# SDTM Cary Hardy: Battling A Switch Matrix Dragon in a Last Action Hero Pinball Machine

**Source:** Straight Down the Middle  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2019-04-23  
**Duration:** 34m 50s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_JAOg7cKts

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## Analysis

Carrie Hardy diagnoses and repairs multiple switch matrix issues in a Last Action Hero pinball machine, including a missing diode on the chicken scoop switch, bent trough switch leaves, a faulty spinner switch, and a disconnected ramp switch wire. Through systematic testing and physical inspection, she identifies the root causes of mysterious gameplay glitches and resolves them one by one, ultimately achieving a fully functional switch matrix.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] The chicken scoop switch lacks a diode while every other switch in the game has one, causing the game to reboot or incorrectly register ball loss — _Direct observation and continuity testing with multimeter; Hardy explained the specific electrical behavior when the switch lacks a diode_
- [HIGH] Trough switch leaves are bent and soldered in a way that causes them to touch each other, creating unintended switch activations — _Visual inspection and physical evidence shown in the video; Hardy spaced them out correctly to resolve the issue_
- [HIGH] The spinner switch connection wire was not properly soldered to the switch, requiring complete re-soldering — _Hardy discovered the wire was loose/disconnected during troubleshooting and re-soldered it, which resolved multiple false activations_
- [HIGH] Raising and lowering the playfield on routed machines causes damage to lower components like trough switches — _Hardy's general industry knowledge and direct observation of damage patterns in this specific machine_
- [HIGH] Maintaining a scrap parts inventory allows for faster repairs and avoids shipping costs and delays — _Hardy sourced replacement switches from her personal scrap collection rather than ordering new ones, demonstrating practical benefit_

### Notable Quotes

> "I'm not gonna be doing a whole lot of cuts of like before and this is what I did a lot of this is gonna be in real time me trying to figure out what the problem is"
> — **Carrie Hardy**, ~2:00
> _Sets viewer expectations for the video format; emphasizes the educational value of showing real-time troubleshooting rather than polished edits_

> "There are issues in this matrix that are especially cannot be seen with the naked eye and those by far are the most difficult to find"
> — **Carrie Hardy**, ~3:15
> _Previews the challenge level; hints at electrical/solder issues rather than purely mechanical problems_

> "Not having a diode is causing an issue... we never reach a true zero doing nothing"
> — **Carrie Hardy**, ~15:30
> _Core diagnosis moment; explains the electrical principle behind why the missing diode causes game logic failures_

> "This is what I got a wonder about because this is an aftermarket plastic and I'm wondering if they mess something up right here whenever they were changing this thing out"
> — **Carrie Hardy**, ~28:45
> _Identifies potential quality control issue with aftermarket plastics affecting switch alignment and reliability_

> "I typically call things like this a switch dragon I mean it's cuz it's a battle it's not as simple like oh that's which is policy I'll fix it over and done with whenever you're having mysterious side effects"
> — **Carrie Hardy**, ~50:30
> _Introduces community terminology for complex, interconnected switch issues; frames troubleshooting as a battle metaphor_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Carrie Hardy | person | Pinball content creator and technician; host of Straight Down the Middle; performs hands-on repair work and technical diagnosis on pinball machines |
| Last Action Hero | game | Pinball machine being repaired in this video; experiencing switch matrix issues that require systematic troubleshooting |
| Straight Down the Middle | organization | YouTube channel and podcast hosted by Carrie Hardy; focuses on pinball gameplay, reviews, and technical content |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Switch matrix diagnosis and repair, Electrical troubleshooting (diodes, continuity testing), Pinball machine maintenance and restoration
- **Secondary:** Aftermarket plastic quality and installation issues, Parts inventory management and scavenging

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.75) — Hardy expresses frustration at recurring problems ('oh my god could I', 'you gotta be kidding me') but maintains a problem-solving mindset and celebrates successful diagnosis ('yay'). Final tone is satisfied and accomplished.

### Signals

- **[design_philosophy]** Missing diode on chicken scoop switch suggests incomplete QA or manufacturing process oversight rather than intentional design choice (confidence: high) — Every other switch in the game has a diode; the missing diode on this switch causes systematic game logic failures that are easily replicated
- **[manufacturing_signal]** Physical damage to trough switches (bent, touching leads) and poor solder joints indicate handling issues during playfield assembly or shipping (confidence: high) — Hardy observes: 'that is an area yeah you can see it right there because your trough and anything down there and your lower portion your play field is very very common to have damage because whenever you're lifting and lowering that plate bill sometimes it's lowered basically prematurely'
- **[product_concern]** Aftermarket plastic replacement for spinner area may have introduced switch alignment issues or powder coating that interferes with proper switch operation (confidence: medium) — Hardy notes: 'this is an aftermarket plastic and I'm wondering if they mess something up right here whenever they were changing this thing out' and discovers powder/paint buildup preventing proper switch detection

