Hello again Pinsiders!

I'm now here trying to solve a problem with the target bank of my Pinbot which sometimes hangs and wont go fully down (or fully up). When this happens, if I took the glass off, put a finger over the bank's plastic and I can feel the vibrations of the motor that is still running. Eventually the machine will give up, and the game continues with the bank in any position. On the next action that should open (or close) the target bank, it does get in the correct position.

Today I got the courage to disassembly all the visor. Started with the helmet, then the ramp (with the two connectors under the playfield), then the visor, and also i took the opportunity to remove the plastic that's behind the visor (part of pinbot's face) for cleaning. Then I went under the playfield and removed the 4 screws that attach the motor assembly just to found that the "metal part" of the motor and the plastic part where that metal part goes in order to move the target bank was full of grease, and also found that along a lot of shitty repairs, the "Open visor switch" (white/vio cable on the switch matrix) has a diode and one of its pins was broken (probably because of the movement I did when i took it away).

I will have to clean all that grease over the moving parts and I will have to replace that diode, which it is a 1N4001 diode. Is there something else I've to check, now that i've the motor disassembled?

This is the diode:
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IMG_7928.JPG

The grease all over the place:
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IMG_7925.JPG
IMG_7927.JPG

The shitty repairs:
IMG_7926.JPG

Thanks for the answers. I've been cleaning, resoldering, and put it all together, but still with no sucess, I even think that now it hangs more frequently than before. On the good side, now the visor closes nearer to the target bank (which makes it look really "closed", before it was like "is it closed?"), and also had the space to replace the four lamps under the visor.

I don't see anything inside the "oval":
IMG_7931.JPG

The next thing i'm going to do is to test the moving parts separately to see if there goes anything wrong and start discarding things.

Isn't that the "bronze colored" (because of the grease) piece that's around the motor pin (i don't know if that's its name) in the photo of my last message?

So, there's a piece of plastic that goes in that "thingy that comes from the motor" a.k.a. the post and fits int the "oval" in the bank target plastic, that makes it fit correctly without any type of play?

_{Post edited by Zonda716: LOL it was a post}

I should re-check the motor again, i'm pretty sure it doesnt has it.

Please, I would really appreciate that, since I was going to see how does the motor works. It's supposed to spin to one of the switches (i.e. "open") and then spin in the opposite to the "closed" ?

In addition to that, i've replaced the bushing with another "tube" I found that has the same inner diameter but a greater outer diameter (still it's not the correct size, it should be bigger, but with trying I don't lose anything) and this is what happens:

1) It hangs even more, but now the motor does a differnet vibration (i don't know exactly how to explain).
2) The targets now stay in a higher position when it goes fully closed.

Aside from that, i'll like to know, since I didn't found it in the manual, if anybody knows which type of lamps go in the 4 holders that are behind the visor. I've replaced them with #89 12v 15w (the ones that I took off that were burnt, were 12v 5w) I know they are 3 times more powerful but these were the only I could find around here, but they burnt within 1 day of working (not exactly one day, because the machine is only turned on when someone is going to play)

Thanks, a lot!!! I'll check it tomorrow. The only difference I can detect it's without taking a look is that the motor on mine does a lot of noise, i'm pretty sure it makes a lot more of noise that yours. It can be heard when the machine is in attract mode and the visor opens/closes. Gonna make a video tomorrow so we can compare.

Thanks, again!!!

So, it definetly does a hell lot of noise in comparison to yours:

Something i've found is that when the spinning part finds an "obstacle", the motor "frees", keeps spinning and the pin part doesnt spins. A simply "restart" of the motor fixes the problem and spins correctly. I'm suspecting this is what makes the target bank "hang" but if that's the case, what could probably block the target bank from moving correcly? I just don't want to replace the motor (someone on one of the groups i'm of argentinian pinball clubs told me it could be the motor itself and its gears). It gives me nightmares thinking of it... :-S

Also something i've found in the last time i've put everything in place is that the target bank doesnt go all the way down, it keps in one of its sides one or two milimeters higher:

I didn't realize that... Maybe it has been connected the wrong way? The thing is: would it make any difference?

Other thing that i'm suspecting is that the "rails" where the target bank go, maybe, they need some adjustment. Maybe its loose, and considering that the motor may be weak by some reason (for what I say that it keeps spining but not the other part), the target bank could probably lean to one of the sides, making it harder for the motor to push and then making it hang because of that.

Edit#1:

Re checked the motor, and I found an interesting thing:

When it does hangs, if I press it a little with my finger, it does start to work properly.

I've made a video about that, because is better to see it. I'm uploading it now. Also you can see that the motor cables are indeed repaired.

Edit#2:

Here is it:

Sorry for the camera position, I was holding it with one hand, with my eyes on the visor, and with the other hand trying to push the target bank.

0:00 to 0:30 you can see the motor spinning "freely" (counter-clockwise). Then I press it a little with my finger and it starts spining and moving the target bank (clockwise). And then when I do press the target bank when it hangs, I do that because sometimes it does the same as if I press the motor itself.
Now I'm really thinking there's something messed up in the motor itself.

Bump

Anything?

Nothing?

I was thinking about this... There are two cables going to the motor. Maybe they are connected the wrong way and that has something to do?

I'm pretty sure the motor itself it's not the issue since sometimes the target bank open/closes correctly, without jamming (or locking) in the incorrect position.

Up! Still hasn't fixed this. I don't really know how to continue with this, what should I check or do. Any more help will be appreciated!

Solved!

The problem was indeed the motor. Got a replacement one from a DE Batman, and it solved ALL the issues I was having. Now I can enjoy my Pinbot as it was meant to, and maybe later start with an entire restoration of the PF, new plastics, maybe new displays (I love XPin red/blue special ones) and perhaps some LEDs here and there.

Thanks to all who contributed to my post!!!