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Whirlwind smells

Spandangler

Spandangler

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10 Years
Joined
Jul 21, 2011
Messages
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Location
Suffolk
Hi group
After having WW folded away for 6 months I set it up on Saturday night.
After a few games I heard an intermittent sound which to me sounded like speaker distortion. This coincided with the speaker crackling. It only lasted about 2 seconds at a time so I though nothing much of it.
Tonight however the same happened again. This time the hum lasted longer and a horrible smell came from the back box. I immediately turned it off and checked inside but could see no smoke or feel any hot components.
I turned the game on again and the knocker fired as I find it does randomly sometimes (same with ES) and the game booted fine with no errors. All pop bumpers work, slings work, slam ramp works. Only odd thing which happened is the locked balls randomly fired into play and the auto plunger went off a couple of times!!
There's obviously something a miss here and I don't know what it is. Can't find any coils locked on.
Help me obi wan kenobi you're my only hope;-)
Gaz
 
Horrible smells form the backbox usually indicate something overheating/burning up. Capacitors really stink if they go. Might be worth having a good close look at them again - see if any show any signs of 'swelling' / bubbling out any crap/ burning.

A solenoid firing on startup is common on Sys 11 games I've found, there is a reason for it which I can't recall right now.

Your locked balls/plunger firing sounds like a ball search to me. So may be unrelated to the hum/smell and just is a case of flaky switch somewhere. Trough or lock areas maybe ??
 
The ball lock area switches can be be a bit sensitive so my be just a case of adjustment. If one of the balls come off the switch even for a second (when nudging for example) it will fire them all out of the lock.

Agree with Ive re: the burning smell.....sounds capacitorish and the solenoid firing is normal, thats how Sys 11's roll :)
 
Thanks Chris. My worry is which capacitor is it and what's causing it?
Could it be nothing but old age?
Or is there bound to be an underlying fault?
 
Caps do go over time and they've been on those boards for 23 years. The charging and discharging will break down the component and the electrolytic fluid will get out. If that comes into contact with something hot then you'll get a nasty smell :)

As Ive said, have a good look round all of the boards in the backbox with the power off and see if there are any obviously gone. Your looking for bulging on the top or sides or fluid leaking out. If you can't see anything then get your head in there with the power on and see if you can sniff out the culprit....just be ready to shut it off quick :)
 
Thanks mate. Will do
What are the implications of a capacitor completely popping before I have time to shut it off?
Sorry for all the questions mate.
 
Shouldn't cause you any major issues, it's just if the electrolytic fluid gets on anything you'll want to clean it off (similar to cleaning up the mess from leaky batteries). If you've got your head in there then watch your eyes....nothing should go bang and get you but better safe than sorry.
 
ronsplooter said:
Shouldn't cause you any major issues, it's just if the electrolytic fluid gets on anything you'll want to clean it off (similar to cleaning up the mess from leaky batteries). If you've got your head in there then watch your eyes....nothing should go bang and get you but better safe than sorry.
Click to expand...

Yeah do watch out for one exploding violently. Seriously. Happened to me recently with one of the big caps on my Fish Tales - it pretty much sprayed gunk right down to the lockdown bar. I dont mind telling you I nearly soiled myself :oops:
 
Ah man I'm scared now!! I think I'll be playing it in full bike leathers and lid until it pops!!!
 
Reverse-wired electrolytic capacitors are used as detonators on Plastic Explosive, semtex etc.
 
Ha ha. Only kidding. Sorry. It's going nowhere.
Is it possible to determine the bad cap by using a multimeter or have I just got to wait for it to pop
 
Good picture from Paul. You'll notice that the cans are scored on the top - this is done to allow a diliberate case rupture in a (semi) controlled way. It is impossible to check a cap with a meter as they are o/c when working. Some better meters do have a capacitance measurement but you can't measure in-board and even if you take it out it's not designed for electrolytic measurement.
 
xenon325i said:
You'll notice that the cans are scored on the top - this is done to allow a diliberate case rupture in a (semi) controlled way. It is impossible to check a cap with a meter as they are o/c when working. Some better meters do have a capacitance measurement but you can't measure in-board and even if you take it out it's not designed for electrolytic measurement.
Click to expand...

^^^ Wot He said :) ^^^
 
Couldn't agree more !!!!

All the caps look fine except this blue one which has soot on it, where as its neighbour doesn't!! I'm assuming this is the culprit.
What do you reckon?
I cannot recall nor have any pics of the board before going into storage.

image.jpg image.jpg

Pinball heaven don't stock them
Haven't tried Andy N yet
Does anyone have a couple I could buy?
All the other components look clean.

Thanks again guys
 
Nope - those look fine to me :) There's a bit of corrosion on the edges, however nothing too bad...

Take a pic of the mainboard, stick it on this thread full size, and i'll have a scour to see if i see anything obvious :)
 
Mmmmm I think I may have found the cause. The main power lead was pushed inside the cab as i didn't need the excess length and this was sitting on top of the sub inside the cab!!!
Could explain the distortion and speaker crackle noise! Not sure about the smell!
 
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