Pole Position power brick

chrispf

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Is this the correct power brick for a pole position? Notice F3 is missing.

Thanks
 

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F3 is the 25 A fuse that usually causes excessive heat and burns the fuse holder and the crimp connector housings. It looks like the right one to me.
 
Ok Thanks. Just wasn't sure as I've seen other PP power bricks that seem to be complete... meaning fuses F2 - F6 are populated.
 
Yeah, and this one looks like it's been modified to "fix" that problem.
The F2 position clearly burned up.
The orange wires that used to connect to the fuse QDs have been soldered together and taped up (visable jut above the fuse block in the photo).

This will fix the problem of blowing 25A fuses, and burning up QDs/wires/fuse holders.... but when a diode in the bridge goes short... there's no circuit protection, and something is going to have a serious meltdown (bridge, wires, xformer... who knows).
 
Yeah, and this one looks like it's been modified to "fix" that problem.
The F2 position clearly burned up.
The orange wires that used to connect to the fuse QDs have been soldered together and taped up (visable jut above the fuse block in the photo).

This will fix the problem of blowing 25A fuses, and burning up QDs/wires/fuse holders.... but when a diode in the bridge goes short... there's no circuit protection, and something is going to have a serious meltdown (bridge, wires, xformer... who knows).

This.

I'd something in there before you run it. The same fuse holder on mine was destroyed as well. An OP put another holder in line and just left it hanging out because, I guess, he knew he'd probably have to replace it again sometime down the road.

Running it like that is really no different than shoving a paperclip in the fuse holder and calling it done... bad ju-ju. Fire hazard at worst... parts destroyer at best.
 
You say "serious meltdown" and i immediately think my house could catch on fire. lol

So in other words it's probably not a good idea to use this brick as is? I want to stay with an original brick (at least for the time being). I guess better to blow fuses, etc then to have a serious meltdown.
 
This.
I'd something in there before you run it. The same fuse holder on mine was destroyed as well. An OP put another holder in line and just left it hanging out because, I guess, he knew he'd probably have to replace it again sometime down the road.

Perhaps to get better air flow around it and keep it from burning as soon, also. Part of the problem is, QDs just aren't meant for 20+A of current. Any small contact resistance leads to lots of heat build-up. If I had one of these, and the F2 was running hot, I'd consider soldering in a fuse directly to the wires to eliminate the QD contact, and the fuse/holder contact. Littlefuse makes fuses with axial leads (315 series). It'd be a pain in the ass to change, but it would provide protection, and should be much less prone to heat build-up.
 
Thanks for the feedback. I wont run it like this then. Will rebuild and reattach the orange wire and add a fuse.
 
By the way, this is a late-model Pole Position power brick, as it has the fan connector. If you're using it on an early machine with no fan, you won't use the plug next to the marquee light connection. Unless you add a fan :)
 
By the way, this is a late-model Pole Position power brick, as it has the fan connector. If you're using it on an early machine with no fan, you won't use the plug next to the marquee light connection. Unless you add a fan :)

You should always have a fan with PolePosition. The reason the later models came with fan connections is because they found that some of the custom chips get too hot and cause timing issues in the game that cause resets and game errors. The fans were added on as a fix for our boards (US boards) being in those RF cages and overheating.

The fan should be facing the open end of the cage to blow cool air across the boards. If you have a filter board on them, it'd probably be a good idea to remove it (IMHO) to allow more air to flow across the boards without getting blocked by it's PCB.

I have an earlier model PP that didn't have the connector for fans, when I converted it to a switching power supply I still had some issues with the game resetting to the "PRESS START " screen after about 5-10mins. I strapped a 12V fan to open side of the cage and tapped into the 12V line on the power supply and ran her for over 2 days straight without a SINGLE issue.

... so, yeah... always run them with a fan. If you can't find a fan that will take line voltage, just add whatever you can to help.
 
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