Balls won't load. Please help.

[Kbarrow]

Hello everyone!

I recently bought my first pachinko machine and it is the 1974 Nishijin Model B "Powerflash Chinaman" model. I had to clean it up quite a bit but otherwise it functioned as it should.

However, after assembling everything back together, the balls no longer fall into the ball launcher area. After a lot of searching on the internet to resolve the issue, I found this website that had a few threads similar to my problem. However, I still can't figure it out.

For some machines I see that there is a plastic piece that either goes on the back near the ball launcher or on the front depending on the model. I have never seen this piece on my machine.

Can someone please take a look at my pictures and let me know what I'm missing? Please let me know if you need any additional pictures.

Thank you in advance for your help!

[Ahab]

Do you have the hopper filled with balls to pay out? There is commonly a lever assembly in the upper track that is activated by the weight of the balls in the upper track, or somewhere else along the balls path depending on the manufacturer. This lockout keeps balls from being played when the machine is unable to pay a winner. Good luck with you problem's diagnosis.


Ahab out . . .

[Kbarrow]

Thank you Ahab.

Yes, I did have balls in the hopper.

I'm not sure exactly what lever you are referring to so I went through each one and found that the wire that I have an arrow going to in the new picture was hard to move up and down. It leads up to the hopper and down close to the launcher. Could this be a problem?

I can reach my finger through the back and pull down to get a ball into the launcher. It seems like there should be something there to move the arm.

It's weird that the ball launcher was working before I removed the front area to clean and now it doesn't. I didn't remove anything from the back.

Can you look at the new pics to see if you can tell me which lever it is or have any other ideas on a remedy?

Thank you.

[Moparformances]

you have a broken and missing part.. let me see if i can find a picture..

the swing arm is missing it transfer motion from the wire on the shooter threw to the front hopper to load one ball per flip..

[Moparformances]

as you pull the flipper back the wire that is attached swing arm back.. this has a tap on it that pulle the ball mech in the front lifting one ball into the shooter track..

its hard to describe but once you have seen a complete machine...

[Moparformances]

look at me forgetting my manors again

Welcome to Pachitalk

[MrGneiss]

WELCOME!!!

[Kbarrow]

Thank you for those pictures. Are those from a Chinaman machine? I know a lot of these machines are similar in the way they work but I never saw that plastic piece nor the 2 screw metal bracket that it fits into. I also don't see a place on my machine where I could even screw that bracket in.

I found a picture online of the back of a chinaman machine and it does have that plastic piece but it's connected differently without that metal bracket.

Do you know where I can acquire the plastic piece. What's it called?

Thank you for your attention on this. Its frustrating to have it working one minute but then when I clean it up and put it back together the balls won't launch.

I want to play PACHINKO!!

[sparky kilowatt]

I believe the clear piece on the front of yours is broken, which would be used to attach the part Moparformances is referring to. The next picture are the two parts I think you'll need to find in order to fix your machine.

[Kbarrow]

Thank you Sparky for those pictures.

I found a ball loader replacement online that I think is compatible but it's out of stock. I'm waiting to hear back from the manufacturer to see when it will unavailable again.

The clear plastic piece on the front is difficult to find. I'll keep looking though.

Please let me know if anyone here knows of a place where I can purchase these parts

Thank you everyone!!

[sparky kilowatt]

Thank you Sparky for those pictures.

I found a ball loader replacement online that I think is compatible but it's out of stock. I'm waiting to hear back from the manufacturer to see when it will unavailable again.

The clear plastic piece on the front is difficult to find. I'll keep looking though.

Please let me know if anyone here knows of a place where I can purchase these parts

Thank you everyone!!

I'd check eBay for "Nishijin Parts" as well as looking for a "parts only" or low cost machine on Craigslist, OfferUp or a local garage sale.

[Kbarrow]

I've tried finding these two parts on the recommended websites and I was able to find a ball loader that I hope fits my machine. However, it won't help if I never find the plastic piece that is broken on the front of my machine to attach it to.

Does anyone have a spare that they are willing to sell?

I've attached a picture of my broken piece.

Thank you all!Broken Part.jpg

[SibSr]

I make a 3D printed copy of that part and install the brass shaft.. Just posted it recently on the 3D parts Repository thread. I can make you one and ship it to you for the cost of shipping. I have the other part posted as well....same deal. Cost of the plastic is pennies, shipping is more at around $5

I'll make both and send them to you for the cost of shipping

[Kbarrow]

Lol, thank you SibSr!

I just saw your post on another thread about 3d parts and then I came back to my thread and saw that you posted. I

Yes I'm definitely interested in getting that load lever support plate. I'll order the other part from you if the one I bought from eBay doesn't work out.

Can I private message you with my address?

[SibSr]

Yes

[Kbarrow]

Thank you to everyone that has helped me with this. I want to give Sibsr a special thank you for getting me the parts I needed and being patient while I try and get the machine working again. Awesome!

I think I'm almost there but the balls won't load onto the track. The new lever in the back is pushing the small lever in the front like it's trying to push down and get a ball in but nothing happens. Could this be an alignment issue? I've tried adjusting the lever support plate up and down.

Sibsr has been helping me with this via private message but I've been unable to load pictures to show exactly what is happening. He provided a picture (it's the last one with the yellow arrow) that shows a small post located in the front shooter module that I don't seem to have. I've posted a picture of what I do have.

Any suggestions?
20230808_125358.jpg20230808_174925_copy_954x2016.jpg20230808_130306.jpg20230808_174916_copy_954x2016.jpgrsz_20230808_125358.jpg39bd01f49d6b66ae48207b25bfe64f89.jpg

[SibSr]

Here is the corresponding contact point on your lift lever where the load lever pushes it down. Then the counterweight raises it back up.

If you push it down a couple times with your finger like the load lever would, balls should be lifted and dropped out.

Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk

[Kbarrow]

Yes, when I use my finger the balls do lift and then drop out. However, when I close the machine and pull the ball launcher a ball does not load. When the front door is open, I can see that the ball launcher moves the plastic piece in order to move the ball into the track.

[Moparformances]

everything has to be in sync.. the wire on the back has to be nearly touching the swing arm but not so close that when you pull the shooter a full pull the wire falls off the bottom the the swing arm.. see pics attached in post 5 above

when the glass is shut the little tab has to be on top of the little lift arm.. as you pull the shooter down it allow one ball to role forward as you release the shooter the counter weight lifts the next ball on the she shooter ramp..

Hope that makes sense

[Kbarrow]

I found the reason why the balls won't load onto the track.

As I said in my last post, with the 2 new parts, the ball loading lever was acting like it was trying to get a ball in but it would not. I found out that if I opened the glass door and the lower front assembly just a little bit, that the lift arm could freely lift the ball lever and load each ball. So this lead me to believe that something was blocking the ball lever when I shut the door and not allowing the lever to come back up.

I took off the lower assembly (sorry, I don't know what it's officially called) and remembered that when I took it off when I first got the machine to clean it, the plastic piece did not sit flush when I screwed it back in. The reason it would not sit flush is because the plastic bubble looking piece that shows the "victory" flag from the outside was blocking the other piece from being screwed down all the way. This caused a slight bulge which was just enough to come in contact with the load lever and not allow it to come back up and release the ball into the track.

So the machine launches the balls correctly if I open the door slightly or if I remove the bubble plastic piece to allow the other parts to be flush when screwed down.

How do I get the bubble piece from blocking the piece of plastic where the screw goes in? I know I could cut a small piece of that plastic but I shouldn't have to since it was working fine before I messed with it.

I've attached a picture showing where the problem is.20230809_120711.jpg20230809_120810.jpg