Tech: TZ autofire Kicker

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Common problem. Usually just adjusting the angle of the autokicker "arm"
will correct the problem- slight bend to the left or the right to change
trajectory as the ball leaves the autolauncher. What you're getting now is
a problem with trajectory being off- the ball rattles off the walls of the
plunger lane and loses momentum, so doesn't have enough left to get all the
way to the gumball trough.

Ray J.
--
Action Pinball & Amusement, LLC
Salt Lake City, Utah USA
Web: www.actionpinball.com

We're serious about pinball. Anything else is just for fun!



"MrWurm" <webwurm@direcway.com> wrote in message
news:1125603422.875847.48720@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> When my TZ loads the gumball machine, the autofire kicker usually has
> to try three or four times to load a steel ball. It has no problem
> autoloading the powerball, but steel balls seems to lose momentum and
> not make it far enough to get loaded. Is this a common TZ issue or do
> I just need to rebuild the kicker assembly ?
> Jerry
>

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Ray, you're right. The ball does wobble as it travels up the lane.
I'll work on adjusting it.
Thanks,
Jerry

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

In article <7LqdnY6cWrAa9oreRVn-hQ@aros.net>,
"Ray Johnson - Action Pinball" <staff@actionpinball.com> wrote:
> Common problem. Usually just adjusting the angle of the autokicker "arm"
> will correct the problem- slight bend to the left or the right to change
> trajectory as the ball leaves the autolauncher. What you're getting now is
> a problem with trajectory being off- the ball rattles off the walls of the
> plunger lane and loses momentum, so doesn't have enough left to get all the
> way to the gumball trough.

Remember that sometimes the ball can hit something as the
autofire kicker tries to get it into the gumball machine.
The two problems (that I've seen) caused by too much "oomph"
from the autofire kicker are:

1) the ball hits the
first metal ramp, then hits the underside if the wire habitrail,
even before it gets to the spiral/orbit.

2) the bal lands in the spiral/orbit, but rattles around, and hits
the metal corner of the ball-lock kickout.
This can stop the ball cold.

So sometimes too much "oomph" is no good either.

Hope the helps :-)

- Tim