Cannot get any life out of 1974 United "unique" Shuffle alley

bsdpinball

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Cannot get any life out of 1974 United "unique" Shuffle alley

1, replaced power cord
2, checked all fuses & fuses holders
3, cleaned all plugs and sockets


So I have everything confirmed up to the transformer, and I think this may be the culprit. I know everyone says transformers do not go bad. Anyway, the bottom has C, and 115 V,, top is 6 v, C, 50, and high tap....

How do i test this ? neg to C, and positive to 6,50 and high tap ??? I have done this and have no volts on the secondary winding, I do have the 120 going in, but nothing coming out the top. AM I testing this wrong ??? the machine is completely dead, no signs of life at all.
 
It does sound like your xfmr. The hightap is for input voltage for low voltage locations-not necessary for you. This seems obvious, but make sure your meter is on AC vs DC. If there's nothing on the secondary, it's probably the primary open. Remove the xfmr from the circuit and put an ohmmeter across the 120 and C and it should read a short, but likely will read open. The only other weird thing I can think of is that if you just installed this you need to make sure you are attached to the right common for the 120, but if it was already installed that wouldn't be likely. Pinball resource should be able to help you with a new part, or scrounge one ou of any pre 70's WMS pinball/bowler. Good luck!
 
I was able to get her started up last night, I disconnected the lane, and put 120V directly to the primary of the xformer, and got the score motor to come on, reset bank,etc. I am still not sure I have the X former wired up correctly...I need to get schematics but I think some of the wiring up to the xformer may be wierd.

the input power is on the bottom "C" and "115" ? and the top is the output ? 6V , C , 50V, and 115V ??
 
I always test transformers using a continuity test, out of circuit, first. If any winding reads open, or shorted (<1 ohm), or worse, if there's continuity from the primary to the secondary, replace the whole thing without further testing. If all the windings have a resistance, THEN I check the voltages with the primary hooked up.

If the primary shorted out to the secondary, you probably have more problems than just the transformer...
 
If you have lights then you have your 6 volts and motors then you have your 50 volts. You're good!
 
This Old pinball has some great DVDs on the repair of Big Ball Bowlers and em repairs in general. They are like 8 bucks shipped, and arrive fairly quickly. As well as newer SS pins etc...
 
Turns out the problem was when the previous owner swapped the lane from a united "gateway arch" to my united "unique" he wires it up wrong. I was carefully inspecting the connectors fromt he lane to the cab and noticed the wire colors did not match. I re-arranged the plugs in the the connector and got it to start up ! Now it is all just a matter or cleaning and adjusting all the contacts and steppers. Thanks guys !
 
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