Shocker NXT Vision Troubleshooting [ZDSPB Tech]

Shocker NXT Vision Troubleshooting

This includes problems relating to the NXT Vision eyes only. Please refer to the other Troubleshooting guides if necessary.

Listed are the gun's symptom along with a series of possible causes, and how to remedy them. The possible causes are in a specific orrder; the more common problems are listed first, then less likely problems come later down the list. When diagnosing problems, you should try each item listed in order.

Marker doesn't fire with paint loaded (stock or aftermarket board).
This problem is often caused by a jump in the circuit, or incorrect settings. This is uncommon, but can occur a number of unlikely ways.
· Verify that the marker is set to the proper eye mode. For the stock board, activate beam-break eyes by holding the Dwell Up button while turning the marker on (this enters "forced" beam-break mode). For reflective eyes, hold both dwell buttons while turning the marker on to enter reflective eye mode.
· Make sure the eye ribbon is correctly plugged in; the silver contacts must face away from the solenoid/body.
· Check the wire harness for any broken wires; replace it if you are unsure.
· Check the small pins inside the connectors for the wire harness (on both boards). See the Bent Pins at the bottom of the page.
· Check the wire harness plugs and connectors for any paint splatter. This may cause a jump in the circuit and exhibit a problem.
· The eyes may be experiencing an overexposure problem, see the problem below.

Marker fires with no paint loaded (stock or aftermarket board).
This can be caused by just about any break in the eye circuit, or beam-break eye misalignment.
· Verify that the marker is set to the proper eye mode. For the stock board, activate beam-break eyes by holding the Dwell Up button while turning the marker on (this enters "forced" beam-break mode). For reflective eyes, hold both dwell buttons while turning the marker on to enter reflective eye mode.
· Make sure the eye ribbon is correctly plugged in; the silver contacts must face away from the solenoid.
· Check the wire harness for any broken wires; replace it if you are unsure.
· Check the small pins inside the connectors for the wire harness (on both boards). See the Bent Pins at the bottom of the page.
· Check the wire harness plugs and connectors for any paint splatter. This may cause a jump in the circuit and exhibit a problem.
· Remove the eyes from the Shocker body, then clean both eyes and the eye holes in the Shocker body using a q-tip. Excess paint splatter can fool the eyes and give false readings. Make sure there isn't any built-up paint, grease, or other debris on either eye, especially the opaque/dark colored eye (this is the detector). You can try blowing out paint splatter if needed, or using compressed air to clean it. Be very gentle since the eyes are fragile and can be damaged.
· Remove the eye ribbon from the Shocker body and plug it back into the upper board. With the eyes outside of the body, face them together and pull the trigger. If the marker fires at this point then the problem is with the eyes themselves or any other electronics issue (mentioned above). If pulling the trigger doesn't fire when the eyes facing each other, it means the problem is an eye alignment issue in the Shocker body. Re-install the eyes, making sure they are standing straight inside the breech grooves. If the eye alignment is broken, the board will fire with no paint loaded.
Note that when testing the eyes outside of the marker body, they can be fooled by "ambient" light coming from nearby light sources. Try to find a testing area that isn't directly under any bright lamps or ceiling lights, because these items can fool the detector eye.

Vision eyes act faulty during gameplay.
· This is usually caused by the overexposure problem detailed below.

Beam-break emitter overexposure:
This occurs when the infrared light signal from the emitter eye is being detected despite a ball being loaded. The loaded ball is supposed to "block" the light signal, denoting a ball ready to fire. The overexposure problem involves the light being detected even though a ball is already loaded and the marker will not fire. This is generally caused by using small paint and/or combined with the ball rolling forward into the detents, or rolling back into the bolt face.
· Reinstall the eyes, making sure they're properly positioned inside their grooves (straight up).
· The most reliable way to guard against this is to use larger paint (if possible).
· If using the stock NXT board, switch to the "toggle" beam-break eye mode which often helps to reduce the issue. This is accomplished by holding the Dwell DN button while turning the board on like normal. This eye mode allows the marker to fire one shot when it sees the breech go from empty to blocked, even if you empty the chamber afterward. This can be more reliable for eye issues.
· Overexposure problem can be caused by worn out detents. If the gun has been used for a while, you may wish to replace them and try again.
· The last-ditch effort to solve this problem is to take a Sharpie marker (or equivalent) and use it to physically "blot-out" the outside of the emitter lens, which decreases the amount of light that comes out. The downside is that the results will vary depending on the absorption of the marker ink, and by the amount of area you cover up, so you must go slow when making this alteration.
This is what the eye lens looks like before you mark it...

What you want to do is use your marker (or equivalent) to color the top, bottom, and sides of the emitter. Note that the emitter is the clear-tinted eye; the opaque/black eye is the detector, don't mess with it. It's important that you only cover the outside of the emitter lens; do not color the front face of it (the side that "faces" the detector). If you cover up the front face then the eye may not funciton at all. When looking at the pictures below, you can see that only the outsides of the eye are colored, the top "dome" that faces the detector is still clear. Also, it's okay to mark the eye ribbon surrounding the eye; doing so won't affect performance.

· Brighter-colored markers (silver, grey, pewter, pink, orange, red, etc) are more succeptable to the overexposure problem because their body color is more reflective. Darker anodizing colors (black, olive, green, blue, purple, brown) are less common to cause issues. If you have a bright-colored marker, you may wish to color in the small oval-shaped eye slot with a Sharpie marker (or equivalent) to help it absorb some of the unnecessary light being emitted into the breech.

Overexposure information can be found here:

Bent Pins in Wire Harness Connector:
A sample picture of this issue can be seen below. In the picture, the third pin is bent down right at the base. The second picture shows a normal connector.