(Topic ID: 47092)

St:tng owners welcome aboard the uss enterprise

By Pinballgeek

10 years ago


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There are 10,264 posts in this topic. You are on page 24 of 206.
#1151 7 years ago

We've played about 20 games on it and it has always worked fine, this just started tonight.

#1152 7 years ago

Random or errant ball launching I would check the trough opto boards first. Seems to be a common cause.

Mine tested good but had solder joint issues. Reflowed everything and it resolved the issues.

#1153 7 years ago

What's weird is that you can play a game fine, everything works and it doesn't randomly launch balls. When the game ends it first says auto ball launch search, then it just keeps launching the same ball over and over.

#1154 7 years ago

Would this be something that could potentially fix the issue?

http://www.johns-arcade.com/product-page/trough-opto-board-7-optos

#1155 7 years ago

It acting like its trying to pre-load the VUK's, but I can't tell from the video if the ball has enough momentum to make it to the subway entry behind the drop target or not, my guess is that it doesn't.

Another clue is if the game is pulling the drop target down before launching the ball, then it's trying to put a ball into the subway.

#1156 7 years ago

I'll put up another video in a minute... The drop target is up though when it does this.

#1157 7 years ago

I'm still working on the replacement option for the 02-4020 posts. Delay has primarily been sourcing good #5-1" P-RH wood screws. I'd like to be able to send out these as post/screw/washer sets so it's ready to install.

Found screws at Marcos for 11cents each in 100qty. Haven't found them cheaper anywhere else. If you know of a source please let me know.

Otherwise, I'll order 100 to start, and keep cutting posts and let you know when I can start shipping these out. Finally got a consistent cutting setup to get me within .010" length after sanding ends and deburring.

#1158 7 years ago

Here is a better video

And another...

#1159 7 years ago
Quoted from Pin_Guy:

I do understand the concern here, but you have both the top wood rails and the slide rails in place, both of these will help prevent the playfield from warping. I would recommend at least installing all of the wiring harnesses while the table is on the rotisserie, the time and aggravation you will save by working on it in this position cannot be overstated.

Great point, will do. I can imagine that wiring the harness up with the playfield in the up position in the cabinet would be a pain. Seeing your playfield swap makes me realize I have a long way to go, lol.

#1160 7 years ago

pcprogrammer your drop target doesn't appear to be working. It could be stuck, or broken, or the damn little wire came loose and and blew up your auxiliary transistor board because I doubt that beautiful near HUO STTNG ever got the tie back wire fix. Hears to hope its not the board. Check the drop target mech and take some pictures. There should be like 3 or 4 (can't remember) wires attached to the coil. Any loose? Any parts look jammed or broken?

#1161 7 years ago

My next recommendation is also to check your target up/target down functionality from the tests menu. If its working fine, please remove all the balls and check that all your optos read closed while in switch edge, feel free to post a picture of the matrix it shows you. When you put the balls back in, drop one into each of the three VUK's, and the remainder three in the trough, recheck the matrix, it should show open switches at 36, 37, 41, 64, 65, and 66. Start a game, it should not eject/cycle balls at this point.

The two switch errors you are showing are likely caused by not making the Delta Ramp shot into the Borg ship, these are common errors to encounter.

#1162 7 years ago

I have an issue on my STTNG where if I reach Final Frontier and lose all but the last ball, the game thinks that all balls have drained, even though one is still in play. My assumption would be that there is an opto issue somewhere, any idea which ones or if it might be another issue?

#1163 7 years ago
Quoted from mavantix:

pcprogrammer your drop target doesn't appear to be working. It could be stuck, or broken, or the damn little wire came loose and and blew up your auxiliary transistor board because I doubt that beautiful near HUO STTNG ever got the tie back wire fix. Hears to hope its not the board. Check the drop target mech and take some pictures. There should be like 3 or 4 (can't remember) wires attached to the coil. Any loose? Any parts look jammed or broken?

I just checked, all the wires were ok. Here's the story. Nothing has ever broke on this machine, except... right before I got it the guy said it was having this issue I believe. One of the wires on the drop target came off and he couldn't figure it out. He replaced the aux transistor board with the rottendog one, but that did not fix the problem because the wire was not connected. He called a pin tech and the guy came over and soldered the wire back and everything worked fine, we've put 20 to 30 games on it and it has worked ok until today. I checked all the wires, none are disconnected right now. I hope the rottendog board is ok?

