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Need help to repair SST which now won't turn on.

Matti B

Registered
1 10 Years
Joined
Apr 19, 2014
Messages
153
Location
Colchester, Essex
GOOD NEWS:

I just replaced a drop target.

BAD NEWS:

Turned the machine on with the playfield raised (to test new drop target) Nanosecond blip of sound and then nothing.

Perhaps I blew a fuse? There weren't any screws or wires loose. But this is now beyond my basic repair skills.

I am in Colchester. Is anybody able to help? Service? Fix?

Help me obi-wan...
 
I assume it was working fine before you repaired the drop target so re-inspect your work and see if anything looks wrong there, in particular if you've shorted anything or plugged a connector back on wrong. Do this with the power off!!! :D

Do you have a multimeter?
 
Check the fuses Matt and replace any blown. I suspect you shorted something when you switched it on. Then try turning it on again with the pf lowered. If it's still not working I'm probably as snookered as you
 
The power was off when I replaced the switch. I lowered the playfield. Played a game and noticed that the new switch did not work.

I turned off. Raised up the the playfield and turned it on and then it it went kaput.

I don't have a multi-meter... should I get one? which fuses do I check?

I am a noob, so this is gonna be a mission for me.
 
You really need a multimeter but you might get lucky with a visual inspection of the fuses.

Sounds like something shorted. Check the target first, is anything bent over and touching something else?

Always possible that it's not a fuse in the back box but is on the actual plug or transformer. I've had a few go there before
 
Given that you managed a game post the original repair but the new drop target did not work. Might you have forgotten to put a bit of the mechanism back ? The spring ?

Did the target fail to drop (ie missing spring) or fail to rise ?

Raising the playfield probably moved a loose component for the game to die like this. This might have fallen down somewhere causing the short ?

I renovated a bank of drop targets on my old vector and it killed my game. My problem was that exposed wires / diodes in the area got moved by me when I removed the big main assembly, then shorted.

You ought to invest in a multi meter, sometimes blown fuses are hard to spot with the naked eye. If you find a blown fuse it might point you in the direction of the short
 
I like the spring theory. I had an issue a while back when I lost a spring in a machine and couldn't find it so instead just replaced it. Started getting loads of weird things happening and eventually rediscovered the spring had attached itself to a board and was making contact and small movements were causing it to rock back and forth shorting different connections.

Only problem is I'm struggling to think of SST having any drop targets. Aren't they all just stand up ones on the machine?
 
I like the spring theory. I had an issue a while back when I lost a spring in a machine and couldn't find it so instead just replaced it. Started getting loads of weird things happening and eventually rediscovered the spring had attached itself to a board and was making contact and small movements were causing it to rock back and forth shorting different connections.

Only problem is I'm struggling to think of SST having any drop targets. Aren't they all just stand up ones on the machine?
Yep. No drops in SST. Could well be nothing that Matti had touched directly. Just lifting the playfield may have dislodged a rogue screw/wire/solder blob that had been sitting waiting for its moment to wreak havoc. Bloody pinball machines [emoji3]
 
To avoid confusion , you replaced a stand up target, not a drop target.

I'd imagine your problem will be completely unrelated. First check and replace the fuse in the plug. If it's a 5amp , it's most likely blown for no reason other than old age.

Then check the fuse in the grey metal box, just inside to the right of the coin door. There will be a black fuse holder that you twist out to reveal a glass fuse. Check and replace if necessary.
 
To avoid confusion , you replaced a stand up target, not a drop target.

I'd imagine your problem will be completely unrelated. First check and replace the fuse in the plug. If it's a 5amp , it's most likely blown for no reason other than old age.

HAHA! I finally got around to swapping the plug fuse which I thought would be the most unlikely of solutions and KABAM... It works again...!

Thanks!
 
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