EDOT- where are the flashers?

khabbi

New member
Joined
Feb 9, 2010
Messages
2,058
Reaction score
19
Location
Tampa, Florida
I am looking for information on the EDOT flashers but when I look in the manual I can't figure out exactly where they are and what flashes, can another EDOT owner help?

As of now, my front blacklight will flash when the flasher is triggered (you can hear the "click click click" when it's triggered) but sometimes this will leave my blacklight off (it won't come on until it's triggered again). Is the blacklight supposed to flash like that?

From what I read, the floor lights are supposed to flash also? Is there a special bulb that needs to be used in order for this to work correctly? I changed my lower bulbs (front and back of feet) out and they worked fine, but then they both went out after I played a few games. I know if I put new bulbs in them they would be fine.

Can anyone provide any feedback on this?

Thanks in advance!!
 
I am looking for information on the EDOT flashers but when I look in the manual I can't figure out exactly where they are and what flashes, can another EDOT owner help?

As of now, my front blacklight will flash when the flasher is triggered (you can hear the "click click click" when it's triggered) but sometimes this will leave my blacklight off (it won't come on until it's triggered again). Is the blacklight supposed to flash like that?

From what I read, the floor lights are supposed to flash also? Is there a special bulb that needs to be used in order for this to work correctly? I changed my lower bulbs (front and back of feet) out and they worked fine, but then they both went out after I played a few games. I know if I put new bulbs in them they would be fine.

Can anyone provide any feedback on this?

Thanks in advance!!
The only lights that flash are the two lights at your feet. These should be white black lights (BL, not BLB) but whatever is in there should flash. The flashing is a function of the special fixture, which keeps the bulb "preheated" all the time. The blacklight (BLB) in the control panel should be on all the time. Sometimes when it's cold mine does not turn on until the flasher kicks, then it remains on after. It's either the ballast or the preheat transformer, I haven't tired to troubleshoot it yet

For the CP black light, the transformer and ballast are in the back of the cabinet next to the flasher boards instead of with the fixture like the others. I think this is to keep them away from the CRT.
 
What the crap. I just pulled the schematic and the flasher board does control three lights. I'll investigate my machine and report back.
 
flashers

The flashers Are the lights at the top inside the machine above the monitor.( black plastic panels with red circuit traces on them )
You can find them by going into the test mode for the game and make them
blink . If they don't work there is one board that runs them
 
The flashers Are the lights at the top inside the machine above the monitor.( black plastic panels with red circuit traces on them )
You can find them by going into the test mode for the game and make them
blink . If they don't work there is one board that runs them

I've been to flasher mode in the test menu and I get nothing, thanks for checking that I did that.

I've had the chase light panels off, but I do not recall seeing any flasher bulb or anything else.. can you explain what flashes? Is there a separate flasher bulb location or ? The chase lights do not flash, I know that. If anyone has a pic of the the flashers location, please post.

On a side note, my chaser lights work fine... just had to get the right bulbs and get my board rebuilt due to someone putting wrong bulbs in it somewhere in it's life.
 
Last edited:
The flashers Are the lights at the top inside the machine above the monitor.( black plastic panels with red circuit traces on them )
You can find them by going into the test mode for the game and make them
blink . If they don't work there is one board that runs them
Those are actaully the chase lights, run by the sequencer board. The flashers are fluorescents, run by the flasher control and flasher relay.

Khabbi, I verified that my CP black light does not flash with the floor lights, but I'm really thinking it should, especially since yours does. I know there was a bulletin released for incorrect wiring from the factory, so I'm going to double-check mine this afternoon. If you replace your floor lights, they should flash when you test them in the test menu. You can get the correct BLs from bulbster.com, among others.
 
haven't fired mine up in a while but I believe the light near your feet behind you should flash as well as the light just above the cp. I wasn't looking for what lights flash so it's possible there are more in the game I didn't notice that flash. I'm aware of the chase lights above the monitor in the speaker area.
 
On my EDOT both the floor lights and the control panel light flashes. But I can not get my chaser lights to light up. One stays on all the time. The bottom one on both sides flashes but that is it. So can you tell me which lights should be what.

The ones on the floor should be Black lights or whit black lights. The control panel should be a black light? What about the one in the back behind the scene should be what? A white black light, a black light or a regular light? Please help me on this.
 
