Hello everyone! Question;

I've have a Popeye pin, and have recently been having an issue with the bluto ball lock about 90% of the time..

Once the first lock is activated, and a ball is hit in, it locks the first ball no problem. Next, if a subsequent ball is hit in the bluto scoop WITHOUT lock being lit, it will do as its supposed to, which is whistle and kick a ball back out (not locking it as the second ball locked), but most of the time (90% or more) it will ALSO whistle a second time and pre-maturely kick out the FIRST locked ball right after, thus putting a second ball in play, and no more first ball locked. One of the two balls CAN be allowed to drain, not affecting game play.

Now if the first ball is locked, and then lock is lit for the 2nd, and a 2nd ball is hit in the scoop, it locks it no problem without kicking it out, and then once multiball is lit and the 3rd ball is hit in the scoop, it starts multiball with no problems.

It only does this on the SECOND ball hit into the scoop after ball 1 is locked without lock being lit, it will not do this on the 3rd ball hit into the scoop after 2 balls are locked.

Now... all the switches on the center scoop are micro switches, and all seem fine when physically tested, and (there are 4) the issue is that they almost impossible to check without removing the scoop assembly. Any ideas? I think that it might be a sticking switch that aligns with the SECOND ball position in the "holding area" of the scoop above the coil gate.

It's pretty hard to check ball movement across this scoop while it is installed. I was guessing it's the second micro switch sticking/malfunctioning based on the symptoms. The second micro switch can only be adjusted with the scoop off of the playfield, which makes adjustment difficult for this one. I think I will start by pulling the scoop, and run the pinballs through it on the bench listening and watching for actuation. when I physically test the second switch while the playfield is up, it seems fine, however it seems to bind ever so slightly, but still work.

I will re-post after I do this!

Oh yeah, switch tests check out, no errors.

I know it's been a while, but I finally got around to fixing the center ball lock issues.

As it turned out, three things were causing this.

First, there was a "sticky" micro switch in the "2nd ball" lock position. Once depressed by the second ball when lock ball 2 is NOT lit, it would not return fast enough to show "no ball" and instead of ejecting one ball (actually ejects the 1st locked ball and second ball slides to first position) it would eject both in sequence.

Second, on some switches including the sticky broken one, the 2 machine screws @ nut plate were installed backwards. This seemed to put too much pressure on the switch body causing them to bind slightly. This may also have to due with age

Third, It seemed that the angle of the pin is crucial to how balls act in the lock assembly. I had the game at 5.5 degree playfield. After completely re-building the main flippers to new, I corrected the PF angle to 6.5 degrees and all is well.

So, PF angle correction plus 4 brand new micro switches in the center ball lock assembly have completely corrected this problem.

Thanks for the help guys!

Dan

Yeah, the ball lock mechanism/weldment on Popeye can be a pain in the butt. I've had my Popeye for a little over a year and have finally dialed it in. There are a few things that can create the problems with the erratic behavior, all of them usually attributed to 1-3 things or a combo of the 3.

First is playfield angle. It needs to be at 6.5-6.75 degrees. Second is cleanliness of the ball lock mechanism/weldment. crud, dirt, etc. can hold up the balls not allowing them to set over the microswitches correctly. Third, which is the most important are the microswitches in the weldment. There are 4 microswitches, 3 are for ball locks and one is an eject detect switch in front of the coil popper. (see drawing) Each switch is held to the weldment with 2 screws and a tinnerman nut. Make sure all these screws are present. One missing can cause a switch to rotate and act screwy. On my game, I had issues with the ball lock 2 switch as well. It was missing a screw, causing it to not stay in the fine-tuned position. Also, the "button" under the wire lever on the microswitch was sticky and wouldn't always "click" causing erratic behavior. I chose to replace all 4 switches/diodes with brand new ones. I also replaced the missing screw. The tuning of these switches is tricky, the front screw holding each switch on (towards the wire) is the adjustment screw. loosening this will allow the body of the switch to rotate to change the switch sensitivity when the ball rolls over the wire.

Make sure you have 3 balls handy to test it while it's out of the machine. The weldment removes easily, there are a few hex head screws holding it on to the underside of the PF and wiring is connected with a plug. Also make sure the welds are in tact and not cracked. If they are cracked, have a local welding shop weld it for you. Mine had one cracked weld and I had to do this. If you replace the switches, each one has a diode as well.

Weldment microswitches: http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/5647-12693-25
Microswitch diodes: http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/1N4004

I hope this helps.

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Not sure which switch makes that sound... I can play it tonight and try to figure it out. I read your original post and it definitely sounds like a switch of some sort is prematurely contacting on the lower PF.

I would have to assume in Multi-ball, lower PF switches do NOT shut down the upper flippers because there are balls on both PFs at times, and it's probably a rule in the code that exempts this from happening..

I will try to find the switch making that sound

-Dan