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BSD not working - solenoid problem?

Ben-P

Ben-P

Site Supporter
10 Years
Joined
Jan 20, 2014
Messages
75
Location
Surrey
Hi folks

A problem has developed with my BSD, and I am hoping that someone may be able to provide guidance, as with my limited skills I have tried to identify the problem but not sure where to go from here.

The machine has been fully working, until a couple of nights ago I switched on and started a game. However, when I pressed the launch ball button nothing happened. So, after pressing the button about 50 times in case it was just a sticky switch, decided it must need some further investigation.

This is what I have done so far:
- Checked fuse F105 (removed) for power to solenoids and it is ok.
- Checked switches in test mode, and all ok.
- Ran solenoid test – found that all of the High Power solenoids (1-8) did not work, but Low Power (9-16) do.
- Used jump lead to confirm solenoids actuate when directly energised at the coil.
- Used jump lead to confirm solenoids actuate when transistor tab is grounded.
- Some error messages have appeared when test button pressed, but I think these are symptoms rather than causes of the problem e.g. Check Switch 55 (this is the opto for the wire ramp popper, but there is currently a ball in there) and Magnet Load Error (but I expect this is because the Shooter coil has not sent a ball up there)

So, it appears that when tested I have switches working and coils working, but not during a game.

Where should I start looking next? Is there something obvious I have overlooked?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks, Ben
 
kevlar said:
Did you hold in the coin door switch when testing the solenoids? The switch that the door presss in when closed?
Click to expand...

Aye give this a go, and then if everything else works you can narrow it down to the shooter. The "obvious overlooked" one is this was the very first problem I had with my very first machine, and it turned out a wire had come off. Re-soldered back on and all good.
 
Reseat the short grey ribbon cable and/or press home the square ASIC chip on CPU. Do this with power OFF
 
Now I am back from work and had a quick chance to follow up on replies.

Yes, I have been stumped by the coin door switch previously so know about that! (I found the switch can be pulled out to perform the same function on this machine).

I have removed and reseated the short ribbon cable (both ends) and pressed home the ASIC chip. However, still no change when I powered back up again...
 
This afternoon I tried again, swapping the ribbon cable with another and generally trying to reseat what I could find, but still without success. So I have searched the pinwiki etc. and looked through the manual and schematics, but without finding any definitive answers.

So as all the HP coils are out, and I have tested they work back up to the transistors should I suspect the upstream chip (U5) on the power driver board? Do these ever fail?
Is it possibly a problem with the CPU board? I do also have a T2, so could I swap the boards to check whether this board is at fault? (is it just a case of changing the ROM chip over and plugging in?)
Am I still overlooking something obvious?

Being aware that a little knowledge can be dangerous, I don't want to get carried away trying to fix things only to make them worse!

Thanks
 
Is this Ben Pike? welcome dude haven't seen you in ages.
The folks on here will see you right, best community I ever encountered.
 
Hi Dan, yes you are correct. I guess my avatar wasn't subtle enough!
Hope to catch up with you at the Pipeline next week.
 
Ben-P said:
This afternoon I tried again, swapping the ribbon cable with another and generally trying to reseat what I could find, but still without success. So I have searched the pinwiki etc. and looked through the manual and schematics, but without finding any definitive answers.

So as all the HP coils are out, and I have tested they work back up to the transistors should I suspect the upstream chip (U5) on the power driver board? Do these ever fail?
Is it possibly a problem with the CPU board? I do also have a T2, so could I swap the boards to check whether this board is at fault? (is it just a case of changing the ROM chip over and plugging in?)
Am I still overlooking something obvious?

Being aware that a little knowledge can be dangerous, I don't want to get carried away trying to fix things only to make them worse!

Thanks
Click to expand...

Hi, Ben,

Terminator 2 and Dracula are both 'WPC' games, so the boards are basically similar. The power/driver boards could be changed over easily, but the one from Dracula, assuming it's original, won't have the flipper relay, lane change circuitry, etc, needed for T2. If you only want to check the high power coil drives, though, it'll be alright.

The Cpu board retains a sign-off 'check-sum' from the program chip when the game's turned off. If a different program chip is fitted, this doesn't match the sign-on one for the program chip when it's powered up again, and the board will reset to the programs' default settings (as with a loss of battery back-up power) .
 
Last edited:
Hi Jay Walker

It has been busy at work and hectic at home, so only just got round to catching up with posts here! I had come to the conclusion that the boards are basically similar and start to change on the next generation, however, reassuring to have this confirmed. For the purposes of fault tracing then, I will try swapping out these boards to help identify where the problem is. Hopefully I will find some time over the next few weeks, and give an update with progress.

Thanks
 
Ok, so I managed to get some free time today which meant that I could dig out the T2 and try swapping boards with BSD. I changed the CPU board first as there are a lot less connectors, so this seemed to quickest option to start with.

The good news is that the HP coils work when using the T2 CPU board - so I know the problem is here and not the driver board or anywhere else.

The bad news is the CPU board has seen better days, been previously repaired and also one of the batteries is leaking. U16 has been replaced with a socket mounted chip.

20151204_151725.jpg

Here is the other side of the board - not quite sure what the 'bicycle puncture repair patch' is for? It looks like it is covering previous repairs.

20151204_151650.jpg

Now I am feeling out of my depth, not really sure where to start with board repairs... So the questions I have now are:
Is the board repairable, or should I be seeking a replacement?
Does anyone have any guidance about where I should start?
Alternatively, is there anyone out there who does board diagnosis / repair work?

thanks again.
 
Great, thanks for the heads up! I will contact Luke and hopefully determine whether it is repairable or needs replacement.
 
Thanks for the recommendations, sorry I've just had a few days working on the house, so catching up with my messages now, I'll respond to everyone within the next couple of days
 
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