Recently picked up a DESW - all was well until...

I removed the screws to the soundboard and let the board float free. This was done in an attempt to eliminate some of the (apparently notorious) speaker hum based on some forum recommendations.

After letting the board float, I fired the game up, and bam, no controlled lighting.

I'd read in the repair wiki about the 8 amp fuse in the backbox often being the culprit, so I checked it with a DMM and it was blown. Got a new one, put it in, turned the game on and pop, blown.

So, I checked the bridge rectifier that's connected to the fuse and sure enough it had a bad leg. Problem solved! Or not.

Ordered a new BR, checked it, installed it, fired the game up with a new fuse in place. Nice glow from the fuse and pop. Retested the bridge and it tested fine, good readings on all legs. Checked the fuse holder, seems fine.

Since I *did* have a shorted BR, and replaced it, but am still seeing the 8 amp fuse pop - any thoughts on where to start looking/testing? It seems odd that this happened immediately after floating the sound board (which has since been re-attached to the backbox), but that could be coincidence I suppose.

All legs test correctly with the game powered off. I haven't yet tested with the game powered on - I'll check voltages and post them.

Ok - did some testing but I'm relatively new to this so please bear with me.

As for the BR with the game powered off I tested negative lead to positive leg, positive lead to AC 1 and 2 - and that tested good. Repeated with positive lead to negative leg, negative lead to AC 1 and 2 - and those tested correctly (read ~500 with DMM set to diode).

With the game powered on, I'm not entirely sure what to test. With that fuse blown, will I even get correct DC readings? What I tested, and it's probably not correct, I connected the positive lead to the positive leg, negative lead to the negative leg and set DMM to 20 vDC. I get a reading of .27. I get this reading with the game powered off and on.

Pardon the n00b-ness. I've done mechanical repairs and basic troubleshooting before but this is a new one.

Ok, some progress. Apparently it helps if you hook the BR up correctly :/ I had the polarity reversed. I'm not sure if this impacts the integrity of the BR, but it still tests OK. Got it hooked up correctly, and fired the game up. No blown fuse, but still no CPU controlled lighting. I'm getting 19 vDC with leads attached to the +/- on the BR with the game turned on.

Found it. The fuse clip for F4 on the PS board was creating a weak connection. Adjusted the clip, turned the game on and it's back in business - all CPU lighting is working.