(Topic ID: 130664)

Absolutely Stupid Question for Overseas Technicians

By OLDPINGUY

8 years ago


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  • 11 posts
  • 5 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 8 years ago by OLDPINGUY
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    #1 8 years ago

    Greetings.

    I am having a very unusual debate with one of my factories.
    It involves blinking bulbs.

    We have been trying to add different speeds of blinking to offer a Random affect.

    In the back box of a European or Australian Game running on 220....are the lights converted to 6.3V AC (like we see here) or DC in the backbox?

    The factory, is one of the largest and oldest suppliers through Europe and Australia for years...so I know they are Good.

    Their blinking bulbs, are working, apparently overseas....but not here. They Run on DC here, not AC.

    Any thoughts?

    Thank you for your input and help.

    Art

    #2 8 years ago

    The GI on games in countries that use 220V power is still stepped down to 6.3V AC, but is 50 Hz rather than 60 Hz like it is here. I'm not sure why that would make the bulbs work better there than here, though.

    #3 8 years ago

    Your question says "AC (like we see here)" .. and then a bit later "They Run on DC here" ..which is it?

    machines i know of ( mostly older things) are all the same once you get past the transformer.

    I wonder if your real problem is 50hz AC vs 60hz AC?

    #4 8 years ago

    Thank you,

    I do wonder if the cycle rate would have an affect.....Ill bring that up.

    The focus would be Back Boxes on EM, SS, and DMD......is there any other difference in what is received in European/Australian,
    that would allow blinking bulbs to work there in Back Boxes, but Fail here?

    Factory says they work fine in Europe with 5 plus years of sales, but they arent performing here, and looking for answers.....

    #5 8 years ago

    If they run on DC there shouldn't be any difference, if hey run on AC the frequency might matter

    #6 8 years ago

    If I understand correctly, Art is saying they need to work in the backbox, which means AC. Since they don't, he tested them with DC, just to make sure they weren't completely broken.

    #7 8 years ago

    Thats Correct, as the Single Slow Speed LEDs in a Backbox, are all 1 factory has, they tend to synchronize as they blink.
    People want more Random. I found a different Speed, advertised and filmed working in Back boxes in Europe, but failing
    in the US. They work on DC, but not AC here.
    I didnt know if somehow, Backboxes were DC from the 220...I know its silly, but try arguing back and forth with China....

    Herg, would you think the 50hz to 60 hz could possibly have this affect?

    Thanks

    #8 8 years ago

    Another thought...because of my ignorance is to photo the guts from the two and share, to identify a missing BR?

    #9 8 years ago
    Quoted from OLDPINGUY:

    Another thought...because of my ignorance is to photo the guts from the two and share, to identify a missing BR?

    I'd say it would be worthwhile. I still remember the photo that vid shared of a test bulb that had the silly bundle of resistors in it.

    #10 8 years ago
    Quoted from OLDPINGUY:

    Herg, would you think the 50hz to 60 hz could possibly have this affect?

    I wouldn't think so, but what else could it be? My guess would be that 50 Hz would be more likely to have problems than 60 Hz, but that's apparently not the case.

    If I was designing a blinker from scratch, I'd put a capacitor after the bridge to smooth the power into something close to DC, similar to the way I modified the ones in my TZ. We talked about that before, but if you are interested and would like a better description, feel free to ask.

    #11 8 years ago

    Thank you!!!!

    ...it might get to that....

    My headache...they dont read instructions or schematics...its weird...

    Moving some pieces to Taiwan...better factories...bit more cost....

    Ill post pics in a bit.

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