Game Show switch help needed

Silverunicorn

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So I got a Bally Game Show.

replaced bunches of lights, cleaned the playfield up, the normal stuff.

The game has NUMEROUS switches non-working

here's what I get as NON-working:
Switch 30 - "TRIP - R"
Switch 31 - "TRIP - I"
Switch 32 - "TRIP - P"
Switch 34 - "TRUCK - R"
Switch 35 - "TRUCK - U"
Switch 36 - "TRUCK - C"
Switch 37 - TRUCK - K"
Switch 39 -Drop Target "CAR"
Switch 41 - "SPIN WHEEL"

I am looking in the manual, and I can't find any rhyme or reason. Also the back panel lights are out on the back of the playfoels (not the backbox). Not sure anout that either :(

Any ideas?

Because of the error-correcting software, the game stil plays, which is really cool to me.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Chris
 
Doesn't look like the switches correspond strictly to a given row or column, so I'd start with checking the respective connectors to ensure they're seated properly, and you don't have cold solder joints on the respective pins on the board.

For the "chase lamps" at the rear of the playfield; last one I worked on had flaky connectors back there causing intermittent issues; a portion of the lamps would work sometimes, and other times not. Again - check connections on the bulbs and that assy.

If *all* the lights back there are out, again, probably connectors - I seem to remember having to be careful with the cabling back there when lifting the playfield up.

Good luck - decent enough game, although it isn't very deep!
 
As Sprout mentioned, the connectors are usually flaky on the 'billboard' sequence lights. On mine I had to reflow and reconnector the connectors on the light PCB and the connector at the driver board in the back box.

And yes, check the connectors on boards in the backbox. It does certainly sound like one or more isnt fully seated.
 
Doesn't look like the switches correspond strictly to a given row or column, so I'd start with checking the respective connectors to ensure they're seated properly, and you don't have cold solder joints on the respective pins on the board.

For the "chase lamps" at the rear of the playfield; last one I worked on had flaky connectors back there causing intermittent issues; a portion of the lamps would work sometimes, and other times not. Again - check connections on the bulbs and that assy.

If *all* the lights back there are out, again, probably connectors - I seem to remember having to be careful with the cabling back there when lifting the playfield up.

Good luck - decent enough game, although it isn't very deep!

As Sprout mentioned, the connectors are usually flaky on the 'billboard' sequence lights. On mine I had to reflow and reconnector the connectors on the light PCB and the connector at the driver board in the back box.

And yes, check the connectors on boards in the backbox. It does certainly sound like one or more isnt fully seated.

Thanks, I will check those out. I am assuming (and that might be a problem) that any cold solder joints would probably be foind on the interconnect board? I recall that was an issue on many a System 11 machine.

Thank you again,
Chris
 
Well, I removed and re-seated all the connectors, and no change :(

Time to start tracing wires. This should be fun.....NOT!

Chris


Yuck!! Sorry to hear that wasnt it.

I dont know if it helps you any, but I have some crappy photos of in the backbox of my Game Show you can peek at.

http://dragonsdenarcade.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=16542

Click on the medium photos to get the hires shots. Maybe a connector is off a pin or in the wrong spot?

Also, as for cold solder joints, the driver board for the marquee lights had cold solder joints, along with the marquee pcbs (from the playfield being lifted all the time)
 
Yuck!! Sorry to hear that wasnt it.

I dont know if it helps you any, but I have some crappy photos of in the backbox of my Game Show you can peek at.

http://dragonsdenarcade.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=16542

Click on the medium photos to get the hires shots. Maybe a connector is off a pin or in the wrong spot?

Also, as for cold solder joints, the driver board for the marquee lights had cold solder joints, along with the marquee pcbs (from the playfield being lifted all the time)

Cool, thanks. I should have some time this weekend to do some investigating :)

Chris
 
When I got mine, the chase lights at the back of the playfield didn't work. Found a blown fuse in the back box, replaced it and they came to life. I don't remember specifically what one it was, but it was in the lower part of the back box.

I still have a light problem though. None of the bigger flashing bulbs work. No "applause", no lights behind the dude's teeth, nothing on the playfield either. When in test, it simply goes to those switches, does nothing, and moves right on to the next one. Not even displaying an error. :confused:
 
Funny, I had the exact same problem when I got my game show. The ground wire, I believe, was common to each side and daisy chained down the row of targets. Yellow wire, if I remember correctly. The wire broke on the "T" on each side. As far as the "Car" and "Spin wheel"... maybe related. I'll look this weekend if you don't find the problem. Good luck.
 
Funny, I had the exact same problem when I got my game show. The ground wire, I believe, was common to each side and daisy chained down the row of targets. Yellow wire, if I remember correctly. The wire broke on the "T" on each side. As far as the "Car" and "Spin wheel"... maybe related. I'll look this weekend if you don't find the problem. Good luck.

THANK YOU!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!

Progress!!!!!

The T-R-I-P targets are fixed. This indeed was the yellow daisy chained ground wire. Those work great now :)

The CAR drop target is also fixed. The ground wire on the opto connector came out. Unfortunately the connector itself was pretty mangled up. I soldered the ground wire directly to the board, and now that is also working!!

I quit while I was ahead. Hopefully I will get some time tomorrow to look for the other issues.

Thank you everyone for the help and suggestions!

When I got mine, the chase lights at the back of the playfield didn't work. Found a blown fuse in the back box, replaced it and they came to life. I don't remember specifically what one it was, but it was in the lower part of the back box.

I still have a light problem though. None of the bigger flashing bulbs work. No "applause", no lights behind the dude's teeth, nothing on the playfield either. When in test, it simply goes to those switches, does nothing, and moves right on to the next one. Not even displaying an error. :confused:

I believe there is a fuse for just the flashbulbs in the backbox. You might want to check that out.


Chris
 
THANK YOU!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!

Progress!!!!!

The T-R-I-P targets are fixed. This indeed was the yellow daisy chained ground wire. Those work great now :)

The CAR drop target is also fixed. The ground wire on the opto connector came out. Unfortunately the connector itself was pretty mangled up. I soldered the ground wire directly to the board, and now that is also working!!

I quit while I was ahead. Hopefully I will get some time tomorrow to look for the other issues.

Thank you everyone for the help and suggestions!



I believe there is a fuse for just the flashbulbs in the backbox. You might want to check that out.


Chris


Glad you have made progress! Feels good!

I do believe I have checked every fuse in the backbox, and only found one bad one (chasing lights). I suppose I could have missed one, but the fact that it goes through the test without an error when it comes to those switches is what baffles me.
 
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