(Topic ID: 285573)

Pinch Hitter Running Man Unit

By Gotemwill

3 years ago



Topic Stats

  • 5 posts
  • 2 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 3 years ago by JethroP
  • Topic is favorited by 1 Pinsider

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#1 3 years ago

I’m experiencing a mechanical issue with my ‘59 Williams Pinch Hitter running man unit. The runners are attached to 4-armed wheel that rotates underneath the playfield. When these men are rotated up and running the bases, they close switches at 1st, 2nd, and 3rd base which, on my game, activates the “pinch hitter” feature. The problem is that the 4 arm wheel on my game has play on the shaft. Once the wheel stops and hits the wire arms, it backs off because of this slop in the fit. This makes adjusting the switches to get the correct full open and close at the correct positions very difficult. When I move the wheel back and forth (maybe 1/8”), none of the other components move with it. It’s free to move on the shaft. The brass collar pictured above it does not move with the wheel.

I am assuming this play is not normal and should be eliminated. If so, how is this wheel attached to the shaft? Is it keyed?

Any insights would be appreciated.

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#2 3 years ago

My running man unit appears to be identical to yours (but it's from a 1966 pitch and bat). The brass collar is fixed to the shaft with a roll pin. I believe the brass collar is a press fit into the 4 arm wheel. I think you need to disassemble it to see what you have, and then you can repair it. There isn't much force applied to the 4 arm wheel during operation. Should be easy to tighten up the fit....J-B Weld it

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#3 3 years ago

I think you are right that the wheel is press fit onto the brass collar. That is where it slips. It’s just enough that when it meets the resistance of the wire switch that it bounces back and doesn’t keep the force on the wire switch to keep it closed.

Disassembly is the next step.

1 week later
#4 3 years ago

After an unsuccessful attempt to solder the connection between the 4 arm wheel and brass collar, I resorted to using some JB Weld steel stick to take up the play between these two parts. It wasn’t my idea of an ideal fix, but I was also unsuccessful at removing the roll pin to remove the assembly and didn’t want to risk damage to the motor shaft.

The end result is that the “pinch hitter” feature now works correctly since the arm now stops at the correct position relative to the wire form switches.

Thanks for your help JethroP and SteveinTexas !

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#5 3 years ago
Quoted from Gotemwill:

After an unsuccessful attempt to solder the connection between the 4 arm wheel and brass collar, I resorted to using some JB Weld

Oh yeah, you can't solder steel to brass! You could braze it with brass brazing rod, but not something most people can do unless you've taken a welding lesson. There are also some specialty allows that allows you to "weld" dissimilar metals, but again, special technique. I think JB weld is the way to go in your situation. Hope it holds up. I would have used a bunch more than I see in your picture, but if it's working, great!

Batter up!

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