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Stern Tech School: JAWS Fin Leveling and Removal

Stern Pinball·video·7m 25s·analyzed·May 25, 2024
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.010

TL;DR

Stern Tech School tutorial on JAWS shark fin target removal, maintenance, and leveling procedures.

Summary

Stern Pinball's official technical training video for JAWS game maintenance, covering removal, inspection, and leveling of the shark fin target assembly. Kyle from Stern provides detailed procedural guidance for technicians and operators on proper disassembly, component handling, and reassembly.

Key Claims

  • Opening the coin door removes 48 volts from the playfield by engaging the interlock switch

    high confidence · Kyle (Stern Pinball) explaining safety procedure at video start

  • The shark fin target assembly spring is conical with the smaller opening facing the target carrier bottom and wider side toward the coil

    high confidence · Kyle demonstrating spring orientation during reassembly

  • The brass bushing on the motor shaft has a flange side that must be oriented downward during reassembly

    high confidence · Kyle emphasizing critical orientation during motor assembly reinstallation

  • The shark fin target can be leveled by adjusting a leveling post with a 3/8 inch nut driver without disassembling the entire mechanism

    high confidence · Kyle demonstrating leveling procedure at end of video

Notable Quotes

  • “Before you service your game, it's always a good idea to either power the game off or open the coin door so the interlock switch is in the powered off position.”

    Kyle (Stern Pinball)@ 0:14 — Safety protocol for technicians handling JAWS machines

  • “Do be aware to not lose the spring on this plunger here.”

    Kyle (Stern Pinball)@ 1:59 — Critical caution about small parts loss during maintenance

  • “Do note this loose brass bushing that rides on the top of the motor shaft can fall out. Make sure that you do not lose this piece.”

    Kyle (Stern Pinball)@ 3:55 — Identifying a commonly lost component during motor assembly removal

  • “You want to get them started without the tool first though. Tighten the nuts snug, no specific torque, but get them nice and tight. Not too tight, just tight.”

    Kyle (Stern Pinball)@ 4:33 — Practical torque guidance emphasizing hand-tightening before tool use

Entities

KylepersonStern PinballcompanyJAWSgame

Signals

  • ?

    operational_signal: Stern provides detailed technical training for location operators and technicians on JAWS shark fin target assembly maintenance, indicating focus on operator education and field service support

    high · Official Stern Tech School video with step-by-step maintenance guidance for JAWS game

  • ?

    product_concern: Video repeatedly emphasizes careful handling of small, easily-lost components (spring, brass bushing) and leveling adjustments needed post-installation, suggesting potential field issues with target assembly alignment or component integrity

    medium · Multiple cautions about not losing spring and brass bushing; dedicated leveling section suggests alignment problems occur in field

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.022

0:00
Hi, I'm Kyle with Stern Pinball and today we're going to go over how to remove the entire shark fin target assembly just in case you ever need to work on it on a workbench. Before you service your game, it's always a good idea to either power the game off or open the coin door so the interlock switch is in the powered off position. When the coin door is open, the interlock switch is open, it'll remove the 48 volts from the playfield. We will need to raise the playfield into the service position. This requires removing the playfield glass as well as the pinballs.
0:34
To remove the balls manually, we will actuate the ball serve plunger. With the coin door open, it is safe to reach inside here. We're going to push that plunger up with a bit of force, and that will eject a pinball. We'll do that five more times, and we will get the rest of the pinballs. The first thing we're going to want to do is to get the playfield up into the service position. The first step in removing the shark fin target from the carrier is to unplug the switch. We'll follow the wiring harness from the switch, remove it from the P-strap, and then remove it from the board. Once we've removed the switch from the board, what we'll want to do is remove one screw and loosen the other. This will allow us to rotate the leveling plate out of the way so we can then remove the target. Using my quarter inch nut driver I'm going to remove one and I will loosen the other, rotate the plate out of the way, we will remove the target from the carrier. Do be aware to not lose the spring on this plunger here Now that you have the shark fin target out of the carrier it is a lot easier to perform maintenance and inspection Reassembly is just as simple as disassembly We'll want to make sure that our spring is on the plunger. Do note that it is a conical spring. The smaller opening of the spring goes against the bottom of the target carrier. The wider side goes towards the coil. We can thread this back up into the carrier and press that plunger and spring up into the coil. We can now rotate the locking plate back around. We can reinstall the screw on this side. Tighten up the side we did not remove. The last step is to reattach the switch connector to the opto board below. To remove the shark fin target and motor assembly all you need is a 5 16 inch nut driver. The first thing we'll want to do is remove all wiring connections to boards or harnesses. Let's start with the motor harness. This motor harness runs to the driver board here. We'll unplug that. Next, locate the Sharkfin Target coil harness that attaches to the main playfield harness. Lastly, we'll want to unplug the Sharkfin switch from the Opto board underneath the Sharkfin Target assembly. We'll remove that from the P-strap here and pull that harness up and off of the board. Now that we have everything unplugged, to remove the target bracket and motor assembly, we just need to loosen up these four nuts
3:50
Now we can remove the target and motor assembly. Do note this loose brass bushing that rides on the top of the motor shaft can fall out. Make sure that you do not lose this piece. With the target and motor assembly removed from the playfield, this is the perfect time to do any sort of inspection or maintenance on the mechanism.
4:13
Reassembly is the opposite of disassembly. Do make sure to get your brass bushing with the flange side down inserted on the top of the motor shaft. We will line the top of the motor shaft up with the hole in the base plate here, and the four mounting studs are off to its flanks. Set this back in place as so. Reinstall the nuts. You want to get them started without the tool first though.
4:51
Tighten the nuts snug, no specific torque, but get them nice and tight. Not too tight, just tight. Now we can plug all of our connectors back in. The shark fin target plugs into the opto board beneath the assembly. Don't forget to tuck the wires into the P-strap. The coil plugs back into the connector on the main harness. And the motor plugs back in to the motor driver board. If your shark fin target is sticking up a little too high over the base plastic, it
5:31
can easily be adjusted to sip level To level the assembly we will need to raise the play field into the service position which will require removing the glass and removing the pinballs before you do so. To level the shark fin target first we need to loosen the lock nut on the leveling post. Taking our 3 8 inch nut driver will loosen the lock nut which will allow us to thread the post downwards or upwards. The target rests up against the post so if we need to raise the fin we'd want to screw the leveling post upwards. If we want to lower it we will screw the leveling post downwards. In this case we do need to lower the target. Once we've roughly adjusted the post we can check for level by reaching our hand around the playfield and trying to find the target assembly. Once we've verified that the target is roughly level, we should snug up the nut, set the playfield down, rest it up against the front of the cabinet on the service rails, and verify that the top of the target is level, if not just a teeny bit below the base plastic. In this case, it looks good. Once we've verified that the target is in a good spot, We will raise the playfield back into the service position.
6:56
Once the playfield is up in the service position, we will want to tighten the locking post. I would suggest grabbing the locking post with your fingers before you tighten the nut to ensure that the locking post doesn't turn
7:09
too much. Once it's tight, you're good to go. Now that we're done, we have a shark to catch. you