STTNG Weak Catapult Launcher

[toastbot]

Had a family event at the house today, STTNG got a lot of play. Just before everyone left, the launcher started to not be able to get the ball into play. I replaced the coil sleeve and cleaned the plunger, but still same issue, ball only goes up a little bit of the first part of the launch ramp.

I read online that sometimes this is a ramp-alignment issue, but after checking the ramps, they seem pretty secure, and it seems weird that this would be the case seeing as it launched flawlessly since I got it. Coil looks to be pretty new and the action on the linkage seems pretty smooth.

Any ideas?

[FUNWIZ]

When you put it into test mode, did it sound like a firm kick?

[toastbot]

When you put it into test mode, did it sound like a firm kick?

Just checked. Sounds pretty weak actually.

[FUNWIZ]

Ok, pen & paper, run it thru coil test, fire every coil 5 times, note any weak and post back.

[BigMatt]

Check the connection on whichever coil it daisy chains from, could be hanging on by a strand or two and is about to break or a cracked solder joint on the coil feeding it and/or the launcher itself for whatever reason,  if other coils are weak id check your voltage on the board test pointS

[ratsflif]

A lot of the times on auto plungers, vuks, etc. it will be an alignment issue.  The coil works the screws out a little and then wont line up directly with the ball, so when it fires it only strikes a portion of the ball at an angle which causes a lack of transfer of energy.  Try tweaking it a bit before diving into the boards.

[ibis]

Just throw my 2 cents in.....when this happened to my STTNG it boiled down to a worn plunger and coil stop.  That launcher is a work horse.  Inspect the mechanism too just for the heck of it.

[toastbot]

Thanks for all the suggestions!

So it seems like the weak coils are the following:

• (03) Left Gun Popper
• (04) Right Gun Popper
• (05) Left Popper
• (11) Trough

Coil stop and plunger look like they're in pretty good shape.

Screws on the coil plates are solid, but the coil still has room to twist a little bit when screwed in.

Weird because it was working fine all afternoon and then all of a sudden it wasn't.

[BigMatt]

Definatley check your voltage test point on your board, its quick and easy, im too lazy to look at my manual are those on the same daisy chain coil feed?

[FUNWIZ]

Ok, looks like you might have a weak bridge rectifier and capacitors.  I'm sure one of the others on here can point out which one, one as I'm driving tonight and won't be home till late.

[atarijim]

Weak bridge, possible. Also bad input AC connector giving half wave, look for burn marks on the plastic or weak solder on the board.

My advice is to NOT change the caps or you will more likely end up with bigger issues. I can't stress this enough. I shake my head every time I see a wpc with changed out caps. I personally have never seen a failed original cap, but 95% of the time a cap was changed out resulted in a failure.

aj

[toastbot]

Fixed. Driver board was shot.

Thanks Curly & Joe!

[HammysHangout ( Hammy )]

Fixed. Driver board was shot.

Thanks Curly & Joe!

Hard to believe a driver board was "shot" beyond repair.

Sent from my ONE A2005 using Tapatalk

[BigMatt]

Hard to believe a driver board was "shot" beyond repair.


Board swappers. They're everywhere.

[windsoreight]

Nice, maybe a little more info before accusing us of being nothing but board swappers.


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