The ball trough kicks out more than one ball, and in switch test the centre trough opto blinks on and off.

Pinball Magic trough serves two or three balls at once

Cause: Cracked joints on the trough receiver optos, plus heat: two resistors directly under the centre opto transmitter run hot enough to upset it.

Checks

• In switch test, find which trough opto is unstable and whether the emitter or receiver side is at fault.
• Feel for heat around the resistors below the centre transmitter after the game has run a while.

Fix

• Resolder the receiver optos.
• Move the two resistors under the centre transmitter to the back of the board, standing them off the board for airflow; there is room under the apron and in the playfield slot.

Systems

• Capcom

Games

• Pinball Magic

Related tips

• Trough fires every ball into the shooter lane after a lock: unsoldered opto
• Pinball Magic wand magnet fires at most three times in five minutes
• Pinball Magic trunk keeps opening and multiball won't load
• Pinball Magic can be converted to Williams flipper mechanisms
• Mid-game chaos (switches trigger, flippers die) set off by tapping the power board

Source: Capcom Pinball Problems/Solutions