gilligan's island - ramp drops during solenoid test but not during gameplay

pudluther

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gilligan's island - ramp drops during solenoid test but not during gameplay

noticed the other day that when i got to KONA, the island ramp did not drop. wound up taking the glass off to test jungle run/KONA where the ramp is supposed to drop...it did not drop for either mode.

went into the test menu and started the solenoid tests....the ramp raise/ramp drop works when tested this way. it did not misfire a single time in the test menu.

so in other words, the ramp will drop/raise during testing but not during gameplay.



thoughts? do i have a board issue at this point? if so, where do i start? i have never done any board repairs on my own. is it a wiring issue?


thanks in advance for any help/advice.
 
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not sure if i have played this one, but it was the first dmd game, does it have u shaped opto's?

if so look there first, probably have a dirty or fried opto
 
It sounds like the solenoid is fine. This sounds more like a switch issue. Which switches or optos activate the ramp? Go into the switch test menu and take off the glass. Test all of the switches and optos to see if they all work.
 
Reseat the ribbon cable that goes from the CPU board to the driver board. BTW there are no optos!



thanks...i reseated the ribbon cable as you suggested. it's still not working.


as for the optos, i looked, but i don't see anything like that. i was hoping i'd find one, clean it, and the problem would be solved. :)
 
thanks...i reseated the ribbon cable as you suggested. it's still not working.


as for the optos, i looked, but i don't see anything like that. i was hoping i'd find one, clean it, and the problem would be solved. :)

well you shouldn't keep a crappy pin like that....ill take one for the team and take it off your hands lol
 
Do you get any switch errors on startup? Sounds to me like you have a switch issue. Go into switch test, or just start a game and test all the switches with your finger or a ball. Maybe your lock switches aren't working?
 
ok...there is definitely an opto in the island. took island apart, found opto...cleaned the "eyes" or whatever they're called.

in the test menu it is showing as closed. you can manually pass something in between the eyes and it will open in the test menu.

once we tested it, we put everything back together to test it in gameplay....the ramp will not drop and the island will not spin.



not sure where to go from here...
 
Search "gilligans island ramp" on RGP, there are some threads there about it. I'd guess you have a switch issue though..



thanks tom. looks like they tested about the same things i have.


i just don't understand why the signal is getting lost to spin the island/lower the ramp....the ramp is functional (tested in menus), there are no obstructions to the island (it doesn't even attempt to move when it's supposed to), there is nothing binding, the island lock works (tested in menus), and the island opto switch works properly (tested manually).

i'm just not sure where to go from here. i hope i do not have a board issue....but i'm not even sure how to tell if i do or not.
 
ok...tested the wires that correspond to the power for the island power (as far as i can tell, anyway). they seem to be OK at the board.

unplugged the quick disconnect at the motor and the same wires didn't work...nothing showing up on the multimeter.

so it appears that perhaps the problem is at the 12volt relay:

http://www.marcospecialties.com/product.asp?ic=5580-12782-00

5580-12782-00.jpg





tested the little board that this thing is soldered to and it seems fine...wondering if that little relay pictured above is the problem?

anybody know of a way to test that thing?

if it's not the relay, i guess it could be the motor itself.....but that's considerably more expensive than the other part.

thanks for any additional help, fellas.
 
you would think if the relay was bad it wouldnt work in the test menu either

i suppose just installing a new relay would be a cheap way to go, but you dont want to go through all that and have the same problem

i would get my DMM and access the wiring/connector to the faulty unit. then put it into test mode and test the voltage while its working
then i would take it out of test mode and start a game and play the game to make the faulty unit do what its supposed to and measure voltage and see whats there. if theres no/wrong voltage, work back towards the fault with the DMM. test the transistors the schematic and wiring takes you too.

you need to determine where the fault lies. is it on the power driver board or on the CPU

quick way to determine that is by swapping out power driver board and/or CPU and see which swap cures it but you need those parts on hand to do that
 
gilligan's island - ramp drops during solenoid test but not during gameplay

I would do a Switch test and see if anything comes up on that switch. Bad the switch is bad? Try pushing down the switch when the game is playing with your finger?
 
you would think if the relay was bad it wouldnt work in the test menu either

i suppose just installing a new relay would be a cheap way to go, but you dont want to go through all that and have the same problem

i would get my DMM and access the wiring/connector to the faulty unit. then put it into test mode and test the voltage while its working
then i would take it out of test mode and start a game and play the game to make the faulty unit do what its supposed to and measure voltage and see whats there. if theres no/wrong voltage, work back towards the fault with the DMM. test the transistors the schematic and wiring takes you too.

you need to determine where the fault lies. is it on the power driver board or on the CPU

quick way to determine that is by swapping out power driver board and/or CPU and see which swap cures it but you need those parts on hand to do that



if it were a board issue, would i not be seeing other problems than just the island not spinning?


the motor test for the island was already done...the island does not spin...and there is no voltage after it passes the relay, which is why i thought the relay might be bad.
 
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