comet II L shaped piece question

[mudfud]

hi again.

when I took apart the "big fish" comet II, I found that someone had glued the L shaped piece that diverts ball to the upper versus lower trays to the clear plastic. I didn't really want to saw it off, but was thinking that the balls would back up from the top tray if I left it as it is.

is that correct? how far will they back up? will it jam anything up?

I could try some acetone to try to break the bond, but I would probably do best with a dremel and a small saw.

just wondering if it's worth correcting.

[wrkey]

My thoughts...

Well.. that depends upon how many balls you plan on loading into the game and how 'loose' the machine is. I've learned that a 'full tray' consisting of one level of balls is approximately 100 balls adn that does not include any 'backing up' into the JP output ramp. So, it would take about 400 or so balls in total to reach the point where the balls will want to 'feed' into the lower tray. I suspect you could probably get away with another 75 before it reaches the point where it would start causing problems at the JP release point. So.. let's just start with the number of 500 as the point where problems occur. It has also been my experience that the JP hopper holds about 800 to 850 balls that would be 'playable' before the hopper empty switch stops play. Now, if your machine is an All-15 and you started winning almost immediately and every 5th ball was a winner...

500 balls = 34 jackpots.
34 * 5 = 170 ball to be shot

If you started with 50 balls that would leave 120 to be won in order to make all the required jackpots... thus (120 / 15 * 5) 40 more balls to win that giving an addition need for 160 or so balls to be won/shot.

Adding all this together and you'll have (500 + 170 + 160) 830 balls required in the hopper before ANY problem could possibly arrise.

So... the only real way to have this cause problems is 1)your machine is VERY loose, 2) your NEVER empty the shooter tray to the lower tray and 3) you put more balls into the hopper (from the losing ball catch tray maybe) and continue play with conditions 1 & 2 still in effect.

How about that for some mathmatical logic!!

[mudfud]

phew! all those calculations took my little brain so much that I decided I couldn't face opening the back and trying to get the piece off... if I watch the tray, I should be OK... alternatively, I could drill a big hole in the vertical part of the piece to let ball through

[birdbrain]

i threw a spare in your box of parts. so if you decide to cut that one off you'll have a replacement

[mudfud]

wow, it's the the saint patrick's pachi elf. if I have a spare, then I will get in there and try to "make it right"

thanks BB

[new in town]

Wait till you see his Easter Bunny Elf.

[mudfud]

oooohhh. do we get green eggs and ham?