Taking care of buisness

Switch column fixed!

Fixed the switch column last night, finally this blog will have some actual repair tips. Like I said in my last entry that I had a whole column out, switches 71 through 77 all out. These include: Outside flipper return lane, left trough, outhole, center trough, upper right loop (trapdoor), trapdoor closed, and upper right jet bumper. Looking in the manual next to the page with the switch matrix it tells you which connector it goes to, in this case J206, and which wire that is specific for that column, in this case wire at pin 7 which is green/purple. First I needed to determine if this was a board issue, or a playfield issue. To do that I clipped one lead of my DMM to one of the switches that was out, I clipped it right were the green/purple wires was soldered, and then you poke the other lead into the back of the IDC connector at pin 7. You set your DMM to continuity and you do this with the machine off FYI. Now if it had beeped and I had continuity from the connector to the playfield that would indicate that the problem was not under the playfield but in the board itself. I had no continuity so that means the problem is under the playfield. If you are reading this and troubleshooting a problem for the first time, try it with a different switch from a different column on a different wire so you can hear it beep and know you are doing it correctly.

So I have no continuity from the connector to the switches. I then tested continuity from one switch to all of the other switches in the column. I started at one and then tested that one to each of the other switches. Turns out I did have continuity between all of the other switches. If I had ended up not having continuity from one switch to the other that would indicate to me that I need to examine the solder joints on those two switches and look for breaks in the wire, or a pinched wire between them. This was not the case.

So I started at the connector and worked my way backwards following the wire. At the back of the cabinet where all of the wires like to party together I found this:

Fixed that and problem solved!

Factory settings restored and bookkeeping totals cleared

So I was getting this message every time the machine was turned on. Normally this would be an indicator that the batteries were dead, but I had just put new ones in. Per a conversation with my friend Jim he suggested I may not be getting a good connection and that before I remove and replace it I should try lightly sanding the contacts. I used some fine grit sandpaper and a small flat head screwdriver to sand them down lightly. Replaced the batteries and so far so good, no reset messages!

Next up:

Escape service button inside the coin door still not working well unless wires are jiggled and button repeatedly pressed. I took it apart last night and resoldered what I thought was the bad wire but nothing changed. It may need to be replaced. It looks as if at some point beer or soda was spilled and dripped down into the button, it may be internal. Not an expensive part, so I will try a little more before replacing. Open to suggestions on how to fix though.

Rudy eyelids still not opening, have not had the chance yet to remove the Rudy head again, will get to that soon.

Game needs leveling.

Some insert lights are out, need to address that.

Thanks for stopping by!