Data East Simpsons - What did I do?

dmarcum99

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OK...I bought a Data East Simpsons last week. Works alright, 2 or 3 bulbs burnt out...no big deal.

After getting to know the game, I'm discovering the laser kick isn't working. I open the black Data East apon to inspect the laser kick. A wire is disconnected on the coil..."No big deal", I thought..."I'll solder it back on."

Soldered the disconnected wire, fired the game up and now my flippers barely work. They won't push the ball above the kickers!!! Quickly unsoldered the wire hoping the flippers would regain it's strength. NO DICE!!! AAAHHHHH!!!! :(

What did I do? (besides break it) AND, what would I need to do to fix it?

**edit...I also took out the knocker and on the bottom row of my display the upper right angle that would display V's, W's, X's, & M's is out too....oh geesh!!**

Thanks,
Darrell
 
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First step is to check the fuses. Check to make sure you didn't blow a fuse by connecting that other coil.At least get the flippers working again, then worry about the kicker.
 
good call on the blown fuse....found one. Now I gotta go get another one to see if it gets everything back to order. crossing fingers!
 
Sounds likely... at least if it's the fuse, it may have saved some other stuff from getting whacked. Definitely see if you can find the schematic and verify correct wiring before turning it back on with the new fuse and coil hooked up....
 
That coil was probably disconnected for a reason. Replace the coil before hooking that wire back up again.

It's probably disconnected because that coil is locked on and the Transistor that drives it is shorted/failed.

a TIP36 on the PPB board is probably shorted. Note this game only has two TIP36 transistors on this board and the location is Q5 for that coil.There is also a driving TIP102 on the CPU board that connects to this TIP36 and needs to be tested with a meter.Its always best to replace all three the coil,TIP36 and TIP102
 
Many thanks for the advice!

I replaced the fuse and all is back to the was it was. I've since ordered another coil and the other 2 transistors so hopefully in a couple of weeks I'll have the laser kick working again!
 
Many thanks for the advice!

I replaced the fuse and all is back to the was it was. I've since ordered another coil and the other 2 transistors so hopefully in a couple of weeks I'll have the laser kick working again!


If you have a multimeter check the coil resistances. Like someone else mentioned, if there's a bad transistor on the board replacing the coil won't solve your problem. If the coil ohm's out good, then you'll need to look further down the line at transistor on the driver board.

Here's a good demo & discussion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_Un0Hmn3zc

Also, search on pinwiki.
 
Quick question...

I got a coil, a TIP36C & TIP102....
I've installed the coil and TIP36C, but I don't know the location of the TIP102 to replace...and I'm too afraid that I'll short things out again if I don't cover all the bases.

I see several TIP122's in Q8-Q13...?? Any help would be appreciated!
 
UPDATE:

Thanks for everyone's help! I found the last TIP went to Q23 and everything is working normally now. I now have the laser kick working properly!!

I just wish the laser kick performed more reliably...it didn't take long to see the post diameter is too small for the outlane. When the laser kick would activate sometimes the ball shoots up the playfield, sometimes it barely clears the outlane rail and rolls in the inlane... meh
 
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