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## Transcript

so far lowering this down let's get a look at the trough area and see if you can notice anything still clicks but it doesn't roll over so that's gonna need to be replaced that's gonna cause issues saying that's one issue almost every time I fire one of my flippers I'm gonna see it the chicken speed works [Music] it just thought I lost the ball that ball can get stuck underneath that spinner like I was telling you [Music] now let's try up here [Music] yep ball get stuck right there to detect the switch in between there ended the game we have got a switch matrix issue oh really not looking forward to going through that switch matrix those things can be a real pain in the ass sometimes but maybe I might make that in the video as well [Music] what's up guys and welcome back to another episode on straight down the middle my name is Carrie Hardy and I talk and do everything pinball so that sounds interesting to you then hit that subscribe button down below I think most of us have had that issue with a game where we hit a certain target and either it doesn't register or something else registers instead and if you saw the previous footage at the beginning of this video which I'm going to assume you have as well as the previous video where I point out all the issues with this game then you will know that the game that I'm going to be working on does in fact have quite a bit of switch matrix issues now here's the thing is that I'm not gonna be doing a whole lot of cuts of like before and this is what I did a lot of this is gonna be in real time me trying to figure out what the problem is this is not your typical switch issue where oh something's a little loose or something's broken this was I mean I don't want to spoil it for you but there are issues in this matrix that are especially cannot be seen with the naked eye and those by far are the most difficult to find so a lot of this I'm just gonna let play and I will interject every once in a while because I might find something in my own footage where I'm like you know if I would have caught that actually in retrospect then that kind of would have actually helped narrow down this issue a little bit faster so we're gonna see how that goes now the first issue that we are going to resolve is the fact that this rollover switch in your trough was not in fact a rollover it look like it was basically an altered version of a rollover and it could work it would probably work a lot of the time but we don't want something to just work a lot of the time and pinball we want something to work consistently all the time now so I'm basically going to be just removing the switch entirely and replacing it with an all-new rollover switch something I actually don't catch while I'm doing this and it's even visible in the previous video but I actually end up finding this issue later in this video is that trough switch number one which is the one to the left of the one that I'm repairing now the switch Leafs towards the bottom where it's all soldered or actually so bent that they're touching each other now that is part of what are the issues that I'm finding out throughout this video and I resolve it and I forget to actually record it when I do resolve that it was one of those let me see what the trough switches look like oh this is bent and I immediately fixed it because that's an easy fix so that is resolved on that head but you might be able to even see how it's bent right there the ones on the left of that switch has bent over enough to wear it so it's override enough to where it would definitely cause the issues and that's something that you have to look out for when you're working in your trough area because that is an area yeah you can see it right there because your trough and anything down there and your lower portion your plate field is very very common to have damage because whenever you're lifting and lowering that plate bill sometimes it's lowered basically prematurely and actually can smash and mess things up so that is something to kind of look out for especially when you're dealing with machines like this that are more than likely had been routed hard so a lot of raising and lowering that playfield gives you a lot more chances for basically you know defects all right so I haven't even turned the machine on yet but I'm already leaning towards what I know what the problem is with this switch matrix and that would be the fact that the chicken scoot switch does not have a diode on it did you look at every switch it should have a diode so I can go to this switch over here diode can go to where the hell are some more switches here we go diode diode every switch in this games got diode except for this one right here now would it be a coincidence that every time we sent that ball down the chicken scoop the game would reboot or it would think that I lost a ball that's what happens it would think that I would lose a ball down the out hole which is way up here so we're going to remedy this but before we're to go remedying it I want to explain to you why not having a diode is causing an issue let's get them altimeter out all right so this is what I got come on and give you a better visual on what we're doing I've got my probes alligator clipped so that way I can use just one hand to do this and I've got the following probes attached to each side of this switch diode and gonna give you a visual here of what this thing's doing when it comes to continuity this is what a switch this is why it's there so this is with me having a switch just sitting there generous thing and I want a ball rolls onto this switch that's what's happening releasing hitting releasing hitting all I'm doing is hitting this switch down here right about this thing so let's see what happens whenever we hook it on to this switch without the diode so here we go all I've done is got the same probes attached to this switch as I did over there with that diode and I'm already reading that and if I press to switch in this is me toggling to switch up and down up and down we never reach a true zero doing nothing Oh I think we got bigger problems [Music] and here's that leaf switch right now that I'm talking about where I fixed it I mean those were just pinched