Troubleshooting - Lighting - Space Invaders Pin

[Toadie]

Ok, so if you've read any of my other thread you realize I just blew up my machine 

However, when I did have it running I noticed that I had a large number of lights in the back panel that didn't light up.  I'll post some pictures when I go back to the machine but I was wondering how you start trouble shooting this.... Hmm, guess I need some pictures 



Ok, so as you can see by the pic I have some random ones that are out like the alien's eyes and then an entire top row.  Any tips on where to start and how to figure this out?

I have a couple more than I thought on the play field as well but I'm guessing I would follow the same processes?

[Toadie]

Well I found out one of the reasons why some of the lights aren't working.  At least most of that upper strip.

[Toadie]

Not sure if anyone is reading this but if you are here's what I've found.  As I continued down my path to the power supply:

If I read the diagram correctly:

There are three J boxes (J1 Playfield, J2 Cabinet, J3 Backbox)

Pin 1 on J3 wire color green looks like a master return since all returns from all J boxes tie back to it including the power line grid from J2 Pin 10.

Pin 1 and the green wire all looked to be in good condition from J3, I don't know about any of the other connection points.

Pin 10 on J3 is marked as General Illumination Bus and appears to just tie into Pin 11 on J3 and Pin 5 for J1 the play field.  Pin 10 is the Orange wire and also appeared fine.

Pin 2 on J3 the white wire is also a GI return and it just seems to connect back to Pin 1 but this wire on the connector was burned slightly.  Decent discoloration of the connector but seemed limited to just that one wire.

Pin 11 on J3 which is a GI Bus is connected to the following:

Pin 10 on J3 - another GI Bus
Pin 5 on J1 - another GI Bus
A 7.3 VAC connection to lights on the backboard I'm guessing (TP4) that also ties into P1 on J2 a GI bus and P8 in J1 also a bus.

This wire is red and also appears fine.  That's all of the GI J3 back box.

So I guess the question that needs to be answered is this...  Pin 2 on J3, the white wire.  What caused it to burn and would that have caused my GI lights to not come on?

Moving on to the other parts of the diagram...

[ChadTower]

Without really reviewing the details because I'm pressed for time right now...

...that's a Bally game.  If those are bayonet sockets you are going to run into dead sockets.  I guarantee it.  You might run into a huge percentage of the sockets.  I have done games where more than half were dead and most of the rest were unreliable.

The best way to check for a dead socket is to jump in a good one and see if the light works.  Connect an alligator clip jumper to the ground wire... connect the other to the signal tab of the socket in question.  Don't let them touch.  Attach a good lamp socket to the clips in the same way.  If it works then you know the old socket is dead.  There are a couple of things people do to revive old sockets with a bit of soldering but I usually just swap in a new socket.  I've spent hours on the "fix the socket" technique and it just isn't worth the time unless you're trying to do it on the cheap.

[Toadie]

Well I'm not sure if this is the correct way or not but I took out each wire and soldered it directly to the pin.  Took some time but they're clean, spaced right, and should have a good connection.

[ChadTower]

Heh, that's definitely not the right way, and any good tech will undo it when the game moves on to somebody else.   

Next time you have to work on that driver board you will have to cut and then redo all of those solder points.

[Toadie]

Totally agree and this is the J3 wiring harness so it's probably a little worse but it's not soldered to the driver board, it's the power supply 

[Toadie]

Ok so I'm circling my way through this, maybe you can give me a hint here Chad.

Rectifier Board Testing...

J3 and J2 connections all seem to go fine and all TP's seem to give me proper values.  When I attach J1 though, F5 blows.  If I test each pin connection individually for J1 the fuse doesn't blow.

Here's the J1 layout for my board:

P1 GENERAL ILLUMINATION RETURN
P2 GENERAL ILLUMINATION RETURN
P3 SPARE (EMPTY)
P4 KEY
P5 GENERAL ILLUMINATION BUS
P6 SOLENOID BUS
P7 SWITCHED ILLUMINATION BUS
P8 GENERAL ILLUMINATION BUS
P9 SWITCHED ILLUMINATION BUS (TIED TO P7 IN THE DIAGRAM)

[ChadTower]

Testing each pin individually doesn't accomplish anything.  If you want to do that sort of incremental troubleshooting you have to attach a hot pin and a ground pin at the same time to complete that circuit.  It looks like you need P1/P2 and then can try each of P5-P7/9-P8.  That is if they all return to P1/P2.  That I'm not 100% sure about. 

I can tell you from experience that until you've rebuilt those connectors there is a good chance you are chasing ghosts.  Also it's a good idea here to rebuild that recitfier board.  Replace all the caps and bridges there.  Consider any upgrade mods suggested in the guides.  It's possible that the issue is on that recitifier board but isn't manifesting itself until you connect the appropriate draw.

Yeah, I know you want to go off and find the issue yourself, and I've been there.  First thing here, very first thing, is to ensure a good power supply and good connectivity in the connectors.  If you rehab those and the issue goes away you did find the issue.  It just wasn't quite where you expected.

[TopJimmyCooks]

CT speaks the truth.  8 out of 10 bally problems are fixed by replacing the connectors.  REPlACE the CONneCTorRRRRSSSS.

[Toadie]

So I agree with you and the manuals I've read also suggest ensuring that the rectifier is working correctly.  Last night though I had insomnia as I often do so I kept tinkering... and I think I found it    Of course I could be totally wrong but I haven't blown anything up yet and my TP's are testing the correct voltage.  I'm not out of the woods yet but for some reason it hit me that I replaced the bulbs in the mushroom caps and that they still didn't light up.  So I started with wire 1 (white) on the J1 and started mucking with the play field.  Long story short it led me to the caps.  Pulled the bulbs and  everything is working well on the rectifier.

I still need to figure out the bayonets but I learned some good stuff.

I also did give much thought to my soldering job... as awesome as it is    I probably should redo all the connectors just out of proper care.

Do you know of a rectifier rebuild kit or something like you were talking about?  What about the best place to get lamp sockets?  I know the LED argument but I think I want to keep this old school and I've switched over to 47's.

[Toadie]

ok tested a little more tonight... one specific mushroom cap (GI light inside) tends to short the F5 fuse.

[ChadTower]

Not sure if he sells an official kit but if you contact Ed at Great Plains Electronics he'll get you what you need.  He's my go to guy for stuff like this if I'm not just buying parts off Mouser.

I buy all my lamp sockets at Pinball Life.  Top shelf customer service and excellent prices.

[Toadie]

Ok, time to wrap this one up.... and start the next one 

I purchased a new rectifier board for many reasons even though my voltages appeared to be ok.  Main reason though was the feedback from here an the newer technology.  On the lighting side, I believe I have everything worked out, now I just need to look at individual lamp sockets but I'm pretty sure all my power and wiring is good.

On to my next challenge and new thread...

[ChadTower]

What rectifier board did you buy?

Not sure it would actually be "newer tech".  There is only so many ways you can do AC-DC conversion and fusing.