Can pin release levers really bend?

[HYPERCASTER]

I've had several different machines giving me the 5 thru the chute without releasing the rest of the pins this season. They are all like twice a week at worse but enough to be annoying. None of my normal fixes are working so I was wondering if the lever could really bend enough to allow the 5 pin to pass thru without moving the probe enough to release the spoons.

[Popeye]

Yes it can. I have had it happen before. Someone posted a measurement for the pin release lever but I don't remember it. Maybe it will show up here!

[wepauls]

HEAR YOU GO

Pin Release Lever Setup

Pin Release Lever Setup

Attached Thumbnails

[Steve Stafford (JBEES)]

The pin release lever is cast...softer than normal steel and can bend. Follow the above information and you should be good.

[HYPERCASTER]

Thanks for the help. I had pulled one out and spread it and had no further issues ealier this year. Just wanted some assurance that it was worth the effort. Just for fun, what would you all say is the most common cause of this problem? My favorite was bad pins that the spoons would sit perfectly inside the plastic ring preventing them from rotating.

[Phil_B]

I have had this same issue before and even setting it up like the pictures show, still gave me problems. I had to open it up to 5-1/2 so it wouldn't drop through. You can almost tell by how the pin sits in the chute. If it sits low, then you'll more than likely have it going through before the others.

JMO

[Popeye]

Thanks for the help. I had pulled one out and spread it and had no further issues ealier this year. Just wanted some assurance that it was worth the effort. Just for fun, what would you all say is the most common cause of this problem? My favorite was bad pins that the spoons would sit perfectly inside the plastic ring preventing them from rotating.

Yes this is common in my center. Most of the time when the 5 pin goes thru and the pins don't drop it is a bad pin bottom or a spoon or turret wire misaligned.

[SoCalTom]

Yes this is common in my center. Most of the time when the 5 pin goes thru and the pins don't drop it is a bad pin bottom or a spoon or turret wire misaligned.

I have never had a bad pin trip the pin release lever. You may have other issues.

In my cases, there were weak blocking finger springs. The 5 pin (in the chute) would push the probe under the blocking finger, and release ten pins to the deck at the wrong time. The cure was to replace the spring. I have, also, found bent or broken links, bushings, and/or X-washer pins. In one case, I found an X-washer pin that was the wrong length. In one position, the turret indexed as it should; but, when the pin slipped, there was a turret jam.

It takes careful observation and a grasp of the sequences to locate the culprit.

[Popeye]

No Tom, the bad pin doesn't trip the pin release lever. Reread Hypercaster's last comment. The last sentence. This was what I was commenting on. Bad bottom pins keeping the spoons from rotating.

[Steve Stafford (JBEES)]

My favorite was bad pins that the spoons would sit perfectly inside the plastic ring preventing them from rotating.

This would not bend the pin release lever as the pin release lever would still rotate, rotating the spider latch (an integral part of the pin release lever) which would free the spider to rotate. Since the spoon is preventing the spider from turning...it would just sit there. The pin release lever would return to its position and you would see that the spider did not rotate after the 5 pin made it to the deck chute. No stress on the pin release lever.

What does cause it? Impact of the pin hitting the pin release lever while the interlock probe is being blocked. You can not stop this as this is normal to prevent pins from dropping when they shouldn't. The solution is to measure the gap of the pin release lever to the spider latch and bend when it needs it. It doesn't happen often enough to be that big of an issue. If you checked every one in your house, bent the ones you needed to bend, you probably would never need to do it again as long as you work there. No guarantee though...

[HYPERCASTER]

Not sure what you are trying to tell me Steve. I wasn't insinuating that the spoons not rotating could bend the lever. That was just the cause I found one day when trying to figure out why the 5 pin kept falling thru the chute without releasing the spoons and dropping the rest of the pins.

[Popeye]

Thanks for the help. I had pulled one out and spread it and had no further issues ealier this year. Just wanted some assurance that it was worth the effort. Just for fun, what would you all say is the most common cause of this problem? My favorite was bad pins that the spoons would sit perfectly inside the plastic ring preventing them from rotating.

Not sure what you are trying to tell me Steve. I wasn't insinuating that the spoons not rotating could bend the lever. That was just the cause I found one day when trying to figure out why the 5 pin kept falling thru the chute without releasing the spoons and dropping the rest of the pins.

Exactly!!! I am guilty of this too. Sometimes I don't completely read the post before I reply!

[Steve Stafford (JBEES)]

The thread was about bent pin release levers...you asked

Just for fun, what would you all say is the most common cause of this problem? My favorite was bad pins that the spoons would sit perfectly inside the plastic ring preventing them from rotating.

I would think the average reader would infer that you are still asking why pin release levers bend...since that was what you originally asked. If I have misinterpreted this question...I apologize.