That is awesome!

I have had 3 so far with this issue. Replacing a motor next week. Not too bad when you get used to it.

I just ripped the defective motor apart and found that the armature was loose on the shaft.

This explains the grinding/squeeling sound and over all weakness that caused me to think it was a loose door motor shaft screw.

The armature is plastic composite or delrin maybe, but I am positive that by overheating the motor or stalling it thru its use loosens the armature.

The entire motor shaft should probably be made out of half round stock instead of splining the round stock to solve a lot of these issues as long as we are stalling the motor in use.

Hello All,

Something new has occurred for me at least:

I have rebuilt the double door assembly and it works correctly however:

If you bash the door continuously you can push the right door behind the latch and it stays locked behind the latch.

It will release on the next door opening either from actuating the left door or thru the software fix on the next ball in play.

I only rebuilt the right side of the assembly.

Will this happen if the door is too high?
Or is it too low?

Before reassembly I checked that the mech operated perfectly and had plenty of clearance with no binding via the spring etc.

It didnt used to do this but, its a known issue hence the software fix that was added.

So, my question is:

Thinking that its a height adjustment problem, do i raise the door slightly or lower it.
Right now I have it exactly matching the left side as far as height.

So my further thinking is that if the door is too low the stop wont clear the latch.
If its too high it might get stuck behind the latch?

Should it be set so as to just clear the latch by say half a millimeter.
I have it clearing by about 3/64ths.

Has anyone investigated this for a sure answer?

Tom

Hey Tom - may want to post this on the groups page or hit up frank

Is your latch bent ?

LTG : )

The latch didnt appear to be bent, but I see what you are saying that it could rest high on one side or the other laterally. That being said, one side might be easier to push thru than the other.

I'll take a look at it to be sure. Thanks Lloyd!

I inspected the door stops and they seem to be in pretty good condition.

As I remember it the right door was slightly up from the left from the factory installation. It looked very slighty crooked. I just matched them up upon reassembly.

Does the door height adjustment just need to find a sweet spot?

The unit works really well its just that the stuck door is annoying.

I think I'll raise both doors about 1/32" and see if its better or worse.
By raising the door, when the latch falls, the door will have less opportunity to fall thru it.

Its clear that its the ball pushing the door past the latch if hit at a specific time.
Maybe tighten the spring on the latch to make it fall slightly faster?

Probably.

LTG : )

I may do a better write up for this after I get some of the bugs worked out.

Others may have a problem with the door stuck behind the latch and may have never noticed it as it was that way when they got it, and the software fixes it.
Thanks.

Solved 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 ( 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 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.

I applied a temporary mod until I fix my door

IMG_1311 (resized).JPG

JJP sent a tech out at no charge to me for the 2nd time. Very satisfied customer. We applied locktite to shaft screws. Door already acted up one time since but self adjusted and has not been an issue again. JJP has great service.

It's like you didn't even look at previous posts in this thread or other similar threads. This was a known problem with a proven solution that I fixed on my WOZ more than 3 years ago.

This thread was great. The combined information let me get into my pinball machine, lock the screws for the door down (plus locktite), and my machine is back up and running without doors getting stuck.

Took me about 2 days to get through since I could only work on it at night, but everything here, from the walk throughs to the youtube video - they all helped me. And I'm a complete newbie at pinball/repairs. Much thanks, guys!