Xenon - My New Project

FrizzleFried

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Picked up a Xenon last night...

It's pretty dirty. It's been sitting for at least 5 years.

XENON_JUSTHOME1.jpg


The playfield is in pretty damn good condition overall with only a couple small problem areas (just below the flippers being the worst)...

XENON_JUSTHOME2.jpg


The backglass is in absolutely BEAUTIFUL condition (aside from the dirt)...

XENON_JUSTHOME3.jpg


I knew going in that the "CPU was going to need to be replaced"... what I found was the MPU was actually hacked to hell with missing parts, a broken corner, and at least a dozen "hacked" trace repairs. It's a mess and it's not certain if the few chips that are there are the proper ones or not... the board actually came separate from the cab... Chances are likely I am going to just drop an Ultimate MPU in...I have one on the line for $130...

It has 2 blown solenoids (replacements included actually)... and he says he's fairly certain the solenoid driver board wasn't the issue. The 2 solenoids blown are one of the pop-bumpers and the hole eject at the top center.
 
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AAAAWWWW YEAHHHH!!! Xenon!

It has 2 blown solenoids (replacements included actually)... and he says he's fairly certain the solenoid driver board wasn't the issue

Did he indicate what he thought was the issue? If not then I wouldn't put much stock in the "not the driver board" theory (no disrespect to the guy). My first thought would be shorted driver transistors but 2 at the same time would be kind of weird. Could definitely be a couple of shorted outputs on the one of sixteen decoder IC. I guess it could be corrupted game code or a flaky strobe from the MPU to driver board or something which would not be a problem on the driver board itself but that's pretty uncommon. When you get your MPU I would start troubleshooting with the solenoid fuse pulled. That way you can test your solenoid drive circuits without melting anything.

I have one on the line for $130...

That's a really good price. I could offer you an original for $100 shipped but if I were you I would still consider the ultimate. That's a good price for one. I would also offer to go through all of your boards for you and fix them for the cost of parts but you're looking at about an $80 round trip to Canada.

Good luck, brother Friz. If you have questions I can pretty much guarantee I'll be able to answer them. I know a LOT more about the Bally/Stern system than I did when you had your lightning and I knew a lot then ;)

Let me know what you do with the MPU you've got. I like a challenge.
 
No multi-ball with this pin? I remember the backglass is active with the lights and very colorful (especially with LED's). Even if it wasn't multi-ball I would like one. I wondering what did you pay for this if you dont mind? Nice find!
 
AAAAWWWW YEAHHHH!!! Xenon!



Did he indicate what he thought was the issue? If not then I wouldn't put much stock in the "not the driver board" theory (no disrespect to the guy). My first thought would be shorted driver transistors but 2 at the same time would be kind of weird. Could definitely be a couple of shorted outputs on the one of sixteen decoder IC. I guess it could be corrupted game code or a flaky strobe from the MPU to driver board or something which would not be a problem on the driver board itself but that's pretty uncommon. When you get your MPU I would start troubleshooting with the solenoid fuse pulled. That way you can test your solenoid drive circuits without melting anything.

He mentioned something about the MPU... but couldn't "guarantee" it. How would I go about testing those coils exactly? He currently has the two burned ones cut out of circuit... could I just replace the MPU, then just touch the coils to the circuit? If they fire they're active and that isn't good?

That's a really good price. I could offer you an original for $100 shipped but if I were you I would still consider the ultimate. That's a good price for one. I would also offer to go through all of your boards for you and fix them for the cost of parts but you're looking at about an $80 round trip to Canada.

If the Ultimate doesn't happen, does yours include the necessary RAMS/ROMS, etc? If so... I may go that route...

Good luck, brother Friz. If you have questions I can pretty much guarantee I'll be able to answer them. I know a LOT more about the Bally/Stern system than I did when you had your lightning and I knew a lot then ;)

Let me know what you do with the MPU you've got. I like a challenge.

I probably screwed up but I traded the guy the jacked MPU for the replacement solenoids, a cam lock, and a "likely working" 6-digit score as the credit "scores" are out.
 
