Accu-score/Accucam not reading 8 or 9 pin..... PLEASE HELP

[JJYoung]

I have a pair of lanes 3/4 that arent scoring properly. if you throw an intention gutter ball on lane 4 it scores one and says you knocked down the 9 pin complete opposite on lane 3 it will also score one but it will be the 8 pin that it reads as knocked down.........................

[Kat]

Sounds like the camera needs calibrating/alignment.

[JJYoung]

Is that something im able to do in house or are those issues usually handled by someone else?

[wb8yjf]

Is that something im able to do in house or are those issues usually handled by someone else?

That is something you do in house. You should have 2 targets, and a height gauge to do the calibration.

[JJYoung]

well the guy i took over after left me without any manuals or notes or even any idea where i can find the things i might need..... so i will see if this site has any in their list

[wb8yjf]

They are mounted on a metal frame with a hole in the bottom that you center over the 7 & 10 spots. Some people have made the frames out of wood - which works OK.
Ted posted info. on making your own targets - complete with a .pdf to print out. Its here:
http://www.bowltech.com/forums/showt...own-AS-targets

When adjusting the camera move the small toggle switch on the back of the camera from RUN to the other side (some are marked 'adjust' most are not marked with anything)

The height gauge is another story, maybe someone here has one they could take measurements from so you can make your own. The two nex nuts to loosen for the height adjustment are here:



It basically is to set the height of the camera properly. Odd are, that if this problem just popped up, this adjustment is probably OK.

The camera adjustments themselves are on the CCD (the actual camera part of the unit) frame - you loosen up a couple of hex head bolts on the plastic base of the CCD part: (NOTE: if you DON'T loosen these screws and try to adjust the side to side, you'll break the plastic piece on the camera mount)

and adjust the side to side by turning this hex nut:

Observe the LED's on the side of the camera assy. and when the 'side' says OK, tighten down the 2 bolts you loosened to do the side to side adjustment.

Next is the left and right adjustments. These are done by turning these thumbscrews:


Loosen them and turn them to get the 'OK' LED on the 'left' and 'right' leds then tighten them back down.

Once all the LED's say OK, then flip the switch back to run, remove all the adjusting stuff and test the scoring.

Jon

[JJYoung]

Now that is how i make sure the camera is adjusted and mounted properly, correct? or are these the steps to make sure the camera is calibrated to score correctly?

[wb8yjf]

Now that is how i make sure the camera is adjusted and mounted properly, correct? or are these the steps to make sure the camera is calibrated to score correctly?

I listed the alignment info. As for being mounted correctly, you really should have the height gauge. Has anyone moved the camera or has it gotten nailed by a ball recently?

[JJYoung]

No as far as i know it has never been moved since being installed. as for getting hit by a ball that could be a possibilty but i do not know for sure the shrode doesnt show any visible damage that i would associate with a ball.... i have a feeling its time to upgrade the scoring equipment but i have to exhaust all efforts before the owners would go for that

[wb8yjf]

One other thing, have you swapped CWC's from a working pair to this pair - just to make sure it isn't in the CWC?

[JJYoung]

CWC? i have no literature on these scores so im at a loss for all the terminology sorry

[wb8yjf]

The curtain wall chassis :


You can swap another one from a working pair to verify the camera is the culprit.

[Tablejam]

I have a pair of lanes 3/4 that arent scoring properly. if you throw an intention gutter ball on lane 4 it scores one and says you knocked down the 9 pin complete opposite on lane 3 it will also score one but it will be the 8 pin that it reads as knocked down.........................

This sounds very familiar.

Full rack on 3 but doesn't see the 8, full rack on 4 but doesn't see the 9, yet if there are no pins standing in front of these pins it will see them fine.

Before messing around with the camera anymore make sure the pins are on spot. The camera must be able to distinguish 10 separate pins, if the pins move off spot pins can block other pins from the camera or be too close together for the camera to see them all. Put your face down where the camera lens is and look at both racks of pins- there should be a space between the head of each pin. If your pins are off spot and there is very little or no space between pins the camera can't tell the difference. And since you say out of a full rack it does not see the 8 on lane 3 and the 9 on lane 4 that sounds like the pins are off spot in such a way that the 8 and 9 are, as far as the camera can see, behind other pins such as the headpin. I would bet either the 8 and 9 are forward of spot or the headpin is off or both. Once you correct this if they are off spot then you can check and adjust the camera.

I have had this happen with the 3000 cameras and the older ones and it's the same thing, pins off spot the camera can't see. So check that and you may not have to mess with the scoring.

When the camera does not see these particular pins when there are other pins in front of them it's a classic sign the pins are off spot.

[wb8yjf]

This sounds very familiar.

Full rack on 3 but doesn't see the 8, full rack on 4 but doesn't see the 9, yet if there are no pins standing in front of these pins it will see them fine.

Before messing around with the camera anymore make sure the pins are on spot. The camera must be able to distinguish 10 separate pins, if the pins move off spot pins can block other pins from the camera or be too close together for the camera to see them all. Put your face down where the camera lens is and look at both racks of pins- there should be a space between the head of each pin. If your pins are off spot and there is very little or no space between pins the camera can't tell the difference. And since you say out of a full rack it does not see the 8 on lane 3 and the 9 on lane 4 that sounds like the pins are off spot in such a way that the 8 and 9 are, as far as the camera can see, behind other pins such as the headpin. I would bet either the 8 and 9 are forward of spot or the headpin is off or both. Once you correct this if they are off spot then you can check and adjust the camera.

I have had this happen with the 3000 cameras and the older ones and it's the same thing, pins off spot the camera can't see. So check that and you may not have to mess with the scoring.

When the camera does not see these particular pins when there are other pins in front of them it's a classic sign the pins are off spot.

Good call!

Being an electronics guy, I didn't even think of that. I think you have an excellent point.

[Tablejam]

This used to drive me nuts with the AccuCam 3000s but one day I decided to pretend I was the camera, and that's when I figured this is what was going on.