Hello. I noticed the other day one of the wires connected to my TOM's left center ramp target came loose. I was fairly certain the connection needed to be soldered at the spot where the arrow is pointing. However - after soldering it there, then resoldering it there, I'm still unable to get it to register in a switch test.

Center Target.jpg

The right center target registers fine and it's my understanding both center targets serve as switch 82. It might be difficult to see in the picture, but the diodes for both targets are set with their bands in the same direction (both pointing up).

Seems rather incredible to me that a wire came loose AND my target developed another problem at the same time, but I'm not exactly an expert on this stuff so I'm deferring my limited knowledge to the forum for suggestions.

Hmmm. So you're saying it needs to go here instead?

Center Target Rvsd.jpg

Then the funny thing is I doubt if the switch ever worked, and I would've never even realized it if the wire hadn't come loose. That wire is actually too short to go there.

The switch itself seems fine as I was able to confirm continuity with a multimeter. So is picture #2 the way it's connected for other TOM owners?

Oh man. So based on your setup, the arrow in picture #1 is pointing at the correct spot for the loose wire. However - my other yellow wire still soldered in place is the one that actually needs to be connected to the white wire instead. But - mine has two white wires in that spot and it looks like yours only has one. (??)

Thanks so much for posting that pic! Now if only I wasn't more confused.

Yep your right. While puzzling over my extra white wire I never noticed my diode is in a different spot from yours as well.

Yeah I might just get more wire. (22 gauge I assume?)

Would also still like to know what my extra white wire is for!

Perfect. Thanks again for your photos!

I have an update - rather than wait til Radio Shack opens in the morning to get some new wire I tried a little test. I pulled the center left target out of the playfield to get enough wire length to connect it at the spot marked in my second photo. I didn't even have to switch the diode around - now the switch 82 test works when I press either target. (Eureka!)

Funny how I've owned this machine for about two years and never knew about this problem since both targets share the same switch. Since the center right target worked fine, the game couldn't detect an error from the switch never closing. I'm not sure why anyone reversed the leafs on that target, but that's obviously what happened. (And then they apparently turned the diode around too!)

So not only did you guys help me fix this, your detective work uncovered archeological evidence as to what a previous owner did. Thanks LTG and meSz.