on most machines there are a select number of these switch capacitors. haven't checked but do they just install one for a row or column of switches? is there a rhyme or reason for picking said switch.
Only reason I ask is the game I'm working on doesn't have them in places I'd think their needed. Like spinners, slings.
They're used to help particular switches sense quick closures. Some switches may seem intermittent or unresponsive without the cap installed. Most of the time i see them on rollover switches and standing targets. I wouldn't add them to switches that don't have them unless i exhausted every other solution. Have you tried cleaning and adjusting the switches you're having trouble with?
Quoted from frunch:They're used to help particular switches sense quick closures. Some switches may seem intermittent or unresponsive without the cap installed. Most of the time i see them on rollover switches and standing targets. I wouldn't add them to switches that don't have them unless i exhausted every other solution. Have you tried cleaning and adjusting the switches you're having trouble with?
Well answered. My classic example is the 8 Ball target in 8 Ball. If fast hits are not registering, but slow ones are, it’s obvious the cap has a broken leg or something like that.
Yeah, that sounds like the cap is bad. A new one will allow all hits to be registered. Pop bumpers need them too to be super responsive. Good news is they are cheap.
Quoted from frunch:They're used to help particular switches sense quick closures. Some switches may seem intermittent or unresponsive without the cap installed. Most of the time i see them on rollover switches and standing targets. I wouldn't add them to switches that don't have them unless i exhausted every other solution. Have you tried cleaning and adjusting the switches you're having trouble with?
appreciate the response, I'm not having any issues. I was just comparing one of the newer MPU-200 sterns to this older one. Seems like they always used them on the slings and spinners. But then randomly placed them on other targets around the game. Mainly just trying to understand the reason behind it. Was it because a whole row or column that benefits from one switch cap (wired in series) ? or was a there a reason they chose that specific switch. I understand their purpose, which is why I was gonna put them on the slings and spinners of this game. Since they have faster hitting switches.
Started replacing them on my last game, its the only reason I thought to look at placement this time. Remember someone suggesting it as a good idea to replace them, and they brought valid points as to why.
It just lengthens the response on that one switch - not a whole row or column.
I think sometimes they were playing around with where they went in the early days - I've seen some drop banks that have them (unnecessarily) installed from the factory. Usually it's on standup targets or rollovers.
Quoted from slochar:It just lengthens the response on that one switch - not a whole row or column.
I think sometimes they were playing around with where they went in the early days - I've seen some drop banks that have them (unnecessarily) installed from the factory. Usually it's on standup targets or rollovers.
I didn't check.... but it was the only thing that seemed to make sense to me. Just seemed a little sporadic, like one standup had it and the one next it didn't. I should probably go based on a bally next time, these sterns don't really seem uniform. It was the same thing with their type of post placement... random.
thanks, I won't read in to it any further.
Quoted from hocuslocus:Just seemed a little sporadic, like one standup had it and the one next it didn't.
Most likely the capacitor had been previously cut off from that second standup due to it failing (shorting).
The playfield schematics show which switches have capacitors. This example is from Bally Star Trek which has them on standup targets, pop bumpers and star button rollovers where the ball can roll over at high speed.
So check the schematics for your particular game.
Quoted from Quench:So check the schematics for your particular game.
[quoted image]
Well that helped, my theory definitely makes no sense after looking at it.
There were caps on some of the switches that aren't in there though. And I didn't find any remanence of the leads for the old caps some of the star standup's either.
Maybe the line worker had a hangover that day 
.
Untitled (resized).jpg
Oh, it's a Stern Stars. Sterns early manuals/schematics aren't the most accurate..
Besides the five star colored standup targets which are a must, you could add a capacitor to the rollover button in the middle of the playfield to better sense high speed balls and maybe the pop bumper which might otherwise miss scoring.
None of the other playfield switches need them.
Quoted from Quench:Oh, it's a Stern Stars. Sterns early manuals/schematics aren't the most accurate..
Besides the five star colored standup targets which are a must, you could add a capacitor to the rollover button in the middle of the playfield to better sense high speed balls and maybe the pop bumper which might otherwise miss scoring.
None of the other playfield switches need them.
awesome, I will add a few of them then. Yeah I've heard some of these schematics weren't the best. Their parts manual is like a sentence, compared to bally who wrote an essay.
Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.
Great to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!
This page was printed from https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/switch-cap-question?hl=bigal56 and we tried optimising it for printing. Some page elements may have been deliberately hidden.
Scan the QR code on the left to jump to the URL this document was printed from.
Point Pleasant, NJ