Stuck in second ball

[Jack_Sparrow]

Converted A's, still have overtravel.

Had a broken 1-1. Changed it, put the same detector back in. Now acting weird.

The machine seems to work correctly mechanically, but it's decision making is impaired. Doesn't go to first ball. I can put it there manually, cycle, stops at 180 (no pins in machine), released then goes for floor normally, comes back up and overtravels,stops at 90 on holding hook.

I notice when I try to adjust the detector rod that the upward travel of the rod (or the motion of the disk if you prefer) does not stop where it should.

Bear with me - I'm not up on the nomenclature of the parts of the detector. Looking at the bottom of the detector, there's a latch or selector that rides the detector disk. At strike 90 it lowers. At that point it stops the upward motion of the detector rod and this is where the adjustment takes place. (1/8 gap or whatever)

On my detector this doesn't seem to be happening. I can always push the detector rod way up farther than it should go because that selector does not drop down to block it.

My question is: can this be caused by something external to the detector? I have another one I can swap in but I'd rather not find out the hard way that the problem is somewhere else.

TIA

[Kanga (James)]

Since you say the problem wasn't there before, my first thought would be verification of the timing of the detector. An easy way to tell is if the rake swoop hook is letting go too early or too late.

[cuda96]

My thought would be to make sure the roll pins on the detector rod are straddling the bracket the way they are supposed to, and that they are not broken off.

[Steve Stafford (JBEES)]

As mentioned...be sure timing is correct. Also, check the detector rod tube where the clamp is to see if it has been crushed by the clap. This will prevent the bearings from being able to move inside the tube as they should. The bearings control the position of the rod up and down and if they are bound up...the rod will stop in odd places. You stated you have converted machines...can you see how much wear is on the "toe" of the standing pins controller and the strike controller? If the toes are worn...they can prevent the detector disc from rotating.

[Jack_Sparrow]

1-1 and detector are bang on and the detector rod is fine. I've changed plenty of 1-1's and never had a problem before.

That said, I figured it out and must admit that the answer is a bit embarrassing. I said in my first post that the machine ran to the floor normally. It didn't. It was short-stroking all the time. The hook latch needed adjusting.

I discovered this after I pulled the detector again to check it out. It got a good thorough cleaning so all was not in vain. The only things I can plead are intense pressure and fatigue (and pain). When a machine goes down around here it's panic button time. "Get it running somehow, I need it tonight." The result, of course, is the job takes longer than if you did it the slow and certain way to begin with.