Bluffs, Borderland and beyond...Sparky's Tech Talks!

[Sparky]

Greetings to all,

I thought that it would be a great idea to post about repairs that are done at the Bluffs Pinball League HQ, Borderland league, and my mancave. This way, maybe the tips can be used to help others as well!

So... let us begin!!!

EPISODE 1: ALIEN POKER

So, we had a few issues with this beauty.

First issue: DISPLAYS ALL DIM, OR PRETTY MUCH OFF, AND GAME ACTING GOOFY INTERMITTENTLY

OK, systematic approach. The WIGGLE TEST! I started with the harness at the display board... no change. Farther along the harness, no change. But when I got to the power supply and wiggled the harness at the top, boom, we have bright displays!

DIAGNOSIS: cold solder joints on header pins.

REPAIR: I removed the power supply and resoldered ALL the header pins. Some on other header pins were cracked as well, so it didn't hurt to do it. And since I had the board off, I refreshed the power supply by replacing the 12000uF cap, the 2 100uF caps, and the 2 large diodes with new 6A4 diodes that are overkill. These diodes are notorious for failing and causing issues, and same goes for the old caps, which causes bad voltage.

I put the board back in, and everything works great.

Second issue: BAD BULBS HERE AND THERE, ESPECIALLY IN "SPADES" POP BUMPER

DIAGNOSIS: some dead bulbs, and some bad sockets, including pop bumper

REPAIR: Pop bumper sockets, especially the old-style with #44-type bulbs tend to loosen up. I take a socket cleaning stick (give Rob or Ben a call at Player One to buy one... this should be an essential tool in your pinball home repair kit), clean the metal off a bit, then take a pair of small pliers to pich the socket closed a bit and test the bulb in it. Bulb must be snug. If it is somewhat loose, it will flicker.

I will have to do a short video on this. Always a good trick for anyone beginning in the hobby.

More episodes soon!!!

 

[Sparky]

EPISODE 2: FIREPOWER

First issue: GAME WON'T START, STUCK IN ATTRACT MODE

So the game turns on, but nothing in the coindoor seems to work. Game won<t start even with 15 credits on it. But.... I did notice a ball in the right-side eject hole. And as soon as I lift the playfield up, the kicker activates... Hmm...

So I start with the basics and check out the switch. If I press on it, it does activate the coil.

DIAGNOSIS: dirty-ass switch, causing the game to think it is missing a ball, hence not starting a game.

REPAIR: I cleaned the contact by inserting a business card between the 2 contacts, slightly pushing on the contacts and pull the card out. This wipes clean the contacts. A few card strokes, and the switch registers every time. I also cleaned the other two hole switches and trough switches for good measure. Now, all is well in Firepower land!

 

[Sparky]

EPISODE 3: FIREPOWER 2

First issue: BALL WON'T COME OUT OF THE TROUGH

The game simply doesn't kick out the ball all the time. Sounds like a bad trough switch contact... So I lift the playfield up and check it out. Bingo...

DIAGNOSIS: Trough microswitch has a bad contact, and blade not adjusted.

REPAIR: I adjusted the contact and blade, and the trough now works 100% of the time... but...


Second issue: RAMP DOESN'T ALWAYS SCORE POINTS

Yup, the ramp scores only about 30% of the time. The way it works is that the MPU detects 2 switches... one at the entrance of the ramp, and one at the exit. If they don't simultaneously get triggered, no points. The swithces use a spinner-type of blade contact with swivel gates...

DIAGNOSIS: Contact gaps on both switches were too big.

REPAIR: I adjusted the blade contacts to be as close as possible. Now the ramp scores 100% of the time.

and last but not least...


Third issue: ALL POP BUMPER LAMPS ARE DEAD

This is the same issue as discussed in Episode 1 on Alien Poker...

DIAGNOSIS: 2 dead bulbs and 2 loose light sockets

REPAIR: I adjusted the sockets the German way... Guudentite. Installed new bulbs and now it is a miniature Pink Floyd concert light show!!! ... well... not really, but you get the idea... LOL

Now, both Firepowers work well. Fucking kickass!!!

