Data East Hook lighting problems... tips?

gwarble

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hey everyone

my hook is acting up again... i had a burned connector on the top left board in the backglass... bypassed the bad connection and fixed and intermittent reset problem

now it seems the bottom half of the backglass isn't lighting up as much as it should (everything below the "hook" in the middle) but it does come on sometimes...

now the bottom half of the playfield doesn't always light up... general illumination (behind the lower bumpers and stuff)... but it does come on sometimes...

ground problem?
just seeing if this is something common before i dig into it
thanks!
- gwarble
 
Thanks... bummer it probably wont happen before the party on saturday, but after it i'll pull all the boards and check/reflow/swap all the connectors
 
Ken is correct, but UNTIL the connectors show up you can probably get by with reflowing the solder on the offending headers. Those are infamous for cracked solder joints and it NEEDS to be done anyway.
 
thanks

yeah i had a heck of a time pulling the power board, two corroded/stripped screws i couldn't grab with anything had to be drilled out... lame

i reflowed the molex headers on that board (all of them i think) but didn't really analyze all those connectors closely, but any other common culprits?
 
thanks

yeah i had a heck of a time pulling the power board, two corroded/stripped screws i couldn't grab with anything had to be drilled out... lame

i reflowed the molex headers on that board (all of them i think) but didn't really analyze all those connectors closely, but any other common culprits?

If you reflowed all the headers and wiggling them causes the lights to come on/off then most likely they just need new connectors.

You can try sanding the pins though and see if oxidation is the culprit.
 
I know this is an old thread now, but I had this same problem with my Data East Last Action Hero. Half my lights weren't coming on on the back glass and the lights would turn on and off intermittently, but usually when they went off a good smack on the cabinet would get them back on.
I installed new molex connectors and that solved my problem with half the lights coming on, but they would still turn off at random. I played with the connectors a bit while the lights were on to see if I could make them go off but they weren't, at least not from me moving them around.

THEN! I bumped the GI Relay on the power supply board and the lights went on! I played with it trying to check it's seating on the board and it seemed tight, but I think the relay might've just been stuck or something? It's working perfectly now, like it never has in the 7 years I've owned it, so I don't know if I need to buy a new one if it happens again (just found problem 5 minutes ago), or maybe just re-flow the solder.

Just thought I'd pass that along because I'm thinking it might've been the same problem you were having, hope you got yours fixed.
 
Sometimes the G.I. relay on the power supply board gets pitted contacts. This causes intermittent problems and can contribute to burning the connector pins.

Replacing the relay is sometimes necessary. Too bad Data East didn't socket this relay. Sure would make replacing it easy.
 
Sometimes the G.I. relay on the power supply board gets pitted contacts. This causes intermittent problems and can contribute to burning the connector pins.

Replacing the relay is sometimes necessary. Too bad Data East didn't socket this relay. Sure would make replacing it easy.

Thanks for confirming that for me Ken. First sign of trouble with lights again and I'll replace it.
 
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