I did mine too, and it makes a big difference. The ball tends to stay in the castle loop when shot, instead of bouncing out most of the time. All I did was to slide the pf out a bit, hooked a finger under the middle of the upside-down-U-shaped wire at the top of the loop, and pulled upward to bend it up a bit. Would not have thought to do this on my own, and interesting that it fixes the bounce-out problem so well...

1) I remember reading how to do it somewhere, but no longer remember.

2) Part of the design. There is a slight bend in the right hand metal guide under the munchkin playfield that causes this. Some people have tried to straighten the guide but it is like this on all the machines.

3)Normally the loop awards a letter, but if you have all the rescue letters lit, the "search" insert in the loop turns green and the big insert in front of the door turns yellow. To rescue Dorothy and start Rescue multiball you have to hit the doors a few times causing them to open then put the ball into the saucer behind the doors. If you hit the loop when the insert is green you will get a virtual ball lock, and the rescue letters must be collected again before you can rescue Dorothy, but when you do it will be a three ball multiball. Rinse and repeat for up to a five ball Rescue multiball.

4) The Crystal ball shot can be tough, but I don't notice an unusual amount of rejections (unlike the search loop on the castle playfield before I adjusted the metal guide wire).

A subtle adjustment on the castle mini-pf. Shots to the top/right loop often bounce out on some games (like mine). The easy fix (no tools needed!) is to hook your finger under the wire lane guide at the top, and pull up on it gently to bend it upwards a bit. Helps to guide all good shots through the loop instead of bouncing out!

For those who missed it, fixing the search loop just requires pulling up on the wire guide at the top of the castle pf right loop to bend it upwards a bit. I had a lot of bounce-outs here and this fixed it like a charm.

Regarding the plunger issue, try loosening the nuts attaching the plunger to the cab just a bit, so it is held on firmly but can be moved. Then move it slightly and take some test plunges until you get a clean plunge, and tighten it in that position. (This works for any game that may have an off-center plunger, of course.)

No shit.....well, my strategy up there is going to change.

Words to the wise for people getting new machines. I have had to adjust the following items on my machine so far.

Tighten all screws on coil stops of all flippers

Make sure witch optos are aligned properly, the "screw" that the witch is on was grinding on one of mine and I noticed out of the blue yesterday. Had to bend it around to get it to align properly.

Make sure your house is calibrated properly. The feet on mine werent coming out at the proper 90 degree angle.

Im also having some issues with my sound. The little 1/8" mini plug that comes out of the chassis in the bottom of the cabinet seems to be loose or something. I had to kind of wiggle it during test to get the speech to sound right. It was sounding like it was really far away before. I need to open the chassis really...I just havent felt like digging that far.

Honestly, I love this game, but I cant believe how much I have had to do to a $10,000 machine out of the box.

Hey "failure to kill the witch" WOZ owners. I just found out my witch switch was not registering all the time so your's might be out of whack too. Next time you have the glass off put it in switch mode and toss a ball into the switch. I didn't see any real way to adjust except to bend two metal tabs which I did and 'seemed to fix the problem.
The witch should say something every time you hit her in hurry up mode - mine only registered about 1 in 4 times. Now she's much better.

Thanks I'm going to blame the fact that I've never killed the witch on this and try the adjustments you suggested. However, it might just be I'm not good enough yet to kill her, but there have been times it did seem like so shots might not have registered.
Maybe it will be obvious when I look, but how much and in what way, did you bend the two metal tabs?

You have to remove the witch. You'll see 2 metal tabs (rather thick) that are the switch stops. Bend the stops away a little at a time but I'd say about 1/16 of an inch will do it. Check with JJP first as there might be a much easier and correct way to do this.

To remove witch remove the 2 nuts to the plastic witch cover on the upper playfield. Then remove the 2 screws below - be careful with the plastic posts as they tend to migrate to WOZ neverland. You have to remove the 2 screws anchoring the led light as well on the underside.

Mine is super sensitive now - much better! But again I just winged it - you might want to check with JJP first

If it is the normal issue it is not the apron. It is the ball guide at the top of the trough which has been documented here. I had to bend mine (slightly) and haven't had an issue since.

Originally I was thinking the above but based upon watching the ball get ejected from the trough I was seeing it deflect appropriately and then hitting the side of apron just to the right of that. So if I were to bend it outward more that would only worsen the problem. That led me to think the below...

So far, a single washer to move the right side of the apron forward about 1/16" seems to have resolved the issue!!! Will of course be doing "more testing" in the near future

Sure is. I've got mine set to 3 balls as well but am liberal on the extra ball settings. Just set another new high yesterday which was 2.3 Mil. Just about got to SWOTR. Had 7 of the diamonds but just couldn't get the Mega jackpot on Rescue to get that diamond. I still have yet to get a mega jackpot.

The new code that's being tested really gives you the opportunity for higher scores. The add-a-ball feature keeps your multiballs going much longer than before. When you stack a Haunted and/or Munchkin mode with a multiball, there's the potential for scoring great bonus points. Throw in a Crystal Ball mode and you're points are doubled. I've had a bonus of over 350K and I've heard others claim bonuses in the 1 Mil range.

I also just recently moved the post on the left outlane which has helped keep balls in play longer. I was getting frustrated with balls just falling into that vacuum sucking lane. I probably averaged one tilt per game just trying to nudge the machine to prevent that from happening. Now about 50% of those hit the rubber on the post and bounce back into play. Had to bend the metal ball guide just a bit to be able to move it to the outer most hole. I know the purists out there probably cringe at my easier-than-factory settings but it's the only way I'll ever be able to achieve SWOTR.

The only thing I had to adjust was the lower switch for the monkey. Basically, he didn't come down far enough to lock on the ball and he would drop it half of the time. Just had to bend the lower switch arm so the monkey came down a hair farther.

Make sure the switch is firmly attached first. You'll see a metal tab extending from the upper and lower switch. The monkey presses against the tab which
In turn presses the switch. You need to bend the upper switch away from the monkey so monkey must travel further to activate the switch

Or the wire guide is too low...gently bend it up so it is higher. Never heard of an air ball like that!