 

[Sparky]

EPISODE 4: GRAND PRIX (WMS EM)

First issue: Ball won't kick out of the top saucer hole

This was a fun one. If other machines around it were on and playing, I wouldn't have caught this easily. Turned out that there was also a coil buzzing on the game, and the score jumped immediately to 100 points when a game was started... OK, stuck switch! But why the ball not kicking out? Well, if you play a game and hit a spinner hard and then drops in the top hole, the ball will only kick out when the spinner stops scoring, permitting the game to register the saucer hole points.

Lo and behold, the saucer also scores 100 points. And what do I see? ...A spinner not completely pointing down! If I hadn't heard the buzz, I would have spent time adjusting the saucer hole switch for nothing... So the 100pt coil was stuck on because it was being activated by a spinner switch with a tight gap.

DIAGNOSIS: Right-side spinner needs adjustment

REPAIR: I adjusted the switch gap to have a bit more space, and I put Teflon grease on the spinner pivots, resulting in less drag. The game now kicks out the ball from it's saucer hole every time.

Now that spinner goes faster than Niki Lauda's Ferrari with James Hunt's McLaren on his ass (subject and period appropriate for all you classic F1 fans).

 

[Sparky]

EPISODE 5: ROLLERGAMES

Kinda fitting that this one is the same episode as The Empire Strikes Back... dark and evil. LOL.

The issue: DEAD LEFT FLIPPER

So I get on this machine after a few guys had a crack at it. The coil had been changed and wires were just clipped on. So I started by measuring the coil resistance... all good. So I soldered the wires back on the tabs properly. So then I checked the power on the grey wire.

A side note, for those who are not sure how to measure the power on a coil, here is a few pointers.

1- Power is always on the banded side of the diode. You have a painted band on the diode(s) on the coil. The power is always where the band is. If you have 2 diodes, the power is on the farthest band.

2- put the ground side of your multimeter on the ground braid in the cabinet.

So... we had no power. Next step, check the fuse! And sure enough, it was dead. So I replaced the fuse with a new 2.5A slow blow and game then played fine... for a few minutes. The fuse blew again, but not instantly.... This would be indicative of parasitic resistances in the coil circuit.

A flipper circuit has a few components in line before completing the circuit... connectors, coil, end-of-stroke switch, more wire, cabinet flipper switch, more wire, more connectors, the board and finally the ground.

If the fuse would have blown instantly, this would be indicative of a short. But a slow fuse burn means that something down the line is resisting to give a good contact, so effectively drawing more current by creating voltage drops.

And a main culprit for this is often old-ass end-of-stroke switches and flipper switches. I happened to have a cab switch on hand, so I replaced it. The old one was carbonized.

Result? The fuse lasted... 15 minutes instead of 2. OK... improvement...

And in comes Scott last night performing some extra tests.

DIAGNOSIS: worn out EOS switch, causing resistance as it heats up during gameplay due to poor contact

REPAIR: NOT DONE YET.... someone needs to replace that EOS. Chances are I will do it on Jan.15th during my next trip. I will also replace the others for good measure. A flipper rebuild kit would be a good idea here. The linkages look tired.

 

[Sparky]

How about a bit of a follow-up!!


EPISODE 5-B: ROLLERGAMES

Issue: DEAD LEFT FLIPPER, part deux
Last I looked at it, it kept blowing the fuse after a short while...

DIAGNOSIS: old-ass flipper mechs, burned out P.O.S. E.O.S., and probably bad cap on the flipper

REPAIR: Time for a flipper rebuild kit! I installed the kit I got from Player One. Time: 1hr. The game now plays great.

So the point is, don't be stingy when it comes to flippers. No one likes a limp flipper... It kills a game.

 

[Sparky]

EPISODE 6: RETURN OF THE FUTURE SPA

This machine at Bluffs took a few interventions, and is still ongoing. All stuff that needed to be addressed with time...

