Re: Mata Hari drop target issue.

"Kansas Pinball" wrote:
Does this game have any of those little red capacitors across those
switches? I have taken many of those off since they cause strange
problems as the years go by.

The small disc caps will go bad over time, but they are very helpful on many
switches in these games (Bally and Stern pins). So many should be replaced
rather than just discarded, if you're running into problems related to them.
We carry new replacement caps for these- see our website at:
www.actionpinball.com

We typically replace several of these in most Bally games we service-
anywhere from 5 to 15 caps typically.

These caps help the game detect very fast/brief closures of the switch (such
as being hit by a fast ball, etc) and make sure the player gets awarded
points for the hit, etc. They are also used on other switches like pop
bumper switches to detect a ball hit and effectively extend the duration of
the switch closure- this basically makes the pop bumpers work better- more
sensitive, and give a stronger hit to the ball. They're essential for good
operation on pop bumpers in these games.

There are cases where these caps are used on switches that don't need them-
like many wireform rollover switches that typically have a longer closure
time with the ball rolling all the way over them. One example is the exit
switch on the ball tube on Xenon- this one had a cap on it from the factory,
but I always remove the cap from this switch for two reasons: 1) it doesn't
need it- the switch never gets closed briefly/quickly by the ball in this
lane so doesn't need the "help" from the cap. And 2) if/when this cap does
go bad, it can cause the game to intermittently start multiball prematurely
or kick two balls out into the plunger lane in some cases. Can make for
some real head-scratching, so I remove it to prevent potential problems down
the road with this game.

Ray J.
--
Action Pinball & Amusement, LLC
Salt Lake City, Utah USA
Web: www.actionpinball.com

We're serious about pinball. Anything else is just for fun!





.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: In line drop targets and roll over switches.
    ... the dip switches to have them recall after each ball drain. ... I have played a few games that have inline targets such as Fathom, ...
    (rec.games.pinball)
  • Re: F-14 Premature Lock Ball Release
    ... all locked balls when it is not supposed to. ... it released a ball as play continues till they all drain. ... release all locked balls at once no other switches appear to trigger ...
    (rec.games.pinball)
  • Re: F-14 Premature Lock Ball Release
    ... all locked balls when it is not supposed to. ... it released a ball as play continues till they all drain. ... release all locked balls at once no other switches appear to trigger ...
    (rec.games.pinball)
  • Re: basic general question
    ... Ofcourse adding any number of switches will not help cause the final one ... increase the pulse rate by a factor of 2) ... If you just need to pulses of opposite polarity then you ... Just charge the caps up in parallel, ...
    (sci.electronics.basics)
  • Re: Maximizing e-cap longevity
    ... are efforts at reducing ambient more ... Ordering caps without plastic sleeve also helps heat diss. ... if the psu started up in a reforming mode before switching to normal ... switches to normal function once they're charged up to normal working ...
    (sci.electronics.design)