I was on a mission to get my Congo fully shopped and up and running for tonight but unfortunately failed.

I finished the shop job mid afternoon, checked all the plugs, crossed the fingers and turned on. Not the usual boot up sounds and noises but started a game and when I touched the flipper buttons the flippers worked but noticed no ball into the shooter lane and had a general look around and then noticed the upper left flipper stayed energized in which I turned the game off (but that flipper could of been energised for 10-15 seconds at a guess as did not notice immediately). I did reboot and noticed no solenoids popping and a error report message came up.

The error was the left flipper switch so I turned the machine off again and noticed the interruptor arm stuck out so the flippers would be activated in effect. I made some adjustments and fired up again. I went into testing mode and none of the solenoids worked plus about 6-8 random globes and a pop bumper switch wasn't registering. The globes were not on a particular column or row - very random but I admitedly hadn't touched many of the globes as they were leds installed by the previous owner/s but most were working prior to the shop out from memory.

I adjusted the pop bumper switch and all sweet and checked the boards in the backbox and F108 fuse (6.3A) which is the Secondary Soleniod Fuse was blown. Unfortunately New Years Eve here and no fuses this size in my stash so machine is down for the night - bummer. During the shopout the only electrical work I did was was de-solder and resolder the pop bumpers (globes) due to a full rebuild. Otherwise for the other components I just pulled apart and replaced sleeves and rebuilt the flippers etc. With the only other noticeable issue being the left flipper switch and arm.

- Could the pop bumper switch that was closed caused a issue to blow a fuse?
- Could the lhs flipper switch that would of caused the left flipper to stay energised cause the fuse to blow?
- Could the fuse just been old and a weak point?
- When I do get a fuse and replace hopefully all soleniods work or is their something else you can suggest I check in the meantime.

- WHAT is the 6.3v fuse (5 x 20mm) a SLOW or FAST blow?

any help would be really appreciated

thanks and have a good new years.

I worked out it is a T6.3A fuse so a slow blow.

I found this on the net - Williams Pinball Guide suggesting the diodes

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so did a multimeter test on these

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though I am not familiar testing ohms and diodes - so had to try my luck with testing so hopefully someone can tell if my findings are correct that D22 could be an issue.

I tested the 4 diodes and not sure if I set the multi metre correctly:
set multimeter to 2M ohms
D19 - 1.370 to 1.570 fluctuating
D20 - 1.528 to 1530 mildly fluctuating
D21 - 0.940 to 1.040 fluctuating
D22 - a quick reading then flatlined on 1.0

yeah, no problems, game was just dirty, some broken plastics, so over time did a shop out, so I am a little puzzled.

if it is that diode what would cause it to fail all of a sudden???

- I don't have any fuses in the 5 x 20mm size so I will have to find some somewhere today / tomorrow first thing.
- later I will do another multimeter test on a lower setting and check both ways on the diodes - though I did have the black lead on the banded side
- I didn't hear any coil lock on but only noticed it within 10-15 seconds of turning on, but after the fact the flipper switch was a little off which would of meant one or both lhs flippers would of activated and stayed on (locked) I am guessing as well as one of the pop bumpers as the gap was closed right up.

As for the shopping.
- I rebuilt the pops (all new bodies, coil sleeve etc) and since they have lights I had to disconnect the globe leads and re-connect and could of bumped the switches in the rebuild process.
- the flipper bats were old and worn and coil sleeves showed some wear so rebuilt all three.
but in both the pops and flippers I did not disconnect the solenoids.
- then totally stripped the top side of the playfield, cleaned, polished, renewed rubbers, post rubbers, new plastics etc.

So mechanically apart from swapping a heap of bulb GI for LED GI the only thing that could of changed are the switches noted above that would of immediately caused 2-3 solenoids to lock on.

Do you guys think once I correct these switches and locate some fuses the issue could be solved.

nothing open today so can't get fuses but checked the diodes again on a lower multimeter setting checking one way and then the other and all seem fine. So maybe the short was at the switches and pop lighting, will have to have a look later and find some fuses tomorrow.

I was checking out the globe wiring and solenoids of the pop bumpers to see if there was anything obvious and wondered if the power wire should go to a particular side of the coil - note the bottom right is reverse to the other 2 pops.

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Also was doing a flipper button test to check the gap and alignment, went to the switch testing and when you push the rhs button in partially you activate the lower flipper and push in a little more and activates upper right - which does not exist but probably a generic feature to do with the flipper switch. But when you push the left flipper button partially or fully it only activates the bottom flipper and not the upper left flipper switch. what do I look for here.

I got the 7 odd bulbs up and running but noticed one bulb not working in the pop bumper so will take the ramp off tomorrow to check further. This was the pop with the switch not adjusted right with it more than likely locked on when I turned it on. The power to the bulb is the same feed as the bulb under the 2 gorilla heads so I assume the power to be good, but maybe a popped bulb. Is there any way that the flipper button and pop bumper switch causing possibly the 2 left flippers and pop bumper solenoid to lock on, cause the bulb to pop?

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spent a few hours problem solving but learnt alot.

- re-gapped the switches for the lhs flipper button as well as the pop bumper and went to a standard flasher globe instead of a led flasher and then replaced the fuse and tested.
- the bulb in that pop now works again so it must be linked to the fuse as it was not working after re-gapping
- after testing noticed that the column 7 switches were not working (Amy up in lane switches and sub playfield Congo Targets)
- identified that the middle M switch on AMY had some crap in the switch, once clear the amy switches registered in the switch edge test but machine now on boot up the game stated issues in the error report with CO & G of the CONGO targets. It took some tracking and diode testing and finally noticed one broken green / purple CONGO target wire was not connected and probably broke off when I cleaned and rebuilt the sub playfield and it was close if not touching the steel framework of the subplayfield.
- restarted the machine and noticed the right flipper shot up and stayed up on immediate boot up so turned off.
- turned back on and the rhs flipper did not do anything so did a switch edge test on all five CONGO targets with everything working.
- put 4 balls in and started a game and everything worked except the right flipper so back off again.
- checked schematics, checked the wiring of the flipper and associated plug to the boards and then fuses and noticed J115 had popped, replaced the fuse and then did a check and then tried a game and everything working.

So apart from some switches closed up am guessing the target wire in Congo targets may have been shorting the game. Could it have been weak due to my issues?

Not sure why the rhs flipper locked open and popped a fuse but able to play 5 games without any issues.

Overall thanks for guidance from fellow pinheads and some time with the manual and machine, as I learnt a bit and hopefully everything is ok now.