Burnt Connectors

Kryzsky

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Recently replaced my 11 pin connector which plugs into J120 on the power board, this of course supplies power to the playfield general illumination so like a lot of other games it was burnt.

One month later I notice a burning smell and finally realize it's from J115, the 12 pin connector that powers the illumination behind the translite.


Why is this such a common problem? I know that the wires and pins heat up due to excessive current flow and eventually the plastic fails, but why does this happen?

Is this a design flaw? Did they not take into account that the general illunination lights would be on constantly? Something to do with the age of the machines?
 
Recently replaced my 11 pin connector which plugs into J120 on the power board, this of course supplies power to the playfield general illumination so like a lot of other games it was burnt.

One month later I notice a burning smell and finally realize it's from J115, the 12 pin connector that powers the illumination behind the translite.


Why is this such a common problem? I know that the wires and pins heat up due to excessive current flow and eventually the plastic fails, but why does this happen?

Is this a design flaw? Did they not take into account that the general illunination lights would be on constantly? Something to do with the age of the machines?

Most people will tell you to remove half the translight illumintaion and be done with it. Or you simply replace the connectors.
Plastic+heat+age ='s fail.
 
Couple of things you can do. You could switch to LEDs. That would reduce the over all current draw. Or you could use "trifurcon" pin connectors. These have 3 connection points. That increases the surface area the connector touches which allows more current handling there by reducing heat.
 
The factory used connectors that were marginal at best for the amount of current flow to the general illumination circuit.

Switch to all #47 lamps to reduce current draw or use LED bulbs.
 
To answer the OPs original question:

Yes, this is a frequently encountered issue (one that I've twice been able to use as a bargaining chip to acquire a pin cheaper when pointing out the melted connector.

The cause was that the factory connectors in that era were not sufficient to handle the current and ultimately melted. More info here:
http://www.pinrepair.com/wpc/index1.htm#connect

For a novice, I found replacing/soldering a new connector, using a crimper to connect new pins, and seeing the GI light up was an easy and fun project. That link gives you all the info (maybe too much info) and links to purchase replacements.

If you put in the right parts, you don't have to worry about swapping bulbs, etc...
If the connector is already burned, making an expensive investment to LEDs doesn't repair the problem. You still won't have GI until you fix the board.

Take it from a noob, having my GI out on my T2 and TAF were a welcomed problem, teaching me valuable soldering and crimping lessons for VERY little $$, and learning about how the boards worked.

I also recommend adjustment the power save settings in the link above, especially if you leave your games on for any prolonged period.

HTH,
Evan
 
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Some make the mistake of only replacing the connector/pins and not also replacing the header on the PCB. If one is burnt/tarnished/in need of replacement, so is the other. If you just replace the connector pins, you'll still get the resistance/heat that will burn em up again. Do it right and yeah it's not a bad idea to replace the #44s with #47s to reduce some strain.
 
burnt connectors

Yes follow everyones advice. Redo your gi circuit connectors on your power playfield board and change all your blubs to #47 blubs. & more things though that i didnt see in the answers is that in the software you can change how bright the blubs are in attract mode. I turn mine down to 04 which is the least voltage going to the blubs, and change the delay time after the game is finished from 15 minutes which is factory specs to 5 minutes which gets you to the drop in voltage faster which enhances your connector and your blub lifespan.Hope this helps!
 
Great info, thanks guys.

I now have new molex connectors, picked them up the other night from a local guy who runs his own pinball repair business. Have to give him a plug: www.richardsonpinball.com Anyone in the area should pay him a visit if they need some work done, he's extremely knowledgeable with well over 10 years in the business and very friendly. He also sells brand new Sterns straight from the company, hopefully I'll be able to afford one sometime next year.

The pins for the connectors are indeed trifurcon and he also advised me to upgrade the board headers which I will be doing along with changing to LEDs.
 
Great info, thanks guys.

