When I plugged in the OEM board, it ended up tripping the F4 circuit, also smoking the rectifier & varistor, which I have since replaced. When I plugged in an Alltek replacement solenoid driver board, I did not seem to get any indication of a fault (the red lights flashed right at power up, but did not stay on; I presume this means that there is no fault). I was actually hoping to find a fault so that it would explain why the OEM board smoked the transformer board. At this point, I don't think I can trust that OEM board anymore - and indeed nor any of the other OEM solenoid driver boards for my other Ballys. I'd prefer to not spend another $300 right now for the 2 other Ballys that have OEM boards, but I don't want to smoke anymore boards. I just want to have the d@mn things to be plug & play.

#2 5 years ago

PIP

Quench

Pinside member

8y 114K 8,029

OP
Quoted from swampwiz:
Could the (early SS) Bally (Supersonic) solenoid driver board cause the F4 circuit on the transformer board to short?

Seems very unlikely unless there was a dead short across the flipper enable relay. However this wouldn't cause the varistor to fail.

What troubleshooting steps have you performed on this particular Bally solenoid driver board?

#3 5 years ago

DAV

wayout440

Pinside member

Berea, OH

11y 113K 11,267 3 12

I'd check diode CR20 across the relay. If that was shorted, +43VDC would hit Q15 and R39 - so check those as well.

#4 5 years ago

AMR

BigAl56

Pinside+ Frequent

Palatine, IL

7y 64,800 1,657

The varister could have been the failed component and that took out everything else.

#5 5 years ago

PIP

Quench

Pinside member

8y 114K 8,029

Quoted from BigAl56:
The varister could have been the failed component and that took out everything else.

The varistor is before the bridge though so the bridge should not have failed. Varistors are damaged from overvoltage. What would cause this condition? Repeated back EMF from a failed (open circuit) diode on a flipper coil?

#6 5 years ago

AMS

barakandl

nvram.weebly.com

12y 132K 10,417

What replacement rectifier board did you have? I remember reading about a certain brand had a batch built with a wrong varistors which promptly burn up. Worth checking if you can still see the part number. Proper part should be something like 12D101K. 12D470K would be the wrong part.

#7 5 years ago

AMR

BigAl56

Pinside+ Frequent

Palatine, IL

7y 64,800 1,657

Where are you located? Did you import this game from Europe or visa-versa? The only time I've seen varisters blow up is when a game is plugged into the wrong voltage.

#8 5 years ago

???

swampwiz

Pinside member

Bogalusa, LA

12y 32,300 775

Quoted from Quench:
Seems very unlikely unless there was a dead short across the flipper enable relay. However this wouldn't cause the varistor to fail.
What troubleshooting steps have you performed on this particular Bally solenoid driver board?

I haven't done any troubleshooting on it. All I know is that with it installed, it blew this circuit on the transformer board. And I don't like it when I have to fix things like that. I think I'm just going to throw in the towel and get the replacement boards; they are so much better.

Quoted from barakandl:
What replacement rectifier board did you have? I remember reading about a certain brand had a batch built with a wrong varistors which promptly burn up. Worth checking if you can still see the part number. Proper part should be something like 12D101K. 12D470K would be the wrong part.

This is a Rottendog transformer board driving an OEM solenoid driver board. AFAIK, this has always been a North American machine.

I guess everyone here is saying that the Rottendog transformer board was just a dud with a bad varistor. I wouldn't mind trying the OEM solenoid driver, but I don't want to blow out the transformer board again - and it's been my experience that these OEM transformer boards are always blowing out on their own. To me, it's question of whether I want to pay now or pay later.

#9 5 years ago

AMS

barakandl

nvram.weebly.com

12y 132K 10,417

OP
Quoted from swampwiz:
I haven't done any troubleshooting on it. All I know is that with it installed, it blew this circuit on the transformer board. And I don't like it when I have to fix things like that. I think I'm just going to throw in the towel and get the replacement boards; they are so much better.

This is a Rottendog transformer board driving an OEM solenoid driver board. AFAIK, this has always been a North American machine.
I guess everyone here is saying that the Rottendog transformer board was just a dud with a bad varistor. I wouldn't mind trying the OEM solenoid driver, but I don't want to blow out the transformer board again - and it's been my experience that these OEM transformer boards are always blowing out on their own. To me, it's question of whether I want to pay now or pay later.

If I remember right it was R-dog that had a batch from a year or two ago built with the wrong varistor. def check MOV part number on your board. Just put your peepers on it unless it is burnt up. MOV-14D101K or V100ZA15P is a good part number to use.

https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Bourns/MOV-14D101K?qs=CQ3B1E%252bbPs1zZItCYuJaag%3D%3D

#10 5 years ago

???

swampwiz

Pinside member

Bogalusa, LA

12y 32,300 775

Quoted from barakandl:
If I remember right it was R-dog that had a batch from a year or two ago built with the wrong varistor. def check MOV part number on your board. Just put your peepers on it unless it is burnt up. MOV-14D101K or V100ZA15P is a good part number to use.
https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Bourns/MOV-14D101K?qs=CQ3B1E%252bbPs1zZItCYuJaag%3D%3D

I'm pretty sure that I got 3 of these boards at the same time from the same vendor (Big Daddy), and the other 2 have worked fine, both of these driving an AllTek Solenoid Driver.

#11 5 years ago

AMS

barakandl

nvram.weebly.com

12y 132K 10,417

OP
Quoted from swampwiz:
I'm pretty sure that I got 3 of these boards at the same time from the same vendor (Big Daddy), and the other 2 have worked fine, both of these driving an AllTek Solenoid Driver.

It was reported by others as happening and it just takes a moment with a bright light to check.

just do it before powering up that rectifier board again.

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