Star Wars Upright Amplifone Help Needed

BlaineLocklair

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Donor 2011
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Hello all,

I'm looking for some help from the Amplifone experts here to get my newly purchased Star Wars upright going. It plays blind, but there's no picture.

Now, before you go, "Great. Use the damn search function and read the Amp FAQ", I've done both. I've also done a fairly extensive amount of rebuilding and repair. I'll list everything I've done so far below.

On initial inspection, I found that the Amp has the blue HV and deflections boards. The HV board had the red flyback and burn marks under the ceramic resistors from VR1 to the edge of the ceramic resistor near (but not up to) VR2. The yolk appeared to have been bent off of the back of the tube, which bent the pins, but there wasn't any obvious damage to the neck of the tube. There were no other obvious signs of damage.

I've purchased and installed the following:

* Amp HV cap kit from Arcadeshop
* Amp HV CineLabs flyback from Arcadeshop
* Amp deflection cap/transistor kit from Arcadeshop
* New Big Blue from Arcadeshop

I've also taken these steps:

* Replaced all eight W jumper resistors with straight wire on the deflection board
* Replaced the one W jumper resistor with straight wire on the HV board
* Reflowed all of the harness connections on the deflection board
* Reflowed some areas on the HV board that I could see a bit of light passing through. Not surprisingly, most were in the burn path.

Electrically, here's where I'm at:

* Checked continuity on the HV board anywhere there was a brown spot from prior overheating. All checked out.
* Checked for deflection chatter, seems to have it.
* Listened for high voltage "sizzle", seems to have it, but not with much intensity. I hear the sizzle more on power off than at power up.
* Checked the resistance of R12 and the two ceramic resistors (all passed)
* Checked the voltages from the deflection board, ~+30 & -30
* Checked the voltages at VR1 and VR2 on the HV, ~+24 and -24
* Checked the voltages at CV3 (diode), ~170 volts, but spikes over 200+ from time to time. Seems related to the intensity of the deflection chatter.
* Checked Q3 (BU406D), tests out good in-circuit (followed instructions from FAQ).
* Checked voltage at Q3, ~48v DC.
* Replaced all fuses on the deflection board.

I may have done some very minor other maintenance work. If I think of it, I'll add it in.

*** Two things I goofed up:

* I installed C4 backwards (yeah, I know). It smoked, but didn't explode because I was there to kill the power right away. I soldered back in the red cap that was originally there.
* I installed WHT HTR wire from the new flyback into the WHT spot, then realized later that it belonged in the WHT HTR spot. WHT is a ground, so probably not much issue there, but worth mentioning.

I've got to be close here. I haven't been able to test the HV at the anode yet because I don't yet have the HV probe, but that'll be coming soon. I'm just feeling like something should be showing up on the screen with all of the other things seemingly lining up, but that just ain't the case. It seems like there's something simple here that, once uncovered, will bring this thing to life.

Any ideas? What am I overlooking here? Along with my burning desire to play Star Wars, I have a five year old that has been playing it blind, just waiting for daddy to fix it.

By the way, it's a warehouse find, and it only has 18,000 plays on it. It's a looker too!

Thanks for looking at this, all suggestions are welcome!

Blaine
 
I read your op a few times to ensure I got it all

1. On the HV Board does your board have the 2 x large resistors and 2 x diodes

All 4 of these items are add-ons, IE attached to the HV PCB later

2. Have you looked at all connections. My vector games play up like yours and often it is a simple bad connection.

Re-flow the pins on Chassis connectors etc, look for discoloration on the pins etc. Repair accordingly etc

Also, check out the links below, might be other info in there
 
Is your spot killer led on? (thats the LED in the middle of the deflection board). If you have 1 axis not deflecting, you'll hear the chatter, but the spot killer protection will still be on. This would indicate a possible bad transistor on the deflection bd or an output on the star wars board.
 
If you turn the HV up does the over voltage LED light up the HV board?

