pinball displays flickering

gwiz828

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Hello to all.

I recently purchased my 1st pin, Blackout. it great shape and plays well. but now the displays seem to be going haywire and flickering and even blanking out!
any and all help would be greatly appreciated!
 
if it is a bally, mine was doing that also but seemed random, when I would move some wiring it would go away, found it to be bad connections....and not just one.

if it is all of them then I would think it is on the main board else each display. I pulled out each pin and checked them and bent them a little to make a better connection.

also adjust the HV down to extend the life of the display, think I took mind to 170vdc.

Pinrepair.com is a great resource.
Robert
 
WOW thats alot to digest for a beginner....
thanks.
not sure where to start, but i guess reading would be a great place.....
 
I'm not sure what most experienced people here would say, but personally I'd go remove the solder and reflow all the pins on the display boards and connectors, as a first step. Next up would be replace the pin headers.

Reflowing the headers might solve most of the problems, but if it's a machine that you want to work for years down the road, replace the headers. You're removing the solder already, so it couldn't hurt anything the replace the pin headers while you're at it.
 
I'm not sure what most experienced people here would say, but personally I'd go remove the solder and reflow all the pins on the display boards and connectors, as a first step. Next up would be replace the pin headers.

Reflowing the headers might solve most of the problems, but if it's a machine that you want to work for years down the road, replace the headers. You're removing the solder already, so it couldn't hurt anything the replace the pin headers while you're at it.
could you post or shoot me a pic of the "headers" that you speak of?
thanks,
G
 
There is a few different things it could be, do you have a picture of what the displays are doing you can post?

If it's doing something similiar on all the player displays, it's probably a master display (the one that shows the credit/ball in play numbers) issue.
 
http://www.google.ca/images?q=pin h...&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1280&bih=607

Those pins that cables connect to are the headers, ont the opposite side of the pcb, run a soldering iron and some desoldering braid down the pins, and take off as much solder as you can, and then resolder the connections with some nice new solder.

The whole process is cheap, and can save you some diagnosis issues down the road. Generally a cheap procedure, that is just a bit of preventative maintenance.
 
There is a few different things it could be, do you have a picture of what the displays are doing you can post?

If it's doing something similiar on all the player displays, it's probably a master display (the one that shows the credit/ball in play numbers) issue.
i will post a pic tomorrow. thanks for the help in advance!
right now all of the displays seem fine, maybe cause it's warmed up, either way its not right 100%
thanks again,
G
 
i had this happen with my bally night rider, what i did was i unplugged my displays, and used a scotch brite pad, and cleaned the pins up really well. be careful not to bend them, and then plug them back in, it fixed my problem maybe will fix yours, do this with the machine off and unplugged just to be safe, HV stands for High Voltage
 
Hello to all.

I recently purchased my 1st pin, Blackout. it great shape and plays well. but now the displays seem to be going haywire and flickering and even blanking out!
any and all help would be greatly appreciated!

When I got my first machine, I asked for similar advice here & the overwhelming reply was Connectors, reflow display solder joints, connectors, & connectors.
Needless to say, my problem was connectors & cracked solder joints... I got pretty good at replacing the tiny male & female molex terminals. Ed @ GPE has the best selection of decent tools, terminal ends & housings.
Oh yeah, & Bookmark Clay's repair site - learn it, live it, & love it.
 
ok-- now my buddy and I played about 10 games with no issues. He left, i walked him out and came back to see the displays and playfeild all blank! Any ideas?
thanks,
G
 
thanks Ken,
but the same thing- no displays and no play field lights-- occasionly i see the displays flicker and go back out-
i checked all the fuses, connections. i guess it would not hurt to change the batteries?
looking to swap out th erectifiers today. any and all thoughts are greatly appreciated!
like i said, it was fine, then bam... almost dead!
 
Like I said, sounds like you have multiple problems going on.

Probably any or all of these are happening:

Bad interboard connector (driver to MPU).

Bad solder joints on boards.

Power supply board needs work, likely in both the high voltage section for the display and the +5 volt section for MPU board.

Bad IC sockets on the MPU board

Bad 5101 Ram chip on MPU board

Battery acid damage to MPU board

All the above are listed in the pin repair guides at pinrepair.com
 
Look at the two LED's on the MPU board when the machine is powered on.

They should both be OFF. If they aren't then you've got problems.
 
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