IndyDDR.com

Can someone give me a step-by-step guide (or a link to one online) for fixing arcade PIU pads that are sticking? The symptom is that pad works most of the time just fine, but occasionally during fast passages it will register a miss, presumably because the sensor is sticking.

Thanks in advance...

We had a really sticky sensor at X-site...didn't we just disconnect that one? There's like six of them in there and it still registers fine...

Correct me if I'm wrong, guys.

The stage is built almost identically to a DDR stage. Open it up and you'll see what I mean. As a suggestion, do not try to remove the corner bracket that is next to the center panel as getting them back in can be a pain: just loosen it and tilt the panel out if possible.

The first thing to do is try to figure out which sensor is sticking. Sometimes you can tell because it will be overly sensitive (as in merely touching it will trip it), but sometimes it isn't so obvious. The IO test screen on Pump is immediately responsive for individual sensors, unlike DDR's, so it can actually be useful for this purpose.

Once you know which one is sticking. You can try taking it out and reseating it. Our machine has some plastic spacers underneath the sensor. It doesn't seem that taking them out is ever required (and they're stuck in with an adhesive), but it could be a last resort.

If you can't get it to stop sticking by reseating it or moving it around in the slot, just disconnecting it usually works on machines that are new like yours is. The 3 other sensors will usually trip just fine on anything except a glacing handplant.

Oh, and if you're getting BADs and not MISSes, it's possible that it's just the glitch. You can't usually hit steps you're not supposed to on Exceed 2 without getting a BAD for other steps that are coming up. As near as I can tell this is a bug, but it does cause problems that can be mistaken for pad issues. You can tell if something is sticking by the panel light staying on, of course.

Also, our stage sometimes has trouble with one sensor being so touchy that vibrations elsewhere on the stage, particularly during heavy nightmare play, can trip it without ever touching it, triggering the bug mentioned above. Someone watching the stage lights during gameplay can probably figure out which scenario you have.

As usual, very helpful MonMotha; thanks!

Additionally, if you're playing on an Exceed 1, glitchy misses and bads happen very often, especially during freezes.

Play on PS2 Exceed (something like Monkey Fingers), and you'll see what I mean (Andamiro for whatever Godforsaken reason never took that glitch out of the PS2 version).