Have you got the DAG wire hooked upto the HV board ( 2 pin connector) without that it won't run.

I take it you can see the heater glowing in the neck of the Tube?

Check the black rubber boots on the focus block, pull them back and check the wires are soldered in place not just being held in place by the boot.
 
Ok, after several more hours of bulletproofing, meter reading and general banging my head against the cabinet, I think I've found my issue.

First, follow-ups on the previous posts:

* I can make the HV LED light up, so something's good there.
* DAG spring ground tests good all the way from the tube to the neck connector to the board.
* Boots are good, as are all of the focus/brightness connectors. I reflowed them all upon flyback installation.
* Spot killer comes on and goes out immediately upon power up. Good sign.
* Diodes and resistors are there.
* I've already reflowed the header pins and checked for continuity between all wires and their termination points. Even tested for continuity between each part on the board.
* Tried brightness/focus controls, no joy.

* Neck glow... neck glow... wait a minute, where the hell is the neck glow?

A ha! I should around 6v or so at the white heater wire (WHT HTR connection on the blue board). And... I get 0.0v. Hence, no neck glow. So, where is the problem? Bad news.

It appears from looking at the back traces of the board that the only place the 6(.3)v could originate is from the white wire wrapped three times around the core of the Cinelabs flyback. Sure enough, I remembered that I accidentally attached that white wire the the WHT connection point of the PCB, which is right for green boards, but not blue boards. Essentially, that would make the connection connect directly to the ground path of the board instead of the heater. I had long since changed that connection, but I found a burn mark at the base of the flyback (see attached pic). Well, that would explain the absence of the 6v.

So, I'll desolder it tomorrow and see if there's anything that can be done to save it. I'm guessing that Arcadeshop won't be too interested in exchanging this for me since it was an installation error. In the mean time, is there anywhere else I can pull that 6v from to feed it to the board? Coin door, power supply, or somewhere else?

Thanks for reading this and for helping out. Please hang in there with me - we've almost saved a Star Wars from a warehouse and restored it to working glory!

Blaine
 

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the 6.1V comes from the HV flyback coils as you said

On earlier XY machines it comes from the 6.1V from the Power supply. On the starwars power supply, the 6.1V only powers the door.
You could run it from the coin door or power supply

OR you could ask a monitor expert

One well known expert is Joey, at http://www.jomac.net.au/

He was talking to me about this a few weeks ago
 
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Thanks Dez.

The more I've thought about it, the more I suspect the burn to the flyback was caused by heat from the backwards-installed capacitor, and not from wiring the white heater wire to ground. That cap smoked like a chimney, and literally blew smoke forcibly out of it's top like an old tea pot on a stove. I would suspect the entire flyback was bad, bur I'm getting the 24v at the lugs on the bottom, so maybe only the core was shorted.

I'm impatient, so my first reaction is to just go ahead and buy another flyback, especially since this one is at least partly damaged. Either way, I'll still look into the heater voltage issue and see what can be done as a temporary fix. I guess the thing I'd want to be sure of is that tapping into the coin door voltage wouldn't adversely impact other critical voltage needs, such as the main game board or other areas.

This pesky work thing is keeping me away from it until later today, so I'll get back on this in the evening.
 
Are you getting the static charge on the tube? How about B+? It could also be the BU406D. If the Flyback isnt getting the 20Khz from the driver transistor, it wont make high voltage.

Andrew
 
Hi Andrew,

I can hear the static at power down more than at power up, but it's there. I can also adjust the R7 pot and get the LED to light up, so it would seem the HV is there. I believe the BU406D is good since it tested good per the FAQ and has 50v across it when the game is powered on. B+ is at ~180v, but has a bit of fluctuation in it, which I read is somewhat normal, depending on what's going on in-game.

If any of this isn't looking right (voltages, etc), please let me know and I'll make the needed adjustments.

