(Topic ID: 9567)

Roadshow Dozer blade issue--Multiball

By Leeb18509

12 years ago


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#1 12 years ago

After locking 2 balls, Ted falls asleep mouth open and the initiate MB sequence starts, however the dozer blade stays down and never raises. You never hear the motor even try. The blade works fine in Test Mode. Anybody know what might be up?

Thanks...

#2 12 years ago

Did it used to work, or has it been broken since you got the machine?

I would check all the relevant switches in switch test, as a first step, to make sure the machine is getting all the feedback it expects.

In some cases, the machines react very well to broken switches, playing almost like there was no problem ("self healing", a feature midway promoted heavily in the 80's), with just the credit dot and subtle flakiness to alert you to the issue.

Lawlor machines, unfortunately, do not seem to be very good at this, and will often get very confused when there are bad switches. Every Lawlor machine i've gotten to know has behaved miserably after a mechanical or switch failure, acting in ways that could have been prevented with defensive software. NGG won't figure out when it can't get the ramp up w/out the gopher, despite this being very common, a dodgy lock switch can confuse whirlwind (see other thread here), and confuse TAF even worse (I swear, the other day, I locked 10 balls without getting multiball - kept kicking them out - and had 2 balls on the PF during single ball play for half of the last ball, which lasted forever. If only I played that well when it was working 100%!).

#3 12 years ago

It's always worked until last night. But come to think of it, the only time I had an error was a few weeks ago and it was "ball lock switch 2" or something. I probably never saw it manifest becuase I don't normally shoot for MB in RS that much. Then the error cleared so I didn't look into it. It's most likely intermittent at best. Hopefully I little bending might fix it.

Your explanation makes sense of why it would start the whole MB animation, call out, etc. but then sort of muck up the rest lifting the blade.

Thanks!

3 months later
#4 11 years ago
Quoted from Leeb18509:

After locking 2 balls, Ted falls asleep mouth open and the initiate MB sequence starts, however the dozer blade stays down and never raises. You never hear the motor even try. The blade works fine in Test Mode. Anybody know what might be up?
Thanks...

Giving this a little bump. I'm having the exact same issue. The dozer blade does not always raise after second ball lock. The dozer tests 100% fine. It raises and lowers smooth and easy. If I leave the blade raised in test and then go to the switch test the blade up switch tests correctly (open). When down the blade down switch also registers the blade as down. The issue just started after working properly for as long as I have had it. It is also intermittent. Sometimes it functions properly. Sometimes when multiball starts the blade has issues going up and down. The blade seems to ratchet up little by little. Not sure why since the blade runs so smooth on test. Other times it works fine.

Any ideas what I should check? Thanks! Any help is greatly appreciated!

#5 11 years ago

My friend just reported this exact same issue. I going to debug his machine and report back what we find. Dr spaceman, you may want to verify that Ted isn't set to "disabled = on" in the features menu. The game could do that after some failures. If that happened, shooting the third ball into lock would start multiball.

#6 11 years ago

I haven't had this exact issue but I have a switch error for "Check switch 48, Hit Ted". I can't find what that is?! The dozer registers hits just fine and everything else works related to mutiball with him. I can't figure out what that switch is, what it does or where it is at? Anyone know?

Thanks!

#7 11 years ago
Quoted from markmon:

My friend just reported this exact same issue. I going to debug his machine and report back what we find. Dr spaceman, you may want to verify that Ted isn't set to "disabled = on" in the features menu. The game could do that after some failures. If that happened, shooting the third ball into lock would start multiball.

Thanks Markmon! Ted is not disabled. When the blade stays down it blocks Ted's open mouth and multiball won't/can't start. Hitting the lock does not start it. When I fired it up this morning it worked without issue, but I know the second I have a good game going that darn thing isn't going to budge.

I have my fingers crossed that your friend's machine gets straightened out. My meager skills don't cut it. Happy hunting! Don't let Ted bite you. I am eager to hear your findings!

#8 11 years ago

Raging against the machine right now. Whatever the problem is it is getting progressively worse. When the problem first started the dozer blade would sometimes go up without issue after second ball lock. Now it never does. The blade will move very slightly then stop. So the message to raise is being received, but it remains down. Sometimes after the ball drains the blade actually does go up after the next ball is popped up to the shooter rod. The blade is not caught on anything to stop it. Again, the dozer motor tests great and the opto switches for dozer up/down work 100%.

One note: I am having an issue with an orange stand up that is throwing an error. Switch 84 if I recall. It is in the lower left of the playfield far from the dozer, but could this somehow be causing havoc?

#9 11 years ago

I haven't looked yet. The pin isn't aty place. But I expect that when I go into switch test and test every switch that some will fail the test. We will see from there.

