SS - Flipper Locks Once On

[James]

Hi all,

So bit of a funny one this one, went to look at a SS near me owned by @Justin as the flipper wasn't working, before attending I could see that the EOS on the left flipper had a wire loose so should be an easy fix. Got there, soldered back on and flipper was still dead.

Went into backbox and F116 had blown through, so I changed this out.

Switched back on, and pressed button, flipper gets up, but just completely locks on, taking out the fuse (that to me suggests it wasn't switching to EOS)



First off I took off the coil, and swapped the diodes for new, both of them, reattached the coil and re-tested. Same again, blew out the fuse.

Grounded out the meter and tested pins on J120 through 9,7,3,1 all read the same, can't remember what they tested out at with the game on, but there was no variance, the same for J119, can't remember the reading but no spiking.

Reseated all connectors.

Switch tested opto board, all good. Switch tested EOS by manually pulling up and that also switches in and out all good.

So a little stumped, the only other thing I am thinking is could D22 and D20?

Any help would be appreciated, I am wanting to go back and help get this fixed to be honest.

 

[chris b]

The eos only tell the cpu it’s flipped and has nothing to do with power or hold like on early games if flipper is wired up correctly then I would suspect the transitor is blown for that coil

 

[James]

Looks right to me and has been working previously, I’ll look up the transistor in this circuit and pop over and swap out for him. Any other thoughts to shotgun if needed.

 

[chris b]

Yes wired correct wrong strength coil for ss though

 

[James]

Weakened to stop air balls up the right ramp I think. Thanks for your help @chris b.

Couldn’t be a short could it? Did stop momentarily with the playfield down about to be lifted. Traced the wires as well as I could but couldn’t see anything obvious and it’s a pretty much dedicated circuit isn’t it.

Also, I’m 99.9% sure isn’t the case but it has an LEDOCD board attached and that connects to the MPU and then to driver board via flipper ribbon, that couldn’t be involved in any way could it (again, most obvious things first so I’m guessing a huge NO!)

 

[Jay Walker]

In the Fliptronic circuits, each flipper has three drive transistors - the primary High Power winding has two transistors (the usual coil drive device, switching a larger TIP 36C), while the secondary Hold winding makes do with the one

Unused flipper drives (unused for an actual flipper, that is) are often used for two-winding coils in other mechanisms, e.g. Path of Adventure diverter and pin on Indiana Jones PBA, Basement scoop and Trunk Magnet on Theatre of Magic, Crate lock on Scared Stiff. For such cases, there are additional tie-back diodes on the Fliptronic II pcb, though I'm not sure about Wpc 95.

 

[James]

Thanks @Jay Walker - are you suggesting here further diode checks or that the TIP102 replacement needs to be a larger TIP36C (which I will need to get it)

 

[Jay Walker]

The current for the power winding is passed through the Tip 36C, which is switched by the Tip 102. Either may be faulty, if the power winding locks On. The additional diodes are a back-up if the ones on a coil should fail, or not be there in the first place (an almost new Theatre of Magic repeatedly locked on the Trunk magnet due to a broken trace for its tie-back diode, on the Fliptronic II pcb. The magnet itself didn't have one at all)

 

[James]

Ahh yes


Q90 is TIP36C
Q91 is TIP102

If the board is coming out, may as well do them both.

 

[James]

So I am going to shotgun all associated TIP's today, any other recommendations?

 

[kevlar]

So I am going to shotgun all associated TIP's today, any other recommendations?

Yes, give up on it and sell it to me

 

[James]

Fixed

 

[Justin]

Watching @James move around the machine with such confidence was a joy to behold. I now have a fixed machine and have learned an absolute tonne in the process! Thanks so much to James for helping out on this and also to everyone else for the contributions in assistance. Heck of a community this!

 

[James]

Watching was a joy to behold.

Apart from that part where I hadn’t plugged the DMD in properly and the solenoids locked on blowing the fuse and you thought the COLOUR DMD had been taken out!

 

[Justin]

Apart from that part where I hadn’t plugged the DMD in properly and the solenoids locked on blowing the fuse and you thought the COLOUR DMD had been taken out!

Not gonna lie, I pooped myself more than just a little bit when that happened