He mentioned something about the MPU... but couldn't "guarantee" it. How would I go about testing those coils exactly? He currently has the two burned ones cut out of circuit... could I just replace the MPU, then just touch the coils to the circuit? If they fire they're active and that isn't good?

You can start by testing the rectifier board to be sure you've got all the voltages you'll need present there. Isolate and test the rectifier board. Then you'll need to test the power supply section of the regulator/driver board and make sure you've got all the voltages you'll need to run the game. You can leave the solenoid fuse pulled at this point and worry about testing the solenoid drive section of the regulator/driver board later. Then you'll need a good MPU. At that point I would isolate and test the MPU. Once it's booting install the connectors going out to the other boards and test the solenoid drive circuits and the lamp driver board. Then you can worry about displays and finally you can do all the preventative maintenance stuff and then shop out the playfield.

This is all covered in pretty good detail in Clay's guide:

http://pinrepair.com/bally/

But to directly answer your question, no you don't want to do that. Once the MPU is booting and you're ready to test the solenoid drive circuits you'll need to see if there is continuity to ground on any of the metal tabs of the driver transistors on the bottom of the driver board when there shouldn't be (like in attract mode). Check this with the solenoid fuse removed. That will tell you that those transistors are "stuck on" and we can go from there. The first thing to do is go through the power supply and get that working reliably.

You could also pull the driver board and test the transistors with a meter and pull the rectifier board and go through it with a meter too. If there are no blown fuses (other than the solenoid fuse possibly) there's no reason to think there's a problem with the rectifier board and pulling the solenoid fuse and checking the tabs on the solenoid driver transistors with the board in the machine will be much faster (IMO).

If the Ultimate doesn't happen, does yours include the necessary RAMS/ROMS, etc? If so... I may go that route...

Yeah I'll give you a drop in solution. I'll even throw in a RAM adapter so you won't need batteries because I'm nice like that ;)

This isn't "street price" so no PMs please.

I probably screwed up but I traded the guy the jacked MPU for the replacement solenoids, a cam lock, and a "likely working" 6-digit score as the credit "scores" are out.

If the thing was as bad as you described it wouldn't be worth much to most people. If the display works it was a good deal. If not then not so much (again... IMO).
 
PM sent regarding the MPU...

Now I am feeling a little overwhelmed here... I am still quite the pinball newb.

Lets start with STEP ONE...

It seems STOP ONE would be to test the rectified board. I assume that is the board in the bottom of the cab under the playfield. What do I have to do specifically to isolate it? Simple remove all connectors aside from power?

Once I do that what voltages am I looking for (or should I just refer to the ball guide you referenced?)

Also... this game uses little rubber "nuts" to hold the plastics on... they are rotting away... is the standard upgrade to replace them with niece chrome acorn nuts?
 
Now I am feeling a little overwhelmed here... I am still quite the pinball newb.

You're probably just thinking about the whole thing as one big piece. If you break it down into the individual stuff I mentioned above it's not too overwhelming.

Lets start with STEP ONE...

It seems STOP ONE would be to test the rectified board. I assume that is the board in the bottom of the cab under the playfield. What do I have to do specifically to isolate it? Simple remove all connectors aside from power?

Just read through the guide I posted and ask about anything that is confusing. It should be pretty straight forward. Your game uses the AS2518-54 Power Supply module. Chances are good that it's working fine but I would check it first.

Also... this game uses little rubber "nuts" to hold the plastics on... they are rotting away... is the standard upgrade to replace them with niece chrome acorn nuts?

I like the natural color nylon nuts but you could use metal or rubber as well. I don't like the crappy rubber "nuts" personally.
 
Are the tube light "inserts" under the plastics supposed to be blue as well? They are a similar color "blah" as the posts. There sure are a TON of posts... I'll be buying all new blue posts... what are the plastic light "tube" things called they put over the GI lamps?
 
