I have one of these cool machines. If you ever have trouble and the Captain stops moving his jaw, see my post on broken wires.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/broken-wires

Mac

Problem: balls occasionally fly off of the left ramp.

This seems to happen when the speed of the ball exceeds the ability of the ramp to hold it in place.

Design idea to eliminate balls from flying off of the left ramp: Slow the ball down. Ways to do this?

I was thinking of putting an electromagnet attached to the habitrail between where it exits from the back before it transitions to the clear plastic ramp (see below). When the VUK solenoid fires, it would trigger the magnet "on" and it would grab the ball when it reaches the top of the trail, like what happens when the spiral magnets grab the ball in TZ. The magnet would then release and let gravity take the ball down the ramp at a reasonable speed that would not cause the random fly-offs.

Challenges: Will a magnet made from a solenoid and elevator bolt be strong enough to grab the ball? Does it need to completely grab it, or will tugging on it slow it down enough? I don't think I need a magnet as large as the TZ magnet, as the grab point can be very close and focused in the habitrail. Will a ball released from standstill stay on the ramp or is too slow a problem? How long to leave the magnet energized? For proper game flow, you want the pause to be as small as possible... hopefully unnoticeable.

Is there a spare solenoid driver available that can be used on PZ... will need to look.

Alternatives: Is there an easier way to solve this problem that will be reliable?

Thoughts?

exit.jpg

I tried the "hose" method, without much success. Still had balls shooting off the ramps at various points.

I did find a solution! I placed a neodymium bar magnet under the exit habitrail. This magnet is strong enough to grab the ball as it shoots out, but can't quite stop the ball. It slows it to a point where the ball NEVER flies off the ramp anymore. You don't see the slowdown as it happens, but you can sure see the results!

Mac

For wires that flex a lot, crimps last longer than solder... the solder makes the wire stiff and creates a point of stress right where the solder ends... which will break. The crimps let the wire flex a bit and last longer. What I have done is replaced the crappy wire that they used with highly flexible wire from an old set of volt-ohm meter test leads... these are rated to flex for thousands of cycles and not break. Not so for cheap wire that they used on these games.

Something to consider when it breaks again Mac

See my post from a couple of years ago on using a magnet to slow the ball down. - Sheprd