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Officially an Owner!

bstock

Active Member
Apr 1, 2013
325
48
28
Montreal, Quebec
Well after months of searching, and then weeks of trying to organize a pick-up, I finally have got my first machine at home! This past weekend I drove to Ottawa and picked up my new-to-me WCS94! Big thanks to Williams_Fan for being extremely helpful and selling me my first machine, and also do TwilightZone for helping me with the pick up of the game. I arrived and the game was nicely packed for transport, and sitting on a dolly! Great guys! After the long drive back to Timmins, I got the machine into the house and set up.

The machine looks great. I only had time to play 3 games so far.

I've noticed one issue that I'm guessing occurred during the 8+ hour drive back home. When I first fired up the machine, the solenoid at the striker hole fired a ball out which had apparently been in the hole on the way home. After it fired this ball out if continued to fire about 7 or 8 times. A gentle slap on the side of the machine stopped this. I restarted the machine and again the solenoid fired. This time I let it run it's course, and it fired 13 times at irregular intervals varying from 1-3 seconds before it stopped.

During game play, if the ball is shot into the striker hole it does not seem to sense it, and it remains there until the machine goes into ball search.

I'm currently out of town until Friday, so I haven't been able to take a close look. I'm guessing the likely culprit is a loose wire on the opto or dirty/poorly seated opto. When I get home I plan take a close look at it an clean the sensors.

Is alcohol appropriate for this type of cleaning?

I'm hoping it's a quick fix, but if I'm not able to sort it out when I get back I will post more details in the Tech section.

Couldn't be happier to officially be an owner!
 

Vengeance

Well-Known Member
Nov 14, 2012
1,990
139
63
Keswick, ON
Just sounds like a switch being triggered when it's not supposed to, should be an easy fix.

Congrats on the new game
 

hippochrome

Member
Nov 19, 2012
144
2
18
46
Ottawa
Congrats on the game!
WCS94 is an excellent 1st pin...I've owned one a couple separate times and will probably get another some day.
 

TwilightZone

Active Member
Nov 25, 2012
329
77
28
Ottawa, ON
Glad to help and welcome to the addiction....I mean hobby :D :lol:

Might be a stuck switch. It's got to be something simple like that. If the ball was sitting on it for the trip and it bounced a bit, it could cause the switch to jam. I've experienced that. When you have a moment, take a look at the switch and see if it needs adjustment.

Cheers,
Duane
 

mwong168

Administrator
Staff member
Nov 14, 2012
6,680
1,450
113
46
Toronto
TwilightZone said:
Might be a stuck switch. It's got to be something simple like that. If the ball was sitting on it for the trip and it bounced a bit, it could cause the switch to jam. I've experienced that. When you have a moment, take a look at the switch and see if it needs adjustment.

It looks like optos are used according to the manual. I would check to see if maybe part of a wiring harness is not obstructing the opto beam where I put the red arrows on the goalie popper assembly. The exact same thing happened to me last week when I was changing the flasher bulbs on my Demoman. I had to drop the under playfield subway and when I put it back part of the wiring harness must got caught between the opto switch and bracket. The VUK coil was firing off randomly and when I hit a ball in the scoop it would not recognize.

WCS94 is a great game and an instant hit with guests. I guess scoring goals never gets old :D
 

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DRANO

Super Member
Nov 15, 2012
2,827
519
113
Mississauga
This diagram might help as well :D
 

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bstock

Active Member
Apr 1, 2013
325
48
28
Montreal, Quebec
Got her fixed and functioning 100%! Very happy and proud or my first trouble shooting/repair experience. The issue with the striker hole was one of the wires which was attached to one of the opto switches, had broken loose from it's solder point and was simply sitting against it causing it to work intermittently at best. I imagine this happened in transit. The solder joint right beside it also looked questionable so I re-soldered both and VOILA! Works perfectly now!

After looking more closely I'm quite pleased overall and will only need to do a few things. The playfield needs a good cleaning in the hard to reach areas. The hard to get to rubbers also need changed. There are also about 4 broken plastics that I can see which I would like to address at some point. The ramps need a good cleaning with novus and the finish on the legs is showing it's age, so I might see about getting some new ones.
 

Menace

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Nov 14, 2012
2,440
255
83
Santiago de Aurora
Good stuff, and this is just the beginning! Keeping these things running 100% is what I enjoy the most about the hobby.

Enjoy...

D
 

Mike Hanley

Member
Apr 9, 2013
34
23
8
Mississauga, Ontario
Great game you got.


Back in 94 i ordered one and was told aug delivery. shit. John and Michelle were getting married in July....

Starburst bugged WMS for a sample and worked hard to get it in a few days before the wedding. The day before Christine and i drove over and borrowed their brand new game. no paperwork, nothing, just walked out with it. lol. we took it to our small pinball place (pre-church) and made sure it was working. And played a bunch.
The next morning we drove it over to the banquet hall where the reception was to be. We talked our way in, and set it up off to the side. Then dashed home to get ready for the church service.

John had no idea, it was a great surprise. Jim Patla, his boss, came up for the wedding. He was shocked we got one. :)

His family had no clue what he was off building in Chicago, so they all got to see it.


I didnt know i was the goalie until we set the game up. What a thrill. :)