UL and UR flipper are use in this game, just not as flippers. The Fliptronics board in BSD, in addition to LL and LR flippers, controls solenoid numbers 33 through 36 which include the gates for the Mist ball and is probably the source of at least some of the error.

Start by checking the fuses in the Fliptronics and go from there.

If it's an opto issue, you should be able to observe the problem in the "Switch Edges" test in the test menu. I recently picked up a BSD and have just been this.

Any three of these opts can cause the Magnet Unload Error:

Ball on Magnet: Switch 82
Magnet Right: Switch 83
(If you want to check it while you're in there, Magnet Left tis Switch 81).

The error can also be caused by the right gate (solenoid 34) or left gate (solenoid 36) not functioning, which are controlled by the Fliptronics as I indicated earlier. This would cause the upper flipper credit dot errors you are seeing.

Since the gates work correctly, it may just be a problem with the optos on the flipper opto boards causing the the UR/UL errors. Despite them not being needed on this game, they're still there, active and will show in the Switch Edges test by pressing the flipper buttons all the way. If they're not working, it should show the error but it shouldn't affect gameplay. Being an anal bastard, I'd fix it because I don't like credit dots. ?

Your picture shows the "Load Magnet" part of the Magnet Test. If you look on the left side of the test screen, you can see the gates on the top part of the screen (left gate closed, right gate open). Below that is one lone dot. This is the left pocket opto and shows no ball in the left pocket at the time the picture was taken. If you go to the bottom, you've got a ball on the outhole switch and three others in the trough, so no ball on the magnet at that point. Since you essentially have four balls in the trough, you should have a line of dots below left pocket opto showing that there is no ball on the magnet. You do not have that line which means either a bad set of optos for the long opto or a problem with the long opto board.

Please follow up after you get the new board in.

IMG_1034 (resized).JPG

No, it's not.

When I got mine a month ago, it had Mist and Castle Lock issues. The Castle Lock had two bad optos. The Mist long opto was flakey and you could see it flickering in the Switch Edges test with no ball in either pocket. Finally, the driver board was missing +20VDC, so the magnet wasn't holding the ball. The previous owner was having fits and thought he had done everything he could to fix it. Some basic troubleshooting had it figured out 20 minutes after I got it home, aside from the flakey long opto. Once I understood how the entire Mist system and magnet test worked, it wasn't too difficult.

I look forward to your update later.

Replace the opto transmitter and receiver. The ones available from Pinball Life work perfect!

The right is the transmitter and can be done by loosening the ramp to get under it. Do this first, as it’s the transmitter that usually fails and that will probably get you up and running.

IIRC, the receiver on the left is a little more complicated but it’s not difficult. You can verify it’s operation by going into Switch Edges test mode and shining a flashlight into the pocket and watch for switch 82 to activate (it’ll also probably activate switch 52 (opto magnet left pocket) but you’re specifically looking for it to activate 82).

Solder 2 wires on both the transmitter and receiver.

The PinBits pieces are stainless. I just replaced all of mine. Worth the cost to me since I was a complete tear down and rebuild shop job.

No, sorry. I've got a press and a box of various rivet sizes..

Have you checked the opto on the left flipper board like I previously mentioned? Switch F8 is the upper left flipper button.

I could be dirty. Try cleaning it with a Q-tip and Windex and test. It could also be that the interruptor is not moving enough/blocking the opto to the point it isn't registering.

If that doesn't rectify the problem, a new opto on the flipper board OR a new flipper board.

Sounds like either a main power driver board (PDB) or high current driver assembly (HCDA) issue. On the driver board, J107-1 powers both the magnet (not the motor, but the hold of the magnet) and the drop target. For the magnet, it attaches to the HCDA at J1-6. The driving transistor would Q22 through J1-4 on the HCDA to connector J122-3 on the PDB and ultimately Q22.

The HCDA also has a ground at J1-1 that attaches to the PDB at J103-1.

Is the drop target working? This will slightly narrow down where few need to look.

See above. Motor runs on a different circuit and is powered by J107-6.

These were stainless from the factory and not plated.

Dracula is stuck in his coffin. Please let him out.

Each time you hit the skill shot, you are credited with both a Coffin ramp shot (if it's not already open) and a werewolf V-I-D-E-O letter. This is not a game malfunction.

As for the fuses, locked on coils, etc, power for the coils and power for the sound are on different circuits and are probably not related.

