Pin Holder Gripper Question

[NatChem]

Have you guys ever had to shave off part of the gripper that functions as a stop when they are closed? Had a call the other day where the grippers on a holder were slightly up in the closed position causing the pin to swing as the table would lower. The swinging pin would cause one gripper to open and it'd fall. I shaved the stop on it down so the grippers would be more closed but I guess it's something I should look out for when building them.

[loadtoad]

No, have not modified the grippers that way. I have ran into only two causes for what you describe with the pins.
One is the Oring on the solenoid plunger is deteriorating and causing issues with the slide that controls the grippers.
Two is the gripper cogs are not installed properly to the slide. The cogs that are on the underside of the holder and actually hold the grippers in place can be installed one tooth off and this will cause them to not travel to close far enough.

[Bking4242]

No, have not modified the grippers that way. I have ran into only two causes for what you describe with the pins.
One is the Oring on the solenoid plunger is deteriorating and causing issues with the slide that controls the grippers.
Two is the gripper cogs are not installed properly to the slide. The cogs that are on the underside of the holder and actually hold the grippers in place can be installed one tooth off and this will cause them to not travel to close far enough.

To add to this, I've seen that issue happen with the drive sled getting hung up on the wiring or the wiring clip(which we normally remove for this reason)

[loadtoad]

To add to this, I've seen that issue happen with the drive sled getting hung up on the wiring or the wiring clip(which we normally remove for this reason)

....yes, clip does not get put back in to make sure wires and slide clear. Plus, I have always thought that clip puts too much stress on the wires anyway.

[Mark caplin]

The Strike Maker holders have the same issue the gripper stop is off by a couple mm compared to the Brunswick original holders this has created some problems here as far as falling pins when being set . Something else to look at !

[loadtoad]

Mark Caplin -- yes, that configuration there would definitely be not good in the long run. I'd still check to make sure the teeth on the gears are timed and make modifications from there - based on your picture.

[NatChem]

Mark Caplin -- yes, that configuration there would definitely be not good in the long run. I'd still check to make sure the teeth on the gears are timed and make modifications from there - based on your picture.

I've heard of this gear through the forums but is this a gsx addition? I'm running 98s and we just have a simple pivot piece that slides over the gripper shaft with an adjoining hole for the connecting link to solenoid plunger. What's there to time? It seems my issue is that we'll get grippers from Brunswick that don't have consistently positioned holes for the roll pin to slide into causing the issue that Mark caplin showed. I'll have to look around the marketplace

[loadtoad]

Maybe the grippers are put in the wrong holes.
Left side in the right hole and vice versa -- since the 98's are set up with different part numbers for the grippers, they are more than likely built slightly different to engineered offsets. This could easily cause issues with not swinging all the way and make it look like they "...don't have consistently positioned holes for the roll pin...."

Could be mislabeled parts numbers or just incorrectly stored parts -- happens.

[NatChem]

Maybe the grippers are put in the wrong holes.
Left side in the right hole and vice versa -- since the 98's are set up with different part numbers for the grippers, they are more than likely built slightly different to engineered offsets. This could easily cause issues with not swinging all the way and make it look like they "...don't have consistently positioned holes for the roll pin...."

Could be mislabeled parts numbers or just incorrectly stored parts -- happens.

That shouldn't be the case because the grippers are clearly labeled "A" and "B" cross referenced with the ones still surviving built in 2004 and in the parts manual.