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TAF fuse keeps blowing - Help needed!

Tucks

Tucks

Registered
1 10 Years
Joined
Sep 21, 2014
Messages
2,141
Location
SW London
Hi all,

Can anyone please offer some advice on my TAF which keeps blowing a fuse?

It was working fine. I did some general maintenance (changed a few bulbs, flipper rubbers, slingshot rubbers and plunger spring) and when I turned it back on again it blew a fuse. I replaced it with another 5A slow blow and it blew straight away on switching on. The machine come on OK and all the lights work fine. You can start a game but no flippers or coils work at all. The fuse which keep blowing (looking at the back cabinet) is the 2nd down in the bank on the top right hand side. I think this is F112.

Really not sure what to do here and guessing something is shorting?? Failing that, can anyone recommend someone in the London (I'm SW) area that I can pay to come and fix?

Many thanks all.
 
Have a look in the manual and see what that's fuse controls. It'll narrow your search area down but it's likely you've created a short when doing your maintenance. Should be relatively easy to rectify once you've found it.
 
I think it says Solenoid Secondary.

Also, when you say a bulb I replaced, should I take the bulbs out that I replaced and try again?. The lights on the game seem fine (although The 'H' in Thing on the back box won't light even with a replacement bulb.
Thanks
 
The thing light will either be dodgy lamp holder, dry solder joint on the header pins or a bad diode. Those bulb holders often need a bit of tweaking to work. Try swapping it over with one of the other letters. I'm sure it'll just need a wiggle!!!
 
Many thanks and will give it a go. If I took the lamb holder out completely (ie no bulb in), would the game normally work? All the other lights work OK and when switching on and watching the F112 fuse, it pops immediately. will try this afternoon. Thanks
 
I'm afraid you most likely have a board fault. F112 is in the AC incoming voltage. Before the power conversion. Any fault induced in the playfield should blow one of f101-105 in preference to f112. Assuming they have the correct value fuses installed. Culprit likely to be br3.

You'll be able to prove a board fault by disconnecting connectors j106, 107 108 and 109 which are the outputs for this supply. If a new fuse blows with these disconnected then there must be a short on the board. If the fuse survives then reinstate each connector in turn and see which is causing the fuse to blow.
 
He totaly through me when he asked me how Ferris was at the party. I just stood open mouthed and bafflled until he pointed out I had a Save Ferris T-shirt on.

Felt much the same as when he said about the App for alligning the flippers.

Anyway, back on topic...
 
Thanks Andy. Tried with J106 - J109 removed and it still blew. I'll now start looking at the board. Boy I wish I did electronics at school!
 
This is the relevant bit: Culprit likely to be br3.

Buy a new bridge rectifier. Take out the board that has BR3 on it. Visit pinwiki.com and find the bit about testing bridge rectifiers. You need a digital multimeter. Test it. It will probably be bad. Desolder it and remove it. Solder a new one in. Test the new one after installing it. That should fix it.
 
Cooldan, et al, thanks for your wisdom. Apologies for the late reply but I have been on holiday for a week and just back. Whilst away I got Robin to take a look for me and he managed to fix it, with a bit of trouble. Cooldan you were right, it was a bridge rectifier but also a short elsewhere at the same time hence it took him a while to isolate.

Although the games now plays, this had led to another problem. Not sure if it related. The coin Mech has stopped working (so has the light on the start button although the start button does work) and coins just drop to the front coin return and no credits are registered. I have taken a look today and made sure the cables are seated correctly etc and guessing a power problem to the mech?? Do mechs break often, could the unit be broken??

This is my first pinball machine and it pains me to see it not working. I'm slowly learning about repairing them which I guess is the norm as 23 year old machines need a lot of love and attention. I have changed solenoids, flipper rebuilds, rubbers etc and now it time to learn the tricky part - the electrical side.

It's great reading on this forum and a wonderful source of information. Keep up the good work guys, it is greatly appreciated.
 
Hi. I have an addams with a coin mech

The coin mech is designed to reject coins if there is a fault/ machine not powered up

The start button light is independent of the coin mech. I would run the lamp test to see if that starts it flashing. It may well be just a loose connection or a dead bulb

Sorry but i have never got involved with coin mechs. Easiest thing to do would be to put it on free play and forget about it. Some of my games have coin mechs, some don't. I know some folk value coin mechs, but i have never used any of mine. I just keep them there doing nothing in case a future buyer might value it

Next easiest thing to do is to find a game near that you could test your mech/ board/ connectors with. There is the coin mech and the little board that runs it. Either could be faulty. If you swap over bits between a known working game you will be able to identify where the fault is. There is a risk doing this, and whenever you mess with or move pinballs, that you may damage the working game, which is why i would forget about it if I were you.
 
Thanks for the advice and I will do the lamp test. The problem with forgetting about the coin mech is that the TAF is in my bar and takes money for a living!!. It has just stopped working so I will need to get it fixed. Pinball maintenance is expensive stuff so the money it takes pays for it. cheers
 
Aha. Maybe someone on here would come along with working coin mech parts in exchange for a drink or two to help you diagnose ?

I think all similar one slot coin mechs, boards and looms from this era of game should be interchangeable
 
A lot of UK importers on early WPC games removed the 3 coin entry doors and replaced them with a single entry one, and a muti coin electronic one. This new mech required a 12vdc supply which is not available at the door, so a supply was taken from the power supply board to the mech, they were just strung alongside existing wiring as quickly as possible, with any kind of connection on the PS board. If the PS board as been removed this connection could have been lost, The mech will reject all coins without this supply.
 
I should have posted earlier that I eventually got this resolved. for some reason the power was not getting to the mech. I couldn't find the fault as I didn't trace it back to the backbox and only looked around the mech area. Thanks for the info, always valuable and anything to help my knowledge grow is much appreciated. Cheers
 
I have a draw full of mechs and spares if you get stuck at any time.
Good to hear it's working OK.
Colin
 
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