I can't tell you without knowing what fuses blew and you didn't indicate. In terms of electrical signal, you've got +12V (fuse F115), ground and 2 lines out, one for the backbox and one for the cabinet speakers.

I've got some friends who are top ranked players who weren't even a way of this until I showed them. Why only going for a billion?

Those 3 fuses all deal with solenoids and all 3 are on the same electrical path as each other.

According to the schematic, the sound board gets its power from a completely different and unrelated electrical path.

Since the WPC PinSound boards use the same electrical connections as the OEM board, my bet is that you may have shorted something or installed something incorrectly.

Depends on the short.

According to the manual, the part numbers are the same as the other optos in the game, A-14315 and A-14316.

I also don’t recall having to track down different optos when I tore my game down.

Could be diode issue on the lamp board. I don't have time to give instructions now, but I'll check in later.

Which "A" in Dracula won't light?

Also, are the bulbs LEDs or incandescent?

I would start to be suspicious of cold solder joints on the driver board. Neither of the lights is on the same row or column otherwise you'd have other lights that didn't work, so it doesn't appear to be a logic issue.

The 4 header pin areas I would look at next on the power driver board are J133-4, J133-9, J137-2 and J137-4.

Report back.

Connector J133 drives the lamp board and is interchangeable with J134 and J135 and complete the path to ground. Swap the connector on J133 to either J134 or J135 and see if there’s any change on the “D”. If ”D” now lights, reflow some solder on the back side of the header pins for J133. I’d probably carefully flow solder on all three sets of header pins since they are interchangeable and I’m not sure if these connectors are on their properly numbered headers on the board. This may fix the “A”, as well.

Connector J137 powers the lamp board. This connector is interchangeable with J138. If “A” is still lighting due to playfield position, swap J137 with J138. If this fixes “A”, reflow on J137 and J138 as above.

Report back.

Unless you have the patched ROM file or LED OCD, you will have ghosting/flickering/strobing with LEDs. I am not familiar with Comet "flattops". It could also be a diode issue in the lamp matrix that's exasperating the situation. If it's a diode issue, lamps would be on all the time and most likely on more than one lamp. Any flickering/strobing is probably just the LEDs.

We can chase the bulbs that are out similar to what I am explaining to TDEX, however, this probably won't fix the ghosting/flickering/strobing. You would need to take additional steps on your end to narrow the ghosting/flickering/strobing issue down. Some video may help diagnose the situation (BTW, I highly recommend the LED OCD boards in this game. I have both the LED OCD and GI OCD in mine and have ZERO regrets).

What bulbs are out? Do regular bulbs react the same way as LEDs or do they work properly? What replacement boards are you running since the PinSound board is out of the game? Was this an issue when you purchased the game or have you changed things leading to the problem, i.e. adding the Comet LEDs?

Since you had loose connectors, I'd start with the manual and make sure all the connectors are on their proper headers on their respective boards and snug, including the ribbon cables. Ribbon cables installed off a row/column can wreak havoc.

Controlled lamps are on the +18VDC circuit that strobes many times per second to get the voltage down to down to +6 volts. If a transistor has shorted on, a row or column of lamps will be turned on for a longer time, and hence be brighter.

What lamps are on all the time? Go into single lamp test mode and test each controlled lamp. What lamps don’t work? Do certain lamps light multiple lamps in the test mode? If so, which ones?

Williams_1993_Bram_Stoker_s_Dracula_English_Manual.pdf

Let's get the lamps sorted out and then we can work on the solenoids which sounds like it may be switch issues.

All those lamps are in the same row. Start looking at Q90. If a transistor shorts on in the lamp matrix, it can make all the lamps in that row or column appear permanently on and very bright. To test a TIP102 transistor make sure the game is off and set up DMM to test continuity. Put one lead on the ground strap in the backbox. Touch the other lead to the metal tab on the TIP102 transistor at Q90. If getting zero ohms/buzz/beep, the transistor is shorted on and bad.

Per Clay Harrell:

A lamp row is either very bright or dead:

The TIP102 for that row is most likely dead or locked on. The LM339 comparator is the next component to check. Occasionally the 74LS74 can cause a problem. Hint: a fast way to tell if the TIP102 transistor is defective is to ground the tab of the transistor. If grounding the tab and nothing happens, the transistor is probably good. If grounding the tab and the row lights, the transistor is probably bad.

So if the transistor is good, we have other places to look.

You may want to indicate where you are if you're trying to finding cheaper. A $4,000 BSD shipped could be close to that $4,500 price point.

This is a known bug that will hopefully be addressed by Soren.