Hi All,
I am looking for some advice on a Bally Paragon machine that I bought.
I bought the machine knowing that is was not working and in a shabby state (was told that it did work, it was then moved left for a while then checked and didn't work!!), I'll fix it up I thought, will be a good project I thought, how hard could it be I thought..........
Turns out quite hard, I have absolutely no idea where to start!?!?! I'm an electrician by trade so first off I checked all the fuses that I could find, I only found one that had failed (this fuse was located under the playing board) I then removed the solenoid driver board as it looked like it had got hot around the centre of the board (around a resister) on inspection this appeared ok but I noticed that a circuit track had failed, so I jumped this with a piece of cable.
On turning the machine on, all the lights light up but that's about it. The score board numbers just have a small line of light at the bottom. nothing else really works, I've pressed a button (S33) on the MPU board and a button inside the coin door, it makes the machine make a random sound and sometimes makes the solenoids on the bumbers operate for about 10 seconds each in turn (but this has only happened once)
If I can just get the machine to operate, I'll be able to take it all apart to carry out the cabinet restoration knowing that it worked before I did hehehe
I'm very keen to learn about these machines, I'm hoping I've not taken on too much but hey! everybodys gotta start somewhere!!

Thanks for the reply, yeah I have voltmeters and other test equipment, I appreciate your response and the like provided ! I'm away working next week so this will give me some time to read up on the link. I have also seen a previous link from 3 years ago with a similar fault that turned out to be a power supply cable open circuit so hopefully mines the same!
I have noticed that some of the cables have been soildered straight onto the pin connectors so there must have been issues there in the past!!

Thanks for the reply's there all so helpful !! I'm more looking forward to restoring the cabinet and making the stencils ! I'm located in the UK. So I'm thinking the parts may be more difficult to obtain. I'm going to read the how to's as suggested to get a bit more knowledge of the workings of the parts, I'm an indrustrial electrician specialising in power generation, however my apprenticeship was in motor winding so if any of the coils burn out I will hopefully be able to re-wind them! Yeah there is a battery and yes that does look like there is corrosion on the board, the battery is 3.6v, when I measured the voltage it was only 1v so I connected some more batteries to get it to about 3.5v ???? should I have done this??
I have also seen a website that sell the boards (Alltek systems) I don't know if it would be best just to buy a new board?? The paragon game is listed so hopefully it should work, but again I just don't know??
what does the battery do?? will it cause any issues if it is disconnected?? sorry for my ignorance and my lack of knowledge but I will try and read as mush information whilst i'm away working next week!
can't wait to get the machine working so we can have family tournaments !!
Thanks again guys!! I'll put up some pics when I return if anyone is interested !!

Thanks again, just been reading the repair guide ! I'm going to carry out the modifications outlined to see if this helps. the green LED on the MPU board does not flash when powered up, it slightly lights when the button s33 is pressed though (I think). think the first port of call will be the power supply unit. I will carry out the modifications and test procedures outlined. The biggest issue I can see so far is the burnt area around the left side of the capacitor! hopefully here in the UK I will be able to get most of the components I will need from RS components?! I will put some pictures on here of the corrosion around the battery area to see if you guys reckon its worth repairing or replacing !! Thanks all!!

Hi All, I'm back from working away and have just tested all the boards:-
Power Board
TP1=5.53vDC TP2=228vDC TP3=11.87vDC TP4=6.23vAC TP5=41.34vDC Reference taken for these voltages was at the leg of resistor R1
All these voltages appear to be correct.
MPU (LED does not light at all)
TP1= 0v TP2=0.3v TP3=20.5v TP4=Ground (Voltage Reference) TP5=0v
There was a link wire that had been installed from TP3 of the power supply to TP5 on the solenoid driver board this was then connected to TP2 of the MPU board. This was probably done to 'give the boards' the required voltage. (when this is connected the speaker hisses but can be turned down!)
Solenoid driver
TP1=0v TP2=172.5vDC TP3=0v TP4=232vDC TP5=0v TP Ground= voltage reference
Lamp Driver
TP1=0v TP2= Ground voltage reference TP3=0v
Sound Board
TP1=0v TP2=Ground TP3= 12.2vDC TP4= 41.5vDC TP5=0v

It would appear that the boards are missing the +5 and +12 voltages however this is there at the power board at TP1 and TP3
There are connectors at the power board that have been removed and the leads soldered onto the board then inline connectors fitted, obviously this is not correct but will still work in my opinion??

