SOLENOID ISSUE

[mrbrightside80]

I'm having an odd issue with my back solenoids. When I first launch a table they work correctly. But shortly after they begin to fire at a delay. Basically if any middle or back bumpers are hit on a table, there is a second or so delay of them firing. I tested it through DOFLINX as well and they still delay. For reference I have 10 solenoids they run on 2 sainsmart relays. The front 4 are on 1 and they all work correctly. The other 6 run on the other sainsmart, and that is the one with issue. I'm not sure if this is a software issue, which I have not updated anything. or this is what they do when they begin to go out. Any help would be much appreciated.

[Pinballerx]

Have you updated your firmware on the sainsmart boards? I would also make sure your power supply for the  sainsmart/solenoids is the right amps. I had weird issues when I realized my power supply didnt have enough amps. But it happened down the line. Now they work great since I put in a high amp power supply. Yours could just be a bad power supply though. worst case scenario is your noids are going bad.

Edited June 24, 2022 by Pinballerx

[LegoYoda]

I had a delay issue and it was when the table was "busy" (like multiballs)... it was a not quite powerful enough CPU... I (oddly) fixed it by dissabeling in DOF my non essential stuff line front button lights... that sorted it... at least until i can get a better CPU...

Def processor related as when I am using DOF Linx and FX3 i can have everything enabled and it's all fine and lag free but that's MUCH lighter on system resources and I think the massive amount of programs running in VP setup can overload (latency wise) a single core on the CPU...

[mrbrightside80]

16 hours ago, Pinballerx said:

Have you updated your firmware on the sainsmart boards? I would also make sure your power supply for the  sainsmart/solenoids is the right amps. I had weird issues when I realized my power supply didnt have enough amps. But it happened down the line. Now they work great since I put in a high amp power supply. Yours could just be a bad power supply though. worst case scenario is your noids are going bad.

I have not updated the boards, but I do have 2 of them. The other boards works fine, as do the 4 solenoids connected to it. I have had the other 6 solenoids (the ones with delay) for 2 years. IS that commom amount of time for them to go bad?

[Pinballerx]

I never ran two boards. Do you need two power supplies or do they run in tandem or parallel? I'm not the best of electricians 🙃 Could be a bad sainsmart board or your power supply. I would try the other solenoids on the working board. Then you can see if it is bad noids. If they work, now you are narrowed down to PSU or board. If you have one power supply that runs both boards, could be that because I had the same issue with mine but I was only running one board. Some of my noids would not react or there would be a big delay. Then I change the psu to a higher amp one and I also upgraded my smart outlet to a higher amp rating as the one I had was way too low. Both things fixed and I have no issues at all.

Edited June 24, 2022 by Pinballerx

[zapper]

This could be a USB Bus issue in that too many usb signals on the same Bus at the same time will cause delays. On a side note I pre-planned for this possibility by installing two of the following in my PinCab PC - https://www.amazon.com/FebSmart-Self-Powered-Technology-No-Additional-FS-U4-Pro/dp/B072LS4JH7/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=2V3OQEWI5QJ5R&keywords=usb%2Bpci%2Bcard%2B2.0&qid=1656184315&sprefix=usb%2Bpci%2Bcard%2Caps%2C88&sr=8-2-spons&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyUFNLUEY0NVkyS0Y2JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNTI4MzEyWFBYR1Y3TldWMDJMJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA5MjIzOTkyQjhKQk1IQUxCVktZJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ&th=1