Star Tech Journal

William.s High Speed Bum.per
New Panel Button
Frank 'The Crank" Seninsky
Alpha-Omega Amusements & Sales
Edison, New Jersey
HIGH SPEED JET BUMPER
Lately a few High Speed pins were causing us
problems when the jet bumper(s) would
energize at the start of a game and ... puffl!!
Our techs were puzzled because they did the
following and came up empty:
Remember that the jet bumper coils are
"special solenoids", meaning that they are
switched differently than the other con-
trolled solenoids. First check the driver tran-
sistor TIP122, then check the predriver
2N4401, and then check the 7402 IC. All of
these components checked "good".
What next? Take out the CPU and you will
see that the special solenoids switch inputs
have protection diodes (Ref #5234A) across
them. Of course these protection diodes are
not to be found on the schematic!!! Some of
these diodes were shorted, which naturally
caused the coils to remain energized. A
regular 1N4401 diode can be used as a
suitable replacement.
These protection diodes were put on at the
factory and somehow all of us didn't know to
look to see if any components were on the
'back side of the board"!
NEW CONTROL PANEL BUTTONS
One of the highlights of the AMOA Show, for
me, was seeing the new control panel button
by J-S Sales. It is just what every operator
needs to help make conversion work fast and
long lasting. This plastic button has threads
WNG ENOUGH (one inch of threads) so that
it can be easily tightened on a control panel
that has a 1 / 4" plexiglass cover!
The actuator button can be removed from
underneath the panel by squeezing the two
plastic prongs. The button "Name" goes
inside the button, so it can't be pealed off by
the player. This feature makes some of the~
player decal instructions obsolete!
A Cherry microswitch is mounted to the
bottom of the button. The microswitch is
easily removed by spreading apart any of the
three plastic button prongs and just rotating
it loose. (It's just as easy to replace the
microswitch.)
I didn't get a part number. Just give Don
Shimel a call atJ-S Sales 800/431-2944 (or
in NY, 914/ 668-8051) and tell him that "The
Crank" is glad to see that J-S has answered
the operators' prayers.
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