Default should be fine and I've never seen that happen either. Pimp77 may have the answer. You needed to bend the outer wire up on early WOZ's to keep the ball from bouncing around and getting rejected in the search loop.

Anyone ever have an issue where all the light boards stop working after the game sits in attract mode for a good chunk of time? Turned the game on yesterday to play but got side tracked. Came back after the game sat for probably 20 minutes and none of the boards were on. I had to reboot the game to get them working.

E: Also, I've noticed that the strength of my VUK's changes throughout the game. Any idea what would cause that? Crystal Ball VUK once shot the ball around the bend and onto the playfield. Recently, it popped the ball up and barely made it.

I can only go by my experience on this amazing game, others are welcome chime in with their adjustments.

The game is very fast for the 1st 50 games. It will settle down after that and adjustments are more meaningful.
I'm waxing/cleaning every 150 plays or so with wizards mist and shine (JJP uses it on the playfields before shipping), Novus 1 on the ramps and plastics, for now and have 1200 plays. I just recently waxed using PS21 since 1000 grand wax is hard to get for now.

I have my pitch at 6.5 measured from several places around the PF, and took an average.
I upped the lower flipper power by 2 or 3. If you are getting air balls off glinda, either put dead foam behind the target or go down a notch at a time until it stops.
On a clean hit to the ramp, from a cradled position, from either flipper, the ball should easily go up the ramp then slow down a bit after it makes it to the top.

Also make sure the flipper rubber is more towards the top of the flipper bat, this will stop air balls off the flipper on all of them.
I'm using the STC standard flipper rubber still on this game. I might put on the super bands, we'll see how they play.

The castle PF flipper should not be too agressive, it makes it hard to manage the door bounces and loops.
I settled about the default plus one maybe.

I upped the Dorothy flipper a couple and the munchkin flipper 1 or 2. I like the munchkin flipper to do 2 loops on a perfect hit, more than that is unnecessary.

The VUK's needed to be adjusted up a couple notches. Especially the crystal ball one, If the ball bounces out of the wire-form then you go down a bit.

The cross-over wire-form on my game needed tweaking to keep the ball on track (the ball would fall off in a high speed hit). It had a small bend in it that I removed. I also twisted it a tiny bit so that the upper wire was more level and perhaps slightly lower than the lower wire (used a crescent wrench with a towel around the wires to prevent scratching for twisting/bending and some firm hand bending).

Watch the game a bit and see if one of the outlanes favors another and check the left to right level. Or roll a ball down the center and see if it goes fairly straight (hard to do with the roll overs in the way).

I'm sure there is more, this is just off the top of my head.

Now I look at the video frame by frame, it looks like it's actually rolling / bouncing out from inside of the rubber edge. Seems that when the motor jerks to a stop the ball moves to the left then releases, hits the wireform on the left of the captive area giving it enough momentum to bounce & roll up the foam. So I want the monkey to move slightly less far.

Edit: had to put quite a bit of extra bend in the switch - the mech is now stopping 3-4mm further back than it was before along the runner, ball feed is really clean now. I'd still like to know what orientation people have on their magnets as this seems like something that wouldn't be a problem if the magnet was turned 90 degrees.

Most all of the switches have some adjustment in them. For some it is just a matter of bending the actuator arm just a bit. I would first check to make sure the switch is not loose, and then check the arm to see if you can bend it outward a bit. (not sure what that switch looks like off the top of my head)

I've got WOZ all set up now but man....there are some problems straight out of the box. The "RAINBOW" lights don't seem to be working right. They randomly flash different colors and make it impossible to know what targets to hit during There's No Place Like Home. This usually happens with vibrations from coils firing (see attached video link below). The wizard of oz clear plexiglass doesn't light up at all. The monkey drops the ball about half of the time right after he picks it up. The ball got wedged under the upper castle wall because there was not enough clearance when entering the loop. The diverter is rubbing against the plastic ramp creating a visible scrape mark. The screen went black when I was in the menu and didn't come back on until I reset the game (this was after updating to the most recent code). Oh, and the freaking right flipper button fell off during a game.

I fixed the castle wall by putting a piece of foam under it to prop it up a bit. After updating to the newest code, the monkey hasn't dropped the ball yet. Not sure if that's just a coincidence or not. I'm sure I can bend the diverter so it doesn't rub anymore and I obviously put the flipper button back on but still, for a $9500 game you would think these problems wouldn't occur the first time you play it.

Can anyone tell me what to do about the RAINBOW light and Wizard of Oz light not working?

Absolutely LOVE the game by the way...just a little annoyed with these problems that shouldn't exist with a brand new game.

Thanks!

Thanks for the suggestion. I think I will redo the little bit I already did. I started doing this as a "temporary" measure in a couple spots when I noticed what was happening, but perhaps I should cover the whole area where any powedercoat contact is possible. Still working on getting the lockdown bar to not "wiggle" and yet be able to lock in place. It seems that if I get it solid so it won't wiggle, it doesn't latch properly and/or starts to bend the latch bar underneath. If I loosen it a bit so that it does latch properly, then it wiggles. Frustrating. Also still working on getting the alignment right - lockdown bar is still too far to the right (need to shift mechanism to left) and toward the player (no idea how to handle that one?).

I wonder too if I could use some more of that foam material they place on the underside of the lockdown bar. Does anyone know where to get that? Part of mine did not seem applied quite right, and I also wonder if a little better coverage might help this issue as well.

This one is probably easy, happened on mine. There's a switch on the bottom of the target that detects whether the winkie is up or down. When down, a little tab on the target presses down on the switch. Most likely, you'll just need to bend switch leaf up a bit so the target pushes on it a bit more. Alternatively, it could be a bad switch or wire worked loose. Go into the test for coils, and find the winkie target reset (up) test, and see if that resets it.

