(Topic ID: 107569)

Pinbits Monster Bash eddy microcontroller

By mot

9 years ago



Topic Stats

  • 9 posts
  • 3 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 8 years ago by mot
  • Topic is favorited by 8 Pinsiders

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#1 9 years ago

I've got one Eddy board that works inconsistently on my Monster Bash. After resetting phantom flip data, all switches would typically work well enough to train phantom flip, start lighting in both inlanes, and start taking shots from either side. The left side often failed to flip, however.

In switch test, I determined that the flipper itself (with no ball around) was sometimes causing the switch to trigger, and I think the eddy board would eventually lock up because of the calibration problems. I swapped the boards, reset phantom flip data, played a bunch, and the problem switched to the right flipper, indicating that the board is the problem.

The last time I reset phantom flip data, the machine was unable to calibrate on the right side. Even though I've played a ton of games, phantom flip will not light on the right inlane, and the machine never attempts the shot. There's an intermittent credit dot that the right flipper proximity switch is not working. The dot typically disappears for a little while after a power cycle.

If available, I'd like to buy two of Pinbits Advanced Eddy Microcontrollers for $44, replace the chip on both boards, and remove capacitor C3 on both board. Unfortunately, Pinbits is sold out of the replacement microcontroller.

A viable option is to buy one of Pinbits replacement Auto Eddy Board, but at $68, it is a more expensive option than I really need.

Does anyone know where to buy Pinbits Advanced Eddy Microcontrollers?

Thanks,
Tom

#3 9 years ago

I sent a message to Pinbits immediately after posting here. I'll follow up with any information I hear from them.

#4 9 years ago

Well that was easy. I emailed Pinbits and they quickly responded "The website has been updated for availability."

Woohoo!

#6 9 years ago

I got the replacement microcontrollers yesterday. I swapped them in today and everything went well. Before I did anything today, phantom flip worked with the left flipper, but not from the right flipper. When I turned on the game, there was a credit dot about the right flipper proximity switch, but when I tested in switch test mode, it seemed to work perfectly. My guess is that it is locking up frequently.

I pulled both eddy boards, but worked on them one at a time. In the first, I replaced the microcontroller and cut the capacitor at C3. I put it in the game, tested in switch test, and it worked perfectly. Satisfied, I gave board two the same treatment, put it in, tested it, and everything worked perfectly. In the utilities menu, I reset phantom flip data, and then declared the game ready to play.

I played enough games that phantom flip trained itself and began lighting in both inlanes. I played a ton more games to test phantom flip out more and more. I took the glass off, manually hit the standups to stack dozens of phantom flips, and then tried to get the ramp shots to alternate back and forth without me touching the game. It didn't work perfectly, but it never failed to flip at a ball, and that means my problem from before seems to be fixed!

I also installed the Pinbits blackout board. That thing is AMAZING! The light shows are 10x better than before. That's a must-have for any WPC95, I'd say.

1 year later
#7 8 years ago

There was one final step in getting my Eddy boards to work perfectly, and because I can't find it mentioned anywhere on the internet, I'm documenting it here.

My original problem was that flipping the flippers would sometimes cause the Eddy boards to lock up. The LED turns on, indicating it's sensing a ball, but it would stay on. The factory Eddy boards apparently only reset from this state when a ball is drained. That's no good.

So I replaced the controller chips with the Pinbits "Advanced Eddy Microcontroller" and cut capacitor C3 (according to the directions). This helps the situation because when the sensor locks on as described above, the board automatically resets. The LED comes on briefly, flashes rapidly, and then goes out. That helps, but the boards were still occasionally locking up, and this lead to occasional Phantom flip failures. (Note that phantom flip will actually override a flip by the player, so there are cases where you flip but the game doesn't. There is a ball save in this case, but it lead to a lot of confused and disgruntled players.)

So at this point, there's still an occasional problem with the Eddy board locking up. I believe that it's because because of an interruption of the 12 V supply to the Eddy board.

The solution: I changed C4 on the Eddy boards from a 1 uF cap to a 100 uF cap. The original is spec'd on page 2-12 of the manual. The schematics are on 3-26. C4 connects 12 V to ground to steady the voltage. The 1 uF capacitor just seems undersized for this purpose compared to 100 uF capacitors that are used for the same purpose on opto boards. Additionally, the Pinbits "Auto Eddy Board" seems (from the picture) to have upgraded this capacitor to 100 uF as well. So I did it. And it works!

Upgrading C4 to 100 uF eliminated my Eddy problems entirely and Phantom flip no longer fails to shoot when it should.

#9 8 years ago

It's purely anecdotal for now, but it absolutely worked for me.

I signed up to try to get a PinWiki account last week. If I get access, I'll add it.

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