Issue numero uno: G.I. out in backbox, and intermittent power issues

So, this machine suffered from a bad ticker. LOL. The power supply was original and some connectors looked kinda toasty. After taking a closer look, I found MANY header pins were dark and crispy, if not heavily corroded.

DIAGNOSISower supply board is due for retirement. Bad header pins, 39-year-old power components, and barely stable. It was a damn miracle that the machine even managed to work at all.

REPAIR: I replaced the power supply board with a new one, and repined every single pin in all 3 connectors. The result was the GI now working, and the pin, instead of locking up after 2 minutes, was now staying on ... for 10 minutes. LOL

Onwards!!!

Issue part deux: GAME RESETTING AFTER 10 MINUTES

So, we go down the line for the power. Next easy step, the large filter capacitor on the solenoid driver. This bad boy essentially smoothes out the 5V so that the MPU doesn't have a brainfart. There is an easy way to test this. Take a multimeter on DC voltage and put the red lead on the + side of the cap, and the black lead at ground. If you have 5 volts, awesome, the large transistor on the solenoid driver (the one in that mega black heatsink) is doing it's job.

Now, with the leads in place, switch your multimeter to AC voltage. If the capacitor is doing it's job, the multimeter should be reading near zero. But... if you measure over 0.25V AC, that means that the filter is no longer good and is not smoothing out the voltage. I measured 0.45V AC.

DIAGNOSIS: Filter cap has shit the bed

REPAIR: I replaced the filter cap with a brand new one. The result was that instead of the pin locking up after 10 minutes, was now staying on ... for an hour! LOL PROGRESS!!!

So, on we go with part 3: GAME RESETTING AFTER AN HOUR

So, we have one other bad mofo in the circuit. I checked the heat on that 5V regulator transistor wedged Inside the heatsink from hell and found that it got ghost-pepper hot after a while. Once a game locked up, we would shut it down for a couple of minutes, long enough for that transistor to cool down.

So... I found that the 5V circuit went apeshit erratic when that transistor got hot.

DIAGNOSIS: 5V regulator has a bad temper

REPAIR: I replaced the regulator with one I had in my stock (bought in 2003 LOL) and left the game on for over 2 hours... EUREKA!



Man, the excitement is too much!!!! LOL

Issue 4: NO COILS WORKING ON THE PLAYFIELD

So this appeared this week... I go to the machine and no coils are working. Hmm... OK. first step, check the fuse! But which one? Well, easy... I heard the coil activate in the coindoor... so, check the one Under the playfield!!

...uh-oh....

I see the fuse is blown. OK. But... it is an 8A fuse! I checked the manual and it is supposed to be a 1A fuse!!! Another redneck fix!!!



OK, and I see that the left slingshot coil looks roasty-toasty... So I measured it's resistance after cutting the single wire off it's tab (wire going to the solenoid driver to control it), and lo and behold, we have 0 ohms... essentially shorted.

DIAGNOSIS: The coil essentially fried because something happened on it's circuit and the power was overfused, which ended up killing the coil.

REPAIR: Well, the coil simply needs replacing, which will be done soon. With the wire cut to the solenoid driver, and installing a 1A SB fuse, I turned the game on and started to play, and the fuse never blew. BAZINGA!!! But... why did it fry? We MUST investigate!!!

Issue 5: SHORT ON THE LEFT SLINGSHOT COIL CIRCUIT

So, I checked that wire I cut to see if it was being grounded...and sure enough, I have continuity with the ground braid. Now we have to figure out where. Well, an easy way to eliminate the wiring? Check the continuity again with the connector removed on the solenoid driver. If still shorted to ground, then it is the wire rubbing somewhere. If not, onwards to the solenoid driver.

Result? No short on the wire. So, on to the board! I remove it and after downing a couple of cans of liquid courage while attentively listening to Warlock sing the gospel of pinball (CAN I GET AN AMEN?) and looking at the schematics, I find that Q16 is the TIP102 transistor controlling the slingshot coil. So, I checked it out.