The very first time you open a playfield is pretty intimidating, but it's easy and, get used to it. Despite having a little flap to protect the balls in the trough, remove them. I wonder if there's a video of lifting the playfield as that's the easiest place to start? Try to keep the playfield straight as it's easy for things to catch on the sides...

Check that the wires are still plugged onto the coil that fires the drop target.

Check that the attachment screws that hold the switch on, are still there and snug but not super tight. Overtightening the screws will cause the internal mechanism of the little switch to bind.

Manually actuate the drop target and listen for the click of the switch, up and down. Or manually actuate the switch and listen for its click sound to get a feel for it.

A properly adjusted switch will click just before the metal plunger hits the stop and doesnt bend the arm of the switch to much.
Adjust the stop as neccessary.

If the screws have fallen out they are 2/56 screws by about 5/8" I think.

If the screws are missing, check inside the cabinet with a magnet and you will find them.
Also look for anything else that might be loose under the playfield and tighten as neccessary.

Any loose wood screws you find should be backed out and re-inserted with titebond glue on the threads.
Any loose machine screws should be glued in with blue loctite, NOT RED.

The switch should have 2 screws in it. It will work with only one but it will rotate once in awhile and lose contact with the plastic actuator on the drop target itself.
The whole switch assembly is made so that you can move the switch a little to get it to work just right.

You have to pull the playfield forward.... the screw/motor mechanism that makes the monkey travel is located on the backside of the playfield back board. You'll see a switch at the top and a switch at the bottom...which tells the game the when the monkey is at the castle or at playfield level. Little bending adjustments to those switches will give the monkey more or less travel.

If the problem is your bottom switch, you'll need to bend it so that that switch gets triggered earlier. Do adjustments in small increments...test... rinse, wash, repeat. Hopefully that will work!

Answered my own question. Yeah, it is those two screws. Now it makes sense: remove the screws, that allows the metal plate to slide out, which then frees the plastic tube. For whatever reason I was thinking the plastic tube was screwed in.

Also, I had no problem replacing that 1 1/4 rubber once the tube was removed and removing the accessible nuts. You have to bend the plastic as there are some hard to reach nuts (without removing the upper playfield) but only a little clearance was needed.

Under the munchkin huts, check both coils for cold solder joints.
Even if they look ok, re-flow the solder joints on the coil tabs.
Test it in the service menu afterwards, it should work 100%.

If it still seems weak, bend the metal tab under the coil up a little.

Could need a little tweaking. The little nose below the coil, bend it up a tiny bit so the metal plate holding the arm is closer to the coil and gets grabbed better.

LTG : )

325574-i (resized).jpg

Dude,
I think we all have empathy for your situation. This could have been anyone of us in your situation and I think it puts a damper on potential future sales to hear stories like this. Just to be clear I don't know you but I believe you. If what you say is true (and I think it is) you should out that distributor by name and help the rest of us avoid getting abused like you did. It seems to me that this huge disti needs a wake up call. They should have sent you what you ordered or made it right not just moved whatever they had in the warehouse and then leave it to JJP. JJP should be concerned about this kind of shoddy business practice as well. This machine is super pricey you shouldn't have to bend over when you are paying that kind of dough.

- whew - wipes sweat from brow and waits for heart rate to return to normal.

There are two very positive things here:
First, once the dust clears you are going to have an amazing pinball machine that will give you years of enjoyment.
Second, JJP takes care of its customers. I don't know of any manufacturer that will work harder to get your game fixed and keep it running than JJP. Great games, great service, great company.
Second, part 2 you have LTG who is an amazing and tireless resource.

You have one right there. Small, thin flat nosed pliers. Bend a loop over the broken end. Hook it back up. Back in business.

LTG : )

Broke spring. Flat nose pliers in last loop, bend over 90 degrees. Fixed good as new.

LTG : )

broke (resized).JPG

fix (resized).JPG

goodasnew (resized).JPG

I had to replace the right door motor recently at about 5000 plays.
It didnt burn out, the armature became loose inside the motor.

When this happens it explains the "weakness" that the motors exhibit after a time.

The new motor had the shaft flattened to avoid spinning in the door shaft like the early ones did if slightly loose from vibration.

this also explains the squealing or grinding noise that accompanies this fault even though the doors are properly adjusted and not loose on their motor shafts.

After replacing the motor and upon re-assembly and testing, the ball would push the right door past the latch and leave it slightly open.

Bashing the left door will release it of course and the software fix will fix it on the next ball but the door is out of service until it becomes properly latched again.

Solving the right door latch problem:

I called frank and he was adamant about adjusting the "finger" or adjustment tab on the latch plate coil.
He was right.

Proper door height adjustment, while super important, is less important than the little finger-like adjustment stop above the latch plate.

Door height is easy to adjust. There should be about 3/32" between the door shaft and the motor. You can use a drill bit or an allen key as a spacer to get them uniform.

If the door is too high the switch actuator will scrape on the wood.
If its too low the doors will scrape on the latch plate. The slightest scraping and the door will not close as it only has the spring to pull it back into position.

So basically just set them so that they have plenty of clearance from both sides of the switch actuator.

Latch plate adjustment:

You can only get to it with the double door assembly removed from the castle playfield. Its easy to adjust with a big screwdriver to lift the stop and maybe a 5/16 nut driver to bend it down again.

On my game the "finger" is bent about 7 degrees upward. Ultimately the angle of the "finger" will match the angle of the latch plate as it gets hit repeatedly. This will cause the latch plate to rise upwards slightly and possibly interfere with the door switch actuator.

This is not particularly problematic as there seems to be plenty of clearance over-all if it does bend.
With the latch raised in its upward location the switch actuator should rest at least 3/4 of the way down in the latch channel.
If the doors are already adjusted properly, adjust the "finger" on the latch plate stop to make this happen.

If the latch plate is too low the ball can push the door switch actuator past the latch, and result in the door being locked behind the latch and not closing all the way.

As the game ages the double door stop pad ( manual page c-38 #19 part number 25-3000-00) will wear at an angle.

