Williams Hot Tip (EM)

[delarge]

Finishing up work on Hot Tip now. It's time to go home and I need the garage space.

Have cleaned all the stepper units and got things moving freely. My last problem is having a multiplayer game. One player works perfect. Two to four players are problematic. It will keep skipping player two. So, if you select a four player game, you can only play three players as it keeps skipping player two.

When the Player Unit increments to player two, the "snow shoes" are not making proper contact and seem to be sitting in the middle of the contacts. Player three will light up on the backglass. If I move the disc slightly with my hand, player two lights up. If I let it go, player three lights up.

Can anyone offer any advice or a fix for this? It seems like the disc is out of alignment slightly, but I'm not sure how to re-align it as it is in a set position. Loosening and tightening the nut on the disc doesn't seem to help.

Thanks,
Adam.

[Retropin]

You should be able to adjust the disc.. can you post a pic?

[delarge]

Heya,
the disc is fine on position 0, but when it goes to position 1, it is slightly out and player 3 lights up instead of player 2. I can move the disc with my hand to get it to player 2, but I'm not sure how to adjust it so that the 'snow shoes' sit exactly on the contacts instead of in the middle.

Have attached three images. First image is when the disc is at position 0, second image is position 1 (you may be able to see the 'snow shoes' sitting in between the contacts) and the third image is position 1 from the other side.

Cheers!
Adam.

[delarge]

Image 2.

[delarge]

Image 3.

[delarge]

Any ideas, Gav?

[Pintoxicated]

Just a guess but what happens if you undo that big nut and try revolving it to a point where all the contacts do what they need to be doing.

[Retropin]

Sorry... only just caught up with this thread. The 2 screws loosen and gives you about a 10mm play on the disc. Set it to any position other than zero and adjust so the sprung wipes sit on top of the contacts

[delarge]

Hey guys,
I had already tried adjusting the nut, but what fixed it was what Gav mentioned. There is a screw at the base of the coil plunger that acts as a stop. I adjusted the disc to position 2, moved the disc to the exact location of Player 2 and then tightened the screw below the coil plunger.

I can now play a two player game on Hot Tip without it to skipping to Player 3. What a huge journey this has been. Time to give the game a clean up, new rubbers and then back to the owner.

My next project......Captain Fantastic!

Thanks again!
Adam.

[DSB]

Good to hear its all working. This thread has sparked an interest in working on EMs for me. They looks fun to work on although frustrating at times I guess.

[riverinapinball]

Excellent news Adam.

Well Done!

[Crashramp]

Well done Adam, looking forward to your Captain Fantastic thread.

[dealers choice]

Excellent news Adam.  you would be surprised how much you take notice of switches. and how things work on an em if you actually get over the fear of pulling one right down and re asembling it. the hard part for me was to pull apart a working pin.

[delarge]

Haha I promised myself I wouldn't make an epic Captain Fantastic thread asking countless inane questions this time.....but, I will try and share the problems I encounter and how I fix them.
 

Hot Tip arrived in horrible condition and I can't believe it's actually working now. That scary moment when I lifted the playfield and saw all those relays....then discovering more in the head. Looking back, it was a good introduction to EMs and how everything works. Yes, all stepper units need to be clean and moving freely.

Cheers!
Adam.

[delarge]

Excellent news Adam.  you would be surprised how much you take notice of switches. and how things work on an em if you actually get over the fear of pulling one right down and re asembling it. the hard part for me was to pull apart a working pin.

All the repair sites said to be careful with the stepper units. Most said to leave the springs alone. After pulling a few of these apart, I got more comfortable with them and knowing how they should go back together. Stepper units aren't as scary now....switches and tearing down a working machine. Whoah! Will see if I get more comfortable with that when I start working on my own EM. Hot Tip was scary because someone else owned it and I didn't want to make it worse than how it was when it arrived.

Another positive out of all of this...I didn't care much for EM machines (a bit before my time), but I really take notice now when I see them on eBay. Will definitely miss Hot Tip when it leaves the house.