I hooked up and powered on my Black Hole restoration for the first time today. The game was not working when I got it, prior owner said it would go into attract mode but would not start a game. I did not verify that before I took it apart (rookie mistake I know). It has a Rottendog 80 MPU and a replacement power supply board as well.

When I powered it on for the first time I got a knock from the coils (which I understand is normal) but also a flash from all the GI (which I don’t think is normal). The MPU appeared to be booting up and I got zeros on the displays. After a few seconds the displays would flash 700,000 then back to zero. It did not go into attract mode. MPU had 5 volt LED lit solid and the reset LED was flashing when I glanced at it.

I turned it off because I thought (maybe just anxiety) that I smelled a burning smell. I did not see any evidence of damage to the boards and did not hear any coils drop out when I turned it off.

F4 fuse blew on the first power up, I replaced it with a new fuse and it blew again on power up (this time the coils pulsed but no GI flash). With F4 fuse holder empty Gi lights up fine, rottendog MPU has reset LED solidly lit, 5V LED 1 is lit, displays show zeroes and then show 700,000 every 5 seconds. Game will not go into self test mode. I don’t think it’s in attract mode but I’ve never seen attract mode in this game, I don’t see insert lights flashing around the playfield though.

Ok, so from what I’ve read the 38 volt rectifier might be bad, I could have a locked on coil (although I didn’t see one locked up and I didn’t hear a coil drop out when I powered down) or I could have a short at a solenoid. I checked all my solenoids visually and I didn’t see an obvious wiring issue.

Questions:

How do I go about testing the 38 volt rectifier?

Is it possible I fried the MPU? That initial GI flash has me a little concerned. Not sure why it’s not going into test mode at all?

Thanks in advance.

Update: I found a video on testing bridge rectifiers and pulled the 38 volt one out of the machine. From what i can tell it’s testing ok, I get between 480-600 testing both positive and negative terminals to each AC.

A little more info. I reinstalled the rectifier since it tested ok and unplugged all the pop driver boards. Now F4 does not blow and I get the re-entry lane cycling but no insert lights for attract mode and still does not enter test mode.

So, it seems one or more of my pop boards is bad, I can plug them in one at a time to see which one. I do have a new one that I bought as a spare just in case.

I’m still not sure why it’s not booting into attract mode though?

I will check relays tomorrow.

I went ahead and replaced all the fuses with new ones of the correct type just in case. I did find several that were the wrong amperage.

I also went through and plugged back in the pop driver boards one by one. No change in behavior, I got to the last board and decided to replace it with my spare because the fuse was definitely blowing with all the pop boards plugged in before.

I’m also not getting the solenoid pulse when I turn the machine on but it does go into attract mode. Not sure what’s up with that.

Thanks for the help, I’ll post more info as I work through the issues.

I did check that switch and it is closed. I have also cleaned the contacts there. I will double check it.

Cleaned the tilt and reset relays today, no change in the behavior. One interesting thing, the controlled lamps will light correctly in attract mode with the F4 fuse out but if you put the F4 fuse in you don’t get the controlled lamps anymore. The F4 fuse is not blown, I checked with a multimeter.

I do not get a solenoid pulse when I turn on the machine. Are you still supposed to get one with the Rottendog board?