Am I The First?

FrizzleFried

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I can't be... right?

I'm having issues with my Data East Secret Service Pinball... the backbox door GI lights went dark. I tested the fuse... all was good. I tested for continuity from the fuse to the first bulb in the circuit and it was good. I tested the continuity from the ground to the connector at the power supply and it was good. HAD to be something in the power supply I figured.

But damn... that connector is on TIGHT. T-I-G-H-T. A little more "umph" and it comes loose...

with 3 pins still in the connector that I just yanked off the freaking PCB.

It seems those 3 connectors got hot enough to "weld" the connectors to the pins and got the solder on the PCB hot enough to break loose.

Fun.

Am I the first? Doubt it... I guess it's time to solder in new pins and wire up a new connector.

:D
 
As I mentioned in your pinball post - this happens all the time for GI lights. Quite often I have to replace the connector AND the pins.

I don't know if they make high-heat Molex or not. I have a Paperboy local to me that I replaced a power connector that had burned, and then 4 months later had to replace it again for the same reason....
 
They make high current Molex connectors. I'd solder pigtails to the board and use those Molex connectors.
 
fun times! since I figure this is somewhat related... and mind you it was a pain to get my connectors off, but I didn't rip any pins out of the molex headers....

I used to lose the GIs in our Jurassic Park, I used to think it was in the connector wiring, until one night I got adventurous (I'm not a pinball guy) and pulled the light board out and witnessed like the worst cold solder ever. I reflowed everything on it and it works beautifully now.

however, the lower set of backbox GIs still don't light up. I thought they were like a series circuit but I threw a new 44 in the first socket to see if they'd come on and they didn't. the top set worked, just not the bottom.

do I just meter the 2 sets of like wire braids to see if any juice is going there or is there something else I should check?

They make high current Molex connectors. I'd solder pigtails to the board and use those Molex connectors.

I was told the high current kind were made of like a black plastic. when I asked my rep at Happ about it he didn't know of anything like that. and... pigtails? I'm drawing a blank, is that just running wires instead of pins with quick disconnects?
 
The high current ones are white... they just have larger pins for more surface area to conduct the current through. Radio Shack used to carry them and I still have a small supply of them in my junk box that I picked up when they were closing stores.

Pigtails are that... short wires, maybe 4 to 6" long depending on your needs.
 
Well, I soldered in a new set of pins and crimped on a new connector and all is well. You can see this has been a problem for a while... how you may ask?

Well... it appears that some douchebag found the "welded" connector and instead of properly fixing it, he simply cut the wires and used wire nuts to re-wire. I eliminated the wire nuts, crimped on the connector BEFORE where the wire nuts were and it fits nice and snug.
 
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