Repair logs are quick summaries of workshop and on-site repairs. If your machine needs a service, π¬ Contact Us to discuss how we can help!
Minor service on a Transformers (Combo LE). A very popular theme but with only 500 of these LEs made, you don't see them very much!
Slingshot rubbers were gone so they were replaced first up. Left slingshot was still not firing. Coil was working OK in test mode but the switch wasn't registering at all, so time to look at the assembly under the playfield. A broken diode on the switch was the cause.
Next: ball hang-ups in Megatron. This is a common problem that was partially solved by code updates. Sometimes, a ball shot into the trough under Megatron won't be recognised. This trough is an odd design with only one entry and exit point, yet it must also be able to stack multiple balls for multiball. The fix here was to increase the pitch of the game a little so gravity helps the balls fall into line a little better. You can also put washers under the assembly to give it some more angle. In most cases the software should compensate by firing the trough coil weakly to "dislodge" any stuck balls. An odd mechanism design!
The captive ball has a toy Bumblebee car in it instead of the captive ball. However the car was getting stuck halfway up the lane and would not roll down nicely. The main cause of this appeared to be the design of the car. The base has a Bumblebee design embossed into it, which creates ridges that bind on the switch actuator in this lane. Some tape over the base of the car helped smooth it out somewhat, but replacing it with a different car would be the best approach. Unfortunately I don't carry extra Bumblebees in my toolbox!
Balls were occasionally getting stuck on the top of the left ramp. This is a poor ramp design with a huge lip on the metal ramp that doesn't quite fit into the "slot" on the plastics it joins with. I couldn't create any more space here so some Mylar over the lip was the best solution.
Of course this is only the first Transformers machine made by Stern. They've just released another one (More than Meets the Eye). Hopefully it will be a while until I have to feature one of those on this blog!
