Wanted: Outgassed Dot Matrix pinball display

[2PacMan]

Oh good, well hopefully this will fix the problem then.  I'm guessing once the old display went bad, people continued to play it, which them blew the diode.

[ChadTower]

Cause would depend on what happened to the diode.  Was it burned open or was it reading fully in both directions (junction overflow)?

[2PacMan]

well, the actual appearance of the diode was fine, it looked normal.  The tech just said it wasn't producing the right reading on his DMM.  There was no burning or anything even near that area.

[ChadTower]

Could be 2PacMan just doesn't know enough yet to have listened for the key words given... or maybe the guy just didn't say.

[2PacMan]

Great news!  The display works now!!  He installed the high voltage replacement kit along with replacing the one bad diode, and now i'm back in action.  Thanks for all your help and suggestions on getting me back on track.

One other question, now that the DMD is up, i was going through the self test, and I have alot of burned out bulbs.  The manual says I need bulb #44.  Well, i ran out, but i noticed some of the bulbs in the game were #47, which I have plenty of extras of.  Are #44 and #47 bulbs interchangeable, or should I stick to strictly the #44 bulbs like the manual says?

[ChadTower]

47 is slightly dimmer but uses a lot less amps.  Accordingly it produces a lot less heat.  Light level is perfectly sufficient for home use and most pinball hobbyists swap in 47s as any 44s burn out or even just change them all when they shop the pin.  They are interchangeable.  47s are less likely to warp a plastic from heat.

[2PacMan]

Thanks for the info Chadtower, i just put in an order for a bunch of #47 bulbs.  They look just as bright as the 44's to me, and i'm all for creating less heat.