Help: Cirqus Voltaire Ringmaster Head Bulb Problems

smokinfish

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Help: Cirqus Voltaire Ringmaster Head Bulb Problems

My ringmaster head has a lightbulb socket in it. I am pretty sure this is supposed to be flasher bulb. However any bulb I put in there, doesn't flash it just stays on and burns the bulb out. I'm talking smoke!

There is a blue w/ orange striped wire and a red wire going to the ballast.

I'm not sure what the problem is. Does this have to do with the wiring?

Any help any CV owners can give would be great.

Thanks
 
If the Ringmaster flasher is staying stuck on, there's a problem w/ its associated transistor ...or maybe a wire got snagged on something. Try to trace the wire as best you can and make sure that's OK. Look in the manual to see what transistor drives that flasher and replace it.

My CV had a blown audio amp ....because the wire for the lower cab speaker had gotten snagged on a PCB, and stripped a bit. It takes some detective work to solve these problems, but whatever's wrong w/ your flasher shouldn't be too hard to fix.
 
I had a problem with bad transistors on the light driver board on my rescue 911. One of the flasher lights under the playfield did what you mentioned and stayed on and it burned the bottom of one part of the playfield (so good transistors are important on the driver board)

All of the transistors were stacked right next to each other also, when I replaced them I tried to get them spaced apart as far as possible to dissipate the heat. Some were cracked right in half and fell apart!
 
Thanks for the responses. I traced the wires and found some splicing had been done. Not sure why maybe just wear and tear. I'm investigating the wires first them I am going to check the transistor. It should be on one of the boards behind the backglass correct?

I'm checking the manual for more info.

I never changed a transistor before, so I am looking into that.
 
I found the Transistor its a TIP102, I'm going to test it and see what
I can find. I read that every Transistor has a resistor. If this is
true how do I find it? The manual just lists the Transistor.
As always, Thank You for your help.
 
If you have the board out for transistor repair, hold it up to the light and follow the PCB traces. You will see pretty quickly which traces run from the transistor to the associated resistors. If your transistor tests good, I would pull the entire wiring harness from under the ring master, open it up entirely and check for breaks/tears....Super common for this to occur on CV because of the severe bend when the ringmaster is in the down position.

Good luck, CV is a great game. I have had mine for 5 years and am sending it on it's way this weekend. If you ever need some reference pics, I hvae a few you can look at here- http://jackhandy.net/index.php?option=com_morfeoshow&task=view&gallery=1&Itemid=159
 
Thanks for the info and the pics. It looks like there may be two resistors associated with each transistor. The wiring harness has had some repairs to it thats for sure.

I have had my Cirqus for 6 years now, I love it. My favorite parts is the graphics, its just a beautiful machine. I may have it forever.

How much did you sell yours for?
 
my buddy just sold one for 3500, its entirely possible to get more
 
Two resistors sounds right, I would have to check to confirm. I rarely see resistors get taken out with the associated transistor, but it does happen. Even rarer, but still possible is when it goes further upstream and takes a chip with it as well (I had this happen on a Jurassic Park I was working on).

I paid 3500 for it 5 years ago. When I tore it down recently I added a NOS neon tube, NOS plastic set, new neon transformer, menagerie ball, bell in the backbox, full 3LED treatment under the inserts, and obiously all new everything wear and tear stuff (bulbs, rubbers, etc..)

I haven't come up with a price yet, as it is going to a buddy (we exchange games all the time) but I imagine it will be between 2200 and 2300 plus his Roadshow.....
 
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