After making adjustments and improvements to the BrickWorld Chicago 2018 Ball Pump in a previous video, there was one more problem to address. This video shows how to fix that issue, and then makes a few more improvements to the design.
Thanks! Interestingly, figuring out the issue was only made possible as a result of the change that I had made previously, where I replaced the 4 single transparent bricks with one 1x2x5 transparent brick, to make the internal action more visible!
I appreciate your ball pump insights! I recently built the 2018 Brickworld ball pump, but with a taller chimney, balls were jamming on the flaps. I think it was similar to the popping problem you saw. Allowing the flaps to go a little higher by raising the bricks above the flaps by one plate height seemed to resolve my issue. I might try using your solutions as well.
Now that I've seen and understand the failure mode, I can see how giving the flaps more room to move would keep them from jamming if the ball moves off-center. I'm not sure what else that extra plate might do to the design though. Certainly something to keep in mind if the pyramids end up not being 100% reliable. (I won't know until I use the new design at a show.)
I'm watching Maico's latest "follow the blue ball" video, and there's one early on where instead of the pyramid slopes, in their modular (not a ball pump) they are using four of Tile, Round 1 x 1 with Bar and Pin Holder, BL #20482. It's definitely not the first time I've seen that done, although I didn't think of it when I watched this video when it first came out. Might be something to try.
I can see that working! Unfortunately I don't have those parts readily at hand, but I think I do have a few around somewhere. If I can dig them up, I will definitely test this out!
Funny you should mention that... I had the same thought this morning, thinking that regular 1x2 cheese slopes might be a good alternative to the pyramid slopes. I tested it, and while it worked ok, I didn't think it worked as well. In the meantime, I've been told that another alternative is to place a single 1x2 plate on the side closest to the in-feed. This creates an uneven surface on the top of the piston, and the studs on the 1x2 plate will now grab the balls at an angle (rather than from the bottom), generating more lateral resistance and keeping the balls centered. I just tested this approach, and I find it to be (so far) as effective as the pyramids. (And more effective than 1x2 cheese slopes.)