Quoted from Pin_Guy:

My next recommendation is also to check your target up/target down functionality from the tests menu. If its working fine, please remove all the balls and check that all your optos read closed while in switch edge, feel free to post a picture of the matrix it shows you. When you put the balls back in, drop one into each of the three VUK's, and the remainder three in the trough, recheck the matrix, it should show open switches at 36, 37, 41, 64, 65, and 66. Start a game, it should not eject/cycle balls at this point.
The two switch errors you are showing are likely caused by not making the Delta Ramp shot into the Borg ship, these are common errors to encounter.

I entered switch test mode but wasn't sure how to activate that drop target. This is my first time messing with a pin like this, I might need some hand holding here haha.

#1164 7 years ago

Also I called him and asked if he would give me the old aux board (the original one) but he said he sold it to a buddy of his. So now I just have the rottendog in there. Everything else in the pin is all original. There was probably no backwire mod to fix that, I'm not sure how to do that one. I have a soldering iron, but its been awhile since I used it.

#1165 7 years ago
Quoted from pcprogrammer:

Also I called him and asked if he would give me the old aux board (the original one) but he said he sold it to a buddy of his.

I was just going to ask about that since this board would have been very easy to fix.

#1166 7 years ago
Quoted from Pin_Guy:

I was just going to ask about that since this board would have been very easy to fix.

Yep, that board is gone. Maybe the rottendog board is bad?

#1167 7 years ago
Quoted from pcprogrammer:

Hey guys, first little issue with my sttng. After you play a game (or even when you just turn the machine on) it just launches a ball over and over again. I put a link to the video below. I can start a game and it seems to play fine, just not sure why it is doing that auto launch thing. This ever happen to anyone?
» YouTube video

The game pre-loads balls in each VUK. It's called the "transporter" feature, and they actually patented it. When a ball goes in any hole, it can instantly "teleport" to any of the VUKs because there is already a ball there waiting to be kicked out. If you do a multiball mode, though, that clears out the staged balls. What your game is doing is trying to load up the VUKS with staged balls, but the launch is failing to make it into the hole under the borg ship. There are two potential causes - either the hidden drop target isn't going down, or the launch is too weak (or the launch ramp is misaligned).

In summary, it's normal for the game to launch balls like that, but they need to be getting into the hole behind the drop target, not falling into the pop bumpers like yours is doing.

#1168 7 years ago
Quoted from saber07:

I have an issue on my STTNG where if I reach Final Frontier and lose all but the last ball, the game thinks that all balls have drained, even though one is still in play. My assumption would be that there is an opto issue somewhere, any idea which ones or if it might be another issue?

Sounds like you have 8 balls in the game instead of seven! ( or an option issue, yeah)

#1169 7 years ago

Still a lot a tests away from thinking a board is bad. To run the drop target tests you need to be in test T4 (solonoid Test) this test will allow you to cycle through the different solenoids one at a time, you can also repeatedly test a single solenoid. THe drop target has both up and down solenoids, you are primarily concerned with down.

#1170 7 years ago

Ack, somehow I didn't see the responses to your post about the problem. Yeah, you guys have correctly figured out the problem is the drop target not going down.

#1171 7 years ago
Quoted from pezpunk:

The game pre-loads balls in each VUK. It's called the "transporter" feature, and they actually patented it. When a ball goes in any hole, it can instantly "teleport" to any of the VUKs because there is already a ball there waiting to be kicked out. If you do a multiball mode, though, that clears out the staged balls. What your game is doing is trying to load up the VUKS with staged balls, but the launch is failing to make it into the hole under the borg ship. There are two potential causes - either the hidden drop target isn't going down, or the launch is too weak (or the launch ramp is misaligned).
In summary, it's normal for the game to launch balls like that, but they need to be getting into the hole behind the drop target, not falling into the pop bumpers like yours is doing.

I think you are onto it here. The drop target is not going down, it is trying to load those and it can't

Quoted from Pin_Guy:

Still a lot a tests away from thinking a board is bad. To run the drop target tests you need to be in test T4 (solonoid Test) this test will allow you to cycle through the different solenoids one at a time, you can also repeatedly test a single solenoid. THe drop target has both up and down solenoids, you are primarily concerned with down.

Thanks, I'll try that next. No wires have come disconnected, so would that make it less likely that the rottendog board has blown?

#1172 7 years ago
Quoted from pcprogrammer:

Thanks, I'll try that next. No wires have come disconnected, so would that make it less likely that the rottendog board has blown?

The aux board does drive both target up and down solenoids and you could have a stuck up solenoid...but it can also be a mechanical problem with the target itself. When you run the Target up test, you should hear it fire and release, it also wouldn't hurt to lift the playfield (power off and balls removed) and feel the coils to see how hot they are. CAUTION, if these are stuck on they could be hot enough to burn you.

