Every time I turn my Shadow on for the first time of the day I get the Er. Battle Kicker Opto Not Working. Everything seems to work without issue. In test mode, the switch triggers 100% of the time when I stick my finger or a ball in between the optos. I tried pounding the playfield to see if anything activates but nothing ever does. If I turn the game off and on after activating the switch, the error report does not come up. When lock is lit, the magnet grabs the ball and the wall lower and the ball is pulled in without issue. Any ideas on what could cause this?

20181218_164606 (resized).jpg

Any ideas?

I tested that one as well. It works without issue. The manual is a little confusing with its description as switch 33 and 36 both mention the magnet.

I'll look at it this evening and see if I see anything that sticks out. Is it possible that the kicker, at its normal sitting position, is slightly in the path of the optos? I guess that could make sense. I'll also look at the solder as well.

I definitely use the kicker almost every game.

Also, I've searched the error a bunch but couldn't find something where the optos were actually working but kept getting the error. I'll try to get a look at it tonight or tomorrow.

I didn't get a chance to check last night but definitely will when I get a chance. Thanks for the info.

I checked switch 36 on the battlefield and it worked without issue. I also checked 37 and 38 under the playfield with a business card. They also both worked every time without issue. I'll post some pics this evening and I'll reflow the solder to see if that helps. Any other suggestions. The issue doesn't come up after I turn the game off and on. The next day it always comes up the first time. Odd and annoying but the game plays 100%.

Interestingly enough, I just played a game and when the ball was on the battlefield, the kicker just kept kicking so I'm guessing that is triggered by switch 36 so maybe they are a little flaky.

Here's the pics of the opto. I'm slightly confused with he wiring cause the colors don't agree with the manual and the one wire looks odd. Maybe someone had rewired this but per the manual, I should have black and red wires coming into one of the optos and black and orange coming into the other. In the pics, there is black and gray in one and black and red in the other. The black one looks weird as it's through a tube and has a bare wire wrapped around it. Any clue what that is?

20181221_205854 (resized).jpg

20181221_211450 (resized).jpg

20181221_205839 (resized).jpg

Can someone take a pic of the wiring on the two optos that make up switch 36 on the battlefield?

I did some googling and saw another thread where the shadow had the exact same wiring as mine. It was from 4 years ago. Maybe it is stock. I don't understand the bare wire wrapped around the black wire.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/shadow-battlefield-kicker-optos-not-working

Ok I repinned all 3 of the connectors on the opto board. I reflowed the solder on both optos. Still the same issue. In switch test, you could see the switch opening and closing until I jiggled the wire and then it was fine. Voltages are consistent. I'm guessing a pinched wire or the actual optos. Any thoughts on this? I have some stuff coming but it will probably be after Christmas.

I didn't get around to that. Fyi, regular glass and the spot where it sits does not have a light overhead. There are led's in the game.

I'm starting to notice a trend. I found a new set of optos I had in the drawer so gave those a try everything was resoldered and had new connectors. Turned it on and it said optos still weren't working. Went in test mode and it wasn't working. After a few minutes switch 36 started to open and close about 10 times and then worked without issue after that. Then if you turn the game off and then back on the issue is gone and no error comes up. Fast forward to this morning and the exact same thing happens. Turn it on, error comes up and in test mode the opto won't register at all. So I do absolutely nothing but put in switch test mode. I try to register but it does nothing. I then sit for a few minutes and out of nowhere the switch starts to open and close on its own and then starts to register perfectly. I turn the game off and on and the error is gone and it works perfectly in switch test. It almost seems like it is warming up and then works.....wtf. Does anything explain this behavior?

The opto board has some corrosion on it. I'm guessing this is it.

20181223_084734 (resized).jpg

I had to place an order anyway so just add to the list. At least the game still plays fine while I wait. Glad it makes sense now.