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Fireball classic problem

paddythegreek

paddythegreek

Site Supporter
10 Years
Joined
Aug 30, 2011
Messages
2,059
Location
Leicester
Sorry for a long post but thought the more info people have the better. A guy who bought a FC around 3yrs ago from me has a problem. I've spent an hour going thru things with him but he ain't pinball streetwise as they say.
He loses the ball and it don't kick it into the ball trough.The fuse ain't gone under the playfield.We go into sw test and the ball registers 08 in the outhole.He flicks it into the ball trough which registers 28 but looking at the switch chart, 28 is the sw nearest the outhole. it should be reading 30,then 29 then 28. It only reads 28 all the time.I got him to raise the playfield and check that a wire between sw 28 and 29 hadn't broken/come off.He says he can't see anything amiss.He don't have any sort of a multimeter and he wouldn't know how to use it if he had one.I know certain machines won't start it balls are missing from troughs. He's in nottingham. If anyone can help him contact him on 07966121006. His names Russel.You charge him as necessary as after 3 yrs i think its out of warranty. lol.
 
Ken, do you know whereabouts in Notts he is? I can't do anything this weekend but might be able to pop over and have a look one night in the week if that's any good?
 
Yea i did mean that one.Its a shame as in its heyday i found it really helpful but thats all changed in recent years.
 
Hi,

The older Bally games (also the 'classic' Sterns) usually only identify one closed switch in the switch test - the lowest numbered. So, if the trough switches are 28, 29 & 30 left to right, then only #28 would show with the 3 balls in the trough. Awkwardly, the balls would have to be removed and then returned one at a time, to show #30 for the first ball, then #29 for the second, etc. Though it would be worse if the switches were numbered right to left.

Most of the early solid-state multiple-ball games won't start a game (some won't even boot up properly) if they can't detect the correct number of balls. But, not having alpha-numeric displays, they can't spell this out. Centaur & Centaur II will display flickering zeroes on the player displays if the storage trough doesn't have four balls in at boot-up, Elektra will display a '3' in the Ball-In-Play window as the test sequence finishes, which I think means it's found its three balls. Does FBC have something like that?

The description that the ball isn't moved from outhole to trough, even though the outhole switch registers, suggests that the outhole solenoid isn't working.
 
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Went round to the guys house tonight and it's all fixed :D Turns out half of the solenoids weren't working not just the outhole and trough kickers but it was down to a dodgy connector on the driver board. Removed all connectors, cleaned up the headers as best I could, reseated everything and the game is fully working again :thumbs:
 
ronsplooter said:
Went round to the guys house tonight and it's all fixed :D Turns out half of the solenoids weren't working not just the outhole and trough kickers but it was down to a dodgy connector on the driver board. Removed all connectors, cleaned up the headers as best I could, reseated everything and the game is fully working again :thumbs:
Click to expand...

Good work soldier. Have a well deserved beer :thumbs:
 
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