marsonion wrote:pachiwall! wrote:Straightened it out and tested with a 1/2 full reserve. Now a coin falls into the reserve each time you hit ch-ch-any. I sped up the process be manually feeding coins down the ramp 'till it was almost full. Then played as it filled automatically. It became erratic, as sometimes a winner would not fill...but a few winners later, another would go into the reserve. I expect this is normal, as the coins would settle as the ramp bounces with each pull.
Now it is time to make the "pump stopper" so that I can stop the hydraulic clock to line up 3 bars to test the jackpot payout.
Good going. What you're observing is consistent with my experience with these Doughboy jackpot contraptions: the "bouncing ramp" will hover in a sort of limbo for a while, sometimes a little above or a little below the critical height (atop a pile of coins) required to completely release the "zig-zag" bar to fully, finally cease the intermittent dropping of coins into the reserve. The danger here is, you might find a nickel or two getting pinched by the gate-pin at the bottom of the escalator, because it's not opening all the way back nor completely blocking the coin... the resulting coin jam ought to clear in a few pulls (if your escalator is running well) but that situation can be very annoying. At any rate, removing the top casting to get a good look at what's really going on in there was precisely the right thing to do, in my opinion.
I have you to thank! Other than "cherry, cherry, any" fills the reserve...which I saw here, and might have been you; I have had no experience with "jackpot" type mechanical machines. I always thought they filled only after the Jackpot tube was full, and never thought as to a separate mechanism for " all full". i am a rare example, as the chrome is missing, and those with a doughboy that had all the chrome mounted correctly would not have the option of removing the top casting.
As far as the "pump stopper" (don't know what you call it...but this sounds good!), I plan on making a prototype...then marking lines on it to indicate where to drill holes for various locations in the cycle...I.E. 1st, 2nd & 3rd reels. Of course, my prototype may demonstrate that there is no need for those settings. No way to tell before I try!
At this point, It has always payed out the "small" winnings through the Jackpot tube. The zig zag bar was upside down with a home made spring.The jackpot, or reserve did not fill.Now the "zig zag" bar is correctly mounted with the same home made spring. The reserve fills properly, but I have not tested the "transition of jackpot to reserve" function. Nor have I tested the jackpot payout on the presentation of "bar, bar, bar".
I wish to give out a great, heart felt, THANK YOU to this great site...and all the members who make it what it is! Most of this information...I could have figured it out, sooner or later...but, it is nice to find a community of like minded enthusiastists that can help each other. I would like to thank you all that have been helpful! This includes posts written in the past that have increased my knowledge on something that I don't own, or plan to own...