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Thread: Question about general operation of Ball Lifters

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    Blind Shooter Solidstate's Avatar
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    Default Question about general operation of Ball Lifters

    I have a non-cyclic Star Wars. I was just about to build a cabinet that held a lot of balls at the top to feed into the reward hopper with the idea being that the machine held enough balls for a decent fever payout.

    Then I managed to get hold of a Ball Lifter that is now on its way to me.
    Looking at how it works there doesn't seem to be as much ball storage space as there is with a homemade hopper feeder box.

    I can imagine the machine running out of balls mid-payout and the whole idea of the ball lift was to stop me having to feed the hopper. The way the electronics work on the lift sensor also look like they might stop you attaching an extra hopper feeder to the top of the machine.

    Can anyone who has a ball lift tell me the best way to set it up and how many balls it holds before running out.

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    Sphere Chucker fhagar's Avatar
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    Default Re: Question about general operation of Ball Lifters

    I can't tell you how many balls the lifter holds but it's a little smaller than the tray I had behind my machine. I haven't had a problem running out of balls on my Crf Fever Powerful machine because the machine "banks" any payouts it can't pay because of a lack of balls and pays them out when it has more balls. I think the ball lifter could be put into a larger bin at the top if this isn't the case in Star Wars.
    The only problem I forsee is after a long time with no payouts the ball lifter itself may overflow. I'm addressing this on the stand i'm building by catching the overflow in a tray to be used in the front or dumped into the top tray.
    In any case there will still be some ball handling during or after a fever round because the "won" balls will have to be recycled into the top tray.
    Never met a Pachi I didn't like!

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    Blind Shooter Solidstate's Avatar
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    Default Re: Question about general operation of Ball Lifters

    Thanks for this. I didn't even think about overflow at the bottom of the machine. It looks like I'll still need to build a case that incorporates some kind of back-to-front ball routing at the bottom. I'll also need to build up at the top anyway to hide the ball lift tube, so I may as well put in some space for extra reward ball storage too.

    You have really been useful here and have helped me to avoid making a silly mistake when building my cabinet.

    Now if only I'd paid attention in those woodwork classes in school.

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    Crippenese spoken here. drcrippen324's Avatar
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    Default Re: Question about general operation of Ball Lifters

    could you put the switch to the ball lifter in the top ball storage space you are building in to the cabinet that way the ball lifter wont cut out untill the rewrd hopper and some of the space you are building above. without sounding sarky dont make the clasic mistake remamber to slope the floor of the top ball space
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    Blind Shooter Solidstate's Avatar
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    Default Re: Question about general operation of Ball Lifters

    Yes that makes more sense - no need to cater for overflow at the bottom then.
    I think I'll have to see exactly how this thing operates when it arrives to see if the sensor switch for the top bin can be moved.

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    Crippenese spoken here. drcrippen324's Avatar
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    Default Re: Question about general operation of Ball Lifters

    acording to our master nail bender (and fiddler with anything to do with pachinko) better known as arby you can extend the tube by about 1.5"-2" and the lifter will more than cope with it as for the swich just extend the wire a little and mout it on the less sloping side of the floor of the top storidge tray you are building
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    Kungishi DaStooge's Avatar
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    Default Re: Question about general operation of Ball Lifters

    it is most likely a simple limit switch (i havn't seen one up close so I'm not sure) you could pick one up cheaply and wire it in to the one on top.
    "betcha can't have just one"

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    Stuey - The RADministrator MrGneiss's Avatar
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    Default Re: Question about general operation of Ball Lifters

    Last edited by MrGneiss; 02-02-2006 at 04:19 AM.

    "Blowing smoke rings at the moon."

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    Blind Shooter Solidstate's Avatar
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    Default Re: Question about general operation of Ball Lifters

    Well my ball lifter turned up today, got home and plugged it it and it works perfectly. Now I need to build my case around it.

    I'm going to go with the idea of having a largish reward ball bin on the top of the machine and just the ball lifter at the bottom.

    The switch for the top is like a foot pedal - as long as there is weight on it then nothing happens - when the weight goes (you run out of balls) the machine starts and lifts some more until the switch shuts it off again.
    This means that I can put an extra bin on the top of my machine and put this switch in there - this new homemade bin will then feed the original payout hopper via a gravity tube.

    I'll make sure there is plenty of room to store all my balls between the top payout bin and the small hopper in the lifter. If I need more to play with because the machine hasn't paid out for a while - I'll install the "fooling sensors" switch to enable me to payout 7 balls on demand.

    I think I've got it figured out in my head now - I'll let you know how I get on -but it might take a few weeks.

    Thanks for all the help and suggestions.

    EDIT - Just one more question.....

    Do you think I could plug my Star Wars and the Lifter into the same US>UK Voltage adaptor if I got a plug splitter/combiner. The output of the voltage converter is 150 Watt.

