So, nobody likes cyclic anymore What's replaced it

[Subarubrat]

I own a few pachinko/pachislo machines placed around my arcade and they have been generally reliable other than cleaning and bulbs. I have a few Lumina frame machines and two of them I did the cyclic or semi cyclic mod (I can't recall the right term, there is a break in the ball path and a new wall added so that balls flow into the lower tray instead of the bottom chute) and it has been a zero hassle solution. I have a Galaxy Railways I finally have room for and went to look up the mod instructions because it has been years since I have done one. The instruction images are gone and there are more than a few discussions about undoing cyclic mods and other posts that suggest something newer or better has come along. What is the current big thing for setting machines up for practical use? My only concerns are practical use and only needing access to the front of the machine. Thanks for the update, I just haven't kept up.

[MrGneiss]

I think there's still plenty of people that would probably like cyclic but probably aren't comfortable chopping up much more complicated and Much more expensive machines these days vs 15 years ago.. I know machines are still converted in Japan and starting last year Smart Pachis are cyclic from the factory..No more balls payed out..

I think people now a days would probably opt for a daverob dongle and a ball lifter!!

[Drunkenclam]

Some of the later machines (mostly Kyoraku and OK) had a ball out sensor in the back of the machine so that of a ball goes in the start pocket it should get counted out again to prevent tampering with the pocket sensor. The early cyclic modes threw the machine into error. In addition. There can be problems if the low ball sensor on the tank is empty as it can drastically alter the frame lights turning them all red like on Sankyo and Sanyo models or throw up an on screen error message like on Kyoraku. If you force the sensor to see balls that aren't there. Then that triggers another error in the payout motor assembly as its trying to count balls that aren't there.

[lotsoballs]

I think there's still plenty of people that would probably like cyclic but probably aren't comfortable chopping up much more complicated and Much more expensive machines these days vs 15 years ago.. I know machines are still converted in Japan and starting last year Smart Pachis are cyclic from the factory..No more balls payed out..

I think people now a days would probably opt for a daverob dongle and a ball lifter!!

^This! Agreed; not worth the potential problems! Why would I want to spend hundreds of dollars on a machine that might just throw errors; and just hope everything pans out ok afterwards? No thanks…

A cabinet with an extra hopper for another 2000-3000 balls works great (with a Daverob dongle) and/or a ball lifter with a Daverob dongle is a good solution. Though not a cheap solution…

Only cyclic I’ll ever buy is maybe a smart pachinko one day just to try it out; but those are only a year old; so still very expensive.