Hi.

I'm not an expert by any means, but I had a similar issue with an insert lamp once, where it worked in test, but not in game play. Turned out to be the transistor. Have you checked the transistor on the release coil for the up/down ramp?

As for the transporter, sounds like a switch problem. Perhaps one of those two switches isn't registering to tell it that it has cycled?

Aaron

or it could be that moving target (primary crystal) when I start multi ball the ramp stays up, it says shoot primary crystal, then shoot transporter, then it goes down to make a ramp.. you have to hit primary crystal again to lift the ramp to shoot the transporter again... you might try it with the glass off... I might be misunderstanding were it is in the game when it's not working... you have to hit the primary crystal during multiball to get the "shoot the transporter... if your moving target switch doesn't register at shoot the crystal it won't tell you to shoot the transporter... the ramp will not go down until after you shoot transporter... so it says shoot the primary crystal (in multiball mode) shoot the crystal then it says shoot the transporter, once you shoot it, the ramp drops.... it will not raise again until it says shoot the crystal, and you do...

I think I confused myself... do you get it to tell you to shoot the crytal, and when you do does it tell you to shoot the transporter?
I should have started there... lol

Hi

Sorry for the late reply. Got a lot going on personally. All good, but making it hard to get back to this. But, happy to help.

Couple of things. Yes, you can still get 36c's, and they are bigger by nature than a 122 as they can handle a lot more power I think. See below links. Odd that they'd use this to drive a small release coil though... I'd have to check my schematics to verify which one it is on the MPU, but you might be right.

http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/TIP36C
http://www.pinbits.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=15&products_id=184

Not a bad idea to have one or two on hand, as I know I've blown one before on my Trek. BUT FIRST, let's check the easy stuff. If you havn't yet, check the continuity on the two wires going from the backbox to the release coil with a DMM. Just to make sure the wires are still good. Also check they are both seated well in those IDC connectors. Not a bad idea to re-seat them in there. I recently had a coil go out on my Pirates because the wire broke inside the sheathing. Now it took out the associated transistor on mine as well, but yours might not have.

Also, check the switch that the up/down ramp triggers (I think there's one there). There's a possibility that the center crystal triggers the MPU to just activate the up coil regardless, and then the machine doesn't know to activate the release coil because the switch isn't registering that the ramp is up. Note: I'm no expert on this and often trouble shoot and just replace things until I nail it, but, this all sounds good doesn't it?

if the ramp works in the diagnostics mode that would rule out the fet wouldn't it?

"fet"? Boba Fet? Just kidding. I had forgotten that it worked in diagnostic mode. Good catch. I'm kind of thinking that might rule out the transistor then. Obviously the MPU can switch the release coil on and off, right? Unless it's a "fail under pressure/load" issue. I guess it depends on how the diagnostics work then. Pretty sure that coil tests ignor switches. So, perhaps it is the switch then. Ramp goes up and down in test because the coils individualy work fine, but not in game play because the game doesn't know it's up??? And of course I forgot to look at my game last night when I got home...

Hi guys,

Sorry to bring back this very old thread, but I have the exact same issue. I’m a noob here, first pinball for me (I got it 1 week ago), so please can you help me solve this issue, maybe with some basic explanations?

Just to recap: in diagnostic mode the ramp goes up and down correctly. In game mode, when it lift it will not goes down anymore, even between games.

Can you help me? Thanks really a lot, and I’m very happy to be a part of this community

This thread is 8 years old so you prolly wont see much help here. Try asking on the club page, https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/star-trek-25th-data-east-club, or start a new thread.

Thank you @spitfiren8, just solved it. The switch on the coil that moves the ramp had the metal “tongue” misplaced and it was not triggering when the ramp was up. Thanks for pointing me out to the correct forum thread anyway.

Take care