#1173 7 years ago
Quoted from Pin_Guy:

The aux board does drive both target up and down solenoids and you could have a stuck up solenoid...but it can also be a mechanical problem with the target itself. When you run the Target up test, you should hear it fire and release, it also wouldn't hurt to lift the playfield (power off and balls removed) and feel the coils to see how hot they are. CAUTION, if these are stuck on they could be hot enough to burn you.

Another video... Right at the end of the video it does the up/down test, it doesn't go down. Could the rottendog board have gone bad and that's why the target doesn't go down. You can see in the video that the drop target rattles a bit with each test up/down.

#1174 7 years ago

If it rattles then it's probably not the board, it's probably physically jammed. Take a look at the mech and see if you can raise and lower it by hand.

#1175 7 years ago
Quoted from pcprogrammer:

Could the rottendog board have gone bad and that's why the target doesn't go down.

It could if its locking the Target up coil on, which is likely the case. You can easily prove this by removing the glass, opening the coin door and tapping the target with your finger, it should snap right down.

#1176 7 years ago
Quoted from pezpunk:

If it rattles then it's probably not the board, it's probably physically jammed. Take a look at the mech and see if you can raise and lower it by hand.

This is the first time I've actually messed with a drop target. I had the playfield up earlier, I checked for loose wires and there wasn't any. I couldn't figure out how to force the drop target down though. Can I take the balls out, tilt the playfield up then turn on the game and run the switch test for those drop targets?

#1177 7 years ago

When the target is up, it rests on a tiny ledge and has a spring trying to pull it down, if you tap it it should fall (with power off) if it drops, the problem is electrical, if it doesn't it's mechanical

#1178 7 years ago

I just took the glass off and tried pushing on the drop target from the top of the playfield, it just moved backwards but didn't fall. Should I push on it under the playfield also?

#1179 7 years ago
Quoted from pezpunk:

Sounds like you have 8 balls in the game instead of seven! ( or an option issue, yeah)

That would be nice for an easy fix, but I just did the ball eject and it only has 6 balls installed. Tested a few optos in switch edge and they seemed fine, not able to get to all of them right now though.

There is another problem that I am having which might be impacting it as well and was wanting to see if someone could take a look at their alpha ramp switch. I recently replaced mine, but forgot to pay attention to the diode, so I think I might have it backwards. For orientation, the white/orange wire and anode are at the 'front' of the switch (where the ball would travel through first), green/red wire is soldered to the middle, and the cathode is the rear (exit part of the switch). Sorry if I'm using terrible terminology, somewhat of an amateur with electronics. I've included a picture if that helps. Please excuse my terrible soldering

When I trigger the switch in switch edge (switch 23 made mid ramp), it also triggers switches 33 (under right gun sw2) and 43 (under left lock sw4). So I'm thinking the diode might have been reversed or I got the wires wrong on the switch.

Thanks for help.

switch (resized).jpgswitch (resized).jpg

#1180 7 years ago

Here is a drop target video... I can't get it to go down, not sure how.

#1181 7 years ago
Quoted from pcprogrammer:

I just took the glass off and tried pushing on the drop target from the top of the playfield, it just moved backwards but didn't fall. Should I push on it under the playfield also?

It could be jammed with something, the coil sleeve could be warped from heat and holding the plunger up ... you are going to have to lift the playfield to see whats up.

Here is some information that can help you identify the working parts

Drop Target (resized).jpgDrop Target (resized).jpg
1122 (resized).JPG1122 (resized).JPG

#1182 7 years ago

It looks like your Drop Target Lever is stuck Closed and binding against the plastic target, it should be open like in the pictures I attached.

#1183 7 years ago

Ok, take a look at this video. Is that long metal thin piece a switch? Is that where its supposed to be?

#1184 7 years ago
Quoted from pcprogrammer:

Ok, take a look at this video. Is that long metal thin piece a switch? Is that where its supposed to be?

Yes that the switch actuator and that's whats binding. You can see in the pictures I posted that I cut mine so that it wouldn't be long enough to jam like that. I also used the protective plate to prevent it from moving out of position.

#1185 7 years ago

Good find pcprogrammer! Looks like an easy no-cost fix for you

#1186 7 years ago

oh, I see! So you turned around that plastic plate so it faces the other way? Sorry if I sound like a dummy here, first real pin repair for me. That little metal arm is kinda loose, it has a lot of play in it. Is that normal? How did you cut the arm?

