Help with Williams "BIG GUNS"

dbpbandit

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Hey guys, I'm working on a Williams "Big Guns" and I need some help on a few items.

First, yesterday I rebuild the two lower flippers, they are working great but the original configuration of the left flipper was not the same as the right one. The right EOS switch has one of the capacitors installed but the left one did not. When I rebuilt the left flipper I added the new cap on it as well. Is there a reason why one side would have the cap and not the other? I'ts working fine but I was just wondering.

Also, after rebuilding the right flipper, I turned the game on to test it and everything was working great. After I rebuilt the left flipper, when I powered the game back on my score display was not working. After a little troubleshooting I found that one of the 1/10 fuses were blown. I replaced the fuse and the display works again but it's a little messed up. I posted a video at the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2l0poA1HAsY&feature=autoplay&list=ULuw_DoCl44U0&playnext=75

The left lower segment had issues that I already knew about but those "r r r r's" going across the top two segments are new, they showed up after I replaced that fuse...
I checked and rechecked all of my connections but nothing changes the display. Any suggestions on where I should look next?

Finally, my back box lighting is not working properly, well half of it isn't anyways.. The right side of the back box lighting seems to work fine but the entire left side is not. I cant get any power to the flashers and the gi's but if I put lamps in the area behind the gun they are extremely bright, like blindingly bright, I actually took them out because it's so bright that it distracts you while trying to play the game.

I'm bringing this game back from the dead, it's been sitting in a dinner for years with an "out of order" sign on it. Looks like the last person who took care of it did some pretty creative repairs to it to say the lest. There are some rubber bands being used in place of missing/broken springs. Duct tape, electrical tape, zip ties, and a few other things that I'm not even sure how to explain. Any help on this is very much appreciated, thanks.
 
Looks like the last person who took care of it did some pretty creative repairs to it to say the lest. There are some rubber bands being used in place of missing/broken springs. Duct tape, electrical tape, zip ties, and a few other things that I'm not even sure how to explain.

I think you just answered your questions :) I'm sure the last "repair"man was just as creative when doing the board work. I would start by digging through the manual and undoing every questionable repair, make sure the correct fuses are installed, and double check you are getting correct power to all the boards. This will give you a good starting point for trouble shooting.
 
Yup, thats my plan... It just bugs me when I fix one thing (flippers) and then something else breaks (score display) go figure....
 
I still need some advice on this. I finished redoing my interconnect board and replaced one of the burnt plugs but it had no effect on my back box lighting issue. See video:

http://youtu.be/uP8UWTQ1F8Y

None of the gi lights on the left side of the back box are getting power. Also, the lights behind the left big gun are extremely bright (I only have two lamps in there right now) The lights on the right side seem to work fine. My connections seem to be fine so I'm wondering if it's something on the driver board? Any suggestions would be great, thanks.
 

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I finally got time to work on this again and this is where I'm at:

I re-flowed all of the connections on the relay mounted behind the light board in the back box. I now have all of the back box GI lights working (woohoo!) However, I'm still struggling with those lights behind the left "big gun" (see video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTY46D42gzc&feature=plcp

The lights on the left are very bright and they don't respond like the lights on the right side. Maybe I have it backwards? Maybe the ones on the left are correct and the problem is the ones on the right? Any BG owners out here today?

Anyway, it seems to me that those lights are getting voltage or a signal from the wrong source, anyone think this might be a driver board issue?
I'm not sure where to start looking next but I'm planning on spending a good chunk of time tomorrow working on it (still lots of work that needs to be done to it) So if I can get some suggestions on where to look next I'd really appreciate it. Thanks.
 
Its been a while since I sold of my Big Guns but I think that the lights on the right are working properly. If you put it into test mode and run the test that lights each lamp individually, I'm guessing you are going to find a few of them that light up two bulbs at the same time. Make a list of all of them that do that, and take a look at the lamp matrix and see if there is a pattern. (Row or column shorted together)


Check the right side for wiring issues like someone soldered another controlled light into the chain or there is a shorted diode screwing up the lamp matrix. Check the connectors for some sort of mistake.
 
Those caps on the flippers keep the voltage from leaking and sparking, which would cause wear to the contacts and potentially other problems, EOS switches are important so check those closely if there was no service on the game. Lamp issues in those williams games can be harness related, check the connectors and repin any that are slightly suspect, may solve the issue
 
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