Quoted from southbound:Here's a pic of where my safety strap connects. There's an eyelet bolt screwed into the PF. Though mine was a routed machine, it looks like this was original.
That picture is awesome but I can't seem to find that butterfly screw attached to my playfield, maybe I need to buy one? I don't think I even noticed the threading I'll need to look again the next time I go under the playfield.
FIXED WITH SOLUTION:
The good news is that my T-Rex seems to be working for now. This is what was happening the cause of most if not all of the issues: The leaf was being bent when the post of the motor stopped and slowly rolled backwards causing it to bend the leaf therefore throwing off calibrations as to when the dino was supposed to hit the "up" switch. That's why after adjusting it the t-rex would get worse and worse. Basically if in diagnostics mode if you hold in the start button to move the t-rex up / and down the motor will always spin in one direction. However when a series of commands are sent to the t-rex he will once hitting the bottom lets just say, the motor briefly stops, thus sometimes causing it to "roll" backwards. The post that's on the motor when it hits the leaf just like a garage door has a sensor so it rolls back the other way correctly, but it was bending the leaf and messing up all the adjustments I had made. Again you can test that in diagnostics mode by simply releasing the start button which controls the t-rex up/down motion, sometimes not always but it will begin to change direction.
Notes to consider for other people I also noticed that the leaf was sometimes getting caught on the inside threading of a screw which held the t-rex / motor cable, so to eliminate that problem I used two nuts as spacers on the microswitch to bring it further away from it having any chance of the leaf getting snagged on the threading from the other screw *this threading was near the "top" switch near the end of the metal leaf.
Now for the main solution that might help other people with t-rex issues...pull the microswitch / leaf out completely. Trust me don't try to bend the leaf while it's on the playfield. The best way to do this is to take the bottom screw out of the through ramp / subway ramp. You will see a metal box attached to the subway ramp, you should now be able to move it just enough to be able to access the "top" microswitch screws of the t-rex. This isn't completely necessary but makes it easier to access the microswitch screws. If you find a different method to getting the leaf out cool, that's just what I found to be the easiest on my machine. Now what you want to do or if you notice that your leaf is essentially hanging down (which is what's causing the issue, since it was or is being currently bent by the post on the motor rolling the other way / or getting snagged etc..)you need to with pliers bend the metal leaf in a way so when the leaf is upside down it doesn't drop from the gravity. Now when you re-install the leaf you basically need to have it hit the "on" switch when the dino peaks in a 45 degree angle if it's off ever so slightly it might get caught in his mouth and he won't swallow etc. You also don't want the switch "up" "down" etc... to stay illuminated / engaged or on in diagnostics mode that long. it should be on very briefly. If the switch stays on too long it's confusing the relay / cpu. It's all about positioning the top switch so that he peaks at the right time, don't keep bending the leaf rather use the guide leeway on the leaf switch where the nut is it gives you about a 1/4 to adjust it. I found that the game / t-rex is very meticulous as to where you are placing the switch. It has a "sweet spot" for sure as stated above. Also make sure obviously when in diagnostics mode to always "center" the t-rex when testing him. And if your playfield is lifted gravity plays a role so it's possible that it might be hitting the switches when you want it to with the playfield up / and in diagnostics mode.. you must adjust, put the playfield down and re-adjust as required. Good luck to all on fixing your T-rex in the future. I'm very happy that I got to learn a ton about the mechanics in the process, sure don't touch what's not broken but I actually for the most part enjoyed working on it. THANKS TO ALL who assisted me along the way. IMG_1348.JPG
Oh yeah and my first game after fixing it... Got my High Score, granted I only had the machine for a few weeks but I think I figured it out!