Harlem - Outhole Kicker coil not firing

[Vengeance]

Just looking for confirmation more then anything.

The outhole kicker on my Harlem isn't firing.

The switch works fine, as when I trigger things manually to increase bonus and then drain the ball, the bonus counts as expected and advances to the next ball in play.

The coil works because if I ground the coil on the ground braid it fires no problem.

The Solonoid driver board works cause if I ground the transistor associated with the coil, the coil fires.

So I assume it's a connector issue, one of the connectors is not allowing the driver board to reach ground and complete the circuit.

That sound about right?

 

[luch]

Harlem ? you cleaning out the vault ?

 

[Menace]

Could be a connector issue between the MPU and the driver or could be an issue with the decoder IC on the driver or even the PIA on the MPU.

D

 

[Vengeance]

Could be a connector issue between the MPU and the driver or could be an issue with the decoder IC on the driver or even the PIA on the MPU.

D

All other coils on the machine and working without issue, it's just the outhole kicker that isn't firing.

 

[flyer666]

you answered your own question
1.Coil works
2.Connectors work...( grounding the transistor at the drive board Q4

Keep going upstream on the driver board.

Could be CR4 diode or u1 3081 or as far back as U2 74l154.

But your on the right track.

 

[Vengeance]

you answered your own question
1.Coil works
2.Connectors work...( grounding the transistor at the drive board Q4

Keep going upstream on the driver board.

Could be CR4 diode or u1 3081 or as far back as U2 74l154.

But your on the right track.

The board works as I was shorting the transistor to ground, so manually creating the path to ground for the transistor.

If there was a problem with the connector it would make sense that it couldn't complete the circuit.

Both the MPU and Driver board were recently recently repaired by mindstorm and they haven't been in a game since they have been repaired so I'd like to assume that the boards work as they should.

 

[flyer666]

The board works as I was shorting the transistor to ground, so manually creating the path to ground for the transistor

By shorting the transistor on the board , you are closing the loop at the coil. Thus the coils works.
when you short the coil to ground you are closing the loop the coil . Thus the coils works.

I hate the term shorting

Never assume....

 

[Vengeance]

The board works as I was shorting the transistor to ground, so manually creating the path to ground for the transistor

By shorting the transistor on the board , you are closing the loop at the coil. Thus the coils works.
when you short the coil to ground you are closing the loop the coil . Thus the coils works.

I hate the term shorting

Never assume....

Huh, I'm kinda reaching the end of my troubleshooting knowledge once I get past the drive transistor.

Guess I could try and swap in another solenoid driver board, see if it works with that one?

 

[Menace]

Yes, your issue is further upstream for sure. You need to isolate WHERE the issue is before you can begin to formulate any sort of repair. Swapping out the driver *should* help confirm where to look next.

D

 

[sylvain]

flyer666 and Menace are correct. These are the checks to do on the Solenoid Driver board itself.
Could be the drive transistor itself (grounding its tab bypasses the transistor so that test does not prove
that the transistor is good), the CR4 diode in front of it, or the pre-driver transistor in the CA3081 chip.

I also had quite a few cases of bad/broken/corroded 0.100 Molex pins in the J4 housing connector on the MPU,
causing the addressing for the Solenoid drives to not reach the Solenoid Driver board...
But this issue usually impacts more than one solenoid at a time.

Good luck!
- Sylvain.

 

[Vengeance]

Ok tried a new driver board same issue

 

[Vengeance]

Now I'm confused

Took the mpu out of my bopp put it in Harlem out hole kicker works.

Took the mpu from harlem put it in bopp and the kicker works there .

*shrugs*

 

[Kare9]

I assume the PIA, but if you tried a new board it's not, please keep us updated!

 

[sylvain]

To me, this clearly points to intermittent/bad pins in the J4 connector on the MPU...

 

[Vengeance]

To me, this clearly points to intermittent/bad pins in the J4 connector on the MPU...

Okie dokie, pin replacement for the mpu

 

[sylvain]

You can confirm this before replacing the pins by:
- putting the machine into self-test, solenoids;
- gently wiggling J4 on the MPU to see if you can cause the issue of one of more solenoids stopping being fired.

Good luck !
- Sylvain.