Dirty Harry

 

Last weekend I got the Dirty Harry I had visited onsite a while ago in to the workshop for an overhaul. I already know it has problems ejecting the balls and the ball sticks by the lock magnet but before starting the disassembly I spent a couple of evenings playing it to find out what other faults and problems it might have. The left slingshot is dead, the left diverter pinches the ball when it should be diverted to the right and the cable loom in to the moving gun has a contact problem. It's enough to just touch the loom to get the switch to change state in the switch test. It should also have a reboot problem but I haven’t seen that happening even though I played it quite a lot.

I started with the ball eject problem. First I was quite sure it was related to the optos in the ball trough since the switch test indicates that the balls aren’t in there. But instead it turned out that the balls has been magnetized and sticks to the ball trough instead of rolling down where they should be to triger the optos. I could pull all four balls after each other, almost like permanent magnets. I tried to demagnetize the balls using a degausser for CRT tubes. The balls lost the magnetic but after a day or so it was back again. These balls are probably chrome steel balls which are prone to be magnetized. I will replace them with four new carbon steel balls which are not as easily magnetized.

Next I looked at the problem with the magnet and the balls sticking to it. This is not due to the magnetic balls, it is pure mechanic. I have put my fingers under the ramps feeling at the magnet core and it sticks up a bit too much over the playfield but it is hidden under the ramps so it’s not possible to see what it looks like.

When looking at the playfield it seems to be quite simple since there is a lot of open space. But the ramps are tangled in to each other in a way that makes it complicated to disassemble the playfield. It took some thinking before I figured out where to start. This is the parts I had to remove to access the top of the magnet, disassembled in order from left to right, assembly will be done in the reverse order. There are more bits to remove before I can start cleaning and changing the rubbers, but that will be done later.
 

The magnet turned out to be a tricky problem. It has been a bit too high for a long time, probably since the game was new. The balls have been beating the magnet core and now it’s almost like a nail head. It’s not possible to pull it through the hole in the playfield anymore and it’s not possible to screw it upwards and remove it from the upside, I’ve tried with my largest screwdriver but can’t get It to turn.

 

 

 Look at the bracket above the magnet, thousands of balls have been bouncing up from the magnet and making quite a dent in it. This must have been destroying the balls and the balls in the game are in good condition, so they must be quite new. Just a pity they didn't bought carbon steel balls.

 

I need to think a bit about this problem to figure out how to get the magnet out of the playfield. Maybe I can use the Dremel to cut groves in the core to be able to fold up or wiggle off the edge allowing the core to pass through the hole. I do not want to cut too close to the edge and maybe damage the playfield.

EDIT

If the tool isn't big enough then just get a bigger one. I went over to a friend and borrowed an XL screwdriver with square shaft. And with some help by a wrench I managed to loosen the core. It had been beaten down in the playfield, that’s why I couldn’t turn it. After a quarter of a turn I could easily get it out by hand and here it is.

 

Fish tales

 

Today I was visiting a Fish tales with a faulty display. The replacement is a green XPin LED DMD display with the dark color filter attached. I think it looks rely good but it might take a while to get used to the new color.

Road show



Today I was visiting a road show with a few problems. One of them was weak flippers and there was quite a lot of wear in the links so I changed the plunger and crank assembly and coil sleeves. A couple of switches were listed in the error report and they just needed some adjustments to start working again. A few lamps and a flasher at the playfield were broken and there was a problem with the lamp in the start button. One tab for the lamp was broken in the lamp holder and someone had tried to solder a wire to it but there wasn’t metal enough left for doing that. Changing the holder solved the problem. I also cleaned the playfield and gave it a coat of wax. 



 

 The eyes of both Red and Ted do not work as they should, Ted looks a bit sleepy, I think the eyes should be a bit more open, and Red does not open her eyes at all. I didn’t have time to look at this problem today, always nice to have something interesting to look forward to for the next visit.

 

The shadow revisited

The Shadow was picked up a couple of weeks ago, it was needed for a competition. But there was still some problems with it and I didn’t have the parts home and today I was on site and made the last repairs. One bolt in the coin door frame was missing. The right flipper had some hang time when releasing the button and the cause was the opto interrupter. It had lost a bit of the tension in the interrupter arm and didn’t follow the button properly when released. The last issue was the lock magnet which sometimes didn’t throw up the ball, even though the brick wall was down. An adjustment of the brick wall switch fixed that. But I’m not sure if the switch needs to be changed or if it is the drop target causing the problem. The target is slightly bent and doesn’t run properly beside the switch, there is picture of it in an earlier post where you can see that the E-clip of the center pin is missing. When the E-clip is there the target does not slide as it should due to the bend. I’ll let the game run for a while to see if the problem reappears.

While on site I repaired a World cup with a flipper problem. Right flipper didn’t stay raised when the button was pressed. The cause was a loose cable at the flipper coil, an easy fix. This game needs a good clean up and new rubbers, but that have to wait for another time.

I also had a first look at a Dirty Harry with a few problems. One was the same problem as The shadow had with the flipper, a little too long hang time when the button was released. This makes it very difficult to make a post pass but was easily fixed with a new opto interrupter. One of the flippers was also aligned a bit too high, also an easy fix. But it does also have a few more complicated issues. There is a lock magnet in the top right loop and it protrudes a bit too much through the playfield causing the ball to stop against it on the way down. It should be adjustable but it has been so beaten by the balls that the top of it does not pass through the hole anymore and it can’t be lowered to playfield level. I have to take out the ramps above to access it and see what I can do about it from the upside. There is also a problem with the wires going up in to the gun, just touching it causes the switch test to indicate open or closed switch. I do also think there is a problem with the optos in the ball through. When using the Empty balls function in the test menu it just ejects one or two balls most of the time. On top of this it does also have a reboot problem. A couple of challenges, I do really look forward to work at this one.