By the way, if you were going to tap into 6v for the heater to have power, where would you do it to minimize the impact on other circuits?

Thanks!
 
Disconnect both ends of the heater winding, and check for continuity. You should get a fairly low resistance. If it's open, then you burned up the winding by shorting it out.

-Ian
 
You narrowed it down pretty nicely.

With the neck board unattached, you could ohm out the two pins on the flyback or even at the tube socket to see if the heater winding on the flyback has been blown. If so, then you need another flyback or pull the voltage from the harness as others have suggested.

I like the cheaper fix better, but for visual asthetics, I guess a new flyback works best.

Good luck-
K
 
Hi Kerry,

Good points there. Yesterday, I tested the 9 and 10 pins on the neck for continuity (good) and ohms (~1.5). I think I read that the tube pins ideally should be around 3 ohms, but that anything other than a complete short would still be ok. I'm definitely more about function and expense than esthetics, so if I can tap the 6v and it fires up, it's good by me.

Ian,

Thanks for the suggestion. I checked continuity for this wire yesterday from the tip that solders to the PCB to the tip at the flyback, which checked out, but did not remove it. If it's accessible, I'll pull it and test it.

Hope springs eternal. Today may just be the day it works!
 
Thanks for the suggestion. I checked continuity for this wire yesterday from the tip that solders to the PCB to the tip at the flyback, which checked out, but did not remove it. If it's accessible, I'll pull it and test it.

As kstillen mentioned, you should also be able to just unplug the neck connector from the picture tube - I don't *think* there's anything else in that circuit - check the schematic. But, if you have the tube connected, you're just measuring the resistance of the heater in the tube itself...

-Ian
 
Ok, more updates:

I tapped into the 6.3v AC that goes from the transformer at the bottom of the cab and wired it up to the WHT HTR connection on the HV board. Shows a solid 6.27v AC at the solder point. Turned it on, waited a moment, and...

... nothing different. No neck glow, no change. Damn!

I'm going to discharge the CRT and desolder the flyback so that I can see how much damage it actually took. Although it has the 24v needed, measured at the bottom pins, I would think it wouldn't help much if it's internally damaged. Only way to start figuring that out is to inspect the housing as completely as possible, hence the need to desolder it.

Man, I thought I was really close this time. Never fear though, my resolve is still as strong as ever.

Now, what to do next...
 
Ok, discharged the monitor. Well, sort of. There wasn't a drop of HV at the anodes. Zero. No pop, no sizzle, nothing. I guess that's my answer to the HV issue. I grounded the wire/screwdriver combo to the DAG spring, used one hand, and inserted under the probe. After numerous touches with the screwdriver, it came right off of the tube.

I've attached some photos of the flyback in the areas that have potential damage. Based on the absent 6.3v, and the burn mark at the base of the core, I'm inclined to think the entire flyback is bad. It has the 24v at the pins on the bottom, so it should be doing its thing, and it just isn't.

Anyone else concur that the flyback is the next issue?
 

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Needs 6v AC, check the resistor that is inline with the white wire, its a very simple setup ....it can only be an open circuit resistor stopping it from kicking out the correct voltage. You can hook up a car 12v lamp across it for testing, should see it glow.

Without the heater lit you won't have a picture......you're nearly there now :)
 
Ok, more updates:

I tapped into the 6.3v AC that goes from the transformer at the bottom of the cab and wired it up to the WHT HTR connection on the HV board. Shows a solid 6.27v AC at the solder point. Turned it on, waited a moment, and...

... nothing different. No neck glow, no change. Damn!

Are you sure you're getting 6.3v across the heater pins of the CRT? Follow the two heater wires to the board and check it there. Also, perhaps there is something wrong with the wiring to the socket, or the socket itself.

Also, are you sure it's not glowing? The CRT neck is usually pretty dim - you have to look at just the right angle to see it It won't glow like a light bulb. Might help to turn off the lights in the room

-Ian
 
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