoted from lockeness:My auto launcher is not making it around. I tried turning it down power this thread but is made it worse. I’ve checked all the wiring to the auto launcher and I can’t see any issues. It’s just not working right. We are getting out of my comfort zone here. What an I do? It makes soul gem impossible, for me, by the way.
There are lots of posts on this topic in this thread, but there's not a silver bullet here. (Maybe that's why there isn't a single key post at the beginning of this thread.)
Anyway, I was getting 50% success and starting messing with various aspects. I came away with 100% success now at a power of 240 (key for soul as you pointed out), BUT understand that it's a process of trial and error. I hit new lows (10-15%) during the process. It takes patience and some luck.
My suggestions:
1. Record your ball launches in super slow-mo. This was critical for me, as it clearly showed the ball careening off the sides on the way up, killing speed and resulting in partial orbit.
- The goal is for the ball to NOT touch the rails if possible up until it curves to the left. And even then, the ball should be hugging the right rail when it gets off the ramp for a nice smooth transition to the left.
2. Check the launcher alignment as someone else pointed out. Mine was making good contact, i didn't adjust it at all.
3. I ended up putting layers of felt padding under the tab of the metal ramp (goes under the BP vertical rail) AND had to tweak (twisting it slightly) that same ramp to keep the ball on center during the path up to the left turn.
Somebody was suggesting drilling new holes for the 2 screws, since it's clear the ramp can slide down a bit, but I can't recommend that.
Hope that helps. (red path is your goal. gray path is what I was seeing in my slo-mo originally, albeit accentuated.)
AIQ AutoLaunch issues-cropped (resized).jpg