#1187 7 years ago

I just did another video, I'll post it in a sec. The little metal arm has so much play in it. It moves kinda wherever.

#1188 7 years ago
Quoted from pcprogrammer:

That little metal arm is kinda loose, it has a lot of play in it. Is that normal? How did you cut the arm?

it should have some play to it but not super sloppy, you can pull these off and tighten them a little with a pair of pliers, the first one you do is the hardest because they don't want to come off and you have to figure out what works best for you. I use a small scribe to get behind them and pop them off.

To be honest though, if you just flip that plastic piece over, it wont be possible for the switchs' lever to get on the wrong side of the drop targets plastic actuating tab.

I used a pair of wire cutters to cut the actuator arm with, it was fairly easy to cut.

#1189 7 years ago

I just took apart that switch area, just took the 2 screws out. The metal arm just fell off, its like the plastic on the switch won't hold it there anymore. If I squeeze the metal together on the bottom of that metal arm, I am afraid it will be too tight. Maybe I need a new switch?

#1191 7 years ago

I would pull it off and try and and squeeze it a bit to see if it will snap back on, it could just be bent.

#1192 7 years ago
Quoted from pcprogrammer:

I just took apart that switch area, just took the 2 screws out. The metal arm just fell off, its like the plastic on the switch won't hold it there anymore. If I squeeze the metal together on the bottom of that metal arm, I am afraid it will be too tight. Maybe I need a new switch?

Take the metal arm off, bend in the two eyelids, put back on. Done.

#1193 7 years ago
Quoted from Djshakes:

Take the metal arm off, bend in the two eyelids, put back on. Done.

It really is just that easy.

#1195 7 years ago

Thanks so much for helping Pin_Guy, and anyone else that gave me some tips. My first little repair. I did not end up cutting that metal piece yet. I will monitor it and see how it goes, I did turn around the clear plastic piece though to stop the metal arm from catching again.

For another day - I need to do this ground mod thingy... I have no clue, I would need a little step by step help with pics if possible. I have a soldering iron and some solder, that's about it. I'd have to pick up some wire I suppose, not sure what kind. I don't want to risk blowing out that rottendog aux board.

#1196 7 years ago

This thread turned awesome, Pin_Guy helping the newborn pin owner pcprogrammer realize his undiscovered passion for pinball repair!!

Shameless plug: Pints and Pinball podcast, we actually covered this topic in Ep. 1 and 2. Repairing STTNG, discovering new optos weekly, and learning pin repair because you bought one. Haha

#1197 7 years ago
Quoted from pcprogrammer:

For another day - I need to do this ground mod thingy... I have no clue, I would need a little step by step help with pics if possible. I have a soldering iron and some solder, that's about it. I'd have to pick up some wire I suppose, not sure what kind. I don't want to risk blowing out that rottendog aux board.

Find out if the rottendog board is susceptible to the same flaw, I dunno if it has any upgraded logic to protect its transistors? Probably not... I bookmarked a good link on the tie back fix, I'll have to find it.

#1198 7 years ago
Quoted from mavantix:

This thread turned awesome, pin_guy helping the newborn pin owner pcprogrammer realize his undiscovered passion for pinball repair!!
Shameless plug: Pints and Pinball podcast, we actually covered this topic in Ep. 1 and 2. Repairing STTNG, discovering new optos weekly, and learning pin repair because you bought one. Haha

Thanks! Did you cover that grounding mod in the podcast? I would need my hand held a bit on that one. Funny thing, I've owned 6 pins total now and never repaired any of them. I bought a Space Invaders and sold it quick because it was a beater that needed a ton done to it and I didn't have the patience for it on a pin a didn't enjoy really. I bought a star trek pro and woz and got rid of both. Actually sold ST Pro and traded my WOZ + some cash for MET Pro and STTNG, couldn't be happier. I did enjoy WOZ, but needed a change. I also own a Stargate and never had to fix anything yet on it.

#1199 7 years ago

I'd have to say, out of the 6 pins I've owned the STTNG is by far my favorite. I could be in a honeymoon phase right now with it, but I've owned enough pins now to know what I really like and dislike. I did like the ST Pro somewhat, but I grew up with the original cast of STTNG as a kid and loved the show, I am a huge fanboy of STTNG.

#1200 7 years ago

Going to head to bed now... one more question. So shorting out that aux board happens because one wire falls off one of those coils and somehow shorts it out? Just curious, I knew this was an issue with STTNG, and I assumed it hadn't been done to this one, so I'll have to tackle it somehow. Maybe I can pay someone local to come do it quick for me, it sounds easy from the little I've read on it?

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