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    Crippenese spoken here. drcrippen324's Avatar
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    Default Re: Question about general operation of Ball Lifters

    you need the amps rather than watts pachinko is about 5 amps + ball lifters draw in amps if it less than the transformers output in amps then yes but is the transformer a 240v>24 or a 240v>110v as a pachinko is only 24v
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    Gibisans - Japan West compirate's Avatar
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    Default Re: Question about general operation of Ball Lifters

    Just be careful with that much weight up high. I feel that Arby's system of a larger bin at the bottom would be better. The table base should already be heavy duty to support the machine plus all the rest, that way the upper part dosen't have to be that 'beefy' and not that much higher than the top of the machine.

    人生は恐れなければ、とても素晴らしいものなんだよ。
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    Eye Shooter JamesM's Avatar
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    Default Re: Question about general operation of Ball Lifters

    My feeling is all pachinkos should empty lost balls into a ball silo, that in turn feeds the ball lifter.
    Pachislo: Bounty Killer, Shadow Hearts 2 Biohazard reserved
    Wishlist: Battle Caesar, Crazy Sword, Dawn of Dreams, Basara 2

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    Blind Shooter Solidstate's Avatar
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    Default Re: Question about general operation of Ball Lifters

    Quote Originally Posted by drcrippen324
    you need the amps rather than watts pachinko is about 5 amps + ball lifters draw in amps if it less than the transformers output in amps then yes but is the transformer a 240v>24 or a 240v>110v as a pachinko is only 24v
    My transformer is a Supac T-15 200/240v >100/120v 50/60hz (can't find this anywhere on the web). Its a big chunky one - but it doesn't mention the amps on it anywhere.
    At the moment its powering a Pachislo (it came with it)- and I'd like to use the same transformer to simultaneously power the ball lift as well as the Pachislo. Do you think it could handle it?

    I know I said it was powering a Pachinko before - but I was probably drunk - this happens a lot - that's how I bid for the Starwars machine in the first place.
    I get drunk and a few days later strange parcels turn up at work. So far no mail-order brides - I think this would be the last straw with the missus.

    I'm having trouble finding a US/JP two plugs to one socket adaptor.
    In the UK its pretty normal to use a three plug adaptor in a single wall socket to enable you to plug in three items - e.g TV/DVD/AMP. I can't find the US equivalent of this - do you use these in the US and if so what are they called as I can't find one on Ebay and of course they don't sell the US/JP type adaptor in the UK.

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    Crippenese spoken here. drcrippen324's Avatar
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    Default Re: Question about general operation of Ball Lifters

    ok here is the easy answer to your plug problem while i scratch my brains for the amps problem
    go out and buy a 4 way plug adapter uk then cut the plug off of it and fit the plug that came on your pachi then put a uk plug on the pachi and the ball lifter and plug them into the 4 way plug just remember never to plug them into anything but the 4 way plug you just converted
    if you bare with me i will hurt my head a little over the amps and volts for you
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    Blind Shooter Solidstate's Avatar
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    Default Re: Question about general operation of Ball Lifters

    Thanks Dr. you're a gent.

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    Crippenese spoken here. drcrippen324's Avatar
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    Default Re: Question about general operation of Ball Lifters

    ok head scraching time over your transformer is the same as mine (steve 777heven special) how many watts is written on your ball lifter i dont want to take an educated guess and be wrong but dont worry if it wont run the ball lifter i have the answer and where to get it and howmuch and its here in the uk
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    Master Inventor daverob's Avatar
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    Default Re: Question about general operation of Ball Lifters

    Quote Originally Posted by drcrippen324
    go out and buy a 4 way plug adapter uk then cut the plug off of it and fit the plug that came on your pachi then put a uk plug on the pachi and the ball lifter and plug them into the 4 way plug just remember never to plug them into anything but the 4 way plug you just converted
    I really wouldn't recommend this, it would only take one drunken moment, or a friend who doesn't know what they're doing plugging it straight into 240v, and your prize pachi will be dead (and very likely unrepairable) and the potential of your ball lifter setting your cabinet on fire.

    Maplin sell US style line plugs and sockets for less than a quid each, it'll only take a screwdriver and a bit of wire to make up a proper two way adaptor which will be a hell of a lot safer to use.

    If you're not comfortable making up a two way adaptor like this, PM me and I'll make you one up.

    Also look at the transformer to see if it has a rating in either watts or VA, you can easily work out the amps from this by dividing it by the output voltage.

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    Crippenese spoken here. drcrippen324's Avatar
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    Default Re: Question about general operation of Ball Lifters

    ok got it covered its been a while and had to consult the dreaded bible for volts x amps = wats
    the answer is no you cant run both together the transformer will run one or the other both will melt it
    but you can get a transformer that is cheap and will run just your ball lift for you for£14.99 + delivery from maplins
    here is the link http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?...=13358&doy=3m2
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    Blind Shooter Solidstate's Avatar
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    Default Re: Question about general operation of Ball Lifters

    I take it you mean the 200VA transformer. I've work near a Maplin and can pop in and get one of these - £14.99 isn't too bad really. Thanks for your help - I know you've spent a bit of your evening/night on this one and its very appreciated.
    Daverob - thanks for the advice too - it looks like I won't need the adaptor now so no chance of blowing anything up.

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    Default Re: Question about general operation of Ball Lifters

    no probs please call again
    My rice krispies told me to do it



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