This will make an angled ramp that the door switch actuator will use to lower the latch and sneak past.

So, if you can firmly tap the right door and get it to push past the latch, the rubber door stop pad is worn out.

The coil and latch is held on with a single screw, it will have to be removed to change the rubber door pad.
Use blue lock-tite on reassembly, you dont want to remove everything if it comes loose. Although you can reach it sorta with the castle playfield installed if you know what your looking at.

The pad only wears about 1/4" off of either side at the top mostly.
I didnt have a replacement handy so I cut it off with a razor knife, and rubbed off the old adhesive from the latch and the rubber pad.

I cut the pad in two and rotated the pieces to get a fresh edge on the top, then glued the pieces back on with CA gel. A thin layer of 5 min epoxy would also work.

Properly adjusted and with a fairly new door stop pad on the latch you should not be able to twist the door shaft past the latch at all, the door shafts should rebound easily with no scraping and nothing should be binding.

I reassembled the game and the doors work flawlessly, better than new.

You can bend the outer part of the RCA connectors for a tighter fit (both inside and outside the metal box) I also added a pull tie to sort of stabilize all the cables coming out of the back of the metal box-not too loose or too tight. I haven't had any troubles since.

Two things:

1. my shaker is starting to sound "squeeky" when it activates. haven't lifted the PF yet to look, but if there are any known spots to check or tighten let me know.

2. for me, the one annoying shot has always been the crystal ball, i'd say 75% of the time I get a reject. Any tweak, bend or fix to be done to help?

Been playing it alot more since the 6.5 release, such a nice polished game.

Sorry for the simple question, but googling or searching Pinside brings up a zillion false positives.

What exactly does the crystal ball do for gameplay?

Also, I'm about 6'4" and I had to bend down to see the ball's video. Is it adjustable?

... Altan

I don't know. I would have thought they work with any game that you put lighted flipper buttons in. I doubt it would be difficult to cut them with kitchen scissors if they are too big.

Maybe PM Wolfmarsh.

I also suspect there is probably something available at the hardware store that has a 90 degree bend that would work after cutting a little. I personally have been using one side of a piece of velcro for my games. Velcro is not perfect but does significantly reduce the light bleed.

LOWER the power as far as you can still getting the ball up far enough and also bend the tab at the exit of the popper.

lower the power as low as it wiil still serve the ball , bend out the diverter about 1/16" (open the gap a bit).
Then adjust the power up again 1 or 2 clicks.

This worked for me and has been flawless ever since.

I find that the metal gets bent and you will eventually run out of adjustment room and have to bend the mech back into place every 200 or so plays.

The small plate under the coil stop works most of the time but the other day had to bend the entire assembly down to get balls to lock. LTG pointed out this fix a few years ago with regards to the coil bracket.

The nose circled in red. Bend up a little so the metal plate the arm is riveted to is closer to the coil.

LTG : )

woz ball lock nose (resized).JPG

here is the last time I see the pic pop up:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/woz-fan-club-members-only/page/68#post-3622082

If you pull the glass and put a ball up the ramp and into the lock, see where the ball rests against the lock arm. The front has a bit of a lip, if its sitting just under the ball, more balls and the steeper incline can some times be too much for the coil magnet to pull up. You can tweak this by bending the lower bracket (that it rests on) up slightly (so that the bottom of the lock arm is a bit closer towards the middle of the ball). The first time I did this I brought it up too much and the balls wouldnt stop/catch (so I would start with just a tiny bit, it may take a few rounds and you'll want to test it before putting glass back on). I just used some slip lock pliers to carefully do the bend. Havent had to play with it since.

WackyBrakke has it, you just need to see which switch is too sensitive and adjust it (just bend it slightly to that the contacts are a little further apart).

Something that might help. That whole assembly is mounted to a piece you can bend forward or back. Get it working right, then bend forward or back to set the front of the arm to the right height for the balls.

LTG : )

Update:

i took LTG's advice and re-examined the assembly as a whole.

The lockdown bar is one piece that fits in below the coil.
There is a point on it that has a slight bend just above the metal adjustment tab below it.

I straightened the bend in the lockdown bar plate slightly and now get another 2mm of travel height.

Being more scientific at this point I took some measurements:

Measuring from the plastic surface of the ramp to the bottom of the hooked end of the lockdown bar:

12mm is too low and may not release the balls correctly
16mm is too high and may allow fast running balls to escape.

13.5 mm to 14mm seems to work well enough.

With the lockdown bar completely raised, measuring from the ramp surface to the bottom of the lockdown bar hook:

1 1/8" is too low the ball stays trapped (the ball itself is 1 1/16")

1 1/4" + or - a couple 32nds semms to work well enough and may rub on the 3rd ball but will not stop it.

The rest is just timing adjustments from the service menu:

ball one = 220 to 235
ball two = 216 to 225
ball three = 220 to 235

So I have it dialed in again and posted some measurements for others who might become lost or confused by this.

Thanks Lloyd for the insight! Hopefully meet you at TPF

You can bend the nose of the part holding the diverter closer to the relay so it pulls in easier. And then that whole diverter/relay assembly is on a piece of metal that you can bend the whole shebang back a little to get the proper spacing between the end of the arm and the ramp.

LTG : )

325574-i (resized).jpg

woz ball lock nose (resized).JPG

yeah I had the same issue with mine. If you pop the bottom panel off there are noise isolaters (little black box, under the silver panel) for the sound. I was told to try to take that out. ( i didn't)
Also I did upgrade the RCA audio cables. In my other games this makes a difference when I have issued like this. Getting an RCA that is a little better quality can make a huge difference most of the time, especially if your picking up ground noise.

Seems like a lot of people put those crappy monoprice RCA's in. they look good and thick, but they kind of suck. you can tighten the end of the RCA's so the connection is a little more secure. just get needle nose and slightly bend in the rca enough to where it will still attach to its mating connection but to where it more secure.

forgot that I did attempt a fix before I brought it home. I haven't heard it pop in a long time.

