Paragon, no solonoids firing, 43vdc fading?

doodlesdaddy

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Hi,

First post.....Got a Bally Paragon, after a long search, and am restoring it. It powers up, 7 led flashes, self test perfect, no stuck switches, but only the knocker and the Q15 (I think its the flippers relay?) fire. The displays work and all switches cause scoring, but none of the coils/ solonoids fire. TP 5 on the rectifier board shows 43vdc at startup, and even the coils show 43 vdc, I have tried grounding them, and they do not fire....They then seem to show less then 10vdc....I installed a new solonoid board (Alltek), and it is showing everything working...In self test, a corresponding light on the Alltek lights when the appropriate solonoid is supposed to be fireing....I think they simply just arent getting the neccesary 43 vdc...Is this correct? I ordered a new rectifier board, but wifey says thats it for now, so Im hoping that works...Any suggestions would be appreciated.

The playfield is nearly perfect, backglass ok, was a H.U.O.
I got new:
Plastics, drop targets, bumper caps, rubber kit, ball, Alltek solonoid board, New sound board.

I have ordered a new rectifier board and a new connector kit for the plugs on the rectifier..

I have been reading on here about "reflowing solder"....I was going to try this tonight on the original rectifier board, if I mess it up, a new ones in the mail!!! I understand I should remove it, flip it over, but Im a little confused at that point. Do I simply put the iron on the connection points and "re liquify" the solder, or do I add new solder?

Thanks for any help
 
Slow down with the reflow

When you fire up the machine and get all 7 flashes from the mpu does it allow you to start a game? If it does it may not kick the ball out but the pop bumpers might work. There are some solenoids that are computer controlled and some that are not.

Check every fuse with a meter. There is at least one playfield fuse that the solenoid voltage passes through...

Don't reflow the solder on the board if you have no clue what your doing. If you do know how to solder then the proper way to reflow is to add a bit of fresh solder first and then remove all old/new solder. A thorough cleaning with alcohol and a quick inspection to see if the copper trace is good. If it is then you can add fresh solder (I use flux as well) and you should have a good solder connection. If the copper trace is bad additional steps have to be taken.
 
Thanks for the reply,

I can add coins, the credits go up, I then hit the start button for however many players, it clicks in the backbox,......then nothing, the flippers do not fire, and the ball is not kicked over to the the shooter.....All boards looked original, except for the MPU. I did replace the solonoid board, just to simplify diagnostics, and the sound board, cause the sound was fading out after about 20 minutes....I know there was a cheaper route but I wanted new for peace of mind....The rectifier board looks bad, the J3 has a brown area on it, and there is some wierd looking solder on the front side, kind of where the bridge rectifiers are on the back, if that makes sense. Either way, I would feel better with a new one, but until that comes, I thought about maybe reflowing the solder connections on the rectifier board, just to see of that fixes it...There is nobody around here that knows about these things so Im kinda on my own, other than internet research.. Hopefully I get this working, because I would like to repaint the cabinet as well and make it look like new.
 
Disconnect your sound board and try again. I think the sound board that is in a Paragon takes that 43 volts and regulates it for 5 and or 12. It could cause a weird problem like this
 
Hi,

When I get the new rectifier board, the connections need to be soldered on and I am comfortable doing that.....I have the manuel and schematics, but is there a picture anywhere to show exactly where the wires go? I didnt neccesarilly want to go with just copying the original wiring in case it is wrong

any suggestions?
 
You will have to install new female connectors onto the wires. That will require a crimping tool (or pliers :) ), pins, and the female connectors. Depending on which board you bought, you may need to do some soldering as well...

The schematics show which wire goes to which pin and which connector on the rectifier board. That way you can double check your current wiring to see if it's right or not.

I replaced the rectifier board in my Bally Skateball (got the board from pin-logic) it was a bit tedious, but not overly hard. I just double/triple checked the wiring to the schematic. The previous owner had hacked the wiring so it made it a little harder to figure out. But it works great now :) The schematic even has the wire color codes on it :)

1 - red
2 - blue
3 - yellow
etcetc

Good luck@
 
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I can and have verified the wires for the j plugs, however I am not sure how to verify the soldered on wires on the back of the rectifier board... The schematic doesnt really show where they get soldered on. Maybe to new rectifier board, (the new updated version) will have a picture to show where they go....I hope!!
 
Got the new rectifier board.... the wiring had been hacked and the colors didnt match too well. Had to rewire from the transformer. Still doesnt work, the playfield fuse keeps blowing now. All the lights work, still no solonoids fireing....kind of frustrated. How do I check all the solonoids, or how to troubleshoot them? thanks again
 
Got the new rectifier board.... the wiring had been hacked and the colors didnt match too well. Had to rewire from the transformer. Still doesnt work, the playfield fuse keeps blowing now. All the lights work, still no solonoids fireing....kind of frustrated. How do I check all the solonoids, or how to troubleshoot them? thanks again

Start by checking the voltages at the rectifier board with only 120VAC applied to J2 pins 6 and 7. If the fuse is still blowing you probably wired something wrong.
 
ok, bought a new rectifier board...... wired it up, double checked all spots and only wired in the J6 and J7 wires, the blue and yellow ones. If I turn it on, the tranformer hums rather loudly and the little white resistor? gets really hot immediately and the F6 fuse blew. Something is definitely not right. The J6 and J7 wires, blue and yellow appear to come straight from the power switch.....I must have something wired wrong from the transformer to the rectifier board, but I keep checking it and it seems exactly like the pictures from that link I was sent a few messages ago.... Any help would be great... Thanks.
 
OK.......we can now consider this thread done!!!!! I got it working!! I took another final look at the wiring from the transformer to the new (second) rectifier.... I may have previously stated that somebody had been into the wiring...I retraced the wires for the two hundredth time and discover a couple that were reversed on the transformer. I had been going by the colors and had a couple mixed up...I actually had them right at the rectifier, however they were wrong on the transformer. The gave came up and running perfect.. New solonoid board, and two new rectifier boards and all is now working. Still no sound, but I bought it knowing that, the sound board does work, makes the right sounds at the right times, but the sound is all high pitched and squeeky. I have a new sound board in the mail somewhere, coming from Canada. That should complete the electical part of the restoration. I only have left to fix three or four bad light sockets, and repaint the cabinet. I have touched, retouched, and cleaned and polished every other piece. It truly looks great. Thanks for all your help... You all steered me in the right direction, but ultimately Im proud to say I figured it out on my own. My confidence in my electical and mechanical ability is now restored.


Thanks again

Hopefully it will be awhile before I get stumped again!!!!
 
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