up smushed up together touching so spaced them out it correctly that way there's no possibility of them accidentally activating another switch and this is something also that I just do a reflow on I didn't record it but I didn't like the way that was soldered on so I refloat that switch as well this is something it's not switch related but I happen to notice it but they've got this diverter screw just not in the proper position it's not even working correctly so that's something that I fix also just something to point out whenever I hit that pop bumper left slingshot works too so that's an issue so the work continues so one of the issues with this right here is that this switch is bad I'm getting miss reading it's just by wiggling this right here I could wiggle this right here and I'll get continuity in and out so this switch is bad and it needs to be replaced all right let's so let's look at the switch matrix here inside the Last Action Hero manual and so I'm seeing green black okay so whenever I hit the right turbo bumper which is also the pop bumper it's activating the left slingshot and that's weird that it's just those two and I've gone on the other side of the play field and I've checked I'm the diodes seem to be good and everything so don't think that maybe all that we've got going on so what we're gonna do is we're back in test mode and we're gonna be going down this column right here at green black to see we have any other issues see what the column issue or it's gonna be a row issue and then we'll go from there so left I know the left pop-up worse not doing anything wrong it's just that one is popping up okay so the next step is bottom turbopump or just one time that's gonna be the next pop up then we've got the right pump bumper and that's what it's doing - yeah okay so about your life slingshot just one so right scoop right slingshot no Vishu right scoop rollover that's one right here no issue there so I don't think we've got a column issue doesn't look like it so let's go to the row which is wide orange credit button three oh you think I have a credit button three on this damn thing trough three drop target a and I would do that but they're broken so right stand up bottom right stand up bottom Oh so it's in two as well so chances are left out lane left out link look at that oh-ho-ho crane left limit that's this one right here yeah so it that one's hitting 20 in 60 so 60 and 20 and then what was the left out lane hitting 43 and 44 so 43 and 44 and then it was hitting this right here and okay so scoop scoop spinner crane left limit this is where oh you little punk you gotta be kidding me okay well I bet that was the issue let's see here let's try the left out lane now does this even work does this even work I don't like this this doesn't seem right so all right that's working that's working okay why is it 20 and 59 at the same time on that 2020s drop target in and spinner skipper well chances are if we're doing 59 which is right here and 20 which is right here is and I need to create that square so drop target a or crane level image these are the four switches that I need to be looking for let's get into the scoop spinner my drop target in crane left limit and drop target these four right here one of those four is causing this issue so that's the thing is that that's working just fine everything else in that column and row is fine except for this one awesome so and the thing is this is what I got a wonder about because this is an aftermarket plastic and I'm wondering if they mess something up right here whenever they were changing this thing out and I mentioned earlier about the spinner being painted or powder-coated or whatever I'm thinking we've got some kind of issue lining here on this switch so I'm gonna take this crap part and like it just working and see what we got alright so all this crap has been removed I've actually adjusted this frame that was causing this spinner not to do its job which is pre spin like that and even then I'm still gonna have to make an adjustment because I'm gonna end up taking this damn thing off and sanding off all this crap on the edges right here so we can not get caught up anymore I've got this removed because I was just testing out this spinner I was tired of hearing the damn sound go off but so I'm still getting to siliceous alright chances are my switch matrix issues because I've got these broken damn drop targets and they're just during the way so I'm gonna fix this crap alright I have put truck I wonder which ones are not like the others my goodness gracious so how can i Crane going on now so all those switches should be open guy back in test mode let's try the spinner alright only ones being hit so looks like this fix that let's try the crane right all right Oh what was it it was one of these just one to adjust these now - goodness gracious alright so those were the four that were in the box the scooper a in and crane lift limit so now everything should be working what 43 and 44 what the fudge brought out Lane and left out Ling with the right Outland 43 and 44 these two were going at it now son of a biscuit let's try the 35 and 36 it's gotta be this damn all right this damn switch cool it's messed up so if I put it back on there it works but look how it consistent that is now it's working let's try wiggling it a little bit or spinning the spinner around you know what whatever whatever thing is working just fine now probably just a good reseating is all I need on this connector this solder looks like crap right here I'm gonna do a reflow on this it's not like it's loose but you could tell Polly tell it's not really if you used on there very well so and then we'll take this damn spinner off and get that fixed I'm tired of that and then we should be good [Music] okay funny thing here is that I've got this all cleaned off now and I'm starting to get all stuff in her but look at this I just start jiggling this wire a little bit moving around and that spinner switches act like it's getting in what the hell is that look at it look no no no no okay I'm now verified it's not coming from a loose connector or a bad wire from underneath the playfield it's coming from up here guys so if I just do a lot little little tip its happy right there and it's detecting that