I need help. A friend built me a standard electric football game. He wired it with one electromagnetic motor. Two issues, 1) what causes a spike, or power bump when hitting the switch to start the vibration for play action? Like a power surge only when hitting the button. Disappears afterward, but the players bounce around and are impacted by the electric bump that occurs when clicking the handheld switch. Annoying. The only way to control the bump is to power down the board with a knob underneath attached just below the electromagnetic motor. Issue 2) When I finally tune the board to my liking, meaning low density quiet noise with smooth play, after a few days, when starting it up again for a game, the board has a high pitched noise the vibration changes. Basically, why does the motor behave differently after being tuned. I don't touch it, or manipulate it after its tuned where I want it?

 

We have no idea of:
What your football game looks like.
How it is played.
How it is constructed.
What active and passive components it contains.
How it is wired.
How it is powered.
etc.
All we know is that it has a switch and a motor.
I don't play guessing games.

 

Electric football game

My older brother had one when we were kids.

 

As KeithWalker said, we have no idea what we're discussing. Best I can GUESS is the spike you're seeing is an inductive kickback known as Back Electro Motive Force, or BEMF. As the guesswork goes on, the squeal you're hearing, that can be the motor trying to maintain a certain speed but it's set at some level, likely low level where it is having a hard time switching on and off to control the speed. Keep in mind this is all 100% guesswork. I Don't Know these are the issues but it's what comes to mind.

 

As @KeithWalker said, we have no idea what we're discussing

I posted a link.

The vibration “motor” is likely just a solenoid vibrating the table surface at 60 Hz.

 

A friend built me a standard electric football game. He wired it with one electromagnetic motor.

I posted a link.

The vibration “motor” is likely just a solenoid vibrating the table surface at 60 Hz.

According to the TS first post, this seems to be a home made device. Hence, I tend to discount any of the factory made games. So until we (I, me, myself) know what we're discussing I'm going to remain moot.

 

According to the TS first post, this seems to be a home made device. Hence, I tend to discount any of the factory made games. So until we (I, me, myself) know what we're discussing I'm going to remain moot.

I wasn't claiming it was that product he has. I just posted a link that would give people an idea of what I think he is talking about.

 

I just posted a link that would give people an idea of what I think he is talking about.

I can respect that.

 

We have no idea of:
What your football game looks like.
How it is played.
How it is constructed.
What active and passive components it contains.
How it is wired.
How it is powered.
etc.
All we know is that it has a switch and a motor.
I don't play guessing games.

 

I just love how people post about what they know nothing about, and then argue about it.

Dig the hole deeper!

If the poster didn't include enough information, how about not spewing out information that's probably wrong?

 

There are multiple clues in the OP that convinced me he was talking about the same thing my older brother had and I had played as a kid. No, I cannot be certain that it is the same thing, but I see no reason to suppress my knowledge. Half of what do here in the forum is speculation, since we can rarely get the information we need.

 

Electric football game

My older brother had one when we were kids.

Is that really true???? It's absolutely surreal:

" .....each player is attached to a base, with "prongs" or "brushes", also known as "cleats", on the underneath of the base. These prongs can be "coached" prior to the playing of the game by using smooth mouthed pliers which stretch, shape and or flatten the prongs to get them to perform faster, stronger and in an exact route. "

".... Special players are also used for kicking and punting and have spring legs which when pulled back and released, kick or punt the ball. "

Amazing!

 

There are multiple clues in the OP that convinced me he was talking about the same thing my older brother had and I had played as a kid.

I believe you are right.

When I was a kid, a friend and were walking, or maybe riding bikes, down the alley. A neighbor we didn't know called out to us. "Hey, do you want this magnetic football game?" He was sitting on his back porch, which was a ways from the alley. My friend and I stopped and had a whispered conversation. "Stranger danger" and all that. "No thanks!" and we got out of there. So I *almost* had one, and I'm sure it would have been fine.

 

Is that really true???? It's absolutely surreal:

" .....each player is attached to a base, with "prongs" or "brushes", also known as "cleats", on the underneath of the base. These prongs can be "coached" prior to the playing of the game by using smooth mouthed pliers which stretch, shape and or flatten the prongs to get them to perform faster, stronger and in an exact route. "

".... Special players are also used for kicking and punting and have spring legs which when pulled back and released, kick or punt the ball. "

Amazing!

Yes, it is really true. This is my personal experience. Why do you question it?

Basically, the players stand on two flexible plastic knife edges. Vibration of the table causes them to move forward, the direction determined by the angles of the two. Some players move faster with less pushing power, while others move slower with more power.

You play be arranging your 11 players much like players line up in real football. The offense attempts to move the ball carrier forward with protection in front of him. The defense attempts to block his progress. Each play ends when a defensive player touches the ball carrier, much like “touch” football.

Also, as stated in the OP, there is an adjustment of the coupling between the vibrator and the table surface. Too high and the players jump around randomly, too low and they don’t move. You have to tune it to the sweet spot where they move smoothly.

 

It must have been back in 67 or 68 when I saw one of those vibrating football games. Cousin Ray got it for Christmas and on that day we played with it. I wondered how the men moved. Being less than 10 years old there wasn't much I understood about things. I wasn't impressed with the haphazard manor the pieces moved but somehow they did move toward the goal. @Tonyr1084 is one of my cousins. Tony; do you remember that game?

 

Two posts. The first gave insufficient details and the second post was just a quote of another user. No additional information was given. And the TS history has just two posts. I guess we scared him away (him assumed). His stated profession is "Computer Engineer." Now, personally, I've never heard of a computer engineer. Not saying there's no such thing, there probably is.

 

do you remember that game?

Hholee Shhitz - yeah I remember that day. Uncle T was on the roof yelling down the chimney "Ho Ho Ho". Cousin K got excited thinking the jolly old man was on the roof. S & R's house in Rowland Heights. Gaud that was forever ago. Might have been 1966. That was a noisy toy and I thought it was dumb. My personal observation. Yours may vary.

You coming to the high desert this year?

 

We have no idea of:
What your football game looks like.
How it is played.
How it is constructed.
What active and passive components it contains.
How it is wired.
How it is powered.
etc.
All we know is that it has a switch and a motor.
I don't play guessing games.

Keith: Sorry for delay. I am going to take pics of all the components (motor, electrical wiring, construction of the game board and submit to you along with a more detailed description and video of the performance issue I speak about. Give me a few days to get this together. And thanks for your expertise and patience up front.
(RE: Custom made Electric football game board that produces vibration via an electromagnetic motor underneath the sheet metal field that ultimately moves individual players forward on the surface. Game was invented in the 70s. More to come. I will post within a few days.
Cary

 

A suggestion that will not modify the game, so no damage if it does not help enough. Provide a "soft start" function using a standard triac light dimmer connected to a standard outlet that you plug the game into. Then set the dimmer to minimum and switch on the game, and then turn up the dimmer , taking just a few seconds. That should avoid the thump and yet not slow the game. play.