#10 11 years ago
Quoted from Dr_Spaceman:

One note: I am having an issue with an orange stand up that is throwing an error. Switch 84 if I recall. It is in the lower left of the playfield far from the dozer, but could this somehow be causing havoc?

No, that switch quits working because it gets knocked sideways after awhile and rests against the post next to it. Keeps it from regestering.

#11 11 years ago
Quoted from Leeb18509:

No, that switch quits working because it gets knocked sideways after awhile and rests against the post next to it. Keeps it from regestering.

Thanks Leeb! You were right about that stand up sticking on that post. I moved it off and guess what? The dozer issue seemed to clear up. As long as I make sure that stand up is free the blade is raising like it should after the ball lock, or atleast it is right now. I'm not entirely convinced it is gone since I thought it had fixed itself before, but I guess that could have been the stand up sticking and unsticking. I don't know how a lower left stand up would break the dozer, but as DrAzzy said above broken switches can make things go bonkers.

I don't know if this helps you Markmon, but I'll let you know if it happens again without the stuck stand up.

#12 11 years ago

Thought I should give an update aswell. Went to my friends machine. No credit dot, no error reports. Went to switch test and triggered every switch on the playfield manually. They all checked out. After this, tested the game and it was fixed.

Seems it is a switch malfunction that causes this but there is no standard credit dot or error report.

#13 11 years ago
Quoted from bemmett:

Check switch 48, Hit Ted". I can't find what that is?!

I believe it's the switch that registers when a ball goes down Ted's throat.
That's the one causing a credit dot to be displayed when my friends children play the machine
for a while. They never seems to lock two balls and raise the bulldozer. Same with the switch in the
bowl on CFTBL.
The message should go away if you roll a ball in his mouth.

1 month later
#14 11 years ago

Sadly I am back to bump this post. The dozer blade is still not raising after second ball lock all the time. All switches regarding the lock function properly. I have no credit dot or errors of any kind.

There are days when it works 100% with no issues. I'll come back a day or two later, and the dozer blade won't budge. It might raise after a ball drain, or ratchet up a bit after one or two drains before finally raising. I'll try turning off and turning on, but it continues to fail. I come back a day or two later without touching anything and suddenly it works fine again. I'm about 50/50 for when it'll work, but that is from session to session and not game to game. I've reseated connectors, tested optos, tested the motor and everything seems to work fine. When it doesn't work it is like the signal to raise is getting interrupted by something. The motor runs smooth when it works, and up down optos register fine. Any ideas on what could be causing this?

#15 11 years ago

Are the optos clean?

Is there any sun shinning on the pin? Optos do not like direct sunlight or even reflections. Sounds silly but you are running out of options.

#16 11 years ago
Quoted from absocountry2:

Are the optos clean?
Is there any sun shinning on the pin? Optos do not like direct sunlight or even reflections. Sounds silly but you are running out of options.

Thanks absocountry. I appreciate the help. Optos are clean. Used some qtips and rubbing alcohol to make sure. There is no sun coming through since It is in my basement. I'm going to have someone with more experience come take a look to see what they find, but the way it works then doesn't then does with nothing changing makes no logical sense to me.

#17 11 years ago

One odd thing I find when testing the motor is that for a split second when the motor first fires up at the beginning of the test both the UP and DOWN optos register as open on my display. I'd say for maybe a quarter of a second, and then afterwards the optos alternate up, down, up, down just like it should while the motor runs smoothly. This could explain why the dozer doesn't budge sometimes when it should, but what could be causing it? The optos are clean, and like I mentioned they register up down just fine after the initial hiccup.

Any ideas about what this could mean? If anyone has a Road Show and runs the dozer test do you see the same thing? Is it time to get a new opto board?

#18 11 years ago

A little nudge for the evening crowd. Anyone with any thoughts, suggestions, prayers?

#19 11 years ago

I feel for ya....

2 months later
#20 11 years ago

Hi.

If not solved by now...

Replace the 2 optos on the "Opto blade interrupter assy -A19359"
It is not enough to clean them.. only replacing will solve the problem.

FR Michael...

11 months later
#21 10 years ago

Dr spaceman
Did you ever resolve this issue. My dozer blade does the same thing.

#22 10 years ago

Ha, I thought this thread looked familiar. Yes, do just as ORF said. Clean the optos and reflow some solder on the blade interruptor opto board, or replace the optos. Should fix it right up. Great lakes modular also makes new boards if you're still having issues. I figure the way that board hangs off the Playfield combined with Road Show's extensive use of a shaker puts a lot of vibrations through that board. It seems to happen a lot.

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