(Topic ID: 258489)

Williams Space Station Tilt Problem

By curban

4 years ago



Topic Stats

  • 9 posts
  • 2 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 4 years ago by curban
  • No one calls this topic a favorite

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#1 4 years ago

I acquired a Williams Space Station recently that occasionally tilts when the ball strikes the left jet bumper. This happens rather infrequently; maybe once every 3-4 games.

I'm a novice at pinball troubleshooting, maintenance & repair, so I don't know which of the following may be relevant:
- I can't tell if it's a plumb-bob, playfield, or slam tilt, but there is no warning before the tilt...so I suspect it is a playfield or slam tilt. When I manually (by hand) activate the playfield tilt switch during gameplay, it tilts exactly like when the game randomly tilts. When I manually activate the plumb-bob tilt switch, I get a warning. When I manually activate the slam tilt switch, nothing happens (the slam tilt does not activate in the switch test either. None of the coin door switches seem to work except the game adjustment/diagnostic switches...fixing these will be my next priority.
- I have put a piece of electrical tape between the leafs on both the playfield tilt switch and the slam tilt switch to ensure that they weren't activating during play...the game still tilts occasionally when the ball strikes the left bumper
- When I acquired the machine a few months ago, I kept blowing F3 when the ball was in the jet bumpers. I replaced the left bumper with a complete assembly. I rebuilt the right and lower bumpers. Aside from the tilt, the bumpers work great and I haven't blown F3 since. It may be worth noting that the switch that came with the jet bumper assembly did not include the leaf switch for scoring (it only included the 'spoon-looking' switch)...so I used the leafs from the old assembly. Scoring works fine. The left jet bumper switch isn't in same column or row as any of the tilts, so I'm doubtful that my rebuild of the leaf switches is the problem (but I'm a novice, so what do I know).
- I couldn't really play the game before replacing/repairing the pop bumpers, so have no idea if the tilt problem was occurring prior to my work on the jet bumpers.

Did I mention that I'm a novice? I have an analog multimeter, but really don't know how to use it effectively. I basically just measure resistance to check continuity.

Would appreciate any troubleshooting tips/advice.

#2 4 years ago

Check your slam tilt. Should be located under the playfield, possibly near that pop bumper.

I just worked on a Space Station, but I don't recall where the slam tilt is located exactly.

#3 4 years ago

I could be wrong, but I believe the slam tilt is on the coin door. The playfield tilt is on the underside of the playfield in the front left corner.
I don't believe the problem is in the switches, as I put electrical tape around the leafs to prevent them from inadvertently activating.

#5 4 years ago

I appreciate the response.
The leafs on both switches have been bent and the gap is pretty big. Additionally, on both switches, I wrapped one of the leafs with insulating electrical tape so the contacts can't possibly close on either switch.

I tested again. 5 games no problem. Got my hopes up. Then sixth game tilted on balls 2 & 3. Of course the tilts happen with no nudging on my part.

#6 4 years ago

Put it in switch test, leave it that way for a little while, see if any switches activate on their own.

Also, try activating the pop bumper switch to see if the tilt switch activates at the same time.

#7 4 years ago

Switch test?!? Don't be ridiculous, why would I run a switch test when I seem to be having switch problems!?!

But seriously, thanks. Quite embarrassing that I couldn't come up with this on my own.

In switch test:
- No switches fire 'by themselves', but...
- When I trigger the pop bumper from the top of the playfield with my finger, every once in a while it will trigger the playfield tilt switch
- When I trigger the pop bumper scoring switch from the underside of the playfield, same thing happens. Tap it 20 times, and the playfield tilt switch will usually trigger at least once
- So, as I mentioned originally, pretty much the only thing I know to do with my multimeter is check continuity. Since a misplaced diode caused me probably 3 weeks of grief trying to figure out my T2 lighting issues, I figured I'd check the diode on the pop bumper scoring switch. It shows zero resistance in both directions! (bad Diode, bad!)

I will replace the diode and see if that solves anything (where the heck do I buy a diode?)...but sadly, this Switch Matrix is a bit too confusing for my Mechanical Engineer's brain...tilt is row 1/col 2 and bumper is row 4/col 8... different row/different column...even if the diode is bad, this shouldn't be causing my tilt problem, should it?

Thanks again SarverSystems...keep the pointers coming especially if you feel I'm going down wrong path with the diode!

#8 4 years ago

I can mail you a diode. But honestly, they're like .001 a piece off Ebay. Get 1N4004 and that will cover you for 1N4001 up to 1N4004.

Let me know if you need me to ship you one.

#9 4 years ago

Thanks for the offer on the diode. As it turns out, the diode is fine. When the diode was in place, it showed continuity in both directions. Once I unsoldered it from the switch assembly, it showed continuity in only one direction...so the problem wasn't in the diode, it was as short between the two sides of the diode.

Evidently the idiot that made the leaf switch assembly from the old pop bumper parts (that was me), assembled the leafs incorrectly and created a short between the two sides of the diode. I've fixed the assembly (or so I think) and reattached the diode. A few games in and the game hasn't tilted yet.

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