(Topic ID: 311927)

Bally Playboy Switch Matrix / Transformer hum troubleshooting help

By Clnilsen

2 years ago

Topic Stats

8 posts
4 Pinsiders participating
Latest reply 2 years ago by Quench
No one calls this topic a favorite

You

You are not signed in!

Find in topic

Linked Games

Playboy Bally, 1978

Topic Gallery

View topic image gallery

You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider Clnilsen.
Click here to go back to viewing the entire thread.

Hi all!

Finally got my playfield swap in for the first time in my Bally playfield and the great news it booted and loaded a game! YAY!

The playfield swap included all new coils and about 90% new switches. I did add disc capacitors on the new switches

However, I have some jinkyness with a few potentially interrelated items that I *think* is a switch matrix issue, but I'm not sure:
-The drop targets drop nicely, but immediately reset once the 5th keystone drops. The reset switch is DEFINATELY not making contact but it still resets the target bank immediately
- I have a significant Transformer hum, which I think is potentially related to....
- The coin door drop coil is vibrating like a tattoo needle
- Also FYI J1 and J2 plugs from the Playfield to the transformer board HAVE been repinned already. I have NOT repinned the rest of the harness yet.
- Potentially unrelated, but the roll over switch for the bonus does not register (thought this could be a switch adjustment issue but I've already looked at it too...)

I have a second playfield that I just pulled out of the game that I know did not have these issues, so it seems likely related to the playfield swap but I can't put my finger on it.

I've checked all my wiring against my known good playfield, and nothing seems amiss. Something is triggering these coils to fire but I'm just not sure what.

I'm really not sure how to go about troubleshoot this further - I can't quite put my finger on where to look next.

Thanks in advance!

pin1 (resized).jpg

pin2 (resized).jpg

Quoted from slochar:
What do you mean reset switch? There's no such thing on a drop bank. You have 5 switches that the software reacts to and when they are all down, the bank resets. That's easy enough to test anyway, does the 5th switch always reset the bank regardless of status of other switches? You didn't put disc capacitors on the drop bank switches did you? They do not need those. Only standups, pops, slings, rollover buttons, and very very rarely a rollover wire switch need this. Drop banks, outhole switches, saucers, and kickers like the grotto never need them.

Thanks! I did not put disc caps on the drop target switches. Interesting that's the way the drop targets work - what's the purpose of the switch right behind the drop target then? I thought you had to hit it again to reset. Interesting!!!

Quoted from slochar:
Transformer humming is completely unrelated to the coin door coil vibrating. The coin door coil vibrates in the best of circumstances because of the way it's designed, you're probably noticing it a lot because the spring is a little too strong, and likely everything is new/cleaned. The vibration can be the plate on the coil or the metal shutter that threads through the door vibrating against stuff.
Transformer hum can be cured with a swift whack of a mallet, after making sure the piles are tight.
If you have something like the Weebly mpu board you can select some of the stern software (and some bally - check with Andrew as to which) that have an enhanced switch test that will show ALL switches that are tripped, which is better information than the stock software that just shows the lowest switch # closed. If you only have the stock software here is what I'd do:
Go into switch test. Get your manual out and test every switch in order from lowest to highest, making sure you get the closure you should. Also test from highest to lowest. Make sure you get the switch closing you expect.
Also make sure you don't have any sneak voltage getting into your switch rows from a lamp. Had this recently on my mystic swap and that was fun to find (sling lamp was feeding into the sling stack somehow). Slight movement of the lamp socket fixed this.

Also BIG THANKS!!! I'll go through the switch test tonight. I have the Alltek board, but I'll go though all the switch tests tonight. as getting late and a storm was rolling in so didn't want to go too much further on it.

Shocked the coin door coil does that!!! I would not have thought it was designed to do that.

Quoted from Xenon75:
Also you may not have enough pink which upsets the bunnies and causes all sorts of game malfunctions.

LOL - My wife actually bought this game as a project for me, and she's helped lot along the way. Since she bought it, she get's deign input!

Quoted from Xenon75:
Of course! It looks like you have done a great job on the swap! That switch behind the targets is a 10pt switch so if your ball hits the rubber when say 3 targets are down, you get 10 points and it moves your match number.

AHH!!! The more you know...

BTW thanks! Yes, this has been a passion project that has gotten done way beyond any sense! But great practice when it comes to doing a swap on my near and dear titles! (bad cats, DW, D&D..)

Promoted items from Pinside Marketplace and Pinside Shops!

You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider Clnilsen.
Click here to go back to viewing the entire thread.

Reply

Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.

Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!

Donate to Pinside

Great to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!

Help – Contact – About Pinside – Support Pinside – Top