It can be really tight.

Similar connectors on cars shrink with age and are difficult to budge.

Make sure you release the latch on the connector completely or bend it high with a screwdriver or cut it off if it's misshapen.

On some I have had to hold one side with channel locks and wiggle the other side until it breaks free.

Some testing done:
- flippers were ok according to the test, both switches on both flippers registered.
- I noticed that the slingshots were dead as well
- I tested magnets as well (coils-test --> put on repeat), it seems they are dead as well
- I checked fuses F702 and F708, but both gave the peep and I also tried to bend the fuse holders a bit to a more closed position to tighten their grip, but it was no help. F702 seems like the likely culprit, but did not help to tighted the holder and the fuse gave the beep.

It may then be some connector, I visually checked and did not notice any loose connectors. This might be a more difficult fault to hunt down.

It moves freely and I did loosen the 2 screws and adjusted the switch body like you said and now it works perfectly. Now it is going to be much harder to rescue Dorothy. Thanks for all the help. One more simple question. My inlane sensors( metal wires that are raised) sometimes get stuck down after the ball rolls over them. I noticed that on my other pinball games they are very straight up and down but woz they bend in. It is as simple as bending them with my fingers as to straighten them or should I do something else?

IMG_7488 (resized).JPG

IMG_7489 (resized).JPG

You can bend them. But from the top isn't going to work. Then you'd be better off and remove the bracket they are on and lower them and then bend as needed and reinstall. Careful so you don't effect the flat part that pushes the tiny knob into the switch body.

That wireform part of the switch sticking up should be nice and straight up and down, not leaning to either side. And centered in the slot they go through the playfield in.

LTG : )

just wondering if anyone has seen this problem. About 1 out of every 10 games the ball doesn't make it onto the upper castle play field. The VUK fires fine and the ball enters the wireworm, but actually comes through the wire form and bounces back onto the main play field. Its odd to me that the ball would actually fit through the wire form but it does (right at the 90 degree bend).

Does the target raise and lower in test?

Is it assembled correctly i.e. not missing an e-clip and washers on one of the attachment posts?

Retraction spring getting weak?

You can give the spring more tension by just re-hooking the spring a 1/4" lower than the end loop within the spring itself.

Is it binding on something (playfield, wire underneath etc.)?

You can gently pull the whole mech forwards (bend it) toward the front of the game a little bit at a time until the target part stops rubbing on the playfield.
Adjust the nut on the bottom if the target protrudes above the playfield surface after bending it

Take a look and report what you find.

The coil was getting hot from working too hard and being energized too long.
The smoke was from the coil wrapper heating up.
Over all coils are pretty robust, you are probably ok since you noticed it and turned it off.

Carefully check around the area for any wires that may have melted together, if none found your still probably ok.

The drop target (black plastic piece of the assembly) is binding on the playfield you say?
This would cause the coil to work too hard and heat up.

With the playfield on its service rails and the rubber feet on the lockbar receiver.
Reach underneath the playfield and grab the whole drop target mechanism in your hand and either push it back or pull on it forwards until the black plastic piece no longer rubs on the playfield.

In your case since you report that its rubbing on the rear of the target, push the entire mechanism back maybe an inch or until the target is free. Its ok if the mech runs at an angle when done its designed for this, its ok to bend this mech.

Raise the playfield and carefully lean it back against the backbox head. Dont move the game around with the playfield in this position, it could fall.

With the power off test that the target raises and lowers with very little resistance and rubs on nothing.

Make sure the spring on the side of the black plastic piece is hooked on and retracts the target efficiently.
You can press on the brass colored piece with the little finger on it to manually knock the target off its metal ledge, the target should snap back into place if its working properly.

This is the factory method to resolve the rubbing issue.

Try to determine if its just the black plastic piece that is the culprit and not the plunger part inside the coil.

I believe I know what the problem is but I don't know how to fix it. When I push down on the brass metal bracket it is getting stuck down in that position which does not allow the target to retract (see video).In the video, it pops back up, but most of the time it stays stuck down. I feel like the little brass arm that pushes down on the black bracket underneath is getting stuck on it somehow. Do i bend that little brass arm going down to fix it? I don't know. I assume the coil causes the bracket to push down in witch mode to cause the target to retract. I assume I am not having problem during regular play and only during witch mode is that the coil/bracket has nothing to do with retraction of the target when the ball hits it during regular gameplay. Lloyd, you have any thoughts on how to do this? I assume the coil overheats because it is staying stuck down.

IMG_7535 (resized).JPG

If just the end loop broke off, grab another loop off the spring, bend it out and reattach it to the mech.

It's not too critical as far as tension.

Unfortunately no.
Its pinned by the attachment bolts.

You might be able to slot out the mounting holes to twist it slightly in one direction.

The other direction it hits the wireform.

Maybe warp the mounting plate?
To bend it up for taller players?

I just hunch down to read it.

I know that people say it's a dumb toy with no info on it, but I use it a lot.

Do you have a shooter lane rail cliffy?
Pay attention while a ball is ejected out of the trough into the lane. Is it bouncing back into the trough sometimes? If so, the ball is landing back on top of the next ball. The shooter lane switch doesn't see a ball so the trough VUK fires 2 balls up into the lane. I had this same exact problem on my MET. I ended up having to bend the ball deflector down (towards the plunger) just a hair. This changed the trajectory just enough to prevent the ball from bouncing back into the trough. Problem solved.
Hope this helps.
Nick

Folks, what has been some of the ways to fix the release of balls from the munchkin lock?

I think that I have tried everything.

IE: bending the small resting tab underneath the lock bar which holds the balls back (the lock bar which raises and lowers with the coil). I have bent this down and up, both in varying amounts. Basically resulting in the arm letting the first ball through and the arm sitting on top, or slightly top front of the next ball, or letting them through. Note: if I bend the tab to allow the arm to almost sit on the plastic subway then the first ball seems to cup into the backside of the face of the arm and the coil won't pull up the arm. I have put tape across this opening to see if the position of the arm solves the release of multi-balls but it does not.

