Judge Dredd help

[Marty Machine]

I'm guessing a small clump of dust was blocked in the opto, and lodged free during your ball tests etc...

Since it's cleared, maybe give the playfield and opto area a few mild thumps to prove any loose wires that need soldering..

Also, you said you haven't played the game for a while, there's a chance a small spider has found a home in the opto cavity, the spider may have fled the scene while doing your ball tests, i wonder if this fault will be back within 24 hours when spidey comes home?

Now that you've stopped laughing, i see a LOT of these bug-faults in all kinds of gear i fix, especially stuff out in garages where spiders, moths or roaches find a new home.

You might need a bug-repellant strip under your playfield 

MM.

[felixthadog]

This problem re-occurred on the weekend - I had my nephews over (8 and 12) and they were having a lot of fun playing the machine when it suddenly went hay-wire and started 6-ball multiball. Every time a ball drained, it would be ejected into the shooter lane and shot back into play. The youngest bloke was playing at the time and he was loving it, especially because he thrashed the top score! My other nephew had tears in his eyes from laughing so much. Of course it was hilarious, but the machine is well and truly up the creek. I think it might be time for me to get the professionals in, my passion fingers will only cause more problems than I solve 

Matthew

[Strangeways]

Mate - I'm sure this could be as simple as a dirty opto. Have you got an old toothbrush or fine paint brush ?

Grab a small mirror and see if you can see the optos. One side will be a dark color - the other will be a clear or yellow color. If you see any dirt - just clean it with the brush. Clean them anyway !

Also - check the connector under the playfield. Refit just in case.

[felixthadog]

Mate - I'm sure this could be as simple as a dirty opto. Have you got an old toothbrush or fine paint brush ?

Grab a small mirror and see if you can see the optos. One side will be a dark color - the other will be a clear or yellow color. If you see any dirt - just clean it with the brush. Clean them anyway !

Also - check the connector under the playfield. Refit just in case.

I have already cleaned the optos, but I will give them another clean to see if I missed something. I will also check the connector under the playfield, I'm just worried about my ability to screw things up further by touching anything! 

Matthew

[felixthadog]

Could it be possible, just maybe (and here's hoping), that this was causing all the problems



Matthew

[Strangeways]

Matt - Where did this light bulb come from - was it in the vicinity ?

Was the broken glass in the area near the optos ?

[felixthadog]

Matt - Where did this light bulb come from - was it in the vicinity ?

Was the broken glass in the area near the optos ?

Hi Nino,

The globe is located near the Subway scoop, I have attached a picture showing this:



The location is not near any optos, but I thought the smashed globe might be causing a short. However, after replacing the globe and doing some more play-testing, I have found that the problems are still there  I cleaned all of the optos that I thought could be causing the problems but it didn't make any difference. In the Switch Edges test, there are no "stuck" switches, and in the Single Switch test, all of the optos are "closed" by default and "open" when I run a ball past them.

Matthew

[Strangeways]

You have an intermittent problem, Matt, so things may not seen black and white.

If it were me, I would now be playing the game with the glass off, and when the fault occurs, grab the ball and simulate the problem. From what I understand, you are having a multiball commence before time. So drain all the balls and "simulate" the next ball - Once the ball hits the ball trough, depress any switches during its travel, and see what switch has triggered the multiball - if the opto in question awards points AND triggers the multiball - then we know it is DEFINITELY the opto.

The way the sensors work is that they detect a break in the light between the sender and receiver. If this path is obscured (by the ball) then the switch is triggered. Sometimes, a faulty opto can cause this "phantom" switch, or a poor solder connection on the boards. I have seen the actual LEDs have dry joints on the boards.

At this point - If you have isolated the problem to the optos, I would be taking them out and visually checking the soldering / wiring.

Intermittent problems are a pain, but to replace the LEDs is very cheap (if that is the issue)

[Marty Machine]

Besides re-soldering the opto connections, which i think you've done? ....

Wasn't there a problem like this (was it MartyJ ???) where an ongoing opto problem came down to being a faulty opto??
Once replaced, fault was cleared!

Could this be the case in this machine?

There was mention of either faulty opto's that dont last long (although they should) or bad design running too much current thru the main opto-led, killing it over time....

MM.

[MartyJ]

Hey MM,

Mine was on my LAH.  No optos.  Was getting game resets randomly.  After doing it multiple times, I found that the spinner switch was causing shorts when flippers were activated.  Only found out my hitting / holding flippers then activitating common switches around the time of the problems!
Annoying thing was the actual spinner switch was testing fine on its own.!

[felixthadog]

You have an intermittent problem, Matt, so things may not seen black and white.

If it were me, I would now be playing the game with the glass off, and when the fault occurs, grab the ball and simulate the problem. From what I understand, you are having a multiball commence before time. So drain all the balls and "simulate" the next ball - Once the ball hits the ball trough, depress any switches during its travel, and see what switch has triggered the multiball - if the opto in question awards points AND triggers the multiball - then we know it is DEFINITELY the opto.

The way the sensors work is that they detect a break in the light between the sender and receiver. If this path is obscured (by the ball) then the switch is triggered. Sometimes, a faulty opto can cause this "phantom" switch, or a poor solder connection on the boards. I have seen the actual LEDs have dry joints on the boards.

At this point - If you have isolated the problem to the optos, I would be taking them out and visually checking the soldering / wiring.

Intermittent problems are a pain, but to replace the LEDs is very cheap (if that is the issue)

This is definitely an intermittent fault, I played about 30 games yesterday (with the glass on) without a problem. Across those 30 games, I think I hit every switch and activated every mode (including multi-ball) except for the Ultimate Challenge (which I have never got with the glass on). I had a discussion with Andrew at Expo about this and he suggested I disconnect the "suspect" opto sensor and see if the error disappears, however given I was not able to reproduce the fault yesterday with the opto sensor still connected, it makes it difficult to determine whether the opto sensor is at fault or not 

Matthew

[ajlaird]

Don't worry about it unless it comes back!

[felixthadog]

Don't worry about it unless it comes back!

It's hard not to worry, it's always in the back of my mind whilst I'm playing the machine that it is going to f#$% up, and knowing my luck it will be in the middle of the best game of my life 

Matthew

[Marty Machine]

It's hard not to worry, it's always in the back of my mind whilst I'm playing the machine that it is going to f#$% up, and knowing my luck it will be in the middle of the best game of my life 
Matthew

Keep the glass off to guarantee the best game, fingers in switches can achieve incredible scores hehehee 

[felixthadog]

It's hard not to worry, it's always in the back of my mind whilst I'm playing the machine that it is going to f#$% up, and knowing my luck it will be in the middle of the best game of my life 
Matthew

Keep the glass off to guarantee the best game, fingers in switches can achieve incredible scores hehehee 

I already hold the title of Grand Master, but the challenge is now to beat my top score with the glass on! I just know when I get close to it, the machine will have a spac-attack and deny me the trophy 

Matthew