A drained ball rests in the outhole and nothing happens. Pressing the outhole leaf switch by hand makes the game see the ball and the kicker fires normally.
Drained ball sits in the outhole until the switch is pushed by hand
Cause: The outhole leaf switch gap is too wide (the lower blade is bent away), so the weight of the ball on the wire actuator does not close the contacts. Dirty contacts make it worse.
Checks
- Look at the outhole switch under the playfield: the blade should sit under the wire actuator so the ball pushes it down, with only a small gap to the other contact.
- Watch the switch close as a ball rests on the actuator.
Fix
- Bend the blades to close the gap so the ball's weight closes the contacts reliably.
- Clean the contacts, for example by drawing a piece of paper dampened with isopropyl alcohol between them while squeezing them together.
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Source: Pinball Repair help group!! (Facebook group)