Any ideas please ............

Right ok thanks, it does appear that this has been totally bodged !! uuhhhhh ! so would anyone have a wiring diagram that I could follow as now I don't know where the cables are ment to go?!?!? I've just traced cable from J3-8 from the power supply (orange) think this is ment to go to J3-12 of the solenoid driver board however it has been cut off and does not connect anywhere! also there is a link on that connector that looks suspect???

Thanks for all the replys, I've downloaded all the drawings and followed them! I've now got all the correct voltages on all the cards apart from the sound card on TP5 but I think this is a ground????
Now when powering the machine the green LED lights (but dimly) and justs stays on!! From reading the guides this is a nightmare problem, the card has got some greying/corrosion! So my question is should I just bite the bullet and buy an Alltek MPU card??
Thanks for all your assistance and advice guys!

Thanks for your input! Here is a pic of the mpu board! It has some corrosion from the battery! How bad do you guys think it is?? Worth getting a new board??? I have cleaned the board with some alcohol probably just a token gesture !! Thanks again!

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Hi, thanks for all your replies there are greatly appreciated. Its good knowing that there are folk out there on the ole interweb that will go out of their way to assist and give up their free time.
yeah the battery did rip of that track off and I repaired it with a piece of cable after the pic was taken, the LED is still dimly lit (like me hehehe) it did give one quick brightish flash but only once !!
stuff it im going to buy an alltek mpu board but over here in the uk there arnt that many places that sell it and they want £210 ($283 US) oh well its only money!!!! uuuhhhhh!!

Hi all, just a quick update. I purchased an Alltek MPU, solenoid board and a power supply board (stuff the expense). I replaced any burnt connectors and the machine is working!! But not correctly !!! uuhhhhh
When the machine is first turned on the boards do all the self checks and I get all green LEDs. I can add credits by pushing the switch on the coin input. When I press the start button the game starts the ball pings from the centre to the play spring. Whilst playing the Q3 light on the solenoid board turns red, once the ball is lost down the centre the machine does not recognise that it is out of play and the flippers keep working and the score increases every time the flippers are pressed. If the machine is switched off and on again the process repeats itself !
Has anyone got any ideas what the issue is, I first thought that the solenoid that pushes the ball into the play spring may be knackered but as it works when first turned on it cant be that... I've checked the contact visually on the ball out of paly and it appears to be working ??? uuuhhhh
Thanks for any help.......

It seams to be random, but if the ball just goes straight out of play and the Q3 LED is not lit, the machine still does not recognise that the ball is out of play???? thanks for your assistance.........Im deffo struggling now!!! ggrrrrrr

Yeah that's what I was thinking, how do I do a switch test?? sorry if that's a silly question!?!

Ok thanks, switch test is 5 presses but it does not display anything?!?!? also when I press it 3 times for the solenoid test I get Q3 flashing red again!! I though that Alltek MPU card and solenoid card would solve all my problems!! heheh wrong again!!

OK I've found the issue with the Q3 light flashing red on the solenoid board. There was a solenoid screwed to the base of the machine (next to the speaker) that appeared to do nothing but this coil was bad, so I disconnected it now I have no Red flashing LEDs. So the only issue is that the machine does not recognise when the ball is lost down the centre!! I've checked the switch with my DMM and have 0 Ohms when operated, I also checked the small diode that is across the switch using the DMM and that tests correct also. I will continue checking things but does anyone have any ideas????? Thanks

Right I've traced the cable from the switch and up to the mpu board I checked for continuity from the out of play switch and it was all correct ! I did notice that the pin didn't look right so I removed the pin and found it broken!! I've replaced the pin and it's now Aaaallivvvveeeee!! Its now operating correctly (i think) just some light not working !! Thanks for all your help guys !! Pinball tournaments over Christmas!!