Multimeter in hand, you want to put it on diode testing. Once done, flip over the board and you put the black lead on the center pin of the transistor and the red lead on either side. You should be getting anywhere between 0.400 and 0.600. And if you reverse the leads, it should be blocked (OL on the multimeter). In my case? 0.00.

DIAGNOSIS: The transistor is shorted internally.

REPAIR: I replaced the TIP102 with a new one but I have yet to test it, as I will get another coil for it soon enough. SHE WILL BE REPAIRED. THE FORCE IS STRONG WITH THIS ONE...

 

[Sparky]

BONUS BORDERLAND EPISODE!!!!

EPISODE 7: EIGHT BALL DELUXE, LIMITED (and mute) EDITION

Issue: IT REALLY DID QUIT TALKIN'

Here's a little one from the Borderland files. Stardate: 1-14-2018. Place: Chris Silver's freshly opened up gameroom.

The Borderland Wrecking Crew dropped in for a visit. Chris mentioned that his EBDLE would sometimes lose the sound, and speech was non-existant. For a Squawk & Talk board that barely squawks and doesn't talk, usually the first thing is to install new caps on the board. But... oddly enough, once I pressed on a couple of chips, she started to chirp a bit. So, I took a small flathead screwdriver and proceeded to slightly lift out and reseat every chip that was socketed.

DIAGNOSIS: Bad chips don't chirp!

REPAIR: The second I reseated the chips and plugged it back in, EBD took out it's southern twang, told me to shut up and play.



So, the sockets may need to be changed or at least cleaned and so do the chip legs for a more permanent fix...

 

[Sparky]

The fun never ends in my world!!!

EPISODE 8: SCORPIONIssue 1: IT AIN'T BRIGHT

So, Warlock and Brewmanager tell me about Scorpion which has no GI.

"YOU NEED TO REBUILD THE G.I. CONNECTOR" they say...

Odd thing though... there were 3 LED G.I. bulbs still working at the top of the playfield, behind the left-side drop targets... Hmm... So I checked the power at the fuse. All good. And then I check the power directly at a light socket... Power is there too... Hmmm...

DIAGNOSIS: ALL the bulbs are blown to smithereens!!! Well... A-HA!!! Warlock fesses up! He "might" have put a connector in the wrong place.



REPAIR: I replaced all the bulbs on the playfield... and it is now brighter than Warlock. ROTFLMAO!

Bah... we all do dimbulb mistakes sometimes. Guilty as charged... LOL Ask me about Af-Tor... now THERE is a complete story right there... soon...



Issue 2: IT CAN'T REMEMBER ANYTHING

Man, this Scorpion gets a bad rap. Stupid pin. The damn thing has Alzheimer's. LOL So it doesn't retain any settings. I checked the battery holder on the board.



DIAGNOSIS: Bad battery holder on the MPU

REPAIR: I removed the holder from the board and installed a remote battery holder with some connectors for easy board removal, and installed fresh batteries.

Doctor, we have memory!

 

[Sparky]

EPISODE 6-B: RETURN OF THE FUTURE SPA, PART 2...

So... how's about a breakdown of the results!! Well, I am happy to say that the pin worked FANTASTIC for over 4 hours last night, beating down almost everyone's hopes of mastering it. LOL So, here we go...

Issue numero uno: THIS MACHINE IS A B*TCH!

DIAGNOSIS: It is tough and we are all not worthy of it's awesomeness.

REPAIR: Moving along. LOL

Part 2 of Issue 5: SHORT ON THE LEFT SLINGSHOT COIL CIRCUIT

FULL REPAIR: I have replaced the coil and double-checked the continuity between the single wire on the coil (the ground side) and the ground braid. If there still was a short to ground which would lock the coil up again, the multimeter would beep... and I got "OL", so no continuity. we are good to go! It played solid all night...



