Lindsey
Well-known member
Not to be confused with my MPU test aid boards, I've designed another board to help troubleshoot problems with the Bally/Stern pinball system. This time we are dealing with the lamp driver board. I'm not going to claim that this is a new and innovative idea. Boards like this have been discussed on RGP going back to 2005 and I hand built one with 3mm LEDs way before that.
The LED board connects to either J1, J2 or J3 on the lamp driver board and connects an LED to each SCR output. There is a chart screened on the board showing which SCR is associated with which LED based on which connector you've got the board plugged into. The boards come with a wire and alligator clip attached. This connects to the switched illumination bus. The easiest place to make this connection is TP1 at the rectifier board but switched illumination bus power is also available in the backbox on the insert panel.
To test the lamp driver board you would install the LED board on either J1, J2 or J3, connect the alligator clip to the switched illumination bus and press the test switch on the coin door. This will flash all of the SCR outputs on the lamp driver board. From there you can troubleshoot stuck on or non-flashing LEDs. Just correlate the problem LED with it's SCR using the chart on the board and you'll know which output is causing the problem.
The board also has a male molex header connected in parallel with the molex connector on the LED board. This allows you to connect the incandescent lamps at the same time as the test LEDs. The only caveat here is that you need to remove the key pin.
Price is $40 shipped to Canada and USA. $35 if you buy the MPU board too. PM me if you want one.
Questions? Comments?
EDIT: I am planning another board that will plug into J4 and drive the logic so you can test a lamp driver board on the bench with just a power supply but for now I will offer just the LED boards. I'm sure there are a lot of people who can use one. I already have a microcontroller based board built and tested. I just haven't gone into full production with them yet.
The LED board connects to either J1, J2 or J3 on the lamp driver board and connects an LED to each SCR output. There is a chart screened on the board showing which SCR is associated with which LED based on which connector you've got the board plugged into. The boards come with a wire and alligator clip attached. This connects to the switched illumination bus. The easiest place to make this connection is TP1 at the rectifier board but switched illumination bus power is also available in the backbox on the insert panel.
To test the lamp driver board you would install the LED board on either J1, J2 or J3, connect the alligator clip to the switched illumination bus and press the test switch on the coin door. This will flash all of the SCR outputs on the lamp driver board. From there you can troubleshoot stuck on or non-flashing LEDs. Just correlate the problem LED with it's SCR using the chart on the board and you'll know which output is causing the problem.
The board also has a male molex header connected in parallel with the molex connector on the LED board. This allows you to connect the incandescent lamps at the same time as the test LEDs. The only caveat here is that you need to remove the key pin.
Price is $40 shipped to Canada and USA. $35 if you buy the MPU board too. PM me if you want one.
Questions? Comments?
EDIT: I am planning another board that will plug into J4 and drive the logic so you can test a lamp driver board on the bench with just a power supply but for now I will offer just the LED boards. I'm sure there are a lot of people who can use one. I already have a microcontroller based board built and tested. I just haven't gone into full production with them yet.
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