Funhouse - flippers not working (or working on and off)

[Durzel]

Quick one this hopefully...

The flippers on my friends Funhouse have stopped working. They stopped working briefly before, and then came back to life, before stopping again a day later. This time they seem to be fully bereft of life, they are ex-flippers, etc....

Checked the manual online and it seems left and right flippers are on different fuses. It seems hard to believe it would be the fuse(s) that have blown if all three flippers stopped working before, at the same time, only to start working again?

Thought I'd post this on the off chance it was a known problem or an easy fix. I haven't had chance to check the fuses myself to see if anything is blown.[/URL]

 

[Jay Walker]

Hello,

Funhouse was one of the few games using the then-new Wpc hardware which retained the 'conventional' high-current switching flipper units, rather than the solid-state FlipTronic introduced on Addams Family. Basically, the current involved in operating the flippers is passed by the end-of-stroke switches on the flipper mechanisms, the cabinet button contacts, and the relay on the large power/driver circuit board, which turns off, and breaks the return circuit for tilt and game over conditions. When a game is started, and when going into test/bookkeeping function, the relay should energise, allowing the flippers to operate. The two sides' circuits meet at the relay, making it a common point if neither side works.

You could try by-passing the buttons and relay - take a length of suitably thick wire, and connect the 'tail' end of a coil winding (the outer terminal with plain end of a diode) to an earth, such as the braid inside the cabinet. The coil should operate, if it's good and has power reaching it. If so, check the relay and follow the wiring through the machine.

I've since dug up my WPC manual, and according to the schematics the relay is controlled by a small transistor, Q 99. Williams have also made provision to connect around a faulty relay - jumpers 'W4' & 'W5' by-pass the relay contacts when installed.

 

[Durzel]

Thanks. So - being stupid - are you saying the flippers should start working when you start a game (i.e. after powering on the machine, and after pressing the Start button) ?

As I understand it - and I'm relaying info at the moment - the problem is that the flippers aren't working after the ball has been popped into the shooter lane, i.e. after a game has commenced.

 

[Jay Walker]

Yes, that's right, the flippers should be enabled by the relay once a game has started.

 

[Durzel]

Ok, so any pointers about what I should be looking at / for to fix this relay, if it's not doing what it should be doing?

 

[Jay Walker]

The relay contacts are pretty much the final items in the return circuit, and don't usually suffer burns like the end-of stroke switches and button contacts. Provided that it can be heard switching on with a 'click' sound, I'd check the rest of the circuit as I was outlining when editing my first reply, which crossed with your first reply. If the relay doesn't operate, then check its connections in the top left corner of the circuit board; I can't recall if it has a specific coil transistor, but probably not.

 

[Durzel]

Thanks again. Pretty much everything you said there made my eyes glaze over (my electronics expertise is minimal at best), but I appreciate you describing it in that detail. Will try and do a bit more diagnosis on his behalf.

 

[Poibug]

Iirc the fuses are near the relay f101 andf102.Probably 3amp, tho have no schematics here.
Also try tapping the relay gently

 

[Durzel]

Friend tells me that putting it in test mode and exiting made the flippers come to life. Am guessing therefore the relay circuit is problematic.

 

[Jay Walker]

Further edit above, in 1st reply.