Quoted from newpinbin:Anyone???
My Ac/dc vault is having an issue. Some of the lower playfield/insert lights are illuminating when they are not suppose to be lit. There are 3 under playfield lights that partially stay light during gameplay when they are not suppose to be on. I noticed they will also partially flicker when I press the flipper buttons or the popbumpers are activated. I can also cause them to flicker by slapping the side of the machine. I checked all the sockets but don't notice any issues. Any thoughts?
newpinbin If you can slap on the side and have the issue happen, 99.9% of the time it is a bad/loose connection. That means it is a physical issue. So from there you are trying to track that down.
Normally I would start in the backbox for that. I'd check the lighting connectors back there, giving them a light wiggle and seeing if the flicker happens. Be very aware that wiggling that connector may move both ends of the cable. So finding it may not mean you are done. What you are looking for is the specific thing that is bad. A lot of times it can be a loose IDC wire (Insulation Displacement Connector). IDC sucks, but it is cheaper and faster to build and manufacture at scale. Sometimes I will even use a small screwdriver to run down the connector... but you should be experienced before doing that. It is easy to miss and short something out.
From there I'd pop up the playfield. There are a few different connectors that come down to the playfield. But the whole time you are doing this, keep your eyes on those lights. If you move a wire and they flicker or change, you have it by the tail. You are focusing on finding the one spot where you wiggle, and get your issue.
I realize this is general, and not AC/DC specific. But you are debugging a general problem. Also just keep in mind that with all this moving stuff around, an IDC connector may make better contact and the issue may disappear. Don't give up if that happens. Otherwise it will just come back.
Let us know how you are doing with this.