There is a coil setting for the release timing of balls 1,2 and 3 when locked and releasing them for multiball. I don't believe that has anything to do with what I need. That would just allow you to wait between releasing the balls.

I think that the pitch of the pin is ok. Not sure what else to try. This makes it bad (unfair) for a multi-player game of course.

In order to get the lock bar to work properly you first have to make sure its tightly mounted.
the tolerances are so close that loose screws really affect it.

Under the hut plastic the the top screw on top of the ball lock solenoid assembly is generally not tight.
You might notice this because the lock bar can move side to side in the ramp when it should be firmly mounted.

Tighten the big silver single screw and put blue loctite on it.

Secondly the 2 screws on the bottom of the ball lock coil assembly are always loose.
These are harder to get to as you have to remove the ball lock assembly from the ramp. Its not hard just tediuous.

After you made sure the assembly is firmly mounted, you can proceed with adjustment.

Adjustment is pretty straightforward.

Make sure when the lock bar is raised that it clears the balls by a good margin like 1/4"

When the bar is at rest, the lower front end downward loop has to go about 3/64" past the side apex curve of the ball.
It has to touch the ball just below the centerline.

If its higher, balls will push thru. When its slightly below the center line the balls will try to climb the loop and be trapped.

Measured from the ramp inside bottom the the edge of the loop is approx 12-13mm on my game.

After a few games if balls escape, bend the lock bar down only 1/32", or half a mm at a time until the balls try to climb the loop instead of pushing through.

If the lock bar drags on the balls you have to adjust the solenoid bracket or adjustment tab by bending it open more, until its higher and start over.

Because the sweet spot is only a millimeter or so, its important the the mounting screws are tight to begin with.
It took me 2 years to figure this out.

Properly adjusted and timed the arm will not drag on a ball and a high speed ball will not raise the arm at all if it hits the end. The curve of the ball and its rolling motion should force the arm down under the ball not up.

So, again, start with making sure the ball lock assembly is firmly mounted to the ramp before you adjust anything.
Often its just loose and needs no adjustment at all.

That switch is right near the edge so can take damage when you are lifting and lowering the playfield. I had a wire snap off on mine. Make sure the switch has enough clearance, and if not, gently bend the contacts out of the way.

Pull off the apron and bend out the metal tab.

Eject a few balls you will see where its hitting.

It's the forward side tab probably.

Bend it either in or out depending on what it does.

LTG should have pics of this.

Your coil is very likely just fine.
I have smoked mine several times.
The wrapper looks bad but the coil is very durable.

Check for cold solder joints on each coil wire, flux and reflow them.

They are under the munchkin hut plastic and very easy to access with the playfield in the pulled out service position.

Adjust the lock arm a little closer to the coil so it grabs it easier about 1/16" closer.

LTG has some pictures of exactly where to bend the bracket.

I wanted to follow-up on this story. I think my WOZ is finally back up and running thanks to the tremendous support of the JJP team, including Steve, Butch, Frank, Shannan and others.

I sent the pictures of my fried chip on the I/O board to JJP, and they were able to look at it and say that it was most likely caused by a 70v surge into the switch matrix at column 7. That really helped me narrow down where the problem came from. The current theory is that the tab on my skill shot switch got bent by the cabinet rail and was resting against it.

WOZ -- bent skill shot switch (resized).JPG

Then, when the left bumper fired, the nut on the bracket likely touched the rail briefly sending the voltage into the switch matrix and frying my chip.

WOZ -- left bumper (resized).JPG

I straightened the switch and tried to bend the tabs further away from the side of the cabinet where the rail is. I also wrapped the skill shot switch, the left winged monkey switch, and the nut on the bumper in electrical tape, just in case accidental contact is made again.

WOZ Switches -- electrical tape (resized).JPG

I sent the I/O board back to JJP, and they very promptly repaired it and sent it back. Unfortunately, when I installed it, one of the optos was acting funny, triggering a whole row on the matrix. I contacted JJP again, and they suggested that I try to switch the opto I/O board with the other one in the game. The other one worked, proving that I had a faulty board. I'm not sure what caused that, but perhaps it was the same voltage surge. They sent me a new board, and now everything appears to be working after playing two games. I still feel like I'm walking on egg shells, but I really hope my problems are behind me.

I can't emphasize enough how helpful the JJP team was with this. I really think I would have been lost without them. Thanks guys!

Now for a Public Service Announcement: The next time you lift your playfield, check both your skill shot switch and the left winged monkey target switch. Both are so close to the rail when the playfield is down that they are almost touching. I've had problems with that skill shot switch before getting bent. Make sure it is not getting crushed by the rail.

Let's see... I bought all new rubbers from titan (color matched, but the database list they had was sort of incorrect so I just placed an order for the right items). I installed the entire Cliffy kit (which basically necessitates taking the game apart). I fixed some playfield chipping behind the winky, at the upper magnet and at the throne room, painted them in and cleared it. I fixed some chipping along the munchkin playfield where the air balls hit it (cleared it so far) and then going to paint it and clear again, then install the cliffy there. I installed some custom RGB LED lighting on the gouvea witch mod, trough and backboard. I am installing a flickering flame light on the state fair balloon and a lighted winky target. I polished and waxed the playfield and installed some mylar in a few areas that were getting wear (near the top lanes where the sling is and around the right top bend). Probably going to throw a bit more mylar around the pops, the installed piece they have there from the factory is stupidly short in some places so the playfield still gets worn right under the pops. I installed many of the sticker kit (ball, glinda, monkeys, skill shot, castle playfield, etc). I installed 6 spotlights around the playfield.

