Ball shooter keeps jamming - Sammy Popeye - Please help!

[PachiPachi]

Hey everyone,

I just picked up a Sammy Popeye Pachinko machine off someone on craigslist. The machine started to have problems when I first turned it on, specifically with the ball shooter (I think that is what it is called). For about ten shots or so everything will work fine, then boom the balls do not shoot anymore. I open it up and there is always a ball stuck in the shooter. It is boggling my mind how it gets in there. Sometimes there are two! I looked at all the areas of the mechanism and I cannot find a way for it to get in there. I even tried to put some duct tape in the area underneath where the balls go, thinking that there are falling in this are. Has anyone seen this? Did I get sold a lemon? Please help!

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[luckydog]

I've never seen anything like that before

[Moparformances]

please post a pic of the back side of the shooter tray...

I've never seen anything like that before

[PachiPachi]

Thats not good! I think I may have fixed it. Before it would jam within ten balls, now I have ran about 400+ balls through it with no problems. Notice the red duct tape. That seemed to fix it. Weirdest problem ever. The plastic door is shut perfect as well. Here are some photos:

please post a pic of the back side of the shooter tray...

Where would I find this? I tried to include a photo of the back as seen above.

[Drunkenclam]

the front section of the machine that swings forward, the front tray, where the balls come out and load into the shooter.

[Moparformances]

the balls come from the shooter tray and enter one at time into the shooter.. please post a pic of that point

[PachiPachi]

Hope this is what you are looking for. Thanks for the help!

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[Moparformances]

where did you add "red tape" to correct the problem...

its not that big of a deal but it may help someone in the future..

(im not seeing it in the pictures that posted)

[PachiPachi]

See the red in the photo where the ball is sitting? That in where I put it.

[Moparformances]

See the red in the photo where the ball is sitting? That in where I put it.

for some reason i can not see some of the pics you posted... (the one in the above quote is one i can not see)

one thing i do see is.. in your very first pic you posted in the top post the shooter is being held by a pachinko ball.. have you tryed to remove that ball??? if the shooter can not return to its starting point it may be the root of your problem...

if that ball has been removed, then never mind

[Drunkenclam]

my Heiwa's have a simalar style shooter, I'll try to have a look later.

[Drunkenclam]

Here is some pics of mine, They look the same, although it doesn't seem possible on mine for a ball to fall through into the bottom section of the shooter,
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Although I know that if you don't turn the shooter far enough on mine, sometimes the balls do fall straight back into the shooter. ending up with 2 balls in the shooting chamber,
Might just be worn plastic on yours, or needs tweeking, Make sure that you have all the covers and trays closed fully. Also give it a quick clean, make sure everything is free, Including the solenoid on the front, that feeds the shooter.


Love the volume control you have hiding down there

[PachiPachi]

Thanks for the input. To confirm so far so good I haven't had a jam yet. The volume controller was the first thing I added I've got the micro ones in the mail for the top. This machine is really loud!!! I have to leave them unplugged for the time being so I don't wake the dead

[heima]

I don't have a Sammy pachinko, so I am going on a lot of guesses and assumptions. I took a picture you provided and made some changes. Take a look.

I am guessing that the blue outline is the loader mechanism. That the orange outline is the solenoid that activates the ball release, outlined in green.

Without seeing it in person, I am going to guess that somewhere, is a sensor to detect that a ball is ready in the shooter. If no ball is sensed, then the solenoid releases a ball into the shooter. But the solenoid will not release a ball, if there is none to release. So that is verified by another sensor. So if the two sensor indicate that there is no ball in the shooter, and no ball in the release, then there is no need to fire the shooter.

Does the shooter "dry-fire" at all? When you remove the red tape, does it still dry fire? Drunken, does yours dry fire?

Lets say you remove the red tape and all balls, and still the shooter dry fires. This means either, 1. dry fire is normal, or 2. shooter believes a ball to be in the shooter. If 2, then a sensor is sending the wrong signal.

Lets say that after you remove the red tape and all balls, the shooter does not fire. Now put the red tape back on, but keep the balls out. Does it dry fire now? If so, then the red tape is covering a sensor to tell the shooter to fire, and when there are balls in the shooter, they are not being sensed.

If the shooter doesn't dry fire with the red tape in place, then the problem is elsewhere.

Remove any balls and with the red tape in place, drop a single ball into the tray. Listen as it rolls down to the shooter. Do you hear the solenoid trigger the ball release? Without firing, open the door and see where the ball is. Is it in the shooter? Is it in the ball release? Did it drop out of the machine?

If in the shooter, this is normal.

If in the ball release, then the sensor there did not "see" the ball. Or, the red tape is telling the sensor it is covering to not allow another ball into the shooter, though there is none there in the first place. Or, the solenoid did not trigger the release because it is poor electrical connection or physically jammed. If this was the case, I would clean and inspect the operation of the ball release.

If the ball falls out, then there is some obstruction, or gap between the ball release and the shooter. And the ball is falling into that gap. If this is the case, I would look to see if anything is preventing the ball release from mating up with the shooter when the door is closed. Additionally, I would check the condition and position of the black plastic "thingy" that you put the red tape on. It might be broken, or off a little bit. Both forward/backward, up/down, and in/out.

This is the best I can do for right now. Good luck and let us know what you find.

[Drunkenclam]

Too many sensors in your diagnostic. The shooter will shoot if there is a ball there or not. At the same time the hammer moves, the solenoid releases the next ball out of the front tray. Again this will fire if there is a ball there are not.

Again mine is a Heiwa not a sammy.