BSD won't shoot ball

[r***@adelphia.net]

My Bram Stoker's Dracula is giving me a headache again...when I depress
the ball shooter button nothing happens. The wiring seems to be
intact, as I havn't touched anything under there to disturb it.
Anybody have some possible reasons for this glitch? Faulty ball
shooter button (switch), circuit board problem? Thanks.

[Lloyd Olson]

Shooter lane switch problem. The green wire ( and what ever color stripe is
on it ) goes to other switches, especially in the left rear area of the
playfield ( drop target and another switch nearby ) you have a poor
connection where two wires go into one lug on switch.

You can go into switch egde test and be sure that switch is working, as well
as your launch button switch. LTG :)

Post by r***@adelphia.net
My Bram Stoker's Dracula is giving me a headache again...when I depress
the ball shooter button nothing happens. The wiring seems to be
intact, as I havn't touched anything under there to disturb it.
Anybody have some possible reasons for this glitch? Faulty ball
shooter button (switch), circuit board problem? Thanks.

[100X]

Just as Loyd said check all connections. I had a BSD a while back and
the outhole wire was broken somewhere in the loom. Ran a jumper back up
and to the cpu and it worked!

[Otto]

Put the game in switch edge test and see if the game senses the ball shooter
button.
--
Otto

CARGPB11

My web page: http://home.bellsouth.net/p/PWP-Ottoslanding

Post by r***@adelphia.net
My Bram Stoker's Dracula is giving me a headache again...when I depress
the ball shooter button nothing happens.

[r***@adelphia.net]

thanks to everyone that replied. I'll have to give it a look on
wednesday. I'll let you know either way.

[r***@adelphia.net]

ok, I snuck downstairs to check it out while the wife wasn't looking!
I get the following two messages...switch 17-shooter lane, and switch
84-Left Ramp Score. I manually worked the shooter lane switch and I
don't hear the actual switch working. (you can usually hear a click
when the switch is depressed, right?) So, does it sound like a bad
switch or what? Anybody have the part number, if that is the problem?
Thanks.

[Otto]

I would guess that both switches are not registering.

Maybe a cleaning or adjustment issue.

The switches generally do not go bad.

Otto

CARGPB11

My web page: http://home.bellsouth.net/p/PWP-Ottoslanding

Post by r***@adelphia.net
ok, I snuck downstairs to check it out while the wife wasn't looking!
I get the following two messages...switch 17-shooter lane, and switch
84-Left Ramp Score. I manually worked the shooter lane switch and I
don't hear the actual switch working. (you can usually hear a click
when the switch is depressed, right?) So, does it sound like a bad
switch or what? Anybody have the part number, if that is the problem?
Thanks.

[r***@adelphia.net]

what about when I depress the switch and it doesn't seem to be clicking?

[Otto]

It should click.

Remove, clean and adjust it.

When it clicks, it will register on the machine.

Otto

CARGPB11

My web page: http://home.bellsouth.net/p/PWP-Ottoslanding

Post by r***@adelphia.net
what about when I depress the switch and it doesn't seem to be clicking?

[Lloyd Olson]

Power off, remove the switch ( you can leave the wires on it ) then see if
it clicks. It may just need adjusting in the holder it is screwed to. LTG :)

Post by r***@adelphia.net
what about when I depress the switch and it doesn't seem to be clicking?

[Otto]

Lloyd always explains it better than the rest of us.

Lloyd-----------You da man. Happy Birthday my friend-even if you are older
than dirt. Deb says Happy birthday too and you know she is a lot better
lookin' than I.

If you are ever in MN, stop by Lloyd's in Hopkins, MN and enjoy the best
commercial line up of pins in the world.

My kids don't even play the pins--they love the sit down vids. The pool
tables are great too!!!

Best line up of Pins in Minny!!

Otto

CARGPB11

My web page: http://home.bellsouth.net/p/PWP-Ottoslanding

Post by Lloyd Olson
Power off, remove the switch ( you can leave the wires on it ) then see if
it clicks. It may just need adjusting in the holder it is screwed to. LTG :)

[r***@adelphia.net]

OK guys, its been a couple of weeks since my last posting regarding
this problem. I ordered a couple new switches and just got them. I
installed the switch (#17) and the switch error message is gone, but
the problem is not resolved. When I press the ball shooter button,
nothing happens. Now what? What should I be looking for? (a newer
machine...lol) I'm not real good at diagnosing this stuff and its
getting frustrating now. I hate to start ordering parts and paying for
shipping on a trial and error fixit job. HELP!

[Metahugh]

You know it sounds like a bad ball launch switch to me, if it's not
registering at all in the switch edges test. I would think you could
take a DMM, put the negative to one lug and the positive to the other,
set the DMM to continuity (diode test) and press the button. While the
button is depressed you should get a reading of ZERO or right near it,
when you hit the button you should immediately see the values decrease
from 1 to zero. If you see nothing then it's a switch!

Hugh
metahugh at comcast dot net

[MrSanRamon]

The only way to solve this is to use the switch edge test, to see which
switches work and which don't.

During the test you test the wiring and the switch, including the
connector(s).

When you find a switch that doesn't "register", then turn the power off
and put an ohm meter across it. That will tell you if the switch is
bad.

If the switch is good and it doesn't register, then it is either not
adjusted, a wire is broken or a connector pin is open.

Go to the switch matrix chart in the manual to run down the wiring and
the connectors.

It's not difficult, just time consuming and confusing if you haven't
done it much...but if you get thru this, you will feel a lot better
about your skills, it's worth it.

Robert

[p***@yahoo.com]

Post by r***@adelphia.net
OK guys, its been a couple of weeks since my last posting regarding
this problem. I ordered a couple new switches and just got them. I
installed the switch (#17) and the switch error message is gone, but
the problem is not resolved. When I press the ball shooter button,
nothing happens. Now what? What should I be looking for? (a newer
machine...lol) I'm not real good at diagnosing this stuff and its
getting frustrating now. I hate to start ordering parts and paying for
shipping on a trial and error fixit job. HELP!

Mine did this. It ended up being the coin door switch had a broken
wire. I don't know why or how, but when I fixed the wire, the ball
shooter worked...

Dave

[r***@adelphia.net]

Uhhhhh...ok, after going up and down the stairs fifty times, I finally
found the problem. It was the tiny copper wire coming off of one side
of the solenoid for the ball shooter. You could barely see that it had
broken away from the solder joint. Reflowed some solder on it and I'm
back in business again. Thanks for all of the help guys.

[Cayle George]

Doh! Wish I had seen your post earlier - I had the exact same problem,
and the solution was exactly the same not more than a month ago.

-cAyle

[r***@adelphia.net]

its funny how many times you can stare at a problem, then you give it
one last look and you fall over because it was right in front of you
and you just overlooked it. I guess half of the fun is being a
detective with this stuff. Glad I figured it out though.

[Otto]

Tug on wires when you look at them/inspect them.

The wire has memory and will hold the wire in a position close to when it
was connected and often difficult to see.


Otto

CARGPB11

My web page: http://home.bellsouth.net/p/PWP-Ottoslanding

Post by r***@adelphia.net
its funny how many times you can stare at a problem, then you give it
one last look and you fall over because it was right in front of you
and you just overlooked it. I guess half of the fun is being a
detective with this stuff. Glad I figured it out though.