DE Checkpoint, check, check, check 1

[BMHouze]

As suggested I have began a thread with just all the fun stuff that comes with fixing up my DE Checkpoint I picked up at auction.
Initially the left slingshot was not working correctly (scoring but not kicking)
Anyhow. With my new load of mail order transistors fro ELELSU in London I am back to being able to do something.
My friend that does my board repair installed some sockets on my board as the same 2 transistors blew out twice last time.
I installed the 2 new transistors and fired up the machine and thankfully the transistors didn't blow out again. Looks like I finally soldered in the coil the right way.
Anyhow, Now when I turn on the machine I see the power problem with the slingshot has backed up one position to the thumper bumpers as the last in the chain locked on.
The shaker motor and the spinny wheel on the backglass are always on. Again, not a good sign of improvement.
With my vacation starting a week from today I am hoping to get my tech friend on afternoon shift over either late this week (if the week is short at work) or next week while I am off.
I am looking forward to going through the printed out manual (as the original is wrapped up under the tree) and looking through the online DE repair guide to see if this is a common issue.
The more I fix it the more that seems to go wrong :FP:

 

[Menace]

Ahhh the joy of pinball. Hopefully you guys get it all sorted out, and then you can enjoy the fruits of your labor!

D

 

[BMHouze]

I looked at it again last night. My tech can't make it by until next week.
I de-soldered the left slingshot and it's now now blowing the 4A fuse all the time. also noticed that the left slingshot has only had 2 wires on it the whole time I have had the machine. I am wondering where the other power wire may be hiding. I am going to have to do some looking both upstream and downstream as both have 3 wires per coil. The center thumper bumper is locking on a startup (downstream) so I will start there.
I still have the backglass wheel and shaker constantly on. My tech says he needed to ground my board as he cooked one of the ground traces. Maybe he hooked into ground where the shaker motor runs...
hopefully we'll get it all sorted out next week while I am on vacation till the new year.

 

[BMHouze]

Well my board is all fixed up and installed.
Now the real fun begins as there is still a short somewhere in the playfield.
As the board repair had my tech bud putting in a bunch of sockets we just 'pulled' certain ones and started up to try to localize where the short may be happening. Looks like it's somewhere between the thumper bumpers and the slingshots. Now I just hope it's easy to find and detect.
At least some progress is being made.