Best thing to check first is probably the switch test on each one to make sure the up and down switches are registering on each one. Diagnostics, Game and then Doc Ock , Sandman and the Sandman 3 bank are listed.

Doc Ock up and down is board connection J8, Sandman up and down is J9 and the 3 bank up and down is J7.

It seems weird that all 3 would behave this way. They all use separate connections, have separate motors and use different switches to detect it they are in their up or down positions.

Did you ever resolve this? I’m having an issue where doc oc will go up and down several times during a game and not down all the way at times. Other times it works snd functions as normal.

I had this problem. Go into diag-game specific and test the motors for each toy doing this and verify that it registers in both the up and down position (multiple times). For me, the switch for the down position on the sandman wasn’t getting pressed when he went down so the motor would go back up and try again (and again...).

I’m having this issue now. Up and Down limit switches work all the time in test mode.
During a game the Sandbank or Doc Oc will lower & raise 2 or 3 times before stopping in correct position, Sandman does this occasionally too!
Disabled shaker, disconnected optos, reseated connections - does anyone have a solution to this please?

During a game, when the sandbank drops, it sometimes rises & lowers again (sometimes twice) before stopping in the correct position. Doc Oc & Sandman both sometimes do this too. Whenever this happens they always eventually stop in the expected position.
This NEVER happens at the end of a game when the three mechs mentioned rehome themselves. It NEVER happens in test mode either, only ever during a game.

All three of these mechs are on the same switch row. They have individual up/down switches, relays and motors.

All up & down limit switches & diodes have been tested and checked (one switch replaced). Opto board swapped (doc Oc Opto is on the same row). Power board in backbox swapped with my Metallica one. Ribbon cable for switch return swapped. Software reinstalled…., issue still remains!
Extensively activated switches in test mode and it never results in a whole row or column triggering.
Reseated connectors and used IDC tool to give relevant cables a little push.
Spent hours looking at switches, referencing the manual and it seems all wiring is correct and all diodes the right way round.
There are no cables limiting the movement of these mechs and nothing blocking their path top side either.

It can play perfectly for a few games and then it happens again. Unable to replicate it by vibration or banging the playfield.

It seems that it occasionally the up or down limit switch is being triggered but somehow ignored until the 2nd or 3rd pass?

Any ideas are more than welcome as I have run out!

SOMEONE HELP!!

Bumpy bumpy bump bump

UPDATE:
In case anyone comes across this thread looking for a resolution to this issue - after changing switches, diodes, optos, opto boards, connectors and swapping driver boards I now think this is just an issue that exists within the software.
I have tried another pin, spoken to other owners and also watched (lots) of SM gameplay on YouTube - doing this I have found several SM pins that have the same issue but so far NONE that don’t exhibit the same behaviour (that being mainly the Sandbank occasionally moving down/up then down again when it should just go down - or vice versa too).

First thing to check it that the switches are being triggered - easy to do in test mode. But if the issue is intermittent I believe there’s no fix