Weird Behavior - Vex Pro Ball Shifters

[Nunners]

Team 4155 is using ball shifters as a ratcheting/neutral gear mechanism as a part of our catapult system like many other teams on CD are doing. However, the piston controlling which set of gears is engaged is behaving in a way I wasn't expecting.

Basically, whenever our motor is activated and begins to wind our winch, the shifter unexpectedly shifts to the neutral gear almost immediately. We noticed that this problem can be delayed by providing more PSI to the piston itself (much more than 30 psi).

If you work the gearbox with your hand, it seems that rotating the axle on which the winch is mounted is somehow "pulling" the piston into the gearbox and switching into our neutral gear. You have to physically hold the shifter to keep this from happening.

Is this normal behavior for the ball shifters? I do not have any previous experience with them and was wondering if someone could provide some information in order to help us troubleshoot.