I think that's it

If it is lifting ok when no balls are in the lock then I am betting it is the bending trick that is needed.
See post #3398 in this thread

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/woz-fan-club-members-only?tq=bend&tu=

Bend the microswitch actuator down ever so slightly while holding the arm down closed against the body. Never adjust any microswitch without holding it closed or you will break the arm off the switch. Bending the curved end down a touch will allow him to travel a thread or two farther down. Too far and he will plug on top of the ball so not too far / you want him to stop just left of the midway point of the playfield magnet core with the monkey plastic removed
Yes white lithium grease shoot it on a rag and work it into the threads don’t leave excess or it will splatter all over everything.

I was surprised at how much force was required to bend the rail to the left of the castle door and wiring/placing the LED strip was a bit 'squishy' for my taste. Overall though the installation is straightforward and the instructional video is helpful as well. Back to the question, you don't really 'mess' with the monkey mech as part of the installation. I would think that the chances of having your monkey become AFU as a result of installing this mod would be somewhere in the area of very slim to none.

Place a 6" steel ruler over the rollovers.

If they are all down, all is good.

If one stays high, lower it.

Use the same ruler over the drop target when down.

It should be perfectly flat.

If not, adjust the nut on the bottom of the mech.

If the ball is sitting in the gap of the drop target, bend tbe entire mech forwards or backwards to close the gap.

Measure DC Volts at that connector you posted before.

Unless they changed the PF (they didn't) you can move that lane guide post but you have to remove the plastic piece covering it. See the area I circled below, the two larger top holes are for the post and the lower two are for the lane guide, you do have to bend it a little to move it over there.

Untitled (resized).png

You want to bend the switch slightly. But make sure you put pressure on where it is attached so the leaf part doesnt fly off.

Many times the RCA connectors cause the buzzing so slightly move those while machine is on - these are red, black or yellow tipped wires exiting the big metal box. You can bend the outer RCA thingy's a bit to make them more snug or use pull ties to anchor them. If it's not these check other wires low near the back box - simply move them and see if the noise goes away.

With your first JJP order I'd buy an assortment of fuses, an extra rubber shooter tip, an extra pair of flipper shoe plastics, and one long light board cable to use as a jumper to trouble shoot light problems.

Then roll a ball through slowly, or stop at various points to see where it actually stops. You may have to adjust lane guides or something.

LTG : )
Disclaimer : Adjust is a code word for bend the darn thing.

Raise the castle wall. Bend the metal brackets behind the wall up a bit. Lift playfield up and pull out and rest on front of cabinet so you can see behind there and figure what needs to be done.

LTG : )

The threaded rod the witch rides on pulls out of the game with her. If you grab her below the hat (anywhere but the hat) you can gently pull her directly up and out of the game completely, nothing special to do (but remove the tube if it is on). Putting it back in is the reverse but don't force it or bend the rod.

Also to mention to the problem I had, it was caused by me needing to bend the target bracket to allow more room for the target to move. When I did this, it wouldnt allow the metal arm connected to the coil to hit the target to lower it on its own. It took a bit of tweaking (bending of parts) to get to work right.

Anyone have a set of green ECLE side rails they might sell?

There was some damage to my game today, and the rails bent during a sudden shift and force on the cabinet. You can see in the pictures they don't line up with the back box. You can also see the bend.

I was thinking of trying to take them off and just bend them back, but someone suggested I try to get new ones because I won't be able to bend them back without leaving a lot of marks. Any thoughts? If new rails are called for please send me a message if you have any. I did leave messages for JJ today but figured I would ask here as well. Thanks.

IMG_1674 (resized).jpeg

IMG_1675 (resized).jpeg

60884581527__AABC05B3-1BA3-4646-9160-1282B1BB5AC3 (resized).jpeg

60884583013__3EB176A8-6236-47BA-8DC4-BB5C16FBE37D (resized).jpeg

60884587291__8B83CA21-6E8D-4751-ADAB-3329781E0E9A (resized).jpeg

IMG_1676 (resized).jpeg

IMG_1679 (resized).jpeg

I have to thank you for explaining your issue with the bracket that drops the Winkie target. I never knew the target was supposed to drop during a ball search because mine never has dropped on its own since I bought it NIB. I always thought it’s was an oversight by JJP. I looked at mine and the brass bracket did not line up with the opening. Probably just like yours. I had to take apart the whole drop target assembly to be able to bend the bracket. Looks like the brass bracket was not attached/properly aligned to the silver bracket. Works now though!

Thanks again @rager170!

I think some of these are switches that haven’t been hit in a while I had the rescue error and just had to bend the switch a little bit to get it to go away.

So just joined the WOZ club and took delivery of what I gather is a “Green Edition.” Absolutely love the game but have a fix that y’all may know the quick and easy answer to.

After the ball ejects from the castle and travels down the wire form towards the Toto outlane side.....about 25% of the time the ball will pop over the guide rail and drain into the Toto outlane. I adjusted the screw on the wire form as far “in” toward the flippers as it can go without hitting the plastic and still no luck.

I assume I need to bend the wire form or the metal rail that separates the out lane from the flipper lane?

I’m not too savvy with bending parts so wanted to see if anyone faced the same issue?

Thanks in Advance

I've had that a lot too. It took me a bunch of times to figure how to hold it when lowering the playfield.

An easy way to see if that's your problem is to remove the glass and tap on the tree, if he doesn't move it means he is stuck against the cabinet. In that case you shouldn't wait for your next tech visit, I'm worried it might bend the bracket if it stays stuck too long.

Well, good news and bad news.

The good news is I now know how to take off the castle playfield. I had to make a two wire Molex to get it off. I took off the two set screws (didn't realize there were two) and added newer ones and added blue locktite for each door.

The bad news. It didn't make it better. Maybe even a little worse now. The right door sometimes doesn't open. I wonder if the latch that holds the doors closed is the culprit. It looks like it barely clears. Should I bend it?

IMG_2528 (resized).jpegIMG_2529 (resized).jpegIMG_2535 (resized).jpeg

It may have gotten bent. If when pulled in it doesn't unlatch the door, bend it a little.

LTG : )

Navystan, reporting back to duty...

Castle Door Journey
- Been working the door issues for the past few weeks.

