Allwin ball hitting glass - remedy

[ged8]

Topic moved - Site Admin.

Hello,
The steel ball is hitting the glass on my Elevenses allwin, round about the 3 o’clock position and has chipped the glass only very slightly on the inside, but you can hear it hitting when you play the game.
Does anybody know of a slight tweak to the runners or something so the ball runs smoothly.

Thanks.

[brianh]

Hi, jed8. Is the glass fairly loose? It often is, and it may be that putting small wedges (like the little plastic door stoppers, 1 or 2mm or so thick) at the back of the glass would push it far enough forward to clear the rails. If the stoppers are stuck to the wooden frame and not the glass it would still allow you to remove the glass when you need to.

[gameswat]

After the 1st revolution the 3 o-clock position is fed by the second rail that ends at around 1 o-clock, so that is likely the culprit, either it's twisted, or bent too far down which will cause the ball to bounce off the brass deflecting rail just to the left, or bent too far up which will cause the ball to the right to hit the outer rail at too big an angle. It happens so quickly that you might need to try filming the action and then frame by frame to see exactly where the ball is going wrong. Pretty much every allwin I've worked on has needed fettling of the rails to get a smooth ball action around and around again.

[ged8]

Thank you both, I’ve tried using a wedge to push the glass away from the rails, it helps a little but still hitting the glass. I think the rails are at fault, but how do you move them without disassemble the whole playing field?

[gameswat]

On the machine I usually just use an adjustable spanner tightened to fit the end of the rail, helps to place masking tape on the ends of the spanner to stop scratching, also helps to place another larger spanner a little further back onto the rail which helps support the rail and allow you to get some bend. This is usually always because someone has previously messed them around, otherwise they shouldn't need more than a tiny bit of adjustment due to wear only.

* Though before you go bending anything you need to try and figure out what is causing the issue in the first place!*

[arrgee]

ged8, have you got the correct size ball? If the ball is too small it can ricochet around the track. If ball size OK, then I would suspect the track, as gameswat has suggested.

[ged8]

Yes I think so - 1/2 inch. I will try gameswat’s method and report back.

[ged8]

Sorted, I Pritt-Sticked a sheet of white paper on the inside of the glass front, (Pritt Stick, so it would peel off easily). Then Pritt Stick a sheet of carbon copy paper on to the white paper. I carefully slid the glass back. Played the game a dozen or so times, then removed the glass again, peeled back the carbon copy paper and there you go, an imprint on the paper where the ball is hitting the glass, a few tweaks of the runners and all is well.

[john t peterson]

A clever trick, ged8.

Well done, lads all.

[badpenny]

Sorted ........carbon copy paper ........ slid the glass back ......... then removed ....... peeled back the carbon copy ...... a few tweaks of the runners and all is well.

Strewth! You're a bright one, we need to keep you.
Half of us wouldn't have considered it a problem in the first place, just so we could file it under "Too fiddly to be bothered with". While the remainder of us would have made adjustments to the ball with the largest hammer available.
Don't go away too far.

BP