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Thread: Building a ball lift

  1. #61
    Blind Shooter jdmorse's Avatar
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    Default Re: Building a ball lift

    Had a little time to putter with the ball lift so I finished up the exit chute and mounted it. Started the motor and started feeding balls. I'm a little worried that my motor won't handle a full stack of balls, but I haven't been able to test it until now. Anyway, it jams. But it's not the motor; there's not enough room at the exit notch now that the chute is in place. Now I'm in the "I have to take the whole thing apart just to fix one little thing" trap. Good thing this is just a hobby.
    ...please don't tell my wife I bought another pachinko; I told her I went to the breast bar...

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  3. #62
    Pachi Puro Card Shark's Avatar
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    Default Re: Building a ball lift

    Keep at it. Sounds like you are makig progress
    "Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well."
    Pachiholic and Proud!!! サメ

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  5. #63
    Blind Shooter jdmorse's Avatar
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    Default Re: Building a ball lift

    Got the exit chute working and got a full load of balls on the screw and something jams up. The motor is a little weak but the jam was about 2/3 of the way up. I'm guessing that the pitch of the screw is uneven. Fixable.
    ...please don't tell my wife I bought another pachinko; I told her I went to the breast bar...

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  7. #64
    Blind Shooter jdmorse's Avatar
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    Default Re: Building a ball lift

    I got a new motor yesterday, an AC gearmotor. It's rated 200 rpm, which is about how fast the other motor runs. It's really strong too, no stalling out now! I'm going to set it up as a direct drive because it only turns one way, and this is easiest. My enthusiasm for this is definitely up!
    ...please don't tell my wife I bought another pachinko; I told her I went to the breast bar...

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  9. #65
    Blind Shooter jdmorse's Avatar
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    Default Re: Building a ball lift

    Discovered a new problem; when there is a full load of balls on the screw (73-77, I keep losing count) the side load can be too much for the bearing at the bottom of the screw. I found this out when I dumped said full load all over the bench and floor while I was adjusting something. When the new motor is installed, it may hold the screw down enough to prevent this, or I can come up with something different on the bottom. I suspect that redoing the bottom bearing is the "right way" (tm) to do this, but it will involve a greater amount of fiddling about.
    ...please don't tell my wife I bought another pachinko; I told her I went to the breast bar...

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  11. #66
    Blind Shooter jdmorse's Avatar
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    Default Re: Building a ball lift

    Solved the side load problem! Easier fix than I thought. Coupler for new motor came in from McMaster-Carr. Time, I need more time!
    ...please don't tell my wife I bought another pachinko; I told her I went to the breast bar...

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  13. #67
    Blind Shooter jdmorse's Avatar
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    Default Re: Building a ball lift

    Wow! When things come together...
    Now I can focus on the feed tray.
    The reason it's so tall is that I had envisioned some sort of delivery system that would allow it to feed multiple machines, so I left room to work.
    As it sits it will lift 200 balls/minute with ease.


    There was much thinking1.JPGnew motor.jpgThe bottom fix.jpgexit chute.jpg
    ...please don't tell my wife I bought another pachinko; I told her I went to the breast bar...

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  15. #68
    Pachi Puro mxfaiman's Avatar
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    Default Re: Building a ball lift

    Looks good. Can't wait to see a video of it in action.

    100 machines and counting...

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  17. #69
    Blind Shooter jdmorse's Avatar
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    Default Re: Building a ball lift

    Ran up against the first road block. How to get the balls to line up without getting stuck. More research is indicated. I'll be browsing the rest of the forum looking for inspiration. My lack of real engineering skills is showing.
    ...please don't tell my wife I bought another pachinko; I told her I went to the breast bar...

  18. #70
    Fever Hunter doa12's Avatar
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    Default Re: Building a ball lift

    Some kind of shaker device? A little vibration may help to unstil balls.

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  20. #71
    Blind Shooter jdmorse's Avatar
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    Default Re: Building a ball lift

    There are some really cool shaker based designs. My main inspiration is the payout hopper on the pachinko machine itself. You dump balls in and they rarely get stuck.
    ...please don't tell my wife I bought another pachinko; I told her I went to the breast bar...

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  22. #72
    Blind Shooter jdmorse's Avatar
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    Default Re: Building a ball lift

    Kinda stalled out right now on this project. I'm trying to see what a support structure at the base will look like that will allow me the easiest options for trying various ball feeding ideas. Spent some time just playing a machine and watching the balls in the shoot chute. Just to make things more fun; I'm rearranging the room in the next week or so and the pachinkos will go from the east wall to the south wall. Stay tuned.
    ...please don't tell my wife I bought another pachinko; I told her I went to the breast bar...

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  24. #73
    Blind Shooter jdmorse's Avatar
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    Default Re: Building a ball lift

    That that worked out well! I'm sliding the pachinko table out in order to move the new shelves in and one of the table legs collapses. Fortunately, the pachinkos were not on the table, but the ball lift was. So far the only damage is the fan broke off the motor and the motor has a funny wobble that may just be an alignment issue. The table is one of those two legged task/computer tables and two screws were missing from the lame leg. So after I fix the table and finish rearranging the room maybe I'll be ready to figure out how to feed balls into the lift.
    ...please don't tell my wife I bought another pachinko; I told her I went to the breast bar...

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  26. #74
    Blind Shooter jdmorse's Avatar
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    Default Re: Building a ball lift

    Been awhile, I know. Got the room rearranged and stuff is getting put away. Resisted the urge to buy another pachinko on CL that's been there for awhile and is now at $30. Trying to get my head around the ball feed problem, but it's looking like building the lift was the easy part. Played one of my machines for awhile to watch the balls move in the front tray. What I think I'm trying to do is come up with some kind of test bed that I can try different things on; I don't know what that looks like yet. The nice weather isn't helping either. There's gardens to dig and motorcycles to ride.
    ...please don't tell my wife I bought another pachinko; I told her I went to the breast bar...

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  28. #75
    Eye Shooter rockston's Avatar
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    Default Re: Building a ball lift

    I understand your pain with ball jamming problems, that and action/reaction side thrust, ruined my first design. I chose to side step those problems by eliminating them. I am hoping to have time in about 3 weeks to build a nice proto that will feed my two machines.

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