Khabbi, you totally made my day :D I had a bad relay on one of the flasher boards, which is why my CP blacklight did not come on sometimes, and did not flash! I swapped the relay from the other flasher board (that turns on the background) and now all three lights flash, two on the floor and one on the control panel. I had no idea the CP was supposed to flash--hooray!

I can tell from the schematics that this is the proper operation of the game, to answer your original question. I would suggest swapping the relays (they are poking through the cardboard cover and just unplug) to see if that fixes your issue with the CP black light staying off sometimes.

The ones on the floor should be Black lights or whit black lights. The control panel should be a black light? What about the one in the back behind the scene should be what? A white black light, a black light or a regular light? Please help me on this.

5 Cool White (CW) - 3 tron, 1 marquee, 1 background (behind scene)
2 White black light (BL) - 2 at feet
2 Black light (BLB) - 1 Control Panel, 1 behind front speakers that takes all day to change
 
Well thanks to you guys today I fixed all my flashing lights. I fixed my chaser lights except one set does not blink I found a few of cold solder joints on the sequencer and one bad mps 2222A transformer. I need to order some white blacklight bulbs. Thanks everyone
 
Last edited:
Does anyone know where to order the relay for the flashers?
I have ordered some, but I was waiting to post the information until they arrived and I could verify. The relays cross to an NTE R12-17D5-12N. The case is clear instead of black, and they have an internal lamp to indicate when they are on, but they have the same specifications. I'll post photos in this thread after mine arrive.

I ordered mine locally, but just about everybody has NTE. Newark, for instance.
 
Has anyone purchased these relays and verified they work? I've had problems w/ my flashing fluorescents and I've been going back and forth between either bad bulbs or relays. I replaced some bulbs and they will work fine for a while, but then sometimes the CP/floor bulb will flash and stay off, sometimes 1 or both of the background lights won't come on, etc. I ordered some relays (KHAU-17D11-12 from digikey, which I read somewhere crossed to NTE R12-17D5-12N, spec sheets match). So today I changed them and they're worse. Only 1 relay works, sometimes, and when it flashes it's not regular. I can hear the relays clicking but the bulbs don't flash in unison. Could I have gotten bad relays, or are the specs on these relays different than the originals?
 
Last edited:
Unfortunately, I can't give you a definitive answer. I ordered two NTE R12-17D5-12N. One of them worked great, and fixed my issue with the CP blacklight not flashing. The other was worse than the original. I returned it to my local electronics place, and we tested it together, confirming that the relay worked as intended in every way, even at a low coil voltage.

This was very puzzling. My intention was to measure the voltages at the coils and scope the line to look for weird interference. Unfortunately, since everything worked great with one new relay and one old one, I never did that, and never replied back to this thread.

To add another variable, I ended up completely rebuilding both relay boards to eliminate the popping sound that I had coming through the speakers. It worked great, and they actuate without any interference whatsoever. It may be that rebuilding the boards would allow the new relays to work properly, and I probably owe it to you guys to finish out my diagnosis.
 
Also, probably worth mentioning that both the originals and the NTE have a 5-amp contact rating, while the KHAU-17D11-12 has a 3-amp rating. I didn't measure the current, so I can't comment on whether 3 amps is sufficient.
 
That is odd. I can clearly hear the contacts clicking in both relays, yet only 1 works, and not all the time. After 3-4 test cycles the bulbs stop flashing and go dark. After a few seconds the CP light will come back on, but not the two floor lights. Maybe QC just isn't up to snuff on these things. I haven't experienced any other problems with the flasher boards, so I don't know if rebuilding them is in order.

For some reason digikey lists the amperage for the KHAU's as 3A, but on the relay itself it lists 5A and the spec sheets state they work @ 1A-5A, same as the R12's.
 
Well, the fact that we have similar erratic results from four relays across two different manufacturers makes this even more interesting. Time to call Mystery Inc.! I would totally drive around in a Mystery Machine van.

I'll try the new "bad" relay again to determine if the board rebuild made any difference. I also need to spend a little more time with the schematics to see what's going on. My guess is that when the bulb is turned "off", it's returning to a preheat state.

Besides an issue with coil voltage or interference, the relays could also be sensitive to the switching speed. The NTE specs out at 25 mS max, and I don't know about the originals.
 
Back
Top Bottom