St. Louis, MO
just found myself wondering why williams/bally decided to change from leaf switches to opto switches later down the line. are optos more reliable? cheaper than leaf switches? just curious.
(Topic ID: 78435)
Sana'a
Quoted from vid1900:It was a great solution to a problem that did not need fixing.
+1
It created more of a hassle - IMO.
Optos also allowed designers to create games that you couldn't imagine doing with just leaf switches. For example monitoring the ball through the different ramp shots here on JD: http://ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=1322&picno=7481. And yet JD is one of those games that is very sensitive to opto errors.
Technology advances, creates new opportunities - and new challenges.
viperrwk
Quoted from vid1900:It was a great solution to a problem that did not need fixing.
some funny stuff there!
Quoted from viperrwk:Optos also allowed designers to create games that you couldn't imagine doing with just leaf switches. For example monitoring the ball through the different ramp shots here on JD: http://ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=1322&picno=7481. And yet JD is one of those games that is very sensitive to opto errors.
Technology advances, creates new opportunities - and new challenges.
viperrwk
the magnet field and gumball loader on TZ has opto that fit this description. they probably could still been done with leaf switches, but it might not be as aesthetically pleasing.
Vid, I don't think anyone ever said it was a problem, it's just a different way of doing things and in that it opened up for new opportunities as mentioned here in this thread.
Granted a properly adjusted leaf switch will very seldom if ever need adjustment, optos are still less maintenance and better suited in certain areas.
A couple of things you won't get with optos are finding the switch lever falling off in hard to get places, or the switch needing adjustment because the ball gets stuck there.
Of all my machines I have only had to replace one opto, and that is because I accidentally plugged it into the GI. I am replacing switches regularly.
But I am talking about micro switches, not leaf switches.
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