Background
- When I first got the machine, it seemed to be working, but noticed the right door stayed open occasionally.
- Other Pinsiders suggested the common issues be looked at. 1) set screws not tight enough; 2) latch needed adjustment; 3) weak or bad right motor.
- When I took off the first time, I had to add a 2-wire/pin Molex. Apparently, the older Woz machines didn't have this Molex connector.
- Upon examining the right door, I added new set screws, the Allen head style to permit easier tightening. After reassembling, the right door stopped working. So, the door actually got worse. Don't know if it was coincidence, or if was just binding more, or motor power was getting worse.
- I ordered 4 new motors from JJP and all did not have capacitors installed.

Saturday Work day
- I spent about 4 hours working on the castle doors.
- Since I have now taken the castle playfield off so many times, I now can remove in less than 10 minutes.
- I removed the door assembly from the the castle playfield for the first time. Took off doors first and discovered the common problem of the bottom right screw was worn away. Luckily, I was able to get a small vise wrench around the screw to loosen and remove. (see pictures)
- I removed the right motor only since I didn't want to change out left motor until I have new capacitors. Had a little problem "melting" solder from the lugs. Don't know if my soldering unit is going bad, since in the past it worked pretty solidly. So, I had to cut away existing wire from the motor terminals. I also could not "melt" the solder along side the motor for the capacitor, so I had to cut that off as well. Barely had enough room to resolder back to the new motor.
- While I had the motor off the assembly, a friend recommend I test with a 9 volt battery. I tried to test with a 9 volt battery while still attached the the castle playfield, but neither left or right door would move with the battery (yes, I moved latch away). However, once the motor was off the mechanism, the battery did successfully turn the motor on. The new motor seemed to sound louder (more power?) then the old one.
- While I had the assembly apart, I had a closer look at the plate that is located near the latch the holds the doors closed. As some had suggested, this plate bends over time causing the doors not to open. I did notice mine was slightly impacting the latch clearing from the tabs, so I pushed it in a little before putting back together.
- So, to summarize what I did before restarting the game, I replaced the right castle door motor, used the existing capacitors, and bent the metal plate that impacts the latch that it used to keep doors closed.
- After restarting the WoZ, I went to test mode, and tested opening and closing doors. Both doors opened when test buttons were used.
- After running test mode, went to game play. As soon as I hit the doors, the stayed partially open. I turned off game and noticed when I pushed the doors with my fingers, both doors pushed past the latch with minimal effort. So, bending the plate apparently was too much.
- I took off castle playfield and could clearly see how latch was barely holding doors from opening. I tweaked right door by lowering the door down (as you look from the top) by adjusting the set screws on the post. When I did this, it also helped the left door. It now seemed light pressure by hand did not permit the doors to push through the latch. So, I stopped here and didn't try to bend the metal plate like I did earlier.
- I retested and pressed on the doors by hand to see if the doors would push open past the latch. They seemed to be strong enough to resist light pressure by hand, so I went to test by game play.
- During gameplay, it was a lot better. However, occasionally, the right door still partially opened. It would either reset after hitting a few times or at the end of a ball leaving the mini playfield (game reset).
- One other oddity happened one time. I noticed the crystal ball came up with an error message. However, after restarting the game, it was back to normal. I did nothing more than just restart the game.

Conclusion/Questions
- I need the get these capacitors. (See pictures). I looked at Great Plains Electronics, but didn't see the number on his site. Anyone know where I can get these and what part# I should be looking for?
- For my final adjustment to right door, bend plate a little more? I'm not going to take off again until I get the new capacitors and will replace the one I just did and likely just go ahead and change left door motor as well.
- My soldering skills need a little work. I had a hard time getting solder to "stick" to the side of motor. Use some flux? I saw others file down to scuff, so maybe that's all I need to do.
- Thanks for everyone's help and tips on the castle doors. Pinside users are super for helping the community.

IMG_2601 (resized).jpeg

IMG_2600 (resized).jpeg

IMG_2603 (resized).jpeg

IMG_2605 (resized).jpeg

IMG_2615 (resized).jpeg

IMG_2618 (resized).jpeg

IMG_2624 (resized).jpeg

IMG_2628 (resized).jpeg

IMG_2630 (resized).jpeg

I think I'm as close the the wood as possible. Hopefully, there is still some room to adjust. If not, bend the plate tab more?

Yeah, the bend appears to be a little sharp. Opening it up and creating a little more graceful curve helps a lot.

My tin man rollover button rarely registers. It works when I test the switch but it takes a harder push then the other ones. How do I adjust it to be more sensitive then when I adjust the leaf switch? Do I slightly bend the long leaf closet to the playfield down away from the playfield or do I bend the shorter lower leaf up towards the playfield? Or something else all together? Thanks in advance for the help!

Just saw your response.. I figured that was the issue. Were you able to resolve this?

For mine, that metal lever that pushes the target to make it go down was not engaging fully. It was catching on the playfield a little and I had to bend it slightly to engage the target fully.

the red circle on the picture is the lever that i needed to tweak a little. Once I did that, it was able to hit the target hard enough to drop it...

wonka coil1 (resized).jpg

The switch clicks if I push the little button with my finger. I replaced the switch twice to make sure the first one wasn’t the problem. If there is an alignment problem how do I fix it. Everything seems to be aligned and nothing rubbing against wood or playfield. I can’t move switch closer to the metal bar since it’s screwed in. I’m thinking maybe bend that bar in front of switch so it activates easier?

Yeah, try to make the bend less sharp.

I didnt use any tools per se, I just took it out and started smoothing the bends by hand so the ball can go into the lane more fully before it bounces out.

I just watched Pinballgoddess play a game with zero crystal ball rejects in a 40 min game.

Not her best, 5.5 million points....didnt even get on the board lol.

Thanks! I must have moved its position when trying to bend the guide rail. It’s always something with this damn hobby. Appreciate the insight Gord!

Nick

Yep... this is correct. You have to carefully bend the bar.. It will take a few tries be patient.