Bally Strikes and Spares Boots then dies

tneary

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Hello.

I have a Bally Strikes and Spares machine that successfully gets thru the startup sequence, flashes the LED on the MPU board 7 times then enters attract mode. Less than sixty seconds after entering attract mode all feature lamps, playfield solenoids and relays/switches die. Flippers still work. Shut the game off and turn the game back on repeats the same sequence.

Any ideas on what could be wrong or suggestions on the next steps in the troubleshooting process.

thanks
Tom
 
Sorry...After attract mode if I start up the game into play mode everthing works for say 30 seconds then all playfield feature die execpt for the flippers.

Just did some quick voltage checks...
On th Power Transformer (Rectifier) board TP1 was at 5.5V during system boot
On the MPU board TP1 was 4.5v

I put the game into self test mode and when the playfield feature lamps flashed the voltage on the power transformer/rectifier board at TP1 jumped to 6.9v then back to 5.5v when the lamps went off then alternated between the two voltages.

Any ideas on this voltage fluctuation at TP1 on the power transformer board and the low 4.5v on at TP1 of the MPU?

Also, in addition to the voltages mentioned the game stayed on today long enough to play two games then died....This time Fuse F1 on the power transformer blew.

thanks
Tom
 
Sorry...After attract mode if I start up the game into play mode everthing works for say 30 seconds then all playfield feature die execpt for the flippers.

Just did some quick voltage checks...
On th Power Transformer (Rectifier) board TP1 was at 5.5V during system boot
On the MPU board TP1 was 4.5v

I put the game into self test mode and when the playfield feature lamps flashed the voltage on the power transformer/rectifier board at TP1 jumped to 6.9v then back to 5.5v when the lamps went off then alternated between the two voltages.

Any ideas on this voltage fluctuation at TP1 on the power transformer board and the low 4.5v on at TP1 of the MPU?

Also, in addition to the voltages mentioned the game stayed on today long enough to play two games then died....This time Fuse F1 on the power transformer blew.

thanks
Tom

The low voltage at the MPU could be a failing +5 regulator, some bad connections between the regulator/driver and the MPU or (more likely) a combination of both. BUT... I don't think that's the main cause of your problem. Especially since the switched illumination fuse (F1) blew. Was it the correct rated fuse?

Are you sure the voltage is not dropping when the lamps are on? You said it was dropping when they are off.

In any case... it seems like you've got something on the switched illumination circuit that's drawing too much current. I would pull F1 (or leave it blown). Then disconnect connector J4 on the lamp driver and boot the game and play a couple of games. See if it resets. If it doesn't then you know the voltage drop happening on the switched illumination circuit is causing the resets. If not, then I would take a closer look at the +5V but you'll still need to figure out why the fuse blew.

There are also many common connector and component problems on those games that should be addressed as a matter of preventative maintenance. Like the filter cap on the +5V, for example. But... like I say over and over... don't confuse troubleshooting/repair and preventative maintenance.
 
Thanks.... The game seems to play fine (aside from no feature lamps) with and without J4 on the lamp board pluged in and no F1 fuse. So not sure what was causing the problem before but definitely need to figure out why that F1 Fuse on the PS keeps blowing after boot while in self test and game mode.
 
Thanks.... The game seems to play fine (aside from no feature lamps) with and without J4 on the lamp board pluged in and no F1 fuse. So not sure what was causing the problem before but definitely need to figure out why that F1 Fuse on the PS keeps blowing after boot while in self test and game mode.

That most likely means the voltage drop from the switched illumination problem was causing the resets.

Could be a number of things. Could be a shorted bridge for the switched illumination. Usually you would expect that to just pop the fuse right away but it's still possible that it could short in such a way that it shows the problems you're having. That bridge is by far the most strained of the 3 bridges on the rectifier board. I would take a look at that first. You should be able to check the diodes in the bridge with a meter as well as the voltage drop across the diodes by checking the AC voltage in and the DC voltage out of the bridge.

If it's not the bridge that's causing the fuse to blow then it's probably something in the playfield or backbox lamps or wiring. Maybe a shorted lamp or lamps. I don't really like to troubleshoot with fuses but in this case it may be necessary. I would put a fuse in F1 and then boot and play the game with only J4 connected to the lamp driver. If it still plays fine you know the problem is with the backbox or playfield. Then you could connect one connector at a time (J1-J3) and see which one causes the fuse to blow. Then see what lamps are on that connector and check them all. Could be a shorted lamp or lamps. Could be a bunch of things. You'll just have to narrow it down by eliminating things. That's kind of a hack method but it should work.

You could also check the resistance through each lamp individually at the lamp driver connectors and see if anything looks shorted. Actually... that's probably what I would do first after considering the bridge rectifier.
 
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