Lost World: Lights Dim when Flippers Activate

Zack5959

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This is starting to annoy me, lol.

This cant be normal right?
The game has a new rectifier board from GPE, and no burnt connectors anywhere.

Aside from this problem, every so often the game does not boot on the first try. It usually fires up on the 2nd attempt, but once took 5 times.

Since Im placing an order with GPE soon, can anyone advise me on what components I need to repair these problems?
Many thanks!
 
This is starting to annoy me, lol.

This cant be normal right?
The game has a new rectifier board from GPE, and no burnt connectors anywhere.

Aside from this problem, every so often the game does not boot on the first try. It usually fires up on the 2nd attempt, but once took 5 times.

Since Im placing an order with GPE soon, can anyone advise me on what components I need to repair these problems?
Many thanks!

Probably the connectors on the lamp driver board. Specifically the power connector. The rectifier board is only one piece of the puzzle. ALL of the grounds for the lamps are coming through one connector on the lamp driver board (several pins, 4 I think). More and more I'm seeing games come in with broken pins. I just repaired a Space Invaders last night with a broken pin for the +5V on the MPU. You need to make sure that there is a solid path to ground through that connector on the lamp driver board and back to the rectifier board.

I would take a hard look at the lamp driver connectors. If you're ordering from Ed, get some .100" headers, pins, and a crimper if you need it.
 
You have to quantify how badly the lights actually dim. The lamps will dim on these early Bally's to some extent. That is normal, how they shipped from the factory. You can see a situation where the lamps REALLY dim and that is usually because there is a misadjusted/nonworking EOS, bad flipper coil etc.
 
Both of my pins do it as well, Pinbot and Space Shuttle. Less noticeable on Shuttle for me, Pinbot tends to be kind of a dark-lit game anyways, so I feel it's more noticeable, especially when there's incandescents instead of LEDs. Mine is about half and half. It's enough to see, but not enough for me to go jacking with the power supplies to see what's going on. I'm assuming mine is like above, normal....it's just the coils pulling a lot of power all at once.
 
I guess it is normal after what everyone has said.
They dont dim a lot, just a bit.
I have 2 new flipper coils in the machine, so that is not the culprit. All switched are adjusted properly.

Ill just shrug it off....thanks!
 
Lindsey, no one is trying to discount your knowledge/experience here. However there is a certain amount of dimming on these early Bally's that is present NIB. I just finished my Power Play restored, repinning EVERY connector in the game, new headers on all board, new ground braid, ground plane etc and it still dimmed a little when the flippers were activated.
 
Lindsey, no one is trying to discount your knowledge/experience here. However there is a certain amount of dimming on these early Bally's that is present NIB. I just finished my Power Play restored, repinning EVERY connector in the game, new headers on all board, new ground braid, ground plane etc and it still dimmed a little when the flippers were activated.

That's exactly what I would expect to happen. The same way the lights in my house dim when a huge load drops on to the circuit. But did the lamps dim LESS after you replaced the power header on the lamp driver? I'm going to bet they did.

The lamps will always dim slightly but you can minimize it. If you've got an old-assed connector on the lamp driver board, replacing it is one way to minimize it. Or you can just not worry about it. That's probably the easiest. Like the game not coming on once in a while. That's "normal" too. Just don't worry about it.

Everyone rebuilds the rectifier board and overlooks the lamp driver board then wonders why their lamps are still dimming more than normal. I've seen this same situation play out over and over.

It doesn't really matter anyway. I don't need any help to fix my games so why should I care :)
 
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Is it the General Illumination or the Switched Illumination or both?

Originally, all the early electronic pinball machines regardless of manufacturer had some dimming of ALL lights due to the power transformer being too small (not enough current from the lighting section).
 
Lindsey: I have been lucky enough to use your advice in the past, and I appreciate it. Dont stop with your thoughts!
I will be going through all my games this year, repinning stuff. I have to start from scratch with the tool and supplies, so it will be a bit of an initial investment.

Ken, I have to pay better attention to which lighting is dimming. I know all of the GI for sure...have to check the switched lighting.

I know you guys have been here years upon years, and I really do appreciate you guys answering the same questions over and over without annoyance.
 
Ok I was able to play another lost world and the lights did not dim as much as the lights on mine.

Where should I look for the culprit?
 
Did you follow Lindsey's advice?

Probably not. ;) I haven't bothered working on mine either, I have the same issue he does (did?)... I don't have the tools and supplies to do it. I've never crimped anything before, and never soldered pins on a PCB. Don't want to jack up Shuttle before TPF. After that, the gloves are coming off, I'm doing the playfield swap, working on electronics and hopefully un-hacking the few things that I know are screwy (GI CONNECTORS BURNED OFF AND PUT BACK TOGETHER WITH WIRE NUTS WHAT?).
 
Damn I forgot Lindsey replied with a suggestion.

I look like a duesh now.
 
I have a Bally Lost World I recently received as my first pin, and it had a horrible dimming problem when I first brought it home. When I got the pin, it was the first time the machine has been significantly moved in ~15 years, so I think between the jostle of transporting it in a truck along with all the disconnect/reconnect of the plugs really did a number on all of the PCBs.

I haven't had a chance to reflow the solder on all the other connections, but I did reflow the connectors on the power board and that made a huge difference in the dimming. It still dims, but nowhere near as much as it did before. I also changed out all of the #44 bulbs to #47, which seemed to help some, too. I think I may order several of the fix-up kits from http://www.bigdaddy-enterprises.com - the prices look very reasonable to me for all the work that goes into putting together the various "kits." Lindsey's advice is pretty much exactly what I have planned overall for my Lost World.

Also, I have found this site very useful in learning about my Lost World:

http://pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Bally/Stern


I have a bunch of other quirky issues with the game - sounds will sometimes get funny after playing a while, it looks like the battery is dead since no scores are being retained, etc. So I think I have a bunch of basic "Bally Maintenance" to do with all the connectors, capacitors, and battery. I just haven't had the time to dig into things - the kids are having too much fun playing. :) I'm trying to consider the amount of money I should put into the game right now - although the machine was HUO since 1983, it hasn't been well maintained so the cabinet and playfield is pretty thrashed. Luckily, I got the game for free.
 
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