ToM Trunk wires twist and brake

Dear fellows, my ToM looks fine and plays fantastic, but suddenly both the green light and the magnet stopped working.
After an inspection, I found out that the cables that run to the trunk were so twisted that they, simply, broke.

I think that the trunk is rotating more clockwise than the opposite, so for every cycle, it accumulates a 1/4 twist. It took three months for the cable to get completely twisted since both the gearbox and motor were replaced. As I bought the ToM right after the motor replacement, I can not say how it was before.

Any guesses?ToM Trunk Cable Twisted.JPG

#2 9 years ago

RAN

Ranhorton

Pinside member

12y 95,550 2,056

There should be a clear, plastic tube that the wires run through. The tube keeps the trunk shaft from grabbing the wires and twisting them up. Here's a link to new wires. The assembly comes with the tube.
http://www.littleshopofgames.com/Games/tom.html

#3 9 years ago

FMV

Inactive member

Ranhorton,

Many thanks for the fast reply. So in your opinion it should be just the lack of a proper tube? I will rebuild the wires and test to protect them with a rigid straw. If it works, I will order the proper and original cable you have pointed.

But I still have the impression that the trunk turns more to one side than to the other...

Regards,
FMV

#4 9 years ago

CAA

caker137

Pinside member

Stillwater, OK

11y 77,400 478 7 68

It absolutely should not turn one direction more than the other, and I agree it looks like that's what yours did. Does it all work fine in the trunk test? If it looses track of which face is forward, it could cause it to turn the wrong way an accumulate a large twist.

#5 9 years ago

O-W

Out-West

Pinside member

Look for the pin inside the trunk which stops a360 rotation, also do trunk test and note carefully which way the trunk is turning, watch display for direction. My new to me TOM had this problem with the wires twisting, found pin missing and new motor installed by matching color (red) which was incorrect and motor was turning wrong direction on cpu signal. Swapped motor leads and cleared all problems with trunk. Basically polarity reversed on the gear box motor is root of the problem.

#6 9 years ago

FMV

Inactive member

Dear friends,

Many thanls for the reply.

As this is my first Pinball, and it was supposed to had gone through a "deep and thoroughly" restoration, I thought everything was double-checked...

To my surprise, maybe the team that serviced the machine so far may have neglected some procedures...

I have changed the wires, and the idea of the rigid straw went better than expected

But while installing the new harness, I noticed a broken collar and didn't see any pin inside the trunk to limit its rotation.

Out-west: do you have any pictures of these details? The limit pin and the colour of the wires that connect to the motor?

I will also find out how to run the trunk test (sorry for my ignorance) and look for any short video showing a healthy trunk behaviour.

Here are some additional pictures of the new wires and the broken collar.

Again, MANY thanks for you all.

Regards,
FMV

Broken Collar.JPG
New Wires 02.JPG
New Wires.JPG

#7 9 years ago

sniffsnerk

Pinside member

Jordan, MN

11y 47,050 80 30

Bay Area or Marco has a replacement for the broken opto dish. That wire around the bottom is a cheap hack. Pinbits also has a excellent replacement opto board. I recently replaced them both.

#8 9 years ago

O-W

Out-West

Pinside member

Just swap the wires on the motor it's self, un solder the two wires, swap them and resolder to the motor. I will look up a picture for the pin. Replace the opto interpreter so you can make sure it is in proper position with relation to the trunk and opto board. The motor stop part is number A-19933,marcos has a picture of it. Under the test menu is test T 16 which allows a test of the trunk rotation.

#9 9 years ago

O-W

Out-West

Pinside member

Pictures of motor stop pin.DSCN4394.JPGDSCN4393.JPG

#10 9 years ago

FMV

Inactive member

Out-West,

Many thanks for the pictures and the advices. For sure I don't have the motor limiter pin. I will order the pin, the opto collar and a new opto board with larger gaps.

Will run the test and, if necessary, also swap the motor polarization.

Will let you know the results!!

Regards,
FMV

#11 9 years ago

WEB

Magic_Mike

Pinside member

Atlanta, GA

11y 56,550 2,985 20

That opto interrupter hack looks like shit and will break again.

Pay the extra $40 and buy the aluminum version that will last you for life.

#12 9 years ago

FMV

Inactive member

Magic_Mike: I have just bought the aluminum version and hope to receive it in the next weeks.

Out-West: I noticed that you have a metal tube that goes up almost to the same level of the trunk. Did you do any modification, or should I have it too? I will buy the pin and a new opto board, as well.

Many thanks to you all.
FMV

#13 9 years ago

DAD

Alphajerk3000

Inactive member

11y 49,900 171

I just had this happen to me and it ended up being the motor control board being whacked. I plugged a new one in and everything went back to normal. Plays like a champ now.

#14 9 years ago

FMV

Inactive member

... so I just added to the Cart a Motor Controller Board, for USD 59,00 too ...

#15 9 years ago

O-W

Out-West

Pinside member

The "metal tube" is part of the gear box assembly, it turns the trunk.

#16 9 years ago

FMV

Inactive member

Yeah, but mine seems to have being cut near the base. Can you see that on the pictures? The guy that sold me the ToM said he did a "complete restoration" ... looks like he just charged me for such work ... the more I pay attention to the details, the more I see that things are messed...

#17 9 years ago

O-W

Out-West

Pinside member

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/if-your-tom-trunk-is-acting-up-clean-the-gear-boxjunk-in-the-trunk

I do not see anything which looks to be cut off. There are a lot of TOM motor/gearbox pictures on the web, check them out. Do you have a manual for TOM. On page 1-50 there is a picture of trunk assembly and page 2-24 a picture with part numbers.

#18 9 years ago

ZOD

Hazoff

Inactive member

Unknown

10y 112K 8,542

That happened to me, pain in the ass I had to get a tech over to help me.

#19 9 years ago

CFL

centerflank

Inactive member

Unknown

11y 165K 13,962 7 206

Might as well clean the gearbox up while you have it apart....

#20 9 years ago

FMV

Inactive member

Out-West,
I noticed that my trunk is way different than what the manual shows!! Lots of hacks. Will get rid of each and everyone.

I just could not find the stop collar, so far...

Centerflank: the gearbox is brand new. It will take a while before having it serviced (I hope).

Many thanks for you all for the support and advice..

Regards,
Felipe

#21 9 years ago

O-W

Out-West

Pinside member

If you have the stop collar, take it with you to a hardware store for a tight fitting replacement pin such as a spring pin..

#22 9 years ago

FMV

Inactive member

... I don't .. the stop collar was changed by 2 nuts!! Those fellas! What a crap restoration!

#23 9 years ago

O-W

Out-West

Pinside member

Marcos has the collar and pin, they call it a roll pin. Check out the picture and you can see what's needed. If you have the trunk assembly out some pictures would help to see what's incorrect or missing.

#24 9 years ago

ESA

stangbat

KC Pins

13y 86,900 3,111 19

I had my trunk twist and break the wires. It also took out a lamp matrix resistor when the wires twisted and shorted and sent the magnet voltage into the matrix. Mine doesn't have a stop pin, didn't even know it was supposed to. Thanks for the info.

#25 9 years ago

FMV

Inactive member

I run the Test N.16 and realised that the motor was, indeed, with the polarity reversed!! After soldering it the right way, everything looked way better... the trunk stop searching around like crazy.
At least, for now, I can play while waiting for all the parts to arrive.

Many thanks for you all!!

#26 9 years ago

O-W

Out-West

Pinside member