Hello. I was hoping someone could help me with a problem I encountered while replacing a few coils on my Stern Striker Xtreme game. I replaced the first coil, fired the machine up, and it worked fine. I then replaced two additional solenoid coils and fired the machine up. When I went to test the coils, I first ran a coil I didn't mess with and it worked fine. I then went on to run one of the coils I did replace and when I fired it the machine said "coil malfunction" and reset. Now the game turns on and I can access all the menus and even start a game but NONE of the coils will fire and the coil error message continues to flash. Could this be some sort of safety mode that locks down all of the coils? Thanks!

Thanks for the fast responses! I checked the coin door disconnect and it's fine. I also made sure the diode was secure on the coil and even replaced the coil that triggered the error with a different coil but the problem persists. I checked all of the fuses under the playfield and they look fine but are there any fuses elsewhere? When I fire the machine up I get this message (see picture) before it goes into attract mode. It seems that erak had a similar problem here:

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stern-motor-control-relay-striker-xtreme

and it is interesting to note that I may have installed the switch incorrectly to the coil that is acting up...

Thanks!

pinballer.jpg

Thanks for all the help. I opened up the backbox and discovered that I had blown one of the fuses. I've replaced it and now the other coils work but the coil giving me trouble started to smoke as soon as I turned the machine on and a different fuse in the backbox blew out. Does anyone have any idea why the coil would smoke and blow the fuse? I'm pretty sure I have the wires soldered in the right order. Thanks!

now I have replaced both fuses and resoldered the coil so that the power wire is on the same side as the diode. The coil no longer smokes and the game plays fine. Whenever the machine needs to use the coil I can hear it trying to fire and after a few attempts it reads a new error message #4 top super VUK coil malfunction. I even replaced the coil with a different one and the problem persists. Any ideas?

can i use a multimeter to see if i need to replace the transistor?

Thanks! I no longer hear the coil "trying" to fire. Instead, when I try to run it nothing happens. I just used a multimeter on the coil in question and it has no power coming to it...what could this mean? Thank you so much for all the help!

Okay I measured a known working coil and it had around 74V. I also measured the coil in question and it also had around 74V. I then tried to use the scrap piece of wire to perform the test on the known working coil but must not have done something right. I touched one end of the scrap wire to the ground lug on the coil and then the other end to a bolt on the leg thinking that this would get the coil to fire. I must have done something wrong because instead of the coil firing it sparked blue and the machine reset. No damage other than that though.

Thanks! After reading your post I realized my mistake. I was thinking yellow-violent was the ground all along --hence the reset. I tried again this time knowing that black-brown was in fact the ground. On a known working coil when I grounded the ground (the right one this time) the coil does in fact energize. I then did the same thing to the malfunctioning coil and it also energized. Where does this leave me?

I just did the same thing for the transistors. A transistor corresponding to a known working coil energized when grounded. When I touched the transistor corresponding to the coil in question nothing happened.

Okay I'm new to the hobby so sorry for all the newbie questions but could you go over where I can find the transistor ground, the connector pin, and where on the solenoid I need to be testing? I'm also attaching the schematic for coil giving me fits. It is Q4 Top Super VUK. Thanks you've been super helpful!

There is continuity between female and solenoid but NO continuity between transistor and male. Thanks!

Okay, the transistor corresponding to the malfunctioning coil has been replaced, but not by me. Its part number is IRL540N, but the coil had been functioning with the replaced transistor before. There is continuity between the transistor tip and the transistor leads. There is no continuity between the transistor lead and the male pin. It is also interesting that for the functioning coils, the solder pads on both ends of adjacent resistor (I think that's what it is) do not have continuity. The broken coil, however, does have continuity on both sides of the resistor. This seems strange to me... It is also interesting that the male pin for the coil that is acting up is slightly discolored when compared to the others. Thanks!

Okay I've taken the board out and found the problem...now if only there's a way to fix it... There is no continuity for the red box..

// Error: Image 14848 not found // Board.JPG

okay i just bought the wire and am about to bipass the trace. After I do this what is to keep it from happening again if whatever I did to cause this still hasn't been resolved? Thanks!

haha won't do that again...okay so now i've bipassed the trace and have continuity all the way from the transistor to the solenoid. I also discovered that the cause of the incident was that I put the ground wire for the coil onto the the silver banded side of the diode when I should have put the power onto the silver banded side...the problem now is that whenever I flip the machine on I blow the solenoid fuse and I have no idea why... It's interesting that the coil I'm dealing with has the silver side of the diode on the opposite side as every other coil in the machine...it came that way..getting closer!

I think I may have figured it out. The coil I am using for the VUK has the diode soldered on backwards (it came like that) when compared to every other coil I can find. I just put in another coil I had laying around with the diode soldered correctly and now when the machine fires up the VUK coil is just stuck on...transistor? Thanks!

okay, I just visited radio shack and they didn't have the exact transistor that is in the machine but I think I found some that would work. Would you mind telling me which, if any, of these four would be best to use? npn tip120 darlington transistor, npn tip3055 transistor, npn tip31 transistor, IRF510 MOSFET transistor. Thanks so much!

Thanks so much that's helpful! I was able to find one that matches the ratings for the one already in the machine at Fry's Electronics.

okay, I soldered in the new transistor and fired up the machine and after about 5 seconds the dmd went out and now it won't come back on. You can start a game fine and everything and the coil that was acting up will fire now it's just too weak to shoot the ball out (I think it's just old). Do you have any ideas on why the DMD would die on me?

I checked that but they're all fine. It will come on for the first few seconds when I turn the machine on but then shuts off

okay sorry I haven't responded in a while I just started back to school and have been busy. I got the display working again after yet another amateur mistake (ribbon cable in backwards) and now the coil will fire when I want it to. The only problem is that it doesn't fire with enough power to get the ball out of the hole in the playfield. After it tries five times it says coil malfunction and stops trying. Do you know why the coil would be under powered? I even replaced it with a different one and the same problem persists...thanks!

okay I just grounded out the coil and it works perfectly. I then proceeded to undo my previous bypass and to do it again while including another trace leading up to the burnt out one. It's still weak. Could the transistor have anything to do with this?