Sanity check on lights

melchman

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It was late, I was tired, but I still don't understand.

I have a game with those rectangle "cherry master" buttons. The button work but do not light. I throw it in test mode so it lights each one in sequence.

I pull the meter out and read < 3 VDC in the light socket until that light's Turn in the test then I see 13 VDC.

Seems right to me. Get a fresh new bulb plug it in and wait for its next turn. NO LIGHT! Third bulb, Same problem.

Pulled the power leads off the socket, twist the power leads on the bulb around and jam them directly into the wire connector, still no light.

How can I read voltage and not get light?
 
It was late, I was tired, but I still don't understand.

I have a game with those rectangle "cherry master" buttons. The button work but do not light. I throw it in test mode so it lights each one in sequence.

I pull the meter out and read < 3 VDC in the light socket until that light's Turn in the test then I see 13 VDC.

Seems right to me. Get a fresh new bulb plug it in and wait for its next turn. NO LIGHT! Third bulb, Same problem.

Pulled the power leads off the socket, twist the power leads on the bulb around and jam them directly into the wire connector, still no light.

How can I read voltage and not get light?

ohm out the bulbs!

This will let you know if the bulb is good. It could be a Light Emitting Diode (led) and if it WAS when you turned it around it will no longer work.

If it is just a bulb and not an led it will not matter what direction it is in or if the voltage is ac or dc as long as the voltage is correct.

report back on the ohm reading on the bulb(s).
 
How can I read voltage and not get light?
Perhaps there's some problem like corrosion, resistance, or a wire broken internally where the machine cannot drive enough current to light the bulb. In that situation you may see a voltage when there's no load, but things change as soon as you add a load and try drawing some current.

Perform the test again but measure voltage (at the solder tabs of the socket?) while a bulb is installed, while the self-test is supposed to light the bulb.
 
Beginning to see the Wisdom, but not the light

If I unplug the harness and watch the voltage on the button light pair I see a brief spike to 5 V when it is supposed to light.

When the harness is connected with a bulb in place I do not see that same voltage on the leads to the bulb.

Now what?
 
If I unplug the harness and watch the voltage on the button light pair I see a brief spike to 5 V when it is supposed to light.

When the harness is connected with a bulb in place I do not see that same voltage on the leads to the bulb.

Now what?

I would think it is probably a bad connection to the ground. You may want to put a wire to where you get the +5 to the bulb and use a ground wire from supply or chaise to the other side. Better yet, just put +5 and ground to the bulb and it should light. Since you get a +5 volts for a brief moment and the bulb doesn't light, you probably don't have enough current for the bulb(s). That is one possible way you could have voltage and the bulb will not light.

Make sure the bulb is the correct voltage also. A 12v bulb will not light up with +5 and a 5 volt bulb will flash at 12v. That is another way you can have voltage and the bulb will not light up.

The ohm reading you posted suggests that the bulb is good.
 
Make sure the bulb is the correct voltage also. A 12v bulb will not light up with +5 and a 5 volt bulb will flash at 12v. That is another way you can have voltage and the bulb will not light up.

I am reading 5V, and the bulb is a 194 wedge type. Is that a 5 or 12?

If this is a matter of the using the wrong bulb I will be relieved.
 
Hold it there sparky. The bulb WILL light up with 5 volts, it'll just be really dim.

When you measure the 5 volts you're getting, what happened to the 13 volts you WERE getting?

I agree with the previous posts, sounds like a bad ground connection when you had the bulb attached to just the wires. When you measured the 13 that turned into 5, were you measuring at those two particular wires or were you grabbing the ground from somewhere else? Does this game have a switching power supply in it (new kind) or a linear power supply?
 
Qix is behaving nicely

It is treating me well, I just have to clear this and few other projects out so I can set up the working game room.
 
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