Incomplete circuit in shooter?

[kizu76]

After a month I finally got my Mazinger Z from Samurai-Slots, but something is wrong with the shooter. It will not fire unless I am physically touching the green ground wire from the back of the machine, or touching the door key. Obviously I'm not completing a circuit somewhere, but is it a short in the shooter, or something else? I tried to attach the ground wire to something metal but that won't work, I have to be touching it, or the key, with my free hand for the shooter to engage. Any ideas of where to start?

[luckydog]

you have to make full contact with the shooter knob to complete the circuit.

so, you have to be touching the silver ring as you shoot.

if it still doesn't work you may have a loose connection in the shooter.

you can open the lower half of the door to check the wires or maybe have access from the back to check.

[kizu76]

There is no silver ring on/behind the shooter knob, which I thought was strange, but a few of my other machines don't have one either. But, I've been grabbing all over that thing like it was prom night, and it just won't make a complete circuit unless I'm holding that ground wire, so I'm guessing that it's a loose connection somewhere in the shooter.

[drcrippen324]

had this problem on another machine that was designed with no ring eaither if you take the shooter knob off and apart in there is a spring like bush inside that forces a ground up against teh shooter handel and that makes teh circket i had to bend mine out slightly but you may find it broken or the ground wire has come off it

[kizu76]

Taking the shooter apart was going to be my next step. Hopefully it's the bushing like you say. Thanks!

[Eddie]

I've been grabbing all over that thing like it was prom night,

Thats a funny description !

Oh and Welcome to the SHOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[arbycoffee]

[kizu76]

Well, two months later, and I'm still trying to figure out this problem... What's even weirder is a friend of mine bought the exact same machine, and his is the same way, the shooter will not engage unless you are holding the ground wire, or physically touching the machine. I always have to play with my left hand resting on the ball tray to complete the circuit.

I took the shooter knob completely apart, and nothing was out of place or broken, and everything seems grounded properly. I've checked all the fuses, and I've even tried taking the ground wire completely off, and it didn't make any difference. I'm not sure what else to mess with at this point. If it was just mine I would think it was just a defect, but for two Mazinger's to have the same problem? That's just strange...

[kizu76]

This is what I'm talking about. The video is kinda dark, but you get the idea... What's the deal?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2f1JZwBh28

[compirate]

Anyone else out there with this frame and this problem? Maybe it's supposed to be that way. Kind of strange that just touching the plastic of the machine case will allow it to shoot.

[luckydog]

have you opened the lower half of the door frame and checked all that wiring?

have you tired swapping the dongle with another machine?

[kizu76]

Haven't tried the dongle swap (that sounds bad) but I'll give it a shot!

[kizu76]

Nope. I just tried two different dongles, and they made no difference.

[Lddrizzt]

Is there a ground wire connected to the metal casing of the shooter motor in the back?
Try hooking your ground wire to it, if it still doesn't shoot then I would have to say that there is a disconnection between the knob and the motor.

[Eddie]

WOW thats wild! What an odd problem.
Would it work if your left hand was wearing a glove?
Are you sure the Frame is Plastic?
Does the frame use metalflake paint?
What does the Ground wire that you touch connect to?

[drcrippen324]

sounds silly but if you reach a finger out that is on teh hand controling the shooter to touch teh frame dose it fire then if so is the shooter knob isolated from the frame some how remove watever is isolating teh frame ie a if there is a rubber ring where the shooter meets teh frame

[daverob]

Sounds like this machine uses a capacitive touch sensor, rather than the more usual metal touch ring.

I would think that there are two ways of getting this machine to work, either wiring it up so that this sensor works correctly, or modifying the machine to defeat the sensor.

The first and most important thing is to make sure the machine is correctly grounded, as it would be in the parlour. Does the machine have a two or three prong mains plug?

If it is a two prong plug, replace it along with the mains lead with a grounded plug, and connect the ground wire from the frame and the metal casing of the transformer to the ground wire in the mains lead. This will give the machine a true 'ground' connection, so the capacitive sensor will be able to use this as a reference when you are touching the shooter knob.

The modification method is a lot harder. There are two ways to decide how to modify the machine. The first is to measure the voltages present on the pins of the connector that connects the shooter mechanism to the payout control board. Make these measurements twice, once with the machine idle and a second time with the machine shooting balls. From these measurements you should be able to determine which connections go to the motor itself and which ones are for the touch sensor system. Then you would need to disconnect the touch sensor signal, and reconnect it to a voltage that is the same as when the machine is operational.

The second way would be to look at the circuit board on the back of the shooter mechansim and look for datasheets for the chips on the board. One of these will be the chip that controls the touch sensor. From the datasheet it should be possible to work out how to change the circuit so that the touch sensor is always enabled.

[Lddrizzt]

I just thought of something.
I had a machine that had an adjustable ground sensitivity knob on the back.
If I turned it up, I didn't need to touch the ring by the knob, if it was turned down, I had to really touch the ring.
Can you give us a pic of the shooter knob area in the back? A shot of the whole bottom, left corner of the back of the machine might be helpful.

[kizu76]

Here are a few shots of the back. The pink shows the ground wire, and where it attaches to the machine and to the shooter.

I discovered that touching the glass (?) will also engage the shooter. There must be enough conductivity in it to complete the mysterious missing circuit.

Short of rewiring everything to add a three prong plug, I'm at a loss.

[drcrippen324]

ok a real silly one where the ground wire attaches to the shooter undo it and move it across one screw hole so it is on the back of the shooter itself so that it is not seperated by anything shown in blue

but for saftys sake a earth lead on the mains in is a good idea just buy some 3 core flex adda 3 prong plug and as sugested attach earth to transformer case and earth from machine to that cost about $3 / $4 saveing your neck pricless