I now have new molex connectors, picked them up the other night from a local guy who runs his own pinball repair business. Have to give him a plug: www.richardsonpinball.com Anyone in the area should pay him a visit if they need some work done, he's extremely knowledgeable with well over 10 years in the business and very friendly. He also sells brand new Sterns straight from the company, hopefully I'll be able to afford one sometime next year.

The pins for the connectors are indeed trifurcon and he also advised me to upgrade the board headers which I will be doing along with changing to LEDs.

Not trying to turn this into an LED versus incandescent debate but don't throw away your old bulbs, if you haven't experienced LEDs before you might not like them. LEDs don't pulse and vary intensity like incandescents do, they are just on and off.

I'm not an LED hater but I'm definitely not all gung ho about them. In a home environment the power and heat savings are minimal. Now if you leave your games on all day then definitely switch to LED.
 
Not trying to turn this into an LED versus incandescent debate but don't throw away your old bulbs, if you haven't experienced LEDs before you might not like them. LEDs don't pulse and vary intensity like incandescents do, they are just on and off.

I'm not an LED hater but I'm definitely not all gung ho about them. In a home environment the power and heat savings are minimal. Now if you leave your games on all day then definitely switch to LED.

I agree. LEDs look/work good in some games, but not others. I love LEDs under the playfield, but not for g.i. on top of the playfield or in pop bumbers. Tread lightly and go slow. You might spend $50 on g.i. and not like it.
 
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Decided to go with LEDs, simply do not want to risk anymore burnt connectors and possible damage to the power board and headers. One of my buddies Whitewater connectors were so burnt that a header pin came right off the board with the connector.

So I started an LED thread since no results popped up in a search, getting some good info in there.


Some make the mistake of only replacing the connector/pins and not also replacing the header on the PCB.

How do I know that this header from pinballlife.com will handle the heat better than the original header on my power board? Is it simply a matter of new stock being superior to the old original stock?

.156" (3.96mm) Locking Header - 12-PIN
h12.jpg
 
How do I know that this header from pinballlife.com will handle the heat better than the original header on my power board? Is it simply a matter of new stock being superior to the old original stock?

It won't. It's basically the same thing. If you're using LEDs you won't have a problem. If you're using incandescents in a home environment and you use trifurcon connectors you also won't have a problem.
 
Decided to go with LEDs, simply do not want to risk anymore burnt connectors and possible damage to the power board and headers.

That's totally fine. Just for future reference for others that might search and find this topic in home use if you replace the board header and the connector (even with a new IDC connector) you will not have burned connector issues. Imagine how many days your game was on in the arcade... if you don't replicate that environment you will never have an issue.

And like Lindsey said that header isn't going to do any better. It's not the heat of the bulbs but the amount of voltage that has to go through the wires that heats them up. The draw will be lower hence you will be good to go.
 
The black header plastic handles heat better.

But also remember this: the game manufacturer is running the general illumination circuit at the upper limits (actually above it IMO) of the connector's design.
 
How do I know that this header from pinballlife.com will handle the heat better than the original header on my power board? Is it simply a matter of new stock being superior to the old original stock?

.156" (3.96mm) Locking Header - 12-PIN
h12.jpg

That connector looks to be a Molex 26-48-1125.
This has a higher temperature tolerance than the cheaper nylon headers.
The high temp connectors were available when these older machines were built -- due to $$, they chose the cheaper nylon headers.

The connector failures are most often not caused by header failures but due to plug failures which caused high temperature increases.
With proper contacts - these headers are rated up to 13 amps.
If you use the sandard 08-52-0072 or 08-52-0113 type contacts, you can get up to 7 amps through this.
If you change to the box type contacts, you can get up to 13 amps through this.

Whatever you do -- don't resort to going back to IDC type plugs when you replace the plugs. The original manufacturers used IDC to save time and $$$ (labor costs more than parts). The discrete crimp type plugs will always out perform the IDC type pugs.

Ed
 
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