scoop from being hit oh all right all right so even doing a reflow on this switch is not fixing the problem we've got a switch issue look at that just about me touching it it's activating it all I gotta do is just do a little tap slide little and you can't have that that was all of operation I'm going to disconnect that and then we're gonna try all these switches single whoa what the hell I can hear it clicking like nobody's business why do I not have the you've got to be kidding me okay so that is okay left-right banter where is that ads hmm left ramp enter 46 let's see here is that tied into anything else try the smart missile what missile works this one I haven't tried yet but I figured I'd try it I know the drop target bar that works right scoop rollover if I tried that one can't even get to that one day I can reach it I can't reach that top rollover right Tom roll override that works left lock top it's working trough six I know all the traps are working and left coin yeah yeah I can't reach this damn thing I'm sure it's working all right so let's figure out what the hell wrong with this switch so look at this crap this wires not even connected to this switch you've gotta be kidding me is it gonna even reach ok good it'll reach it's just not gonna be very fun at all to resolder this damn thing oh my god could I let this plate build up and okay yeah yeah it's gonna be a pain but I got a free side of that wire onto that switch that's crazy yes people piss me off all right let's kick this sucker back on Wow so uh let's come on the test mode let's try this stuff out first off let's see if this damn thing is working yay all right so that's working is this still being you know an issue yeah there it is yeah I was starting to wonder I was like how did that fix that problem okay so if the one thing's for sure I've fixed the spinner issue so now actually I need to disconnect this damn thing it looks like all my switches are working now including this ramp that wasn't working earlier alright so looks like we're down to just a getting a new switch for my spinner and then we should have a 100% working switch matrix for this SOB make sure what what what is this this uh so the switch is there and I guess that would work for the ball barely but it's supposed to have a ring it's just to make sure that it hits oh my goodness gracious if it's not one thing it's another alright so yeah that's where we're at now instead of buying all new switches for any ones that are defective I'm actually going to be digging into my scrapyard which is essentially all the machines that I have dealt with in the past that I've decided to keep parts for for just in case purposes like this now this is one of those things where typically if you start building up too big of a stockpile of scraps that's when the wife starts questioning why are you keeping this stuff and this is the response that you should give them is that for instances like this if I didn't keep all my extra materials then I would have spent at least four bucks for a new switch another probably the same price on shipping as well as not being able to repair it within as fast a time as I did today whereas being a hoarder on pinball scraps you can resolve this issue a lot faster so it always kind of gives me a good feeling inside when I know that hey I've got spares [Laughter] all right so this what we're doing I'm taking this switch that is not the standard switch for this game and I'm replacing it with one that I've got off of scraps and that's just to show you the differences right there on how that's going to make huh so what I have done a place to switch citizen here of course now that I think about it I don't like that well no I think that'll work great and I've replaced I switched it's up here and that should solve my problems hopefully let's say I go to diagnostic mode here here we go so tapping that no longer works what about spinning yes oh all right that switch works that I've replaced all right I think I think we're good yeah the only thing I don't have fix is that some switch down there but it works just fine the ball gets hit on there and it works so I think that's going to do now let's try making sure the ball doesn't get caught on this switch right here start up a game so let's say the ball goes down here what so that scoop needs to be adjusted [Music] [Applause] [Music] let's try that again [Music] [Applause] simply rolls out I think the only switch are gonna fix is the chicken scoop well I think that was not being detected and if it tastes that theory yep all right so that's the only I've got now is that chicken scoop change all right so all I've done is basically taken that switch liver and like painted a little bit in the right direction and that should fix our issue so let's start thinking up again let me actually put it in game mode all right let's lit let's play chicken indeed [Music] all right chicken skip is working game switches are now 100 for free consent and that's it guys that is wrapping up a switch matrix issue I typically call things like this a switch dragon I mean it's cuz it's a battle it's not as simple like oh that's which is Ryan Policky I'll fix it over and done with whenever you're having mysterious side effects and not quite sure what's going on it's causing all sorts of enigmas and it's just a battle going on I'm trying to deter what is the problem then you're dealing with a switch dragon and luckily I was able to slay that dragon and we're moving on so this things about ready to be sold to the highest bidder now I'm gonna sell it I don't know if I'm gonna put it on location yet we'll just have to see so that's gonna wrap up this video guys did you like what you see that you learn anything and if you did give me that thumbs up to let me know but I want to hear your stories have you had to deal with switch dragons in your past and if you had let me know down below if you haven't already do not forget to hit that subscribe button that way you can be notified of whenever we upload new content for your viewing pleasure until next time guys peace out we've all been there we've all have had a machine that for some [Music] you [Music] you

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-15 | Item ID: f8d48408-ab5c-4939-9349-b4ffc26e87b5*