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Afterglows not working must be me?

G

Gingerbloke

Registered
Joined
May 25, 2021
Messages
11
Location
Germany
OK, so I have now installed 2 afterglow boards into a Tz and a STTNG - no lights.


If i put either board into test mode with Swith 1 - I get all lamps working.

but no lamps when in normal mode?

I have added ALL lighting connectors to the Afterglow board and connected to board to J135 & J138 as per the Wiki.
I have v.13 afterglow boards.

Anybody got any ideas why I am getting no lights?
 
No idea but if the ground is not connected you can blow something on the board and it will not work, I have had loads of these boards and only had one that stopped working.
Always just plug and play but the ground problem is a known one.
Not sure if the test mode bypasses whatever might get blown.
 
Its Switch 1 and it cycles through the lamps - not pass through - that does nothing.

I am pretty sure ground and +18 are fine and like I say it's 2 seperate boards. With the same issue?

Can anybody take a photo of the board connected up?
 
No joy.. no idea what is wrong or how to diag. I just bypassed the afterglow and everything works perfectly again. But as soon as it is plugged in everything is dead.
 
My guess is The board mostly likely shorted because it wasn't grounded. I had two on LOTR that did this, it's was my fault not the board, couldn't mount it in a sensible place due to pinsound. Solution in the end was to get cable extensions and mount on the wood near the side.
 
cmrl9 said:
My guess is The board mostly likely shorted because it wasn't grounded. I had two on LOTR that did this, it's was my fault not the board, couldn't mount it in a sensible place due to pinsound. Solution in the end was to get cable extensions and mount on the wood near the side.
Click to expand...
Not sure.. - I just took a 3rd board and took it out of the ES-bag and carefully connected it - the board has ground and i get the same issue - I can't see how to get this wrong - its almost idiot proof - I am somehow getting no data into the boards. Can anybodytell me - when the board is running correctly what the Arduino ligfhts are doing?

I will try on the German forum to get the designer to support me.
 
Images for reference - this is my "spare" board henc the cardboard. Underneath is another one properly installed.
IMG_1733.jpegIMG_1731.jpeg
 
Gingerbloke said:
Not sure.. - I just took a 3rd board and took it out of the ES-bag and carefully connected it - the board has ground and i get the same issue - I can't see how to get this wrong - its almost idiot proof - I am somehow getting no data into the boards. Can anybodytell me - when the board is running correctly what the Arduino ligfhts are doing?

I will try on the German forum to get the designer to support me.
Click to expand...
It can blow pretty much instantly, well mine did, there very sensitive, but it might be something else 🤷‍♂️. Good luck
 
Looking at both sets of pictures it looks like the wires to the connectors on the original board on M4carps images are different from the ones in your pictures, he has then on the upper connectors while yours are on the lower ones, no sure if that will make any difference.
 
One of the older versions like yours I think, you must have a batch of bad ones as like you say they are idiot proof.

@Fantazia2 those connectors on the power driver board are all the same, run in a line. Any is fine as long as they have no dry joints etc.

 
Where is your ground and power wire going?

The times I've blown an afterglow I still get insert lights they're just not working correctly. For there to be nothing is weird, unless it varies
 
Hmm. Sounds like at least the output side is working fine. In order to debug the input you would need to connect to the Arduino via USB while it's running in the pinball machine. If you use a debug firmware it will output lots of information over USB.
In order to see the output you can use the Arduino IDE.
 
When connected without ground, usually the 74165 blow up. If there are lots of these cases then I think I should find a way to protect them better.
 
M4carp said:
One of the older versions like yours I think, you must have a batch of bad ones as like you say they are idiot proof.

@Fantazia2 those connectors on the power driver board are all the same, run in a line. Any is fine as long as they have no dry joints etc.

Click to expand...
Hmm - yours boots like othger arduino's i have - boots to red. mine boots to greena nd red - will make a video.
 
The Arduino has two lights. One is showing power, the other one is controlled by software. For new versions of the firmware it should light up when it has valid input. In test mode it blinks.
 
caponian said:
Hmm. Sounds like at least the output side is working fine. In order to debug the input you would need to connect to the Arduino via USB while it's running in the pinball machine. If you use a debug firmware it will output lots of information over USB.
In order to see the output you can use the Arduino IDE.
Click to expand...



sorry - sounds like rocket science to me... i have Ardiuno IDE but no idea how to debug code or to see why the input isnt working.
 
Gingerbloke said:
sorry - sounds like rocket science to me... i have Ardiuno IDE but no idea how to debug code or to see why the input isnt working.
Click to expand...
plug the arduino into your laptop running the arduino ide and open the serial monitor window. then you will see any output from the arduino. that might give you a clue as to where the problem lies.

Note. run your laptop off battery whilst connected to the arduino in your pinball. (to avoid any mains voltage differences that could blow your laptop or the arduino or the pin).
 
This happened to me, although I assembled the board myself. I reflowed the ICs (shift registers) and it solved the problem.
Maybe shoddy soldering by whomever you bought them from?
 
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