Whirlwind questions

Boo32

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A friend of mine gave me his not working whirlwind which I brought home Wednesday night. I opened the back box to find there was no CPU board. A repair guy had taken it and never returned it. I got a rottendog board in the mail today. I connected everything as best i could figure it from photos and schematics and guesswork.

The game is playing great. Sounds and all lights, bumpers, ramps, and cellars work.All play field items seem to work, but the display is not working. It occasionally tries to put up a number or two but is not functioning. Is there a diagnostic I should try on the display board? Could it be a power issue? Everything seems to be connected.

Also, I can see the wire coming down from the fan but I can not see anywhere to connect it. Can someone tell me where it plugs in?

Thanks
 
Another missing part

I figured out where the fan plugs in. The is a board or switch at the top of the back box that appears to control the fan. Unfortunately, the repair guy who took the CPU appears to have taken this piece as well. I am guessing that this will not be easy to replace. Does anyone have a lead on this piece or where I can get a replacement? I think what I am looking for is a triac driver assembly. Update - found the triac driver at marcospec.com
 
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Display: On both whirlwinds I've had, there have been display issues that were one of the two 39K ohm resistors on the power board (top right board in the backbox). Make sure these are good and still soldered to the board. They have a tendency to work themselves free.

You are correct that there's a board mounted upside down to the top of the backbox. Hopefully you have the schematics (if not ipdb.org) which will show you what it looks like. There are two wires (red and grey/red) if I remember coming from the sound board, a 2nd connector that has purple wires delivering the power, and then purple wires on a 3rd connector running from the triac board to the fan. G/L finding a replacement :(

Evan
 
Indeed check and replace these resistors first. When all voltages going to the board are ok and the displays are still dead, I'm afraid it's time to buy replacements...
 
Thanks

Thanks for the responses guys. Whirlwind is so good that I have been enjoying it without any idea how I am scoring, but I want to get the display running. Thanks for finding the necessary parts for me.
 
Display issues

I switched out the power supply. Now, the display top row all work during test and none of the bottom row work at all during test. During the game, the top row shows movement and different characters but they are all gibberish. Ive found websites where people repair boards, but I haven't found a site where people repair displays. Does anyone repair these displays?
 
I would still do some additional testing before ruling the displays as bad.
You definitely want to check the ribbon cable going to the display and make sure it's seated correctly. Being off a single pin can do crazy things like you describe. Make sure all the display contacts are soldered well with no visible signs of wear. Check the pins and make sure the proper voltages are getting to the display.

As for the displays, they are pretty easy to obtain and not terribly costly, but I'd hate to see you spend money that you don't need to.
 
If it comes down to replacing the display consider using a LED replacement from Rottendog or Pinscore. The original display glass and a few chips on the display board are getting expensive and harder to find for replacements.

I would check the power to the displays and then your ribbon cable and connection. I had a display issue with mine and it was a chip on the display board that I replaced / pulled from another display for parts.
 
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