OK... tested the regulator and got some odd numbers... what do you think:

TP1 - Should be 6.5VDC (4.6 to 7.2VDC is OK). I measured 7.6-7.7VDC
TP2 - Should be 230VDC (203VDC to 257VDC is OK). I measured 180-182VDC
TP3 - Should be 12VDC (11 to 16VDC is OK). I measured 15.5-15.7VDC
TP4 - Should be 7.3CVAC (6.3VAC to 8.3VAC is OK). I measured 6.7-6.8VAC
TP5 - Should be 43VDC (37.6VDC to 48.4VDC)> I measured 44VDC

From my newb eyes it appears I have some issues.

TP1 measured .4 - .5VDC higher than the "high" norm. TP1 circuit is used for switched illumination. Is this going to be a problem? My guess is it won't be? Maybe slightly premature bulb expiration?

TP2 is underpowered. 180-182VDC is 21-23 volts less than the recommended low. This circuit is used to power the score displays. Is this going to be a problem?

TP3 measures just under the high recommended so it should be fine.

TP4 measures a little low but still withing tolerance... TP4 is the GI circuit.

TP5 is the coil circuit and I was happy to see 44VDC....just a hair up from what's called for and well within spec.

Opinions on what I found? What's the next step?
 
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Are the tube light "inserts" under the plastics supposed to be blue as well? They are a similar color "blah" as the posts. There sure are a TON of posts... I'll be buying all new blue posts... what are the plastic light "tube" things called they put over the GI lamps?

You can get a blue LED strip for under the tube that really pops the playfield...
 
i would order parts to rebuild the power supply.. bigdaddy-enterprises has good prices on kits (i will be rebuilding mine when i can order the parts). i am missing the 43VDC and my Eight ball MPU wont boot all the way.
 
i would order parts to rebuild the power supply.. bigdaddy-enterprises has good prices on kits (i will be rebuilding mine when i can order the parts). i am missing the 43VDC and my Eight ball MPU wont boot all the way.

IIRC, Ed at GPE has better prices.:D
 
All fine. Voltages will be different and probably closer to spec under load. Slightly low display voltage could actually be a good thing. Move on to the power supply section of the regulator/driver board.

You could rebuild the rectifier board but it's usually not necessary on the AS2518-54 boards. I would consider replacing the fuse clips but I wouldn't replace the bridges or connectors until I saw a good reason.

OK... tested the regulator and got some odd numbers... what do you think:

TP1 - Should be 6.5VDC (4.6 to 7.2VDC is OK). I measured 7.6-7.7VDC
TP2 - Should be 230VDC (203VDC to 257VDC is OK). I measured 180-182VDC
TP3 - Should be 12VDC (11 to 16VDC is OK). I measured 15.5-15.7VDC
TP4 - Should be 7.3CVAC (6.3VAC to 8.3VAC is OK). I measured 6.7-6.8VAC
TP5 - Should be 43VDC (37.6VDC to 48.4VDC)> I measured 44VDC

From my newb eyes it appears I have some issues.

TP1 measured .4 - .5VDC higher than the "high" norm. TP1 circuit is used for switched illumination. Is this going to be a problem? My guess is it won't be? Maybe slightly premature bulb expiration?

TP2 is underpowered. 180-182VDC is 21-23 volts less than the recommended low. This circuit is used to power the score displays. Is this going to be a problem?

TP3 measures just under the high recommended so it should be fine.

TP4 measures a little low but still withing tolerance... TP4 is the GI circuit.

TP5 is the coil circuit and I was happy to see 44VDC....just a hair up from what's called for and well within spec.

Opinions on what I found? What's the next step?
 
The rectifier board actually looks pretty good. Not nearly as burned looking as the Stern board from my Lightning looked...
 
I got to chime in here and give this thread a
+1
I have let a few deals slip bye because I was worried about me having the skill or know-how to fix them, but after seeing whats going on here it makes me think that there might even be hope for me yet!
Thanks again guys
Frizz are you going to keep this one or will it be for sale in three weeks? ;-)
 
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