Issue #6: DON'T COME A' KNOCKIN'...

In issue 4, I also mentioned that the knocker was not working along with the slingshot. This coil was also fried. I also replaced with with a new one (same coil as the slingshot, except the coil sleeve is a bit different). The coil test would not make it fire (nothing happening on #3), but if I grounded the single wire (opposite the band on the diode), it fired just fine. So it is a control issue.

At that point, it was 7pm and people were starting to come in for the Bluffs evening. But.....my next step would be to ground the metal tab on Q3 to see if it fires the coil. If so, then the problem might be a diode, resistor, or a bad CA3081 chip. Or could be something as stupid as a bad connection between the MPU and solenoid driver.

And for the people not familiar with the coil test on any Bally between 1977 and 1985, it is done through the test button on the back of the coin door... yeah... that little red button!

Press it once, and you go through the lamp test... find your bad bulbs!!!

Press it again, and it goes through the display test.

One more time, and the MPU will make the solenoid driver activate each coil in order. Many coil circuits might not be used, so nothing will happen. But the coil number will cycle on the score displays. Super easy test.

And if you happen to feel adventurous, press it again and you now go into switch tests. So, every switch that is activated will display on the score displays. When you are in this test, make sure that your ball(s) are out of the trough, and all targets are up. You should then have no switches activated. This is a great test to go through if you have a pesky stuck 10-point switch somewhere, or if a switch gap is too tight. Slap the machine around a bit to see if it activates a switch (other than the tilt... LOL).

More shit to come... More shit to play.... more shit to break... more shit to fix!!!

Keep on pinballin'

Sparky, OUT! (No... not retiring again... LOL)

 

[Sparky]

Sorry for the avalanche of posts all of a sudden, but I wanted to make sure that these are up to date on both forums. Hope you enjoy them, and find a helpful tip here and there.

 

[mwong168]

Thanks for posting these Sparky and welcome to PBREV.

 

[luch]

nice , thanks for the read

 

[Sparky]

EPISODE 7: WORLD POKER TOURSomeone left me a note on the machine stating that a slingshot wasn't working... OK. So I test it. Slingshot was just fine... but the damn thing kept scoring with the slightest vibration...

Issue numero uno: UM... HOW DO I ENTER THE SERVICE MENU??

I opened the coindoor to press the service button, but NO GO. Button is broken and a cheapo fix was in place, which broke too...

DIAGNOSIS: Broken button, and wire hack.

REPAIR: TEMPORARY I might add. I cut the 2 wires, put on crimped connectors and installed a switch. I went and bought buttons after the repair was done. I will fix it permanently on my next trip...

BUT... back on the scoring issue... I have to find the stuck switches...

Issue two: HEEEERE SWITCHY SWITCHY....

So I enter the switch test mode, and lo and behold, I have a 10-pt switch that is stuck activated! This one here:




DIAGNOSIS: Adjustment is too tight on switch.

REPAIR: 2 minute adjustment to widen the switch gap, and presto!

BUT WAIT... THERE'S MORE!!!! According to the switch menu, another one is intermittent...

Issue two: CRAPTASTIC OPTO

So it shows in the switch menu that the Ace in the Hole opto (locked ball) tends to go on and off when a ball is in the chamber, and the machine just shakes a bit, like activating the flippers. I will do the obvious first when it comes to optos...



DIAGNOSIS: Clean dat shit up!

REPAIR: I took a q-tip with Windex and cleaned the opto... it came out BLACK. The opto was filthy.

I tested the game for 10 minutes, and no more issues...

On to the next victim!!!

 

[Mike Walsh]

Thanks. Great read!
I’m not techy, Jedi in training,
but it’s nice to see that sometimes the solution is not that complicated!
Look for the obvious.

 

[Sparky]

No, I am not dead. LOL. Just been travelling a lot. I should mostly be home for the next few days. SO MUCH to write about. Just picked one up for repair for a friend.
Fire!, X-Files, Af-Tor...so much to write. Stay tuned!!