I disagree about this being a can of worms, or even any different from the situation described in the first post. It’s the player’s responsibility to know how a ball search might impact trapped balls, and to be prepared to respond. A trapped ball has never left play, so the ball search isn’t popping them “into play again”.
1 Like
Worms, because.
If loss of control over the flippers is a premature loss of ball in play (malfunction). Constituting a compensation (addition ball to play). How is this different if the cause is a premature ball search - involving the flippers.
That said I still cannot recall which game(s) does this. If it is not something I have dreamt up.
I think I remember this happening to me on Wheel of Fortune. Guessing it’s an intentional part of the ball search since the ball can get stuck under the flipper against the post.
1 Like
The consensus is saying that since the flipper itself didnt fail, no compensation ball is given.
A newer or inexperienced TD might give a compensation ball like myself. If others here with more experience and represent PAPA say they wouldn’t, i wont either going forward.
3 Likes
A flipper malfunction is just that – a malfunction. A flipper moving because it’s part of the ball search algorithm is “Working As Designed”.
1 Like
The vast majority of games of WPC era (circa 1991) and beyond will activate the flippers during a ball search. Ball search is normally inhibited if a flipper button is being held. It seems like the oddity in this situation is that the game didn’t realize that a flipper was being held (because of the bad opto) and activated the ball search despite the flipper being held.
Unfortunately, ball search messing with the ball is not typically considered a malfunction. (It’s possible to trigger a ball search on a 100% working machine just by bricking non-scoring posts repeatedly for 15 seconds or so. Potentially, this could cause a terrible “shot” if the machine happens to fire a flipper when the ball was in striking range of the flipper.)
1 Like
SST will initiate a ballsearch after only a brief period of no switches, and it drops/lifts both of the right flippers during the process. I’ve lost more than one ball due to that occurrence. Something to be mindful of while playing that game… if you post a few shots in a row, be prepared for no flipper control for a couple seconds.