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Electric issue

Flyte

Flyte

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Joined
Sep 27, 2015
Messages
125
Location
Liverpool
Hey all

Recently acquired a bit of a project machine.

It explodes the 5amp fuse when its turned on and the inside of the on/off power box is burnt to hell

Anyone have any ideas where the fault could be happening to cause that?

DSC_1875.JPG
 
Unplug at the wall.

As a first step, I would check that all the fuses in the game have the correct rating, including this one. Watch out for slow blow versus fast blow fuses.

It really should be a last resort for this one to fail

After you have checked them all, replace as necessary - turn the game on. See which fuse blows now. If this one blows again, it suggests the problem is the switch side of the transformer, or the transformer itself - cracked insulation, melted transformer, short somewhere.

If another fuse blows this time, that should narrow down the location of the fault

If you are lucky it will be the contents of that box you have photographed. The silver box with the terminals is called a line filter. Andy at mania sells these. My funhouse must have had a similar little explosion before I bought it. I replaced the line filter, no problems since

What game is it ?
 
Last edited:
Not under fused :( theres a big sticker on it that says 5amp Slow Blow

Thanks for the advice @DRD I'll give it a go. It's a White Water, first time I turned it on the Transformer area did smell a little bit and spark but want quick enough to see where...I read that transformers are like tanks they never ever fail so hopefully it's the Line filter, I'll give that a go :)



DRD said:
Unplug at the wall.

As a first step, I would check that all the fuses in the game have the correct rating, including this one. Watch out for slow blow versus fast blow fuses.

It really should be a last resort for this one to fail

After you have checked them all, replace as necessary - turn the game on. See which fuse blows now. If this one blows again, it suggests the problem is the switch side of the transformer, or the transformer itself - cracked insulation, melted transformer, short somewhere.

If another fuse blows this time, that should narrow down the location of the fault

If you are lucky it will be the contents of that box you have photographed. The silver box with the terminals is called a line filter. Andy at mania sells these. My funhouse must have had a similar little explosion before I bought it. I replaced the line filter, no problems since

What game is it ?
Click to expand...
 
If you're smart the first thing you'll do is follow Andy Legend's advice (pinmania) and replace the fuse holder. Andy knows more than pretty much anyone here about fixing pins and diagnosis of pin problems. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, whatever that means.

Try all other suggestions only after replacing the fuse holder and the wires to it.


Safari Sagoody:

Christopher Biggins is as camp as a row of pink tents. He's a national treasure somehow and I hope he's not a wrong 'un

Gillian Taylforth went on to do 15 years of Eastenders but is still most famous for her A1 slip-road Range Rover antics, after which she unsuccessfully tried to sue The Sun newspaper for suggesting she was gobbling off her boss. She claimed that actually he was having a pancreatitis attack, and she was merely giving him abdominal massage. With her tongue presumably. Via his cock.

Gillian Taylforth
 
Flyte said:
Anyone have any ideas where the fault could be happening to cause that?
Click to expand...

Could be absolutely anywhere in the game. I would be tempted to use a 5A circuit breaker in there in place of a fuse until you find the cause. If the cause is not immediately visable under the playfield (eg fried coil) then I would also disconnect a lot of the connectors on the driver board (for controlling solenoids and lamps) before switching back on again. If ok then switch off and add one of the disconnected connectors then switch back on and repeat. I would also reseat the ribbon cables between the MPU and driver board before switching on.
 
is there a visual difference between fast and slow blow fuses ?
 
Flyte said:
Yeah @pinballmania doesn't look healthy does it :) do you have replacement parts for that?
Click to expand...
Kind of. I have replacement fuse holders but they are bigger than the original so hole needs enlarging. Probably just bad contacts in the fuse holder have caused high resistance and heating. Filter could also be short, but replace the obviously damaged components first.
 
So on closer inspection I turned over one of those disc things (what are they?) to find it has exploded, I'm guessing that's not normal haha



DSC_1893.JPG DSC_1894.JPG
 
That's the mov. Protects from over voltage on the incoming.
Chop one leg off and you should be good to go.
It was smoked on my sttng when I got it.
Machine was on American 110v and a lad plugged it in here to the mains
 
No harm in checking it's set for 220v.
Take a snap of the 9 pin connector block just before the transformer and I'll tell you.
I just converted my sttng this weekend
 
Ah yea it is.
That mov burnt up for a reason.
Could have been lightning or something.
I'm not sure if there's supposed to be two tho?
Game will work without the burnt one but you'll have to snip one leg of it.
Don't remove it so you know what way it goes when your replacing it.
 
It came from Europe so I was worried about the voltage but from what I read everything pointed to jus changing the kettle lead...maybe it was my fault
 
Any idea where to buy this? ebay/google doesn't seem to find the model number

DSC_1905.JPG
 
Those aren't both MOVs. One is a MOV (varistor) to protect the game from the environment when voltage is too high like from lightning. It's like a zener diode.

The other disc is a Thermistor which is a temperature-sensitive resistor. It limits the inrush of current when you switch the game on to protect your environment from the game (tripping your breaker fuse).

Nifty eh?

See here: http://www.flippers.be/basics/101_sys11_house_fuse_trips.html
 
Your voltage selection plug looks wrong. For 230v it should be looped 3-9 and 230v applied to 1 and 7. Like this
 
Ok. Looked at the schematics. My picture is jumpered for 230v. The first picture is jumpered for 218v. Shouldn't blow the varistor but you are overdriving the power supply slightly.
 
And how to tell a slow blow from a fast ? Any markings ? Anything ?
 
Fast would be marked say 5A and appear usually as a straight wire. Slow would be either MDL5A OR T5A and generally appear as a spiral winding around a fibre core or straight wire with a blob of solder in the middle
 
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