Table cutting off before the end of the cycle

[herp444]

I have one lane that has been giving me trouble lately. It used to be every once in awhile but now it is happening every cycle. Start 1st ball cycle, sweep drops does the usual stuff but when the pins are setting back down the table just stops running leaving it in place. Then going from 2nd to 1st same thing. Sweep drops does its thing and when the pins are at spot the table quits running never finishing the cycle.
The cycle can be finished in both cases by running the table in the chassis. These are SS with Omega-Tek Expanders. I know it's not the chassis because I have tried several and it stays on the machine. It is also not a motor as I have tried several of those as well. I am hoping someone has had this similar issue and can help me resolve this.

[Louie_IV]

I'd start by checking your TA1 switch and connections. Also check the TA1 cam follower adjustment. When the machine is on zero can you run the table with the TA1 cam follower? Also, does the sweep go up as normal or do they both stop?

[herp444]

The sweep stays down in both cases. I can run from TA1 at zero but when it locks up it will only run from the chassis

[Louie_IV]

Ok, in that case the chassis is never getting to zero if the sweep stays down. I would still say the first place to start is the TA1 or TA2 switches. I'd check the adjustments of all the cam switches and the connections and make sure you hear an audible "click" sound on all of them. If all that checks out then you can dig deeper.

[herp444]

After oiling for league I went to TA1 and adjusted it ever so slightly. Ran a dozen cycles and worked perfectly. I'll test more when the place slows down but it looks like a winner. Thank you for your help

[Louie_IV]

Great. Hopefully that fixes it. Glad to help.

[Bill LeMieux]

Forgive my ignorance because I’m ten years removed from messing with switch cam levers, but how does TA1 result in a table shut down at 180 degrees?

[Wookie8662]

TA1 runs the table.
Usually from 270 back to 355.

[DBZodos]

Sounds like you've solved the problem but I wanted to share my story again in case it helps someone in the future with these sorts of quirky cam/switch issues. We had a similar issue on one of our 82-90XLs.

We had a lane that would very occasionally leave the table on the deck when spotting new wood, but the sweep would still return home leaving the table exposed. We'd run the table from the chassis to send it back to 355 and it wouldn't happen again for weeks or months. We never were able to replicate the problem ourselves. Finally, pinchasers reported that it had become more frequent so I took a closer look and discovered that the TA1 cam had a pretty significant dent in it!

The location of the dent in the cam just happened to correspond with the table being left on the deck at 180. The dent also corresponded with the zerk fitting on the shuttle cam follower, which is nearby but normally isn't in a position where the two will collide. I can only guess that at some point in the past, the shuttle operating rod lever or the table cam assembly must have gotten loose and slid out of position, putting the shuttle cam follower zerk fitting directly behind TA1 cam. It'll clear the zerk for part of its rotation, but once the lobe swings around, crunch! The zerk fitting showed no signs of damage, so someone must have replaced it after the original incident.

I was able to adjust TA1 so that when the switch lever dipped into that dent in the cam, it didn't travel far enough to change the state of the switch, ensuring that the table would continue to 355. That temporary adjustment lasted for another 6 months and then we replaced the table cam assembly for a permanent fix. Not long afterwards, I found similar but not as severe TA1 cam damage on another machine at the other end of the house.

I also made a mental note that when installing cam followers, to make sure the nipple on the zerk is pointed AWAY from anything that it might interfere with mechanically, even if it makes it more difficult to reach with the grease gun.