Hi Guys,

I recently bought a Dracula (in pretty poor state), and started working on it today.

I fixed some minor things, but now during gameplay, the left middle ball-up kicker, ball launch kicker and ball feed kicker (dont know if these are the correct terms, but im sure you know what I mean) randomly seem to fire.

Now normally I would think it was a opto problem, but since there are three solenoids firing at the same time, I'd assume this was too big of a coincidence, but maybe I'm overthinking it.

All help appreciated, thanks in advance!

gr Mario

edit: after some more research I noticed the following:

1. the plunger on the pic (kicks ball to launch lane) is not returning properly after being activated. I sprayed some teflon spray on the plunger to make it smoother (it worked with a similar problem before), bat that didnt help. Is it possible this caused the ball launcher to keep firing?

2. There are no diodes on some of these solenoids, does anyone know if thats right?

gr Mario

IMAG0756.jpg

Hi Rampshot,

in reaction to your suggestions:

Ribbon cables seem fine. I've re-seated them but there's no difference.

The solenoid from the pic does activate, but after 2 or 3 times it's stuck (locked). The rest of solenoids just seem to work fine.

I did get a new test report: switch 51 opto T.R. lane

The switch is indeed stuck like you said, could this be causing the firing of the kicker in the shooter lane? I thought only the switch in the lane itself could cause the kicker to fire.

Do you maybe have any suggestions to fixing this solenoid so its 'pops' back like it should? If you look at the pic, it seems a little tilted, so the plunger rubs against the inside and gets stuck.

I'll go and check that out, thanks man.

Hi Ballsofsteel

I think you're right. I'm going to change the sleeve on the coil. Can you maybe give me a tip on properly aligning the coil and the plunger?

thanks

awesome,

thanks Buffaloatx

Hi Guys,

Just a little update:

first off, the problem with the lane shooter is solved thanks for all the suggestions, helped me out alot!

This is what I did:
I cleaned the coilsleeve and plunger, but it still didn't return smoothly after plunging. Before, I checked it without the machanism, in which it ran very smooth. The allignment also did not change anything. So I decided to take a look at the machanism of the 'arm' kicking the balls from the gutter to the lane (see pic). When I moved it with my hand I felt the reistance. I took it apart and cleaned it thoroughly and that did the trick.

So now, I still have two problems, maybe related, I don't know yet:

=> solenoids 'wire ramp ball popper' and 'castle popper' are still firing randomly. The opto's are in the same row, does that mean anything? I'm not that great at interpreting these matrixes. How do I check if these problems are related, or just coincedence? How do I start?

Hope you guys can help me.

Thanks.

gr Mario

IMAG0765.jpg

edit: the opto switches of these two solenoids have the same color wires. These are the same wires as opto switch 51 which is reported bad in the test report. Is it possible these problems are therefore related?

Great tips, I'll go and work on that tonight, I'll keep u guys posted...

thanks.

gr Mario

ok, so I cleaned all 3 opto's. Switch 51 is still reported as broke and the solenoids keep firing away.

Im going to buy an opto switch and replace the faulty one, hoping this will fix this problem.

I replaced the opto, but the system still reports it as broken and the two solenoids are still firing randomly.

I also checked he molex connectors and cleaned them a bit, they seem fine.

Any other suggestions?

thanks buffaloatx, woud appreciate it. I dont have a spare power driver board, so thats not an option.

Prob a noob question but how do I find out if the opto 10 board is functioning correctly?

noob questions: How do I check the continuity? I have a multimeter, but havent got a continuity sound mode (beep). How do I check the opto board, is it possible to see if there's anything off?

thanks for your suggestions btw, im starting to think there's a short issue as well

thanks, will check tonight.

btw you do mean the pin heads on the opto board right?

lol quoted myself

Which two points do i measure? Do i take the two solder points?

They never fire simultaniously btw, they alway fire one afyer the other.

Well i've blown a fuse (im such a noob lol) so now my dmd isnt working. Ill try and measure the pin heads tommorow when i have a new (and spare) fuse.

Ive measured all 4 wires from point to point (i.e. from opto to opto) with my mm set on resistence (ohm), these are my findings:
Black: 00.0
Grey: 00.4
Orange: 7.7
Grey/yellow: 00.0

Its the first time im doing this, but i think no resistence is good and the resistence on the orange wire is...? I assume if there was a broken wire, there would be no measurement in resistence, so thats not the case. But if you guys could help me figure out these numbers that would be great.

I'll also make a short vid if the solenoids firing, maybe that 'll ring a bell somewhere..

my first blown fuse, moment to remember

Just to make sure: yes the game was turned off whilst testing the continuity.

The game has to be turned on to test the pin headers right?

Can somebody make something of the continuity test results I posted?

Ok, to sum up so far: Its not dirt on the opto switches, its prob not the wiring, its prob not the opto switch 51.

I have three questions, based on the information and suggestions given:

1. I still have to measure the voltage on the header pins, I have to do this with the machine on right?

2. Another possibility is a cold solder somewhere. Is there a way to check this, or do I just resolder all coils?

3. It looks like a short somewhere, if thats the case, where do i start looking?

I've uploaded a vid, the image is very vague (under playfield), but you can hear the coils firing (one after the other), hope this helps to identify the problem.

Thanks for all the help so far guys, really appreciate it, glad the pinside crew is here to help

No, also in attract mode (see new, better vid below)

check

yes, it reports the two optos closing. I tried with a ball to be sure

better vid:

first off: very cool trick.

I checked the opto's, two where fine (incl switch 51), but one led has fallen off. But this is new, so I'm pretty sur this has nothing to do with the problem. Im going to solder a new one in, so I'll get back on that.

edit:

The two solenoids keep firing after all coils have fired (in startup), but they die out if you wait long enough. They stopped firing just now after I didnt startup the game (ie didnt fire any other coils..?).

just some extra info that might be of use...

all three optos are working..

Problem is solved!

With a whole lot of help from pinside and a professional who assisted me via email.

This is what I did:

* I made 100% sure it wasn't the opto(s) itself failing so I connected opto 51 and 71 to the wires connected to an opto that was working and it checked out. Also the trick with the camera from my phone helped to check whether the transistor was working. I checked the receivers by blocking the transistor and shining into the receiver.

* I tried to rule out a broken wire between switches and switches to opto10 board by testing them with the MM, it checked out

* then I read it could be a broken lm339 comparitor. The professional pinball mechanic helped me figure out how to check whether this might be the case, this included shorting a couple of places o the opto board and the receivers (with a diode). If the receiver didnt register and the other shorts did, it would be pretty certain the lm339 was broke. But in the test, nothing registered. So in all probability it wasn't the lm339.

* Now he was pretty certain it was a lose contact or broken wire somewhere.
He adviced me to check for continuity between J209-1 and J3-12. In the test there was no continuity, so it had to be a broken wire or loose contact somewhere. I traced the wire down and after some digging (took me a while) I saw a broken of wire in between a whole lot of other wires. I finally found the other part burried somewhere else: disco!

problem solved.

In hindsight, its a simple little broken wire and I should have checked the J209-1 with J3-12 much earlier in the process. But as this is a learning experience, I've learned alot from this problem and am glad I had to do different kind of tests, even thought it was very frustrating.

Anyway, Thanks alot for